Eat, Pray, Love: My Search for Everything

Hello everyone, I'm Liz! One Woman's Search for Everything

I welcome you with my first post on VAGMAG. That’s why I preferred this article to have a more intimate tone.

As a woman of unlimited good fortune, I found myself trapped in a cycle I didn’t want to be in. So, I left everything behind and spent four months in Italy eating, three months in India searching for my spirituality I had never known, and finally, I went to Bali to find my balance and complete the year.

Ironically, while I found love in Bali, Ideal, the creator of this magazine, lost hers. Life always has different surprises for each of us.

In this article, I will talk about how I dared to embark on this journey, where I first lost myself and then found myself again. In my next post, we will explore this delightful route together.

Since the moment I first encountered the opportunity to write for VAGMAG, I have felt like I belong here. As you get to know me, you will understand how ideal I am as a writer for VAGMAG.

I think it’s time to open the box under my bed, filled with old magazine clippings, once again. Following the route I planned and completed 19 years ago is now much easier for you—whether you want to follow in my footsteps or use this as inspiration to create your own journey. After all, thanks to companies trying to profit from office toilet paper, we have all become digital nomads, and we fear bringing children into this world.

How Did I Dare to Travel Alone?

I believe many of you are somewhat familiar with my story.

For as long as I can remember, I always had someone in my life. First, I was a good home girl—really good at it, actually—because now I realize that I loved to love and to feel loved. Then, this need for love and affection grew, and I believe it started to reflect in my relationships. You might already know part of the story, but the point I want to make is that loving someone or receiving love was no longer enough for me.

Before anyone or anything else, I needed to love myself.

So, I did the best thing I could—I set off on a journey.

I traveled to love myself.

I traveled to get to know myself.

I traveled to break and rebuild myself.

Before I left, of course, I had many fears. I was afraid of getting sick in a foreign country, of leaving everything behind, of spending all my savings. I always considered myself lucky, but I was even afraid of the possibility that luck might not be on my side this time.

Sometimes, fixing is the thing to do but sometimes, ruin things apart is necessary.

“Ruin is the road to transformation,” I told myself, and I ruined everything—starting with the marriage I thought I had entered willingly.

I Don’t Know What I Want, But What About "What I Don’t Want?"

I didn’t know what I wanted, so I asked myself what I didn’t want first. For the first time in my life, I prayed before going to bed, thinking, "I don’t want to be married anymore."

I no longer wanted to be married. I would decide later what I wanted to do and where

I wanted to go.

What is it in your life that you don’t want?

Once I realized what I didn’t want, I started taking steps to change it. No miracles happened. I just made a decision and stood by it. I did whatever someone who no longer wanted to be married would do. I can’t say it was easy, but no one ever promised me it would be.

The day I locked my entire life inside a storage unit and closed the door, I had no idea that I was actually opening a whole new door for myself.

Even before I fully stepped through that door, I had already decided what I wanted to do within my means. For years, I had been collecting newspaper and magazine clippings of places I wanted to see before I died.

Once I started looking, it became impossible not to see the signs. Was there any reason to keep postponing my dream of seeing the world? If not now, then when?

I’m sure I will return to the topic of desires in the future. Everything begins with wanting.

For example, I had never even realized that I could buy a nightgown simply because I liked it. I had always done things like that for someone else, not me. But in Italy, I finally bought that deep purple nightgown for myself, wore it, and embraced the sweetness of doing nothing, just being with myself. What is it that’s stopping you from doing the same? In the VAG Club, we have plenty of space to discuss this, and I have a feeling that VAGY will soon have deep purple nightgowns in stock.

Do You Ever Think, “I Wish I Could Go”

Do you also find yourself saying, “I wish I could go” just like my close friend did before I left? Do you love your life partner, your job, and your child so much that you choose to stay in your comfort zone?

Would you, for that reason, wish difficulties upon me or hope that I wouldn’t be able to leave?

What a humane act! None of us are angels. Before I made the decision to leave everything behind, I envied those who could. Remember, for years, I lived with a box under my bed filled with clippings of travel sections from magazines and newspapers.

Maybe your answer isn’t to leave everything behind and take a gap year. Maybe you’re already giving yourself the answer before you even say, "I wish I could go." Maybe you find traveling with your spouse inspiring. Maybe your journey is hidden in the small getaway vacations you take during your child’s growth years. Liz, the auntie hasn’t forgotten about your travels either—she's been crafting organic products for VAGY to accompany you on your future journeys.

Or perhaps, thanks to the job you love so much, you’ll soon become a digital nomad like us and join our community?

I think, you can go.

Until then, you can join us in the VAG Club, participate in our running club in your city, and prepare for future travels with our stylish and practical VAGY travel products. Inspired by the collaborations I formed around every dinner table I set in Italy, we’ve created several collaboration products, just for you. You probably won’t be surprised to hear that the "Eat, Travel, Love" collection is mine.

At VAGMAG, we love encouraging you to travel alone because doing the opposite is too easy. We choose to support and collaborate with you.

I plan to end my posts with a phrase I love in Italian. It seems to have no deep meaning, simply translating to “Let’s cross over” but with you, it finds its meaning.

Let’s cross over together—aren’t you curious to see what’s on the other side?

Attraversiamo, Liz