Sri Lanka is “A land like no other.”
“A land like no other” is the brilliant tagline the tourist board of Sri Lanka used sometime ago. I remember reading it as a young person and being quite impressed as to me it encapsulated just about everything you can say about our paradise island. I still agree, it truly is a land like no other. I have always thought our country to be mystic and full of hidden wonder. Let’s get the most obvious detail out of the way. Sri Lanka is an island smaller than almost every country in the world. After living in North America for a good part of my life I realized that Sri Lanka is miniscule even compared to some states in America. Insignificant to many until they discover exactly how much our tiny island stands out. It’s beauty and intrigue is meant for more than the eye of the beholder.
In 2024 I chose to move back to Sri Lanka again, this has proven to be one of the best decisions I’ve made so far. Life here has many little things to always look forward to. Little things like, every full moon day is a holiday, food is affordable and widely available at almost every corner, you don’t have to spend a lot to take a quick vacation, you don’t have to worry about contrasting seasons and prep for them, your car doesn’t need winter tires, you don’t have to do more than one job to make ends meet, beauty surrounds you everywhere you go, you don’t have to travel far to experience a new landscape, you don’t need to fly to see the beach, you don’t need to fly to go on a safari, you don’t need to go to a zoo to see wild animals, you don’t need to watch the Discovery Channel to see a ten foot crocodile, you don’t need legal euthanasia to end your life; you can just pet a wild elephant, you don’t need to travel far to see ancient ruins and castle catacombs, you don’t need to travel to Europe to take a breathtaking train ride…okay you probably got the picture awhile ago, but I need you to understand that Sri Lanka is truly special (so special that it is the new ‘total package’ and not your wife anymore). Our country is filled with new adventures, amazing food and heartwarming human encounters and it’s all packed into a tiny droplet shaped package.
I live in the mountainous UVA province of Sri Lanka. Having lived most of my adult life abroad and being born and raised in and around the capital I noticed that life now has slowed down to a crawl. The pace that once defined my existence now seems exhausting. This profound experience changed me in ways that I am still discovering. The veil of so-called “modern life” slowly disappeared with every day that passed. Little life adjustments became significant pivotal points in my persona and impacted me in seismic ways. I gradually realized how artificial everything was. Life was not meant to be lived on the fast lane, in fact there is no fast lane, your just someone who chose to speed in a school zone just because that’s the cool thing to do. People here live one day at a time; they barely plan for the future and take every set back as just another part of life. No regret, no post-traumatic stress, no anxiety and definitely no dead ends. People here comeback from things that will send a North American into a psychotic spiral. For example this one farmer I know who helps me with my farming endeavors dedicated everyday of his life for six long months to plant turnips. He woke up early every morning to tend to the crops, deal with pesky pests and other farming dilemmas in the scorching sun. When harvest time came the price of turnips had fallen overnight. He did all of that for a silo full of stinky, unwanted bulbous vegetables. Did that send him spiraling into a high blood pressure nightmare? Nope. He cleared the field and just made plans to replant a different crop for the next season. What’s that you say? That’s normal for a farmer, that’s the name of the game! Well you pretentious figment of my point proving imagination, do you think you can overcome something as petty as someone getting your soy boy coffee order wrong? I seriously doubt it.
Everything here is done for one’s true satisfaction rather than for someone else’s approval. Every decision is made to fulfill basic needs. For instance no young person wants to strive to be the next youngest millionaire influencer, instead they set realistic goals and reach them at an achievable pace. There is inherently no need to impress the populous with extravagance. Man needs to travel faster to save time man buys motorcycle. Man has a family now so, man will get a slightly bigger but affordable Tuk-Tuk (and use it till the wheels fall off). Everything is purposeful and acquired to fulfill a basic need. Excess is treated like extra maintenance or time wasted.
What I’m trying to say is that life here goes on, as a remnant of what life should ideally be. I have learned to exist rather than live for the future. More present and less distracted. I now stop and smell the occasional wild flower (anti-allergy medication and epinephrine injector in hand knowing that it is worth it). Now my surroundings distract me from the life I once lived within the confines of all my screens. I hope by reading this you get closer to truly finding yourself in a world where nothing is, as it seems.
