My heart is broken, today is Eduardo’s funeral and I wish I could be in Santiago saying goodbye to him properly.
I am praying for his family – his parents whom he looked up to so much; his sister Alexandra and brother Gonzalo whom he was so protective of.
I am praying for his close friends – I know how much he valued friendship, and he truly loved his friends to bits.
I am praying for his girlfriend – he had told me about this “special girl” when he got back from his trip to South East Asia, and I am SO happy he found her again when he got back to Chile.
I am praying for you, Maria – thank you for your messages these past few days, it has helped me tremendously. You are a wonderful person.
One of the highlights of my year in Australia was meeting Eduardo – you can ask any of my friends. I wasn't expecting anything from my first night out in Sydney, on February 1st, 2013...Once again, I realize how true the saying "Expect the Unexpected" is...Eduardo was on his own in Soho, his friends had left the club a while before, but for some reason he decided to stay and came over to speak to me while I was dancing with my group of friends. A few hours later, when I asked him why he had come to talk to me, he answered “everything happens for a reason”. We just clicked. Our time together was short-lived, but intense nonetheless. I will always remember our last goodbye at Bondi Beach - it was his last night in Australia after his trip to South East Asia, just before he went back to Chile. I wasn’t even supposed to go and see him that day, I hesitated for hours but ended up paying a $60 cab to go and say goodbye to him…It was worth every.single.penny. We had promised to see each other again one day, in Chile, London or Paris. Destiny decided otherwise…
What makes me happy is that I know he made one of his dreams come true last year, a dream he had worked so hard for: travelling with his friends in Thailand, Bali and Singapore. This is why this blog is also his story in a lot of ways. We went to the same places, shared amazing adventures with some of our best friends, and enjoyed every single moment. Eduardo told me about so many projects he had - he wanted to travel to Europe, discover Africa, raise a family…When I showed him my Wanderlust tattoo and he found out the meaning behind the word, he told me that it was going to be his favourite word from now on as well. But God had other plans for him. He was such a beautiful person, inside and out. Hardworking, ambitious, passionate, caring, full of energy, drunk on life, seizing every opportunity, and he had so much faith…He is truly an inspiration.
This type of encounter is what makes travelling so special. You connect with people you barely know in a way you can’t explain. You feel like you’ve known each other for years because you have so much in common, a special way of seeing things. You talk for hours about your dreams, your passions, your goals in life…And these people just get it. This type of encounter is what makes life so beautiful, it’s what I live for. I feel so blessed that Eduardo came into my life when he did, and lucky to have shared some very special moments with him.
When I think of him now, I imagine him on Gili Trawangan in Sunset Paradise Bar, a Bintang beer in his hand, watching the beautiful sunset…waiting for all of us to come and party with him J
As my godmother said the other day: “Everyone leaves us a lesson to be learned that helps us live our own lives for the better. He had a gift to pass on and that message from him will remain in your heart ...Never forgotten, but loved and enjoyed…”
Gracias por todo, Eduardo.
Vuela muy alto y descansa en paz <3
