It was on a flight to the Canary Islands, one December morning in 2021, that I really began to wonder. What expectations and dreams was this trip actually meant to fulfill for all these people? A bit of relaxation under the southern sun was the obvious answer, but could there be more behind this migration of Northern Europeans heading south?
The crew welcomed a broad cross-section of the Nordic population, from the very young to retirees and families with children. There were no empty seats left as the plane left the tarmac in Copenhagen that morning, bound for Las Palmas. Close your eyes for a moment and say the name again, Las Palmas. Maybe you see palm trees swaying in the wind and waves kissing the shore. Maybe you begin to dream of a life at a completely different pace. Imaging slowing down to make time to reflect and connect with yourself and your surroundings. Imagine having the opportunity to focus on what truly adds value, rather than being distracted by a constant need to perform or being entertained. Imagine having a daily life with a slower pace and higher quality – a life with presence and intention. Imagine…
A New Chapter
Have you ever been on a trip, somewhere in the world, and started a mental journey sparked by the question: What would it take to settle here and start a new chapter in life? I have, but maybe it’s just me.
A travel agency once advertised trips that you just didn’t want to return from. In the sequences, you followed tourists who hid in all sorts of places to avoid going home. Here, the focus was on the wonderful destinations, to sell more trips. You never learned about what they didn’t want to go back to. It was implied that it was the hectic gray routine of cooking, cleaning, shopping, a demanding job, and a sense of burnout on the couch at the end of the day. I’m sure the people on the Canary Islands also have a daily life with cooking, cleaning, shopping, a demanding job, and a feeling of burnout at the end of the day. Why would it be different there?
I believe that we can all create a life with presence and intention, one that unfolds at a pace that doesn’t break us. This doesn’t require trips to faraway places but active choices wherever we are. I still have some way to go in that realization. And while traveling south might seem necessary for one’s quality of life, it is also a relatively short-term solution to a more fundamental problem.
