I pack my backpack and take with me..

Someone once said that there is no better feeling than having everything you need in a backpack and theoretically having no reason to ever come back. Be free. Be independent.

I thought about this when the point 'packing list' appeared on my to-do list.

I pack my backpack and take with me.. Good question. What initially sounded like fun turned out to be... let's call it tricky. How do I pack everything I need in a 70l backpack? And what do I even need?

Sensibly as I am, I sat down on my butt and wrote a packing list. A packing list like the one you write for a vacation in Italy. Plus dish soap, laundry line, headlamp, and diarrhea tablets. Minus hairdryer, fancy clothes, and straighteners. Oh great. What was that about fun and joy again?

After I had decoratively spread everything on my bed, created something similar to order, and stowed everything away, the result: A full 70l backpack weighing 13.2kg. But hey! It's closed and everything's inside.

And here it is now, the thing. My complete stuff for the next 6 months in this backpack. Crazy feeling.

From shoes to clothes, from camera to tripod, from dish soap to laundry line - everything.

On the one hand, I don't like the idea of ​​letting my hair air-dry, but on the other hand, I'm excited about this time when I'm somehow not really myself, without fashion, without beauty. I'm excited about this 'simple' life. Especially my parents find the idea of Vreni in Australia between spiders and snakes suspicious. But what many don't understand is that fashion and beauty are not expressions of self-doubt for me, like for many other girls. No, I don't put on makeup because I find myself ugly, and I spend a lot of money on clothes because otherwise I don't like myself. These things are a hobby for me. I enjoy creating outfits and I look forward to doing my makeup every morning.

But (here comes the crucial point → ) it also works without it. I give up so many materialistic things but also other aspects that make up my life and fill the space with new experiences. I honestly don't know where the memories for these experiences are supposed to go. The backpack is actually full. So next mission: further reduce luggage. I hope there are still a few socks left for me to change into.