Exploring the Essence of Saudade: A Journey Through Travel and Longing
Saudade: Portuguese word used to describe missing, longing for something or someone
Saudade (English: /saʊˈdɑːdə/,[1] European Portuguese: [sɐwˈðaðɨ], Brazilian Portuguese: [sawˈdadʒi] , Galician: [sawˈðaðɪ]; plural saudades) is an emotional state of melancholic or profoundly nostalgic longing for a beloved yet absent something or someone. It is often associated with a repressed understanding that one might never encounter the object of longing ever again. It is a recollection of feelings, experiences, places, or events — often elusive — that cause a sense of separation from the exciting, pleasant, or joyous sensations they once caused. It derives from the Latin word for solitude.
No matter where I am, I’m always missing something. I can’t have it all. Yet, I long for everything I don’t currently have. That’s the dilemma of a full-time traveler.
While traveling broadens our horizons and gives us access to places, experiences, and people that we wouldn’t be staying home, it can also repress you from a so-called “normal” life. That’s actually, I’d say, what most of us are trying to accomplish with travel. To run away. To get out of the norm. To venture somewhere else. But in my experience, it’s a short time between longing for something different and away and wanting that…
