I'm wondering... Or a little Véfe-style summary

My brain’s short-circuiting—I’m overthinking, overanalyzing, drowning in questions... So I’m turning to you, you with your sharp, no-nonsense advice. You’ll help me, I just know it!

Here’s the thing: I don’t know what to do with my life. I want to travel the world, but I think you need money for that. Should I work to save up a nest egg first, then leave? And if I’m unemployed, can I still just go anyway?

Okay, but *where*? If I go to Cuba, I’ll fall in love with some guy who’ll want to marry me. If I go to Arab countries, I won’t be able to walk around in shorts. If I go to India, I’ll see rats everywhere and beggars dying in the streets. If I go to Argentina, I’ll probably meet aliens. If I go to Africa, I’ll see lots of Black people living in huts, and in Canada, I’ll run into bears (though, honestly, that’s not so bad—I like bears). I could keep going with examples, but I don’t want to wear you out!

And then there’s the language thing—I only speak French. How am I supposed to get by in countries where they don’t speak it?

And what am I even going to eat in all these places? Fries won’t be everywhere, that’s for sure!

But I *still* want to go, to meet people and to *really* meet *myself*. Isn’t that the point? You all say it’s important to go somewhere else to find yourself, so...

Except I’m terrified of flying. I’ve done it a few times, and every time we land, I clap because I’m so relieved to have made it in one piece! And then—bam—I just read that clapping is *super* lame, which explains why I’m always the only one doing it. Everyone else knows it’s dumb. Maybe I just travel with really smart people?

Anyway, while I wait for your brilliant advice, I’ll start packing. Wait—rolling suitcase or backpack? Ugh, why is traveling so complicated! Maybe I should just stay on my couch and watch travel documentaries, like *Peking-whatever* or *Ko-thingy*. My brain would stay intact, and I wouldn’t have to ask so many questions.

But if I stop asking questions, why am I even here? Isn’t the whole point of a forum to ask questions and get answers? Or is it not *just* for that? Sometimes people argue, sometimes they insult each other, sometimes they laugh, sometimes they get bored... Is it just like real life, then? Not even funny...

Dolma

Awesome!!! 😏 After travel journals and poetry, here’s humor Dolma-style.......... Love it.

By the way, where’s your question? 😛 Not even funny if we can’t answer.....!

I suggest Paris-Plages! 😜😜😜

Excellent Dolma, just like always. 😉

Phew, none of my posts are quoted here—they’re not too over-the-top, then! 😇

Anyway, only a "VF regular" could pull off such a great summary of all these discussions, many of which I’m familiar with!

Actually, like some of us, you’re addicted to virtual social connections—with people who share similar cultural and political views (more or less!) and intellectual backgrounds (we don’t write in text-speak, we read, we travel...), which doesn’t mean you’re a no-life! 😏 Probably quite the opposite!

By the way, I’d love to meet in person a woman who shows so much wit...🙂

Dolma,

Come back and see us, together we’ll save the baby seals...

It's the end of a summer rather than knitting Dolma strings our beads into a pretty necklace

What astonishes me the most is this kind of question: I have three free days in... what could I do? When you come across all these requests for advice that are strictly personal, you’re left speechless and think you’ve lost touch with the world—that you’ve become a stranger to others, you’re so stunned by this lack of personal autonomy. I remember some guy asking where he could go for his vacation, even though his profile said he loved adventure! People who have the freedom to go wherever they want are reduced to begging for advice about their own lives!

Young VF vacationers must be wondering how the old-timers managed without the internet? Let me reassure them: it was awful!

(on this page, there’s also: Inspire me for a trip. ... suddenly, I don’t feel like laughing anymore😕)

Not all young people are the same, thankfully... During a trip that lasted a few months, I remember several times choosing my next day's destination by randomly flipping through the pages of a travel guide. Those were the good old days.

Hello friends, I hope it's okay if I call you friends, right? Your encouragement reassures me, your comments inspire me, and your suggestions are going to help give my life meaning... I feel so much better now, and I’d like to thank you—but how can I do that?

Oh noooo, I’m not going to start asking questions all over again, am I?!

Dolma

To thank us, easy!

Organize a VF picnic at the Trocadéro or a scavenger hunt in Paris!!! 😏

Please, Dolma, could you organize a "work seminar" for us in the Cantal or the South of France to motivate the team at work?

Suggested theme: who speaks faster off the cuff, the French or the Quebecers?😉

DeCléricy

Too funny! ... but just a quick note, I swear you can find fries *everywhere*... yep, it's true! 😎

Too funny!....... but just a quick clarification, I swear you can find fries everywhere.... yes, yes, it's true😎

You’re raising another issue..... because someone could argue that real fries only exist in one country..... 😛 yes, yes, I hear that almost every day...... 😉

A scavenger hunt that takes place during a work seminar (obviously) between Cantal and Corbières, with a picnic break featuring all-you-can-eat fries! Here’s the perfect summary of a trip organized by some Véféian oddballs who, if they didn’t exist, we’d have to invent—just to joyfully set off on a Discovery of the World (no big deal, right?)...

Dolma 😏

What a wonderful discussion! I can't believe the first VF post I read after coming back from vacation is this one! I have to say, Dolma, I tend to read your posts—I really love your writing. But this time, I really laughed out loud!

Anyway, I'm going back to write in my travel journal to answer all your questions 😉

Some folks don’t want me to knit 😮... Guess I’ll just keep stringing beads then 😏...

Dolma

Wow, Véfé used to be a platform where we could have fun laughing at each other!

So many people don’t come here anymore. Where are Genvois, Aristomakos, Durandale2, Bastinou13, Tokala, and so many others?

I just took a quick trip down memory lane to "list" today’s missing faces, and while some may never return (DeCléricy, no regrets—your travel journals would never be accepted again, nor would Tokala’s or Genevois’s, to name a few), others might have just moved on?

No nostalgia—or barely any—just a little nod to Jojoone1’s message: "Where are they now, and what are they up to?"

Hey Dolma, so nice to hear from you. VFF’s been chugging along, but it’ll get going again—just like an old diesel engine.

Great to see you here, Timouss... Maybe next time!