baltovaliza
- Apr 8, 2021
- 5 min read

The dream vacation: Bonaire island (part 4)

I woke up the next day on the 31.12. Since I had turned the alarm off and right after arriving home at my mother's and I went to sleep exhausted, I was feeling myself again in the late afternoon. There was just time for me to get dressed and to decide where to go and celebrate the New Year's Eve. A phone call changed my mind in the last minute and I spent the evening with a group of new people. I still wanted to continue experiencing new things and make new acquaintances.

But before going to the party I spent some quality time with my mother. She was being so patient and hadn't pushed me to talk for the whole day. She even left me sleep for as long as I needed. That was love. I made myself a cup of coffee and I went to talk to her. I wanted to share everything and of course it wasn't possible, but I could at least share my impressions and highlights of the holiday.

Those were actually numerous. It was hard to distinguish, since every moment was a special one. Later on in my life I realised that such is indeed every moment, no matter what we do- if we are spending our day on a nice warm beach somewhere in the Pacific, or at work, or in the traffic. Every single second we are alive and we are able to experience life, to make connection within ourselves and decide what each moment has to tell us. Often I used to get angry when things weren't going according to my plan. As if I was the one who was directing everything. I find the idea very amusing. Well, of course, we do our part, and we try to do it the best way we can, but some things can't be controlled- not by me, not by any other human being. And maybe that's the core of it all- learn to let go and accept things as they are. Without judging, without giving opinions, without calculating future results, when you don't know what will happen next.

On the other hand routines are very important for the everyday life and so it predictability. And I am not saying that we should all lay down and do nothing, although that would also be okay. As long as you are not disturbing anyone, and as long as you take care of yourself- then do that. What I mean is trying to be in control of every situation and even other people. The one thing that we as species can control is our way of thinking. Our mind. And it can be difficult, and really hard to change it. To stop the negative flow, to end the overthinking and to cut the thoughts that are messing around with your emotional state of being. One way of doing It, although sometimes I forget it myself, is accepting the moment and the situation as it is- no matter "good" or "bad", which is still labelling. It is neither good, nor bad. These are concepts created by people. But in reality there is no good and bad. There is just the present moment. I can't hide that the books and conferences with Eckhart Tolle inspired me on this one and helped me a lot with my concentration and staying present.

He speaks about how it is easier to stay in your consciousness when you are at a place with new surroundings. Maybe that's why I felt so alive on the island. It also stared with the voyage and the arrival. There was again a 12 or 14-hours flight, the I managed. Landing on the island was quite an experience. It was in the late evening and it was already dark. Once could just see some dimming lights from the airport building. Such a small airport. I went out of the plane wearing a short-sleeve top and I felt the unimaginable heat. It was so hot. Realising that I just came from a place where it was the winter's high season, made me even warmer. We went to the villa that was right beside the beach. After leaving our luggage we had dinner, prepared in front of us. We were all tired and went to bed after a while.

On the next day we went to the beach. My brother and sister went to take their windsurf equipment and then rented the surfs from the cute wooden surf school at the other side of the beach. I still don't know how to do it and I have never tried it. Only once, but I wouldn't count it. I was watching them surfing in the turquoise waters. It was amazing seeing all those colourful sails in the water. The island is one of the best spots for this kind of surf. They even organise world championships and one of the best surfer was training and living on that same island. We met him. It was great for my siblings, I was also impressed when I saw how he moved with ease in the water.

Our daily routine consisted of going to the beach, drinking Bonaire Blonde at the surf bar with my father, watching the surfers do their thing, having lunch, enjoying the sun, laughing, swimming and trying to stay in one place because of the wind. I enjoyed myself a lot. The view was spectacular, our mood too. I watched the sunrise a few times and the sunset everyday. I could see the sparkling and shiny planktons in the evening. We enjoyed a few rides with a big off road jeep, we could see flamingos. Bonaire is also famous for its salt, so naturally there were beautiful pink fields of it too. It was amazing. The island is a Dutch colony, so most of the people came from the Netherlands and stayed there. I was happy that I could speak a little bit Dutch as well.

Watching the beautiful scenery everyday, relaxing and having time for yourself was what I needed and I seized every moment of it. One of the best Christmas breakfasts that I had was on that island- walnuts, some small dessert and a glass of champagne! That day started good! It was funny to see Christmas decoration when it was 30 degrees outside. There were also Christmas trees and souvenirs, which looked really out of place. It was really nice of course, it is just that I was used to the idea that Christmas days should be filled with cold and snow. Apparently not at all. At least not in this hemisphere. Another predefined stereotype that I had to get rid of. Well, of course, I managed to do it quickly.

The vacation went smoothly and I could finally relax my mind and spend quality time with my father. Now that I got energised and was so inspired by the whole experience I had to decide what to do next. There were so many things I wanted to do and to explore further. It's wonderful when you find again that spark and zest for life and you feel like you could do anything. I was feeling like this after this dream vacation.