Turning Point

Year of 2015

A few years passed and more regrets and disappointment followed however this all changed with my trip overseas to Europe to the country called Macedonia. My ethnicity is Macedonian and as such have strong roots and connections to the country and that followed as soon as my feet touched the ground.

During my time in Macedonia, I learnt that drinking clean mountain spring water, eating fruits and vegetables that are grown by family and friends and most of all, getting adequate distance from technology and more into nature completely changed my mental, physical and spiritual wellbeing. It changed to the point that after a month of staying there, I postponed my departure date and stayed a few months longer.

The new daily experiences taught me so much that the modern day city could not and that was:

• that there was a significant taste difference between the water I was used to in Australia (even after being filtered) to that of what nature produces. No taste of chemicals, no weird textures, just pure water that is rare to find. Funnily enough, my teeth also didn’t fall out or rot due to no fluoride in the water or toothpaste.
• that food in nutrient rich chemical free soil that was maintained daily by hand had flavours and fragrances you would only dare dream of. Fruit trees grew on the side of the roads, assorted berries were rampant throughout the forest and flowers used for tea grew abundantly on the mountains. The most memorable were the strawberries growing in my aunties backyard that when picked smelt like a perfume and tasted as sweet as sugar itself.
• that the worse the phone, mobile and internet reception was, the more clarity you had with your thoughts and brain fog was a rare occurrence. This forced you to go for hikes in the mountains, explore the rivers, lakes and waterfalls and enjoy interactions with other people face to face instead of virtually. A picnic on a mountain and a bbq in the village with family and friends were some of the highlights I experienced when technology couldn’t be used.

Months passed and the weather started getting cooler and at that point I decided it was time to go back home. Back to Australia where I would miss all these small things that had changed my life in a big way.

As soon as I got back home, food didn’t taste the same. My tolerance for milk was gone and trying to eat meat would cause vomiting. Everything had little to no taste and when it did, it tasted like plastic. I removed those food groups from my intake and noticed the drastic improvement even more so than eating these clean from overseas.

At this point, I turned Vegan and never looked back.