Dawn in New York.

Almost two years have passed since this August morning in the city that never sleeps.

I tried to stay true to Frank Sinatra's words and managed to get only an hour of sleep before embarking on what was going to be a 5-day, once-in-a-lifetime journey from New York to New Orleans, documenting @thestartupbus, a crazy half hackathon, half road trip experience.

Almost two years have passed since that warm August morning and so much has changed. The pandemic put dreams, plans, jobs, and traveling on hold.

I still remember the excitement I felt that morning. This "flutter" you feel in your stomach before doing something new, important, and frightening like having to speak in front of an audience. Your heartbeat increases and your mind sprints forward to what's about to come as you try to prepare in front of the uncertainty that awaits you. But unlike the uncertainty most of us faced this year, this is a good kind of uncertainty. It's a sign that tells us we have reached a threshold, after which we leave our comfort zone and expand, learn and develop.

We should crave more for this feeling, I think. I almost forgot this emotion during this year. But the recent trip to Eastern Turkey at an ESC Erasmus+ program to help and protect sea turtles reminded me of it.

The excitement of the upcoming journey was there of course. But so was a form of intense uneasiness, one that I am not used to before traveling. This year's lockdown was dull, but the daily routine in the familiar environment of Thessaloniki also offered comfort and easiness.

But the trip to Turkey knocked these feelings off the table - and for good reason. Traveling once again into places and people unknown with the commitment to stay and work there for a considerable amount of time, away from the comfortable, soft, and easy-going life that the Greek summer offers brought the old stomach feeling back.

Almost two years have passed since that warm August morning in New York and so much remains the same. The need to explore, experience, and expand our cognitive horizons maybe got muted but it's still there craving to taste more. The old stomach feeling seems to always be right. It shows up before something important like it's trying to tell us that we are heading into open waters and promising new lands of knowledge, new friends, images, tastes and smells.

It states that we are growing and that we will not be the same after this upcoming experience - we will be better.

Trust the ol' the stomach feeling. It's here to guide you, not frighten you.