Selectively Juggling

I’m currently travelling throughout Europe, on a family holiday. As an Australian, who is english speaking it is easy to exist in my own little bubble, feeling comfortable and confident in my own privileged sphere. My husband is Dutch, from the Netherlands, but has lived in Australia since we first met during a university holiday in Cairns, Northern Queensland. It actually is quite sobering to realise just how much a sacrifice my husband made, giving up his home country and life. I am grateful that he did, and if push came to shove, would I have been able to make such a decision? I am not sure, as I would have had to learn a whole new language, give up university and say goodbye to my very large family, but namely my mum, dad and youngest sister.  Anyway I digress. 

This holiday me and my eldest son took a side trip to Vienne, France, via Helsinki Finland, Geneva Switzerland and Annecy, France. My son’s favourite band Caravan Palace – a Parisian based electro based dance group was performing in Vienne, France. The setting, ancient Roman amphitheatre. By the way, the concert was sublime, the atmosphere and ambience was out of this world, and the performance was brilliant, and the audience’s heightened passion was contagious. It was definitely an experience to remember. After our whirlwind 5 day side trip, we met up with my husband and two other kids in The Netherlands.   

Yet, what did that 5-day side-trip teach me? What life lessons did I learn? What will I take away from it? Many things, some wonderful and life-altering. For example I learnt so much more about compassion, assertiveness, hopelessness, helplessness, anxiety, stress, fearlessness, fear, joy, and creative awakenings. I learnt that in the scheme of things, although I am the centre of my own universe, in all reality I am nothing but a small insignificant being, but don’t worry, it is important to understand humility and humbleness, understand that I am no better, no worse, no different from others. I also learnt that there are players, schemers and arseholes that will try to scam you out of your money, promising one thing and delivering something completely different. I learned that it is crucial for us to be able to speak up safely, assert our right and fight against abusers. I also learnt that it was important to do this safely, intelligently and with a forward thinking plan, to help negate any negative consequences. This also included learning to trust the system that is meant to protect us, using them to work hard to achieve the outcome I needed. 

It is important that I also mention that I learned there is also an incredible amount of genuine love, care and compassion in this world. It is not bound by political or social constraints and borders, but transcends humanity. I met amazing individuals, who showered me and my son in genuine compassion, kindness and warmth. Suffice it to say, I leaned heavily into these types of experiences. Sometimes there were no difficulties or complexities with language, other times it was more of a meeting of minds, aided by the use of technology, in the name of my iphone and translation services. Generosity of spirit is such a wonderful warm and endearing quality, kindness costs nothing but can literally connect worlds. 

I learnt just how my daughter and her peers who have cognitive impairments, or intellectual disabilities must feel at times, when it is difficult to understand, comprehend or convey what is or needs to be communicated. I also understood a little better how her use of technology has opened up her world, allowing her to communicate much more effectively with others. Communication is everything, and it has been quite challenging at times to try and effectively convey what I needed to say. One particular experience in the stunning French city of Annecy occurred after the pricey accommodation we had booked turned out to be subpar, and what I would deem unsafe. I erred on the side of safety, or caution and booked another apartment for the two nights. So imagine as you will, here we are, my son and I, it’s starting to get late, things are closing down, we don’t know our way around this incredibly touristic town, swarms of tourists are lining the streets trying to take in the incredible beauty. We are still jet-lagged as we had effectively been travelling for 3 days from Sydney, our bags are heavy and it’s still quite hot out. My phone has limited data and I am STRESSED!!! I mean really stressed, my dream trip was quickly turning into a nightmare, you know the trips you read about online. Anyway, my son, Xavier and I finally find the building, but its locked, and I hadn’t received confirmation from the holiday booking (to be fair I had only booked it 30 minutes earlier) Thankfully, as we stood somewhat tired and sweaty on the stunning French streetscape, a man came out of the building. He was a cleaner who was moving the bins. Through his broken English and our pitiful French (aided by my phone) we finally understood each other. He ducked back inside to confirm it was the property, came back out and gave us a huge smile and thumbs up. The apartment was located on the 6th floor, and thankfully there was a 2 person lift, okay make that 1 person plus luggage lift. I wound my way up the spiralling stairs, somewhat quite breathless, while Xavier made his way up the lift with the bags. The lift only went to the 5th floor, so we had to carry our bags up the remaining flight. By the time we were standing outside the door, my phone pinged with details on how to access the building and apartment. We were SAFE! Tired, stressed, but safe. I was still fuming over the proprietor of the original apartment, which actually had a leaking ceiling directly near a light fitting. Given that the apartment was on the 5th floor, and there were issues with the lift, I did not want to risk waking up to an apartment being engulfed in flames, and not being able to escape the building. I am still challenging this, as I am out of pocket $700 for the apartment. Hence my earlier quip about unscrupulous scammers. And before you think “Oh well you should have gone through a verified agent like booking.com” I assure you we did. 

I didn’t let that experience sour my trip, or the experience of Annecy. We got up early the next morning and explored the streets, waterways, canals and bridges. We were basically the first tourists there, and as such I didn’t need to make my way through swarms of people to take on a vantage point. My son and I stood alone, just drinking in the incredible beauty and history. It was special.  The on-off weather couldn’t even detract from the experience. Caravan Palace were amazing performers, the small French town of Vienne sprung to life, and it is definitely an experience I would like to have again. I guess I better start saving, now if they would only travel to Finnish Laplan to perform, then I’d be a happy camper.