I recently spent a few days in Tasmania, a place I didn’t ever really think I’d want to go back to except to visit friends. Those few days were the most relaxing days of my life. You hear people talk about Tasmania as being like this super-beautiful fantasy land or something. And it is beautiful, but I’ve always bagged Tassie out by saying there’s not really that much to do there if you’re a young person. Also, the public transport system there is terrible even in Hobart. I’ve occasionally said before that people in Tasmania are oppressed by the inability to go places except from 8am-6pm unless you drive a car. It’s really that bad.
However, this time I visited I felt something I hadn’t really noticed before. It feels clean. The air is so clean. Living in a city you become used to all the cars and you don’t so much notice the state of the air you’re breathing. The constrast between the air where I was staying in Tasmania and the air in the city is remarkable. There were no car fumes lingering in the air, I could taste the scent of trees. I felt peaceful. I was staying with a friend who lives next to a beach. We took their dog for walks along the beach. It felt so fresh. It instills in you a sense of tranquilty.
I returned to the city I now call home after only a few days in Tassie. I like where I live. I like the culture, I like being able to do things and go places at any time and still know I can get home on the public transport. It is a good place to live. But it is not a peaceful place to live, not in the same way that Tasmania is peaceful. The city here is so busy, people always going places, people always beeping at each other in cars. You move from one air-conditioned building to another, often trapped inside. It is easy to become stressed. The pace of everything, the environment with all its artificial lights, articifial air, and artificial people. It can be depressing.
When I used to live in Tasmania I never really noticed how good it is there. I now know why you would want to live there. I want to live there. But not right now. Not yet. When I am older. But until then I miss its beaches, I miss its air, I miss its peacefulness, but most of all I miss my friends.