3 Leaving

So that's it. Now I know from experience how fast one can disappear from a place and it hurts. There were things, some of my works, my surfboard and my car that was really hard to let go. It was good to hold on to Hunor in those moments. He sold my car and i sold his car. We tried to make it less painful for each other. And we exchanged lots of encouraging hugs in the process. There are the objects and there is the atmosphere you create by your lifestyle. An air. I would say if ours had a color it would be green and orange, it would smell salty like the sea with a bit of lemon and it would taste like carrots and sweet potato. It gently wraps our life, our actions and our belongings. And now it is gone. So far i feel disoriented without it. 

We put on our backpacks (which are way too heavy to carry around and i know as soon as we will be more seasoned travelers we will throw half of the stuff out) and went out to the main road to hitchhike our way to Hazel's apartment in Onna village. In 10 minutes an elderly man picked us up and as we told him that we had a home until abut 20 minutes before and we have just begun traveling right now, he offered he would take us all the way to our destination - to give a good start to our journey. It turned out that he was a taxi driver, giving us a ride on his free day. Well, it looks like we met someone for whom taking people to their destination is more than work, it is a calling. Lucky for us. Thanks to him, our trip was very smooth and we didn't have to suffer long under our overweight backpacks. 

with our first ride

We spent a relaxed evening with Hazel and her husband, Chris, watched a spectacular sunset from their window and ate good warm home food prepared by Hazel (with the addition of some fresh tuna for the special occasion from Hazel's father, Hunor's best fishing buddy). 

last sunset in Okinawa for sometime...

The next morning Hazel took us to Motobu port and we left the island by ferry, heading to Kagoshima. I feel blessed that we have spent the last hours together with Hazel, who taught me so much about Okinawa and got me into surfing. Having her as a friend has been a great inspiration. We swam together for long hours, painted walls and her car, made and sold accessories on the beach, snacked on veggies, learned slack lining and shared dreams and fears. She has the same wanderlust and a brave soul so she understood and encouraged me and made the transition as smooth as it is possible, I thank her for that. 

It felt very natural to leave silently, long after all the crying and the goodbyes. Right now it does not feel like a dramatic change, but more like slowly and silently disappearing from a place, like clouds carried away by the gentle southern wind on a blue skied summer morning.

clouds on a blue skied summer morning...