EDORAS, MIDDLE EARTH

Not by Bilbo Baggins. Although, after that LOTR tour in Twizel and cos-playing a bit (oh yes, I did), I imagine I’d be a hobbit or a citizen of Lake Town. The best was holding on to Aragorn and Arwen’s sword. Her elf ears did not suit me, but I concluded that getting an elven cloak would be a good addition to my wardrobe to boost my mood on grey days.

But I digress.

I’ll post about my cos-play experience soon enough and the great group that I was fortunate enough to meet. No, today is exactly a week since I’ve been back from New Zealand and when I returned from my trip I had many ideas buzzing in my head, a lot of experiences to write about and yet, I haven’t written a word. Granted, I spent a lot of time with family as it was Chinese New Year this past weekend, but what I’m feeling is less than enthusiastic about being back in beautiful Melbourne. So what’s the deal?

I realized when I got up this morning that I was in New Zealand withdrawal and I had been hoping the joy of my travels would last longer, but a week after returning back to my current base, the energy has fizzled out quite a lot. As I sit down at Mammoth Café that has become quite familiar to me, trying to come up with a post title I had a thought, ‘Maybe this is a little bit of what Bilbo felt like.’

It’s not like being in Melbourne is bad. I’m certainly not crying over the beautiful weather, the abundance of cafés and a buzzing city centre. Melbourne is even more laid back and chilled than the city that I hail from. But I keep thinking back to the mountains, the rivers, the fjords and the incredible night sky. There’s nothing like staring up into that sky while waiting for the long exposure to finish. Minutes would pass by neither fast nor slow and I’d soak up every second of it. Time was just time. There was no rush or bother. No lack or excess of it and every minute counted. Now that I’ve experienced it with my mind, my heart, my body, city life leaves even more to be desired.

I realized early on in my New Zealand trip that my desire to move to Calgary was on the right track. Moving away from the hustle and bustle and having more moments of solitude, opportunities to be a part of nature and fresh air is the right decision. It is the next step in my journey.

Like Bilbo and Frodo, home is beautiful and lovely, but the world is wide and ready to explore. Adventures are waiting around the corner, lessons in abundance to learn through the people you meet, the things you experience – not just about the place you’re uncovering, but discovering a little more about yourself and what you’re capable of. The strength that you possess is much more than what society tells you it is. What you offer is much more than what you believe. Then the awesomeness (in all sense of this word) of nature and you in comparison to it, well, you can’t help but feel reverent for it and its Creator, whether you believe in that or not. Returning from a trip like this, you step back into your responsibilities and the journey you just experienced becomes a little more distant.

Some people have said to me, ‘Now it’s back to reality.’ But something in me refuses that these two experiences have to exist apart from each other. I’m going to try to find a way to marry the two – where everything I learned and experienced on this trip is part of my reality and be one and whole.