Travel Poland: Mountaineer Vibes.

You might have noticed that I didn't really blog that much the past week. The reason was that I spent eight full days in the Bieszczady mountains (pronounced as Bieshchadee) located in the south of Poland, near the borders of Slovakia and Ukraine. I had to tolerate numerous text messages from my phone carrier every day notifying me that I was in a different country, just by climbing a mountain or taking an alternative road route. Let me summarise my stay in one word: alleviating.


The area of Bieszczady is quite far from modern civilisation and it was quite normal to lose signal on my phone. The streets were sided by quaint countryside-style houses, surrounded by flowers and wild bushes. The mountains were the background against a starkly blue sky; so clear and royal. Mountain behind mountain, they created this beautiful shadowing effect that mesmerised my eyes. I would spend my time in the car just watching, losing myself in a sense so unearthly and calming.

And what did we do in those eight days? We climbed and climbed and climbed. Even though it was quite hot for hiking (let's just take a moment and be thankful that it didn't actually rain!), I enjoyed it immensely. All the sweat and leg muscle work proved to be very rewarding when we reached the peak, felt the wind refresh us and watched those spectacular views in silence. These moments for me are rather so powerful because, I feel really existential. Like I am actually alive, living, breathing, feeling and most importantly, doing. And as you know, it's something I've been missing lately but this feeling is long gone now.

We went for a hike (let's say uphill walk) and saw a river; one with rocks situated on its sides and middle and they created those miniature waves as the water gushed through the gaps. The sound was so reassuring and comforting, especially for me because water-bodies are my soulistic sanctuary. I just sat down on one of the rocks, put my feet in the water and felt myself cool down, the waves allowing the negative energy within me to dissolve. There was no time nor power to actually recollect any of those memories I didn't want to remember and it felt so magical to be in this transcending state. I am just grateful.

What made this trip truly transforming was that I started this gratitude journal. I'd wake up every single day and write down a list of what I am thankful for. Usually I would start by some amazing plans for the day as well as my health, podcasts I listened to, inspiring videos I watched and some eventful things I did the evening before. It just made such a beautiful impact in my day, because I knew I'd find something worthwhile to look forward to and that it bestowed me with this awareness that it isn't hard to actually be alive despite some tough moments or struggles. They didn't define me and the only solution was to put those moments behind me and move on to the next day yet, leaving me smiling as I go to sleep. Therefore, I encourage you to start. You could look up ideas on the internet, or maybe I'll write out a detailed post about this issue separately.

I saw so many sunrises and sunsets as well as mists and moonlit skies. The place was like a natural dream; everything was laid out wildly without human interference and that's what I liked most, basically. It reminded me of God and our world's beauty and my potential ability to allow humans to add more beauty by the vast awareness of the fact that, we don't need anything else to do in our world but be present and appreciating. Living our life mindfully, I believe, is a powerful trigger that allows us to unleash what's within us. One night, we went to a star-gazing event organised by Pavol Duris, a passionate man who left the corporate world behind him and decided to work with telescopes and dedicate the rest of his life to adding beautiful memories of the world for people. We saw Saturn and I was helplessly overwhelmed because it is my favourite planet, for some reason. I could make out the rings around it and a few moons. Duris then made us see the moon with all it's crates.. and well.. I couldn't explain more. Everything was just imperfectly perfect, the way it was.

For the first time in Poland, we ate good food! To be honest, Poland doesn't really have good restaurants and they usually serve custom meals of fried chicken breast, potatoes and salad- which most of the time tasted really stale and uncreative. However, in Bieszczady, we ate in three different restaurants and they were amazing. We had this gigantic pancake the size of a small pizza, topped with blueberries and sourcream (it was heavenly) and I made some healthy food choices for myself too by ordering greek salad as well as ceasar salad.

To conclude, this trip was beyond fascinating. I loved every single day of it and I am glad I can still remember those mountains as clearly as ever. Perhaps it's my awareness or sprouting positivity because I don't think I ever enjoyed being myself. That's one achievement to record.