May I introduce ourselves...?

Hello and welcome from me as well. Most of you should already know Jonas and me, what we do, etc. because the blog was primarily set up for our family and friends. Of course, we are still happy to have all other readers! So, for those of you who don't know us yet, here is some information about us. Our names have already appeared here a few times: We are Franzi (short for Franziska) and Jonas, both 19 years old.

Jonas was born in Bergisch Gladbach, went to kindergarten and school there, and graduated in 2017. Since then, and even during that time, he has been working in a butcher shop, not only financing the upcoming trip, but also saving money for the hopefully soon-to-start studies. He is the more athletic one of the two of us and has been playing handball for almost 15 years. Let's see how he can cope in Asia without his beloved sport. As mentioned in the first blog post, he has only left the EU once so far, which according to him doesn't really count... In 2016, he went to Side, a resort town in Turkey, with a very good friend. They managed quite well there with German and English, and the euro was a common method of payment. However, he has traveled quite extensively within Europe (Croatia, Spain, France, Italy, United Kingdom, Canary Islands). He loves to travel, see more of the world, experience other cultures, and just live the day without a detailed plan or schedule. Asia represents a contrast to Europe for him, which is probably why he wants to travel there, to get to know the countries and people better.

I, Franzi, was born in Cologne and grew up in Marburg (on the Lahn River) and graduated in 2016. After graduating, I spent 1 year as an Au Pair in Manchester, England. There, I was able to gather new and beautiful impressions, met many new people from all over the world, and significantly improved my English. Currently, I work as a waitress in a small restaurant in my hometown and I am also employed by a hostess, promotion, and service staff agency on the side, earning my money that way, among other things, for the upcoming trip. In the first blog, Jonas mentioned that I had already been to Thailand in 2013. But it wasn't just this one big trip with my family, we have also been to many different countries together (Hungary, Bulgaria, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey). But I have not only traveled with my family, but also with friends or through exchanges from my school, I have been able to visit a few more countries (Ireland, Poland, Spain, Italy). I also love to travel, explore new things, and just like Jonas, experience and get to know other cultures up close.

Now some of you might be wondering how we met if we live so far apart. Well... Since I was born in Cologne and also lived there until I was 4 years old, I had friends there as well. I kept in touch with one friend, so we are still friends (partly because our mothers are good friends). She is only about 2 months younger than me and celebrated her 18th birthday in June 2016, to which I was invited. I met Jonas at that birthday party. He was/is the best friend of my friend's ex boyfriend (sounds more complicated than it is :P), and since the two of them were doing the sound engineering together that evening and Jonas is also friends with the birthday girl, he was also there. We both arrived a bit earlier and started talking, which didn't really end throughout the evening. We exchanged numbers and saw each other two more times that year before I went to England in September. We stayed in touch and when I cheekily invited myself to his place for Carnival 2017, things started to unfold from there... He visited me in England, I visited him in Germany, we went to London and Dublin together. Since September 2017, we no longer have a long-distance relationship from Manchester to Bergisch Gladbach (777.58km as the crow flies), but "only" from Marburg to Bergisch Gladbach (117.95km as the crow flies). It's hard, such a long-distance relationship, but somehow it works when you want it to. Through the goodbyes and the limited time, we learn to appreciate each other and the time we have together.

Now you know a little more about us and what we do. But since this blog is specifically about our upcoming trip, the next blog entry will be about the current ongoing preparations...

Until then, we wish you a pleasant time. :)

Franzi