My journey took me from the shores of my “hometown”, Lemesos, to Cyprus’s highest peak, the 1,952-metre-high Mount Olympus, through tiny mountain villages, abandoned seashores and funky new resorts. I watched the solar rise over Aphrodite’s Rock, legendary birthplace of the goddess of love, and noticed it set over the tightly packed pine forests of the Troodos mountains. I fell again in love with the very particular manner the solar hits the deep blue of the Mediterranean, sending glints of silver skittering throughout the sea’s floor; and the manner sunsets drown the skies in a splash of neon orange.
I chatted with strangers in espresso outlets who shared their life tales with out pausing for breath, and remembered the manner folks affectionately declare you by placing a “mou”, or my, after your identify. Selina mou. I used to be reminded which you could’t pay anybody a go to with out them plying you with espresso, native sweets and mountains of fruit. And whereas I’m nonetheless unsure if Cyprus is house, the self-proclaimed island of love doesn’t really feel fairly so international any extra.
Our September/October issue is full of transformative journeys. In our characteristic on solo journey in the Middle East, three very totally different girls write about their experiences exploring the area on their very own. Among them is Zainab Al-Eqabi, an Iraqi para-athlete and incapacity advocate who had a life-changing second whereas scaling a mountain in Oman; and Alice Morrison, who has been travelling round the Middle East and North Africa for many years, however says mid-life has given her a complete new perspective on her solo endeavours.
At Como Shambhala Estate’s newly expanded Ojas Wellness Centre in Bali, Lisa Riehl embarks on an Ayurveda-inspired journey that yields sudden outcomes; and Francis Lam returns to Hong Kong to discover a metropolis barely recognisable from his childhood recollections. All reminders that wherever you go, journey has the capability to shock you.