Instead of an introduction

There will be a lot of text below, just some reflections, not really related to Gran Canaria. So feel free to skip ahead to the first day :)

Travel is just part of life, after all. We are the same, the days are the same, just in a different place with different geographic coordinates, at a different latitude and longitude, in a different time zone. But we are still the same us. Of course, something (elusive) changes in us because of the change in our surroundings, because of the different food we eat, because of the different air we breathe. Some tiny changes in the body, in the soul — maybe that’s why we travel? To become a little different? To get moving from a dead stop? To look at the world, at ourselves, at each other from a slightly different angle?

At first I thought — I’ll just publish the photos, for the record, for the close people who read my diaries (everyone is curious what Gran Canaria is like, after all). Then I thought — but photos are only part of our reality. And what’s on the other side of the lens? How are the photographer and the person beside them doing, what do they feel, what is this reality like for them?

After all, people are interested not just in Gran Canaria, but in “our” Gran Canaria, the way we saw it and how it felt to us there. It’s easy enough to find photos of Gran Canaria on the internet — but that’s not the point. That’s not about us. And it seems there’s nothing to write about. The words somehow get stuck somewhere halfway… They sink and can’t claw their way out, can’t be spoken. Why? I don’t know why…

Sounds sad, doesn’t it? I felt sad at times too… It was such a strange, quiet sadness. But here’s what I realized — you have to learn to live without expectations. When we expect, we limit ourselves and life, we set boundaries, as if we were writing out a life script in advance in our heads. But the best part is when something bigger happens, something beyond the limits of our understanding, something we can’t even imagine. So why spoil everything by expecting something?

It’s also important to allow yourself to be sad. Society tends to think that sadness is bad. Living happily and joyfully — yes, that’s right and good. And if you’re sad, then something is wrong. That’s not allowed, that’s not right, you need to do something about it immediately. But it turns out that being sad is very useful. Sadness makes room for joy. You need to allow yourself to be sad from time to time. And this was exactly that kind of case. At first I worried — here we are on a trip, and I’m sad, what a shame. But then, when I relaxed, everything fell into place. Or rather, everything was in its place all along, I just refused to believe it.

I think there will be few words in this diary. There will be photos. And as always, everyone will see something of their own…