Things I learned in Sri Lanka

At the latest in Sri Lanka, I realized that traveling to other countries also involves social role changes. In Sri Lanka, Germans are considered filthy rich and it doesn't always feel comfortable.

But I may be more bourgeois than I thought. I actually travel with my morning robe, a sun hat, and a book. Do I really belong in the 21st century? 👘👒📙

I never thought I'd encounter a monitor lizard so close while sunbathing. On the other hand, I could have expected it. This is Sri Lanka, ma‘am.

Riding on the footboard of a train. Trying something new in life is the most beautiful form of adrenaline I know.🚂

"Do something every day that scares you." So to speak, as muscle training for courage. The more often you dare to do small things, the easier the big ones become. "Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." (Anais Nin)

You don't have to choose, you can do everything. Instead of either/or, it's better to have a wholehearted both/and, that could be the key to happiness.🍀

Anil explained to me how to drink palm sugar with tea here. You bite off a piece of the sugar and suck tea through the palm sugar without anything dripping. In the meantime, I have Olympic-level skills in it.🏅

Accepting the kindness of strangers. A very difficult exercise for me. Out here in Sri Lanka, however, I succeed in simply accepting a gift as a gift, grateful and without any obligatory compensation, be it accepting Samil as a travel guide or getting a ride on a moped from Surangy, or simply receiving flowers 🌷 from Rasika. Not to mention Thamiyias' care for my well-being in a foreign world.🥰

Happiness is a feeling of possibilities. To be able to imagine a different life, in a different city, with a different profession (maybe being a writer lying in a hammock on Jungle Beach 😂) doesn't mean you have to do it. But the pure possibility...

Accepting new traffic rules. Firstly: traffic is regulated by volume. Loudest horn = right of way. Pedestrians without a horn = jump aside. And buses are always right. Secondly: Optimal use of the road: three cars fit next to each other on two lanes, four people on a motorcycle, sometimes babies are breastfed while driving 🤣. You just have to want to. Thirdly: There is left-hand traffic. And additionally right-hand traffic where appropriate. It all depends.

On this occasion, I also learned one of the most important travel rules ever: accept what is. Leave your own values at home, they don't apply here. Instead: watch, allow, let go.🙏🏼

The Sri Lankan head wobble. A sideways head shake that can have completely different meanings depending on the context. Either: yes. Or: okay, I understand. I think. Or: it doesn't matter. Or: I have no idea, but I won't admit it. Or: maybe, but maybe not until the day after tomorrow. Or: that's completely out of the question, but I won't say that because it's rude. The faster the head wobbles, the greater the chance that something has been understood and approved positively. And that possibly even an action will be taken. The gesture is so contagious that I immediately adopted it myself. React and drive the game forward without committing oneself, that's how it works.👳🏾‍♂️

Going there yourself, looking at things, talking to people. There is really no other way to get a picture of the world. I already knew that, but when Ralf told me (one of the guests) that he had followed an invitation from the locals and had to eat at least 8 sponge rolls, I knew what he meant.🤣

And still: "We don't see things as they are. We see them as we are." Anais Nin

Take advantage of opportunities more decisively. Also in everyday life. I feel like taking a train ride, I feel like taking a walk at sunset, I feel like cycling to the Baltic Sea (already planned). Do it! Now or never.

Most of the time, men annoy more often than they don't. Already in my first week, still quite pale around the nose and recognizable to everyone, I'm new here, I was approached. "How are you?" "Where are you staying here?" "Where are you from?"

I quickly decide to get tan and promptly get a sunburn 🥵. But I'm still getting rid of the men for now. Remember! I wanted to find my inner balance here and not join the lonely hearts club.💞

I work best in a bikini. 😅 If I already sit at the desk here in my swimming pool outfit to write my blog, I just finish it faster. Empirically proven. Series of experiments will continue at home. (at least in summer)👙

After an 11-hour flight, you sleep best when you assume the shape of a starfish, all limbs stretched out, to roll around as little as possible with maximum sheet adhesion.

And the most important realization of all: the insane coincidence of being born into one of the richest countries on earth, always having a roof over your head, a good education, a profession that sometimes brings joy and sometimes not, the freedom to do whatever I want, to be able to travel wherever I want... None of it is self-evident, none of it is deserved. Throughout the year, I was grateful, but never as much as in Sri Lanka.🙏🏼