Perception Vs Reality

Travelling to central Europe, exploring places I would have never dreamed or afforded has certainly been a positive experience for me
My perception before I came was that every day would be positive as I followed my friends travelling on Instagram. However, what is shown and what is are for me something of a contrast. This will be the final blog on my exchange semester at LMU where I shall reflect upon my expectations and my reality and how I and others should not look too far in the horizon.

‘The foolish man(person) seeks happiness in the distance. The wise grows it under his feet’ -James Oppenheim

Foolish I am defiantly in this case. Not just about travelling but in life in general, I would always kid myself that I am missing out, I would look at my Instagram seeing my friend had gone to Thailand, sun, sea and architecture, gazing upon this as I sat at home with my chicken nuggets in good old England.
If I saw my friends doing stuff having fun, I would resent my own life even though I knew what I saw was a snapshot of their time. So what happened when I did travel?

My experience 

Beer! I have had an amazing time the last two months mainly because I met with a group of fabulous Erasmus student organisers in a group called MESA. This was in the first few weeks of November when I went to Berlin. Instantly I got on with them and had one of the best times of my life. I ended up becoming close friends with some of them which led to bar nights until 4 am at a place called Schwabinger 7 as you can see in the picture below. I enjoyed myself and discovered the wonders of Spanish culture. Reggaetón is one of my new favourite genres.

That was not always the case. There have been lots of ups and downs, some loneliness, being homesick and often once again looking in awe at my friends having a good time in my home city as pictured below. I would have done a lot of the same things at home like eating pizza and cheese sticks every day as I did in the summer.
I would also start hearing that my friends keep travelling to all these new places to Rome, Budapest etc.. Stresses from home had come to Munich. The fuzzy life from Instagram which I already knew was a lie but the back of my mind created false hope that every day would be amazing. I can escape my small city and all the claustrophobia and leave my stresses behind. Except that didn’t change it was the same. Unnecessary stress perhaps but `c’est la vie`.

‘I’m not asking or pressuring myself to change those stresses I unnecessarily create as that is a part of who I am. Really what I’m saying is ‘relax take your time to trust in me and you will find infinity’- Guru Josh

`The times they are changing`( Bob Dylan)

Looking in hindsight, have I changed? No, did I think I would? Yes, with much reflection I have realised that the youth often feel the need to change their personalities quickly becoming a better person before time runs out. Where this comes from, I can only guess but I myself am a victim to it. I’m starting to slowly realise that I should relax more and take life with a bit more ease but also balancing my goals and maintaining motivation. Travelling has helped me come to this more, but I believe these thoughts are a cluster of experiences over a few years.

How I’m a shameless hypocrite

From looking at others social media in awe I create a social media that gazes upon myself. ` Wow` you look like you’re having an amazing time as I post one picture of me drinking in a bar at a swimming pool (we don’t have that in England). My friend would say `wow , I`m, not doing anything with my life’. I was creating the expat perception that I was a victim of. In fact, when I posted the picture below, I wasn’t having the amazing day it was average, I sat and watched Malcolm in the Middle all day while eating badly made pasta. From the perspective of my friend, it seemed as if I was doing those amazing things every day.

My advice?

No advice! I don’t like advice, what right do I have to advise others. However, my piece on this is that I think you don’t need to change anything with your life unless your life is at the ‘I subscribe to Donald Trump fan fiction page’ then maybe you do.
I see a lot of pressure about life in various places.. You don’t necessarily need to travel to get experiences out of life I say. Some of my friends are perfectly happy and content living in the same town all their life and in that local pub and have fantastic time with their friends. They in some ways have built happiness from below. And if anything, travelling has taught me how much I can value the small things like home, which many of my friends who did not look in the horizon already found. I have certainly enjoyed my time over here and every day I make it more my own buts that’s what it is, my own.