Pubblicato: 21.12.2023
The time has come. I'm sitting at the airport in Bangkok and waiting for my flight to Hamburg. But before we get to the sentimental part, here's a little summary of last week:
In southern Thailand we started in Phuket. It was nice to finally be by the sea again, so we spent most of our time on the beach. Phuket's nightlife was mainly shaped by sex tourism. That was, shall we say, exciting and disturbing at the same time. Incidentally, the scantily clad barmaids are very experienced at challenging guests to simple games such as Jenga or Connect Four and thus taking money out of their pockets. But not with us, we played and perfected Jenga on our entire trip around the world. Nobody can beat us in this anymore, just like in beer pong. Point. The good thing in Phuket was that there was such a surplus of men that for once it was not the women but the men who had to wait in long toilet lines - which was also quite practical. But somehow Phuket didn't have much more to offer us.
We had completely different vibes at our next place, Koh Phi Phi. Here we immediately felt the island feeling, went on boat tours, went kayaking and took a leisurely stroll through the area. While our hotel looked quite inconspicuous during the day, in the evening it was transformed into the hottest boxing club on the island. Travelers from all over the world challenged themselves for a bucket of liquor, in a completely absurd way. In fact, we had already noticed in the previous days that an unusually large number of backpackers were walking around with injuries, black eyes and lacerations, so the secret was revealed. Or was it the rope jumping through burning ropes at the fire show? I have no idea, Nadine and I haven't tried either. Even though we might have thought about it for a moment, common sense prevailed.
So we continued to Ko Lanta without any injuries. Although not much is said about the island, for me it was my absolute favorite place in Thailand. Hardly any people, super spacious dream beaches and everyone runs around singing and with a smile on their face. We felt so comfortable in our hotel that we didn't even plan any big tours or adventures, we just enjoyed the moment and relaxed by the pool and on the beach. This is what vacation feels like.
The holiday feeling continued in our last place of the trip, Krabi. Since we had obviously both calculated our budget well, we treated ourselves to another fancy hotel and felt like princesses. We went on a real vacation for the first time instead of traveling and were able to recharge our batteries for the arrival time in Germany. From boat tours to night markets, drag queen shows to cooking courses, we took in all the impressions we could get.
For a relaxed, uncomplicated holiday, Thailand really is the perfect destination. The big backpacker adventures and undiscovered places can no longer be found here due to mass tourism, but at the end of the trip it was perfect for Nadine and me.
Well, that's it. The 8 months are over. I've been working on, planning and organizing my life's dream for so long and now it's all over? Of course I'm looking forward to my loved ones at home, to Christmas with the family and I can hardly wait for Dexi to jump into my arms at the airport. But at the same time it feels like all the lightness is being taken away from me. As if suddenly my worries weren't taken up by banal things like food and a place to sleep, but rather much more complex, future-oriented topics. But even though the early days might be a bit bumpy, I'm just incredibly grateful for the time. I traveled to 6 countries in Central and South America, 6 in Europe and 3 in Asia, made friends for life, tried lots of new things, saved lives, learned a lot about myself and others, realized who or what was important to me and what wasn't , laughed, cried, danced, overcame disasters, accepted challenges, left my comfort zone and had the time of my life.
And contrary to all the horror stories before, I was neither robbed nor kidnapped and, apart from minor injuries or infections, there were no drastic bad experiences. So it's official, I'm a lucky kid.
And to bring this emotional chatter to a climax at the end, there is a big THANK YOU!
Thanks to everyone at home who supported me and put up with my moods or who were simply able to listen when things weren't going well. Look forward to one or two nervous breakdowns because I'm getting wanderlust again.
Thanks to everyone I was able to meet on my trip. I hope I see one or two faces again.
Thanks to Nadine, who mastered a total of 6 countries on two continents and 14 weeks of my travel time with me. No one can take our experiences and memories away from us. Nothing beats the bond between sisters.
Thank you to Dexter, who was always by my side in Europe and made the time a very special adventure. To me you are so much more than just a dog.
And very special thanks to Mom and Dad, who looked after Dexter so well and were a great support while I was away.
It simply couldn't have gone better and I would do it all over again!
The end.
I wish you all a merry Christmas with your loved ones and I look forward to crushing you all with joy soon.