Slow Travels

This weekend, I went and helped my friends in Maastricht set up their Midsummer Festival. I enjoyed the setup a lot. In Estonian, we have the term "talgud", a term that does not seem to have a direct translation in French nor in English.

It is the concept of a communal work party. It brings people together around work, and personally, I see it as a "happening". Let's get together and build something. It was especially nice to see people enjoy the festival.

On the way back to Liège, I got denied transport twice. First, I made an effort to try to take a train at half past midnight, right when the festival finished. Unfortunately, there was a replacement bus that did not accept me with my bike.

So instead, I drove back to the festival area, where as soon as I arrived, it started pouring. Fortunately enough, I had my tarp from the night before set up. I tried my luck again with the train on Sunday morning, but still no luck. The replacement bus was still in action. The station staff said laughingly that I could simply bike to Liège.

At first, I was very overwhelmed. I felt that I had been done wrong. I had worked for 2 days straight as a volunteer, and the way I was repaid was getting blocked in another country. That being said, after one overpriced Starbucks coffee at the Maastricht train station, I started to realise that biking might be nice.

I got on my way, and within 4 splits of 30 minutes each, I got back to my apartment in Liège. The trip was very meditative with the scenery along the water. I experienced the same feeling I last felt during my pilgrimage two years ago.

This made me rethink my travels. Maybe I should start travelling more by bike since it has some umph to it. It is very pleasant, especially if the roads are good, like they are in the Netherlands.

This Week's Suggestions:

Touch Grass. Go ride a bike.

🎶 "Tired" by Sugar Candy Mountain:

My current roommate listens to quite a bit of psychedelic rock, so I have caught the bug. This is one of the songs I found while writing this piece.

Have a lovely start to the week!