We all dream of travel and distant lands, set goals, hope that we can achieve them. A year after the start of the war in Ukraine, the columnist dreams of being able to travel to this country again.
This is my normal travel bucket list, i.e. places I absolutely want to see, experience, get to know or travel to again:
So - that's a board. I have to plan that well, and start the expensive trips the sooner the better.
But my first priorities on the bucket list at the moment are the architecture of Kiev, the promenade of Cherson, the Freedom Square of Kharkiv, the beach of Odessa, the people of Bucha. Not to say - Ukraine. I am praying with my new friends that one day I will be able to travel to this beautiful country. Because of the landscape, the cities, because of the food, and because of the people. I want to congratulate them on their courage, their pride, their hope, their strength. To her optimism, her zest for life, her patience. I would like to take A. to look at her former place of work, the university in her hometown, and see her mother again. I would like to hear Y. sing for her family in a theater. I want V. to find her husband and S. to find his father. I want to watch the kids with their friends on the playground and eat ice cream on a ferris wheel by the sea in the evening. I hope that these dreams will come true soon. I pray that no child will step on a mine while playing, no farmer will find a bomb in his field, that international companies will build new houses, that the water in the rivers will be able to flow through the country without poison and blood.
I am sure that under a blue sky Ukraine will again cultivate golden fields, and pictures in galleries will tell not only about war, but also about the beauty of life. Yesterday, on the first anniversary of the Russian attack on Ukraine, A. wrote to me in our group chat: "What happened this year showed us that our family and our freedom of expression are the only things that will always be with us. Things , money, housing and everything else became unimportant. The most valuable thing in the world are people and their lives! And I'm glad that our people in Europe now have the opportunity to speak out about what's going on and the world is listening to us ! Thank you for everything you have done and continue to do for us. I am grateful to all the people who support the Ukrainians, to all the countries that have not let us down!"
Another friend then wrote to A.: "I admire your courage and resilience. The strength you are building here you will one day bring to Ukraine!" I fully subscribe to that. Traveling is also possible in dreams.
