Something comes to an end…

When I first set out for Moldova, I had no idea what awaited me. The experiences simply happened — one after another, naturally — and at the time I couldn’t see any pattern or narrative arc in them. Only later did I understand that each moment was another layer of the same world slowly revealing itself.

On the surface, what stayed with me were strange cities, lingering Soviet shadows, and what often feels like a country within a country — Transnistria, sometimes called “Sheriff land” after the company that dominates its economy and everyday life. But over time, it wasn’t the sights I remembered most — it was how I felt while being there. The quiet tension that followed me at first, and how that tension slowly dissolved as I began to tell these stories aloud.

In company, I suddenly realized I had been talking for hours — and people weren’t just listening politely, they were truly paying attention. When someone finally said, “You should write this down,” I understood that these experiences couldn’t remain unshaped or unordered inside me.

Only later did it also become clear how much small things mattered there: a smile, a minor gesture, a half-joking remark. Locals were helpful everywhere — but doors truly opened only when we offered something human in return. Nothing grand. Just presence.

Today, when I hear the names Moldova or Transnistria at the end of a news broadcast, I can’t help but smile. I don’t hear headlines anymore, but echoes of a world — streets, faces, fleeting moments — that only came together afterward, layer by layer.

And when everything finally grew quiet, what remained were not great revelations, but small traces: a table with the remains of an evening, half-empty glasses, crumbs, an unfinished gesture left behind. That was when I truly understood that a journey does not end on a map.

When Moldova finally became clear on the map, the remaining grey areas quietly suggested that nothing is truly over. There will be a continuation. But that will be another journey — another story.