#4 The Happy Place of Phani

Name: Phani 
Age: 29
Happy Place: the sensation of not feeling
Meeting Point: Bucharest, Romania 

The sensation of not feeling, the complete connection between mind and body that become one. This is the Happy Place of Phani. We meet this young Indian guy the first night at our Friends Hostel in Bucharest. While cooking rice and vegetables to warm up after a cold rainy day, Phani enters the kitchen with a big smile. “Hello my friends, where are you from?” We turn around, enraptured by his positive expression and greet him.

Phani observes us cooking and asks multiple questions at the same time. He gets increasingly interested in our hitchhiking adventures and travel projects. Finally we have time to focus on him, after feeling too distracted by cooking with inappropriate pans and talking at the same time. We sit together and start telling our stories.

Phani comes from a big city in India, so he logically laughs when we tell him that less than 2000 people live in our village. He moved to Germany a couple of years ago to study informatics and build his professional future. 15 days of holiday before starting a new job in Frankfurt. “I want to explore Europe, to meet people. BlaBla car is a perfect way to travel. And, I wish I could stay longer in Romania, it’s amazing!” Phani has a strong positive attitude, he is calm, kind, polite and very enthusiastic about life. We feel it in every story he tells us. Sometimes it is hard for him, far from his girlfriend and family in India.

One story follows the other and we start talking about deep topics, the beauty of travelling and the originality of each of us. “Phani, what is your Happy Place?” we spontaneously ask him. “What do you mean exactly?” replies him. “Whatever you can imagine as the place where your heart is filled.”

The sensation he felt when he experienced bunjee jumping in Innsbruck. Nothing to do with the adrenaline one feels with this extreme activity. The moment right after the jump, when your body is hanging upside down and you are waiting to be pulled back. This is what he describes as his Happy Place. Peace, sensation of nothing but chakras being all perfectly activated. The feeling of not feeling, in a way. His Happy Place is an inner state, a place he can find in himself.

The Story of a genuine person who moved to another continent to pursue his dreams, with courage and enthusiasm. We bid him farewell, hoping to see him again one day. He leaves happily, his holiday continues in Spain, where he will meet his friends and enjoy a few more days of summer.

The Happy Place, where he is in peace, is when he can experience the total unity between his mind and body. Here he has a sensation of emptiness inside.

Of Phani, we keep his kindness and modesty, together with his positivity. His openness to discover peoples’ stories and willingness to learn. Humans like him remind us of the beauty of traveling.