Looking back at my travels to Bogotá I was reminded of a stop at the García Marquez Cultural Center. There is one poem that stood out there. I remembered quotes that our guide shared, but I couldn’t find an official English translation online, but someone else had given this a shot:
Traveling is leaving home,
parting with friends
it’s trying to fly;
to fly along new routes
crossing paths
it is trying to change.
Traveling is dressing crazy
it’s saying “I don’t care”
it’s wanting to go back.
To return appreciating the small things
sipping a drink,
it’s wanting to begin.
Traveling is feeling like a poet,
writing a card,
it’s wanting to hug.
Embracing in a doorway
longing for calm
it’s stopping to kiss.
Traveling is to become worldly
it’s to meet other people
it’s to return to the beginning.
It’s to start offering a hand,
learning from the strong,
it’s to feel solitude.
Traveling is leaving home,
it’s dressing crazy
saying everything and nothing in a postcard.
It’s sleeping in another bed,
it’s feeling that time is short,
traveling is to go back.
Credit for the translation goes to Chloe Hay
Michael's Journey 