This essay is a summary of what I have learned during our learning circus aka Tiimi race.
6 dní. 6 zemí. 2222km. 12 Kaamosu a 3 Lopatky
DON’T LIVE IN FEAR
If we would have been scared to go on this trip our team would have never been where it is right now. We wouldn’t have realized how much we are capable of!
DON’T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THINK
If we listened to all the people telling us how dangerous it is, we would have stayed at home. If we cared about what others might think of us whenever we were singing out loud on the streets, we would have never laughed so hard.
TRUST THE PROCESS
If we didn’t believe we are all gonna get there on time, we would have ended up in Memmingen. (town in the middle of nowhere where we got stuck for 5 hours)
TOGETHER EVERYONE ACHIEVES MORE
If I didn’t have my team I would have probably not visited 6 countries in six day by hitchhiking. I wouldn’t be staying in a villa on the beach in Valencia for 4 days. We are so powerful together.
TRUST YOUR GUT
You know the best what is good for you. Trust your intuition if it tells you not to get in a white van with a weird guy, sleep near the lake or leave the beach cause it is gonna rain.
DON’T BE STRESSED BEFORE THE STRESS COMES
Don’t waste your energy on scenarios that might never happen.
MINULOST NEBUDE A BUDOUCNOST NENÍ (Jan Smolík, 2023)
Live in the presence!
MOST PEOPLE WILL HELP YOU
Only a few people rejected to talk to us. Most of them were people like us, living in their own bubbles made out of fear. Be the one that breaks them and shows them there is goodness in this world.
DON’T EXPECT ANYONE TO KNOW WHO YOU ARE AND WHAT ARE YOUR INTENTIONS
People might not be interested to talk to you because they don’t know the reason why they should – even though you do already. They wear different glasses and have different timeline even though you meet at the same time. In their world are different informations.
TRYING TO ASK WONT KILL YOU
(Líná huba, holé neštěstí)
You have nothing to lose except the thing you wanted, but for which you didn’t do anything, anyways.
BE WEIRD AND CHILDISH – JUST YOURSELF
I have learned that everyone craves to act like a child sometimes again. When we leave all the stressors and care only about the basic needs – sleep, food and fun, our mind is clear as it was when we were children. Let your inner child out and inspire others to do as well, cause trust me, there is one in each of us.
K4L (Kaamos for life)
Keep around yourself people that will stand by you in difficult situations and support you no matter what.
BEING VULNERABLE IS POWERFUL
Trying to stay solid while my teammate was breaking down was needed, but what woke her strength up was when I finally allowed myself to be broken too.
THE JOURNEY IS THE DESTINATION
(Cesta je cíl)
If we would have taken the plane to Valencia (or any other easy ways) we would have gained 0.5 of this experience.
FEELING DOWNIE, EAT A BROWNIE
When I felt like I cannot continue hitchhiking I chilled and had something good to eat to recharge. Then I hitchhiked a whole empty bus.
THINK IN SYSTEMS
If you concentrate only on one part of the road you wont get to your final destinations. When choosing a spot to hitchhike you have to consider from where the cars are coming and where they might be going.
SET SMALL GOALS
What helped us to reach the final destination was setting small goals for each day – the destination we wanted to reach. Don’t feel bad if one day you don’t meet the objective, you have the whole next day to catch up and you might even be faster. Don’t push it too hard. It is not the end of the race yet.
WE ARE RESILIANT AND PERSISTANT
On our last day, we went hitchhiking in a group of 9 in Spain. Everyone told us its impossible. We switched 3 different gas stations. Got chased by an owner of a private land and kicked out of a road by a police. We didn’t give up and kept overcoming every obstacle pushing further. Eventually we all got to Valencia on the same day! We believed until the end.
WE ARE A FAMILY NOW
We show our true selves with one other. We support each other. We don’t judge. We give without expecting to receive something in return. We trust each other. We laught together all the time.
This is just a brief summary of what this journey taught me. I will remember it forever. This s the kind of experience I will never get bored of sharing. I learned so much about myself, my team and the international community.
