Rome, 29 January 2020
I have often thought and stated that ‘the journey begins when -behind you- you close the door of your house‘. And if this has always been true in my mind, those who have the burden of living with me every day have, almost certainly, a very different opinion.
I have my own rules on WHEN to prepare the travel bag and HOW to prepare it, which only happens after all the equipment has been selected and checked. Documents to be brought, where to put them and in which order; to know where to find them without wasting time.
I do everything very quietly, in silence. The day before departure.
No emotion can distract or alter what I now consider a ritual. And as such, the preparation and closing of that door that will decree the beginning of the journey is serenely transformed into a lay liturgy, never blasphemous.
This journey, however, tastes different.
This journey – and thus the work we are going to do – comes from much further afield. It took two years to plan it, to prepare it, to create those conditions in terms of geography, contacts, relationships, and participants, so that we could, today 29 January 2020, close that door behind us and begin this extraordinary humanitarian adventure together with the men and women of MotoForPeace.
Our task – as DooG Reporters – will be to report on them and what they are doing on the South American continent.
As a simple person, mine will be to live it to the fullest with respect for the land and the people who inhabit it, those who are entitled to the words of Maruja Torres when she calls it Amòr America.
