01 · FLORENCE
The night
has no clock
That takes me back to Florence. I was there for a dermatology congress for veterinarians. I had an agreement with my employer that whenever I attended a congress anywhere in the world, I could add a holiday afterwards. So I rented a B&B right by Florence’s main railway station for a week.
Now here is the thing: to keep my energy up, I had developed my own rhythm during my extensive trips across America – and that was 45 years ago.
Breakfast at around eight, then out all day, visiting museums and drinking endless espressos standing at the bar. Back to my room at about five in the afternoon, sleep until seven – and then it was rock ’n’ roll. The night has no clock.
Like Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
New countries are not scenery for a quick photograph. If you surrender to their rhythm, you do not return as the same person who set out.
02 · RESEARCH AND EXPERIENCE
Not everything fits
into a spreadsheet.
Travel is neither medicine nor a guaranteed fountain of youth. Scientific research does, however, show connections between holidays, recovery, lower perceived stress and subjective wellbeing.
Movement, fresh impressions, social encounters and distance from everyday life can be good for both body and mind.
Research by Edith Cowan University considers these possible effects from the perspective of entropy. A German review of 92 studies concludes that travel can support recovery, reduce stress and create new personal resources.
Science can measure a great deal. But not everything a journey does to a person fits into a spreadsheet.
Scientific context and sources
These associations are not promises of healing, anti-ageing effects or improved immunity.
03 · PLACES OF REFLECTION
So the soul
can fly again.
On my many journeys, I like to visit cathedrals, monasteries, churches, temples, Buddha statues and Buddhist monks – places of reflection. And by Buddha, I do not mean the countless ornaments now standing in front gardens.
Spoiler: visit these places and meet the people with respect. Adapt to the circumstances. Smile into the mirror and the mirror smiles back.
Find a place where everything becomes a little quieter. It does not matter whether you believe in something, or what that belief might be.
Sometimes the soul does not need another item on the itinerary. Sometimes it simply needs a place where it can fly again.
04 · LIFE’S BONUS POINTS
You think you have
already seen it all.
I often think: you have experienced so much in your life – enough for four lifetimes. Surely there is nothing left that could truly sweep you off your feet.
And then, without warning, something completely unexpected happens: an encounter, a place or an experience that enriches your life in an entirely new way.
Those are what I call life’s bonus points. They touch your soul, your mind and your body, release fresh energy and intense feelings of happiness – and feel like an extension of life itself.
It is like someone who has eaten in Michelin-starred restaurants for years and believes nothing culinary could surprise them any more. Then Grandma Käthe arrives with her authentic Austrian home cooking – and completely blows them away.
And suddenly, life gives you new bonus points.
The brilliant part: you are going into extra time.
