Finally home...

Finally home, and everyone else is asleep. I'm in the storage room, on a makeshift bed, while outside it's pouring with rain, and the sky is darkening. It's a little cramped next to the stacks of yet unpacked boxes, wooden boards, building materials and tool kit, but at least it's good to be home finally, especially after all these days of travel.

I've been so many places with mum this past week, and coupled with my recent trips to Southeast Asia, everything seems to be a blur for me. The days, nights, sceneries, experiences, memories, good and bad, all seem to merge and flow into one another. I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to 'capture' the past few weeks in words fully...

But I must say, traveling through Europe by train is perhaps the most convenient and scenic way to see and experience this continent, and the scenic mountains, seas and landscapes it has to offer.

I've made numerous train journeys with my mum growing up, and every one leaves me inspired and impressed. More enjoyable since as a child I've always been fascinated by trains and everything about them. So much so for years I had a train kit and would imagine 'driving' routes throughout Europe, connecting all these big cities and far away places right on the floor of my very own room... Somehow, the rocking motion and sounds of the train wheels, the rolling fields, villages, hills, creeks and valleys outside the window evoke such feelings of euphoria and longing for nature.

"My life has been worth it," I've heard my mum say a number of times whenever we travel together. And it's true, we are lucky to have the time and means to travel, to go wherever we like, to stop at any city or little hamlet, to wander the many avenues and alleyways in search of Europe's rich history and culture (which includes the latest fashion accessory for mum and her friends...). And often, while the scenery rolls past our windows, we think of dad who left behind the means for us to enjoy traveling, yet himself had left too soon...

Sample, savour, and commit to memory. One day, the pictures and memories can be replayed, and I can perhaps relish in the joy and excitement I shared with mum as we rode the rails of Europe...