Joseph Campbell in his analysis of human mythology - in which he found out that all heroes through ages are in fact the same person who walks the same essential routes, but under different disguises; thus, all heroes are indeed one hero with a thousand faces- in this analysis, he showed that at the beginning of the hero’s journey [monomyth], the hero is reluctant to accept the call of adventure to commence on his/her journey. This makes me think about why people stay and travel, for some, it’s an easy choice, but for others radical. People travel for different reasons; to visit new places, meet new people, discover diverse cultures, or for education and better living conditions, etc. And some travel and go far searching for meaning or to find themselves… are there really people who travel for such pure philosophical things? I do not know, maybe yes, maybe no, or maybe the meaning or one’s self are things you find along the way, I hope I will know for sure someday.
For me, and only through a poetic lens, Liechtenstein is such an idyllic place, for I really did not have a solid idea about it before, of course I knew about it and read a couple of things about its beautiful nature and industrial power here or there, but I have never thought of it as a destination for study and stay, that’s why discovering it now is overwhelmingly beautiful. I am doing my exchange semester at Liechtenstein University in Vaduz, coming from my university in Germany, in which I started my master’s study, after completing my bachelor’s degree in architecture in my home country, Egypt. That’s why I don’t find the university or the dormitory atmosphere new or so unfamiliar to me that I need to adapt, I am already used to them. Nevertheless, one thing got me in its grip that I can not get past; mountains, I am completely spellbound by them, wherever I look I see mountains, and they are never the same view, a whole spectrum of beauty, through the different times of the day, maybe even in the same hour, the whole surrounding scenery really keeps me speechless, mountains covered in trees, rough rocky edges, twilight, mist, shadows, the great vastness of the blue skies, the peaceful silence that prevails upon the valley after sunset, and uncountable stars shining in the dark cloak of the night. On my first days here and after settling all the essential stuff for the university and the dormitory, I was rather eager to walk around and casually discover the city, I put on comfy shoes, grabbed my small camera, and roamed around the city at different times of the day, in the early morning, just before sunset, or under the hood of the deep night, and I am always mesmerized, and always greeted and smiled at by the friendly people of the city, except for the late night walks of course since none in the streets :D, sometimes I even had some small friendly chats with them. That was the first thing I noticed, that people are really friendly, and are open to communication, I can not almost remember a time I passed by anyone and they did not smile and greet me, or at least friendly nodded at me. This very friendliness helped me to quickly overcome the feeling of strangeness that every newcomer has and made me feel instantly feeling like home. What lies ahead for me in this beautiful city? Asking myself. I have no idea, but anyway, it’s part of my monomyth.