On my way to Toronto I came to Sudbury. At first it was a strange encounter with only a nickel mine and a huge science center to enrich my afternoon. But then I gradually fell in love with this little town 400 Kilometers north of Toronto. It is small enough to be easily accessible, but there are things going on up here.

A turning point?

The cityscape boasts a large variety of murals and an annual independent art and music festival that just unraveled itself in front of me for the start of a good weekend. On the other hand Sudbury seems to be a turning point in my travel. I have completed an epic road trip across this beautiful country. I’ve come a long way, baby. The next stop in Toronto will hold a meeting with an old friend from Stuttgart that comes to visit me for a week.

I am stumbling about the next steps. Will I sell the van after that yet? Start a new more serious photographic project with the goal to finally publish something or just enjoy the life of a backpacker on the beaches of this world for a few more months before the reality sets back in? So many options and yet I have to take a decision.

I truly enjoyed the freedom and vastness of Canada. This could be a country to live in. The weather might not be optimal but the people are liberal and friendly enough to compensate for all this flaws. Nature-wise it has it all.

One thing became more and more clear to me during the last 2 weeks. Whenever I am with someone it is an option to outdo what everybody else is doing. Be more extreme, more adventurous, more knowledgeable or show more endurance. This used to be a huge part of my identity. But when it comes down to being all by myself I start to feel a new dimension of this. Could I be striving for all these achievements to mask my own fear of being insufficient? Am I fearful that nobody would accept me with all my flaws when I’d stop to outdo everyone else all the time? Or would that result in a more approachable and accessible me? New impressions and interesting thoughts that came up by living out of my comfort zone.

I think being all by myself in this somehow distant but yet lovely small town provoked more thoughts than I would have expected it to. This is not the end. But it sure is a turning point.