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Hi fromĀ Italy!
In reality, the soft sands ofĀ Puglia‘sĀ Gargano PeninsulaĀ are roughlyĀ 150 kilometers away from the ruggedĀ DalmatianĀ coast, where I actually reside at the moment.
However, in recent conversations with some hotel guests, I’ve discovered that the human ability to provide rough estimates onĀ geographic matters is often overrated.
“Is that Italy?”, the two unconnected visitorsĀ recently asked me while pointing atĀ Hvar Island, some 6 kilometers away from theĀ IgraneĀ shores.
To see Italy on the horizon, one would have to jump over Hvar,Ā PeljeÅ”ac,Ā KorÄula,Ā Lastovo, and the entireĀ Adriatic Sea.
Yet, the curious guests were seriously thinking they were greeting Italy, so close that you could almost touch it. That is, if you had really, really long hands.
We know more than one joke aboutĀ tourists trying to reach the Italian boot fromĀ CroatiaĀ on a SUP instead of a ferry. Travelers’ ability to feel the distance is highly overestimated.
On the other hand, there are people who thinkĀ of international travel as something incredibly far and inaccessible.
If I hop over toĀ SwitzerlandĀ from Croatia, my mother, for instance, could ask me, “Which time zone are you in?”
For her, leaving forĀ AsiaĀ is like heading to theĀ Moon. I cease to be a backpacker and instantly becomeĀ an astronaut. Everything sounds so far and grand, anĀ entire world away.
I feel that many people who can afford to travel to foreign countries and yet postpone chasing thoseĀ dreams are trapped in aĀ mindset that overestimates the adventure as expensive and unattainable. Do you have that brakeĀ in yourself?
The world is more connected than ever, and if we exclude primitive wars tearing societies apart, we hardly live in the era ofĀ Magellan, whenĀ traveling the world was a privilege of a few, blessed by investors.
“DestinationsĀ in the mirror are closer than they appear”, if I may rephrase the famous safety warning. Widen your field of view, and you might be able toĀ both identify and reduce your blind spots while traveling.
Have a curiousĀ week,
Ivan KraljĀ Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā
Pipeaway.com
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