Streams of thought: About change, moving to Switzerland and how rolling hills compare to Mont Blanc
More than a week has passed since I packed most of my belongings and moved to Switzerland. Time flies, and with the amount of things to do here, to organize and to explore, it will probably not slow down. But at the same time I want to try my best not to let time fly by unconsciously – I want to be here for every little moment that will eventually become the building blocks of this new chapter of my life. I want to stay present and enjoy the process, not get overwhelmed by paperwork and the thousands of new impressions that come with moving to a new country and starting a new job.
For the past four years Chamonix has been my home. Mont Blanc has been my silent, comforting companion sitting at the center of the valley patiently watching everything I do. I’ve stopped counting the times I’ve looked at those lines, those slopes and curves leading toward the summit of the highest mountain in the Alps. I’ve been dreaming about adventures (I want to climb that route, run on that trail) and in these last few years I’ve turned many of those dreams into reality. Eventually, I never wanted to leave my paradise on Earth and I said I’m going to stay here forever.
Change is a funny thing. Looking out of my window now I don’t see jaw-dropping peaks – I see lush hills, fields of green and quiet country life. Life has taken me to a small village in Kanton Aargau in Switzerland, a place I previously never knew existed. If you had asked me before I would have said that if I’d move to Switzerland, it would be to one of the mountain villages of the Valais, not one of the flattest regions of the country.
But I came here for the opportunity of a new and exciting adventure, one that involves mountains in more ways than just having them at your doorstep. An adventure that I didn’t want to let slip away.
Yes, change really is a funny thing. It can be terrifying, but it can also be wonderful. If you’re willing to make a bet and say: yes.
“Things usually get much worse before they eventually start to get even better than before.”
Jost told me something along the lines of this on one of many days filled with so much sadness last year. To me, 2023 was a tough one. It started with losing our apartment, the home that we had come to love, at the beginning of the year. Then I became unemployed. And in October I got a brain oedema at 6000 meters in Nepal, leaving me feeling more deprived of energy – physically and mentally – than I’d ever felt before. Not only was I broke, but I was also sick, and I had no idea what opportunities I could find professionally that would suit me. Within a few months my whole life had changed, and I was scared of what was coming. I didn’t think there was anything that could match the awesome life that I’d had before everything was turned upside down.
So, turns out Jost may have been right. Things are good now, and although nothing is the way I had imagined, that’s okay. It’s great, even. We found a new apartment in Chamonix and have turned it into our home, I managed to recover from my brain injury, gain my strength back, I was offered my dream job in Switzerland and now I get to explore an entirely new place – one of my all-time favorite things to do.
The rolling hills here are no mountains, I can’t deny that. But what if where I am now is not a 5 whereas the mountains are a 10? What if they are both tens, what if this place is just as incredible, in its own ways? And all I have to do is open my mind.
One last thing.
I think I’ve lived long enough to understand that if you walk around constantly seeing the negative in things wherever you go, that’s on you. Change can be powerful… if you let it in.
Off we go 🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀
Read my Instagram post about what brought me to Switzerland