I grew up in a small town on the Baltic Sea coast of Germany. I couldn’t have imagined a more beautiful childhood than having the opportunity to spend every day at the beach. Probably one of the reasons why I still feel most comfortable near the sea today. To have better career opportunities in life, I decided to move to Hamburg and train as a graphic designer.
When I moved there in my early 20s, I was able to enjoy life in a big city for the first time. Lots of parties, open-air events, going out for dinner and drinks with friends, and my first experience of living in a shared apartment. During my apprenticeship in Hamburg, I met my boyfriend at the time, and we quickly developed a desire and dream of traveling the world one day and leaving Germany as our home. During the pandemic, our urge to explore the world only grew stronger. So we both decided to save some money together, quit our jobs and our shared apartment, sold everything we had, and took the risk of stepping into uncertain freedom.
The people I meet during my travels often ask me if I wasn’t afraid to give up so much “security” in Germany. With every item I sold or every insurance policy I got rid of, the feeling of freedom grew, and I also realized how important this feeling actually is to me. At some point, I almost became obsessed with owning as little as possible. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t worried about whether everything would be okay.
There were actually two starting points for my big journey. The first was Thailand with my then-boyfriend, and we traveled across the country together for seven months. It was January 11, 2021. However, my personal, much bigger start to my own journey came afterward, when I decided to continue traveling alone after our breakup. Nevertheless, I will forever be grateful to him.
When I first went on holiday to a warm country as a child, I always wondered why we couldn’t just stay there instead of flying back to Germany. I’ve always wanted to see more of the world and, above all, spend a lot of time in warm places.
Spain, Greece, Portugal, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, Japan. These are the countries I have lived in so far. It’s not easy to start again every time, but after all of these worries and unhelpful thoughts, my second thought is always: Get yourself together, girl! Of course you can do it! You are strong, you are brave, you are a good person, people will accept and love you for who you are. You will always make the right decision for your journey, at your own pace. Failing is fine, giving up isn’t. You know you can, and great things will follow!
Never regret the things you’ve done, only regret the things you didn’t do! Life is too short not to do it! And don’t take life too seriously, we are just here to live the best life we can.