It’s been years since the last time I traveled somewhere by myself and here it comes: I finally made it to Bojonegoro for the first time – to meet an old friend of mine. This time, I promised myself to enjoy every single moment of it despite any unpredictable things I might face along the way. Play it cool, I said – mumbling to myself. So, I took the local train line and off from my hometown at around 10 a.m. on Sunday. I didn’t expect the train station would be full of crowds, especially after the pandemic hit the world in the past two years.
Once I arrived there, I was picked up by Futuha as the host. We rode a motorbike and strolled around the town, reminiscing the good old time and having the legendary mie ayam as our lunch. Honestly, the town wasn’t as big as expected but I was quite impressed by the central park. It was green surrounded by strongly rooted trees and featured a number of wood benches.
As the sundown, the city tour was evanesced by going to Futuha’s home at the end of the day. Prior to my stay, she warned that the village where she lived was miles away from the downtown. It was quite hard to find the internet connection, she said. So, I’ve come prepared and it turned out to be one of the most compelling journeys I’ve ever experienced. Here are some lessons learned from the deep talks we had back then.
Privilege comes in various forms
We commonly believe privilege is mostly about having high socioeconomic status, which is often measured as a combination of education, income, and occupation. But rarely we’re cognizant of the fact that privilege might come in multiple shapes. In this case, being born in a family with possessing all of those affecting factors is one of a kind. But having parents who support all your dreams and appreciate whatever way of life you choose is another thing to be grateful for.
It’s okay to slow down although the world hurries you
Staying for a night in a tranquil village has always been a captivating idea to refresh the mind. During this time, we live in a high-speed world that demands us to be faster and faster. It seems to get harder for us to find balance or to just simply take a breath between days. The impact is real: we suffer from constant fatigue and trigger more stress. So, living in a village and practicing slow living, such as observing nature, enjoying the serenity of greenery and water, taking a deep breath, and making food from scratch – as what I did at Futuha’s home is quite helpful to recover from restlessness. Stopping for a moment and giving ourselves a break will remind us that there is more to life than increasing its speed.
In the end, I’m beyond grateful for the good time we both shared. As an introvert, this sort of trip recharged my energy *except for dealing with the crowd on the train due to the peak holiday season, though.
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