by Gundula Welti
24 Oct 2020
Effortlessly
My road trip through Italy taught me an important thing: when something needs to happen, it happens. And effortlessly!
The day before I arrived in Siena, I booked a guided tour that I found rather randomly on the Internet. The next day, in front of the cathedral, I realised I was the only person waiting for the guide. I had hit the jackpot: two hours for 20 euros!
That night, I tried to repeat the exercise. I looked for a guided tour of Assisi for the next day. It was impossible: not on a Sunday, not in a group, not in the morning – so I gave up and went for dinner.
During my meal, I was chatting on WhatsApp with some friends and realised I could meet up with them for lunch the next day! If I had insisted on a guided tour – if I had persisted in my efforts to find a guide – I would have missed out on the pleasure of that lunch.
Have you noticed that things happen effortlessly when they are just meant to be? The universe always points you in the right direction.
by Gundula Welti
17 Oct 2020
The recommendation
My host at the B&B in Aosta was an exceptional tourist guide. Cesare listened to what I wanted to do and then organised a customised tour for me.
Thanks to him, I went for a high-altitude hike in the mountains (which reminded me of the Way of St. James) and I found myself having lunch in a Michelin-starred restaurant in the middle of nowhere “because it’s so reasonably priced at lunchtime, you’ll see”.
I let myself be carried along by this enthusiastic local and ended up – it has to be said – with massive aches and pains and a very full stomach…but it was good to be guided by a satnav. Because you always have the choice: follow it. Or not.
What about you? What kind of satnav would you trust to take you to places?
by Gundula Welti
10 Oct 2020
Ask for a surprise
The law of attraction always holds that if you want to find a parking space, you have to visualise it! Another school of thought takes this a step further: ask for a surprise!
Slightly sceptical, I arrive in Turin with this in mind. I join the end of a large queue for the cinema museum and find out that entry is free of charge that day!
I can hear you saying that it would have been free even if I hadn’t requested anything. And you’d be right. What has changed is the fact that I am open to surprises.
I invite you to connect with your inner child – the one that likes playing – and ask for surprises. I guarantee that you’ll “see” one every day, where before you didn’t notice anything. And these little celebratory moments will occur throughout the day.
Want to give it a try?
by Gundula Welti
02 Oct 2020
Extremely hot and tough
My rucksack is sticking to my back, my hat is welded to my forehead and my glasses are stubbornly sliding down my nose. Not to mention feeling like I am something halfway between a post-it and glue.
So why be a tourist in summer, walking around overheated streets, shuttling from churches to museums and back?
5 minutes after my shower, I look at the photos and all discomfort is already forgotten.
The same is true when it comes to giving birth. For those women who have experienced it without an epidural, as soon as the baby is there, the pain and effort are forgotten. Otherwise, there’d be no such thing as large families.
Sport? Same story. All the effort is forgotten after an invigorating shower.
What about you? What reward do you need to make you want to put in the effort?
by Gundula Welti
25 Sep 2020
Getting flustered
As my friends know, for a long time I was both impressed and impressionable when I met anyone who was very highly educated. At that time, I suffered from an inferiority complex, and would become confused and lose my normal spontaneity and effervescence. Not anymore. Being regularly with such people has made me realise that they were just as impressed by my emotional intelligence.
Well, when I was flying to Rome with a friend for the weekend, the man next to me on the plane was a tennis player, tall, sporty, with a large collection of tennis rackets. I don’t know much about tennis, but I got chatting to him and he turned out to be Benoît Paire. France’s second-best tennis player! Back to square one!
I was so intimidated by how friendly and nice he was that when I got off the plane, I left my case in the luggage compartment!
What I am going to do? Keep reminding myself that I am a star too – in my own unique way.
What about you? What’s your technique for not getting flustered?