Even though they are often unnoticed, small moments carry a special kind of beauty. This can be the smell of freshly baked bread drifting from the small bakery in your street, or the clatter of wooden clogs down the stairs of a house in a Dalmatian village. Although small, those things have the power to remind us of the simplicity of life and how these “small things” can fulfill us. I personally can look for hours at plants sprouting from cracks in the concrete, telling a quiet story about how incredible the strength of life can be when it finds its way even in impossible circumstances. 

The greatness of small things lies in their ability to show us the value of the present moment, in simple things and everyday experiences. They aren’t burdened by expectations, perfection or grand gestures, they are “just” direct and honest. The beauty of small things lies in the fact that they are calling us to slow down, to stop, to pay attention, to connect with what is HERE and NOW. They teach us that happiness isn’t something that we have to wait for or achieve, but something already present, right under our noses, hidden all around us in the invisible moments

When we travel, we are drawn by famous tourist destinations, big cities, which with their history, culture and fame make us breathless, but even more often by running around trying to see as much as possible. We stand in line to buy tickets, waiting for hours in the summer sun, only to find that we can't even see the Mona Lisa due to the crowds inside. We suffer nervous breakdowns from the crowds as we try to walk down La Rambla in Barcelona. We forget that small towns, just like small things or small moments in life, can give us beauty and excitement the same as the big ones we run too; that they can make our life wonderful and make a connection with what’s honest and real. Moments in small towns become precious because they remind us that beauty isn't found only in grand squares, but also in places we simply need to notice. This could be the silence of the night while sleeping in an unknown mountain lodge or the reflection of Aurora Borealis on Iceland, which invites us with its beauty during the winter, to come to this far place where nights are long and dark, and snow and ice make light spectacles.

In large cities like Kyoto and Tokyo, we don't have to rush to see monuments, but instead, in spring, we can enjoy the sight of cherry blossom trees in full bloom (Sakura), while celebrating the fleeting beauty of this phenomenon during "Hanami" picnics in the parks .Those are the moments that contain the whole world in them, but only if we have the capacity to notice them. The secret is that small things aren't tied to big events that fascinate us with their size, but rather to everyday moments that enrich our lives. They teach us that happiness isn’t something that we have to wait for or reach but is in simple moments around us.

The greatness of small things is in their subtility – a cup of tea we share with the beauty of a tranquil afternoon, while sitting in a café in the small fishing village Cinque Terre, Italy, surrounded by colorful houses perched on the cliffs, offering a spectacular view of the sea. Or the soft sunlight at sunset, perhaps cold and sharp air of a quiet morning in the small town Gimmelwald in the Swiss Alps, famous for its quite surroundings, mountain landscape far from the tourist crowds.

Simple things – the way the light breaks through the leaves, have the power to ground me. I feel a deep, much stronger connection with the world around me when I’m in those quiet, less spectacular places, and I feel like everything is in a certain harmony. To this day I still remember the lighthouse on the small island of Babac, across from the villages St. Filip and Jakov in Dalmatia, crickets being the only sound breaking the warm, salty silence of that summer day, while I wait on the stone stairs for a boat to pick me up… or the cheese I ate with my daughter, while we enjoyed the sunset sitting on the banks of the Seine. I also remember one early winter morning on Divisadero Street, while the Shakti music Shaktikept me warm in a small apartment in San Francisco.

That’s why we don’t have to rush just to big, touristy mighty countries and cities, to soak in spectacular experiences that are offered there. Across the world are countries which are less visited by tourists, just like there are small towns which can enchant us just like the big ones. For example, the Faroe Islands, where there’s no McDonald’s, where there are just four traffic lights, where public transport is free and houses aren’t locked, offer the rare joy. There’s a small town in Romania, called Oradea, which is neither Bucharest nor Timisoara, but it looks unique, because each building façade is painted in a different color. Or rather Luang Prabang, in Laos, which is famous for its beautiful temples in quiet surroundings, rich history; that’s why it’s in UNESCO’s list of word monuments and one of the most beautiful places in southeast Asia. Instead of Vienna, we can head to Hallstat, a small town in Austria famous for its enchanting lake and Alpine scenery; and has long been regarded as one of the most beautiful small towns, and which has historic salt mines, that date back to prehistoric times.