Isn't Life Wonderful?

This is a guest post by my blog buddy Astrid from "Life with a Seaview" :)

We are lucky to be able to travel whenever we want. To choose a country where to study, another one where to live and a third one from which we might find our other half, soul mate or best friend.

Not only a physical travel but also mentally, connecting ourself to an ocean of information, images and people. Internet is a door opener, or if you'd like; a world opener.

Isn't that wonderful?

An ocean of possibilities our parents didn't have, unless they went to the library, bought a plane ticket or rented a VHS. That's not a long time ago but times are changing at an incredible pace. I ask myself whether we actually stop for a moment to think about it, to realize that we can extend ourselves with almost endless possibilities?

This is also a whole new social era, (well maybe not so new for others but very new for me) when distances and appearances don't count much. Only words and sentences do. You can stay and read a web page, or you click onto the next and it's all allowed. Nobody gets offended if you don't return...

I think I've met a friend. The first friend I've made on the information highway. I don't know what she looks like but I know a lot of other important things that she shares with her words of wisdom on her blog. I chose to stay and read. Somehow her words made a difference to me.

But what does a Bergenser girl and a San Fransisco girl have in common? A love for travel and Italy? I don't know. If you ask someone why s/he is friends with another person you won't be able to find a uniform answer. Some might say they have a lot in common, some being total opposites. Some might say they share experiences. Some not.

Eventually through a whole life people would have crossed your path, they stayed or moved on, but always leaving an impact however big or small. A presence that changed an instant, a day or a whole life. Isn't that wonderful?

I've lived eight years away from the city of rain, Bergen. It seems only like an instant. I've passed by Nottingham (UK), Toulon (Fance), Milan (Italy) and back again to Toulon. As the years pass by I find it harder to find real friends, or maybe it's just my need which becomes less significant...

The years abroad so far have been easy, tough and happy. In every place I've made some wonderful friends. Not many, but this is all about quality and not quantity! And these people have meant (and mean) so much to me. Thanks to them living in a foreign country has been, and is easy. They are there when I need to share the good, the bad and the average day.

I'm no exception to the rule; I should tell how much I appreciate their friendships and how they enrich my life.

And this goes for all the blogs I love reading too. There are wonderful individuals all around our planet, sharing their stories, leaving words of encouragements to each other, creating friendships and small communities where we all can belong and take part.

Internet has become an alternative way of traveling and meeting fantastic people! That is wonderful!

* Image courtesy : Stuck in Customs