Today marks exactly 20 years since my husband and I visited Patagonia and its breathtakingly beautiful Perito Moreno Glacier. It is quite literally the most beautiful thing we have ever seen.
Visiting Argentina was not just an ordinary trip.
It came after our first failed IVF treatment, which had seemed so promising — I was so sure everything would go perfectly. It didn’t. The disappointment that followed was so overwhelming that there are no words to describe the darkness.
The only thing that helped to heal my broken soul was buying two plane tickets to Buenos Aires and starting to plan our journey. It helped us find joy in our lives again.
Of course, travelling is not a magic cure. The trip ended and we returned to our real lives. But the happy moments healed us, at least a little, and made us stronger to face everything that followed.
Gorgeous photos (as usual!), Klara! It's not a cure, but it sure helps soothe the wounds and provide some perspective, doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteAfter our last failed fertility treatment, we took a three-week trip to the west coast with my parents, driving with them from the Prairies through the Rockies to Seattle to see my great-aunt, the then down to the Oregon Coast. It was just the tonic we/I needed, and when we got back home, I knew I could not continue the path we'd been on. That was 2001, 25 years ago this summer, and the beginning of my childless-after-infertility life.
Thank you for sharing this picture and your very personal memory of it. Your last paragraph is perfect. After I quit fertility treatments, we took several trips seeing our favorite bands play around the country. The change of pace and scenery didn't solve my problems, but they gave me some respite from the extreme darkness.
ReplyDeleteI agree that travelling definitely helps heal our souls. Travel planning, for me, shows there is still something to look forward to. And now you've made me add that glacier onto my list of places I want to visit. I love love love this post.
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