It’s an interesting stage in life to say the least. I hit that mark in life where the journey starts to slow down in some ways and gear up in other ways. It’s at this juncture where life could, if I let it, become stagnant and mundane. We often hit the ground running into adulthood keen to ‘accomplish’. But what then? It’s here where I am finally able to catch my breath and pause to consider which course I want to set my sails on next.

So it happened one day where, in a bit of an impulsive moment, I bought myself a ticket to Tuscany. Rather cliché of me I suppose but the draw was there. So ‘Europe bound’ I head with a loose agenda. This is by no means a quest to be 20 again. Although I approach it with just the right amount of naivety and zeal, I aim to be a better version of myself at 20. It is not to find ‘love’ because we all know we cannot search for love. Love hits us like a sideways rain when we least expect it. It’s rarely rational and predictable, that’s why it knocks us off our feet. And I am most certainly not looking to find myself. What does that mean anyway? I think if we ever assume to have found ourselves we have thwarted the dynamic nature of personal growth and the changes that accompany it. Acceptance is one thing, to define ourselves is limiting.

My greatest attribute, I like to think, is my curiosity and the wanderlust that drives it. I am becoming more of a gypsy with age. There is something about being a  lone traveler. The natural high of being lost in another country, confounded by a foreign language. It’s a test of resiliency and resourcefulness. One that’s hard to replicate in other contexts.

Though there always seems to be a theme of food in most endeavours  I pursue, this trip is rather open. It is about the process not the outcome. That said, it will most certainly be written through the eyes of a food lover. So with passport in hand and an insatiable appetite for gastronomy I venture.