06.01.-07.01.2018 Day 1: The Departure

Oh man... The last days before departure are hell. I can't sleep properly, eat, or find peace... And yet, I love all these things. I'm constantly preoccupied with thoughts of whether I have everything, if I've forgotten something, if the flight will go smoothly (transit zone/customs/etc.), or the painful feelings of separation, leaving behind, and letting go. It will be a really long journey and I will probably never see some people or things again. It's a moment in my life when I realize how good I should actually feel. I have money, my health is relatively good, I have a family that loves and supports me... That's more than others can say about themselves. And yet, I want to go away into the wide world and leave everything behind. I could go on about the big picture, the politics of NATO/EU, or something else but that's not helpful for you 😉. You want to know about the trip. Perhaps at a later time, some of these topics will flow into my texts, which I apologize for in advance.

But back to the events.
So. Barely slept and blah blah blah... at exactly 04:00 in the morning, we start driving to Frankfurt Airport by car. The flight is not until 10:05, but since it's my first flight halfway around the world, my family and I prefer to leave a little earlier. You never know what might happen.

Arriving at the airport, one of the hardest moments awaits me, saying goodbye to my dog Luna. She is already 11 years old and I'm afraid I won't see her again. She knows exactly what's going on. I can see it in her posture and her gaze. It's very difficult for me not to burst into tears. For a moment, I even consider canceling the whole thing and returning to my familiar surroundings, but I've decided that, no matter how painful it may be, this one thing will be carried out no matter the cost.

I hug Luna one last time, but now I can no longer hold back the tears. They run down my cheeks hotly. The moment passes and I let go of her, pick up my backpack, and walk with my family from the parking garage towards the airport. Together, we look for the check-in counter and the gate where I'm supposed to depart. We still have about an hour and a half before the plane takes off. Emotionally and physically, I'm already exhausted. We take the last photos together and I feel the tears welling up again.
Without my family, I wouldn't have managed so well, and I will be forever grateful to them for how they have supported me. I can't imagine better parents and a better brother than the ones I have.

The last hugs, the last warm words, and then quickly through the security area. Everything goes smoothly here. The first flight is to Muscat (Oman). The flight is quite uneventful. Upon arrival, we went straight to the security check for the transit zone for the onward flight. The security checks cannot be compared to the ones in Europe. While in Germany, you should ideally jump through a dissection device naked, here you simply put your hand luggage on the conveyor belt and walk through the metal detector. Even after the check, everything is uncomplicated. After a short wait, we continue to Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia).
I'll shorten it here: uneventful blah blah blah...

Upon arrival in Kuala Lumpur, I have to get the next ticket at the Malaysia Airlines counter. The woman at the counter speaks a really difficult-to-understand English, and I wonder if everyone has these communication problems or just me. Above all, everything is new to me and of course, I had no idea what was supposed to happen next. With hand gestures and footwork, we manage to understand that I simply need a transit flight ticket. Last ticket checked!

So, off to the gate and off we go to Denpasar... or so I thought, thanks to my youthful recklessness. In Denpasar, there is actually a storm raging upon my arrival, so we can't land but instead continue flying to Surabaya. With a delay of 3 hours, we continue to Denpasar. I arrive in Denpasar completely destroyed. The reception building is just huge and I have no idea how to go through the immigration process. But I manage to overcome this hurdle as well and stand at the entrance/exit of the airport about 5 hours later than planned. It's already 8 pm and the driver who was supposed to pick me up is long gone.

So, I try to reach someone from the project only to realize that I can't make phone calls or use the internet. So I take a deep breath, exchange some money, and relax at a booth to slow things down a bit. There's a good-looking young woman sitting at the table. In conversation, I find out that she's Australian and her name is Rachel. We talk for a long time and by chance, I see a Green Lion taxi driver near the table where I'm sitting. They're not from Lovina, but they are supposed to take other participants to Ubud to another house of the organization. And so, one of the taxi drivers takes me to the project house in Ubud about two hours later with Lena, a backpacker from England who is just arriving from a two-year trip to Australia. I say goodbye to Rachel and the taxi ride begins.
The driver's name is Dewa and he's a really cool guy. He tells us a lot about the current situation in Bali. For example, that there are really few tourists here at the moment because of the active volcano Mount Agung. Or the rules of the road. A horror for anyone who loves order^^. But we also learn something about Balinese culture during the ride.

Here, I'll end the first day because the rest is not so exciting anymore :P
I hope to see you again tomorrow. Until then, Selamat Tinggal! (Goodbye in Indonesian)