And so the story ends

One last crazy day in Bangkok with Katja! I couldn't have imagined a better person to spend the final day with. The grinning cheek, who is always in a good mood and has a joke ready, stayed in Bangkok an extra day to spend the day with me. We walked along the well-known Khao San Road, I got a perm done, got my first piercing, and we watched a Mui Thai fight together in which oiled, very defined and almost cachectic 18-year-old Thais tactically kicked and punched each other in a flash distribute them, wipe them in front of them or pocket them. We even managed to bring the evening to a climax by driving for about an hour to the red light district of Bangkok and watching a ping pong show. On the one hand, for reasons of protecting minors, but also for my own protection so as not to have to bring up these memories again, I will not describe further what this show was. All I can say is that we have said goodbye to our libido for the next few days to weeks. It was a fantastic and wonderful last day!!

And now... Yes, now I'm sitting on the plane from Shanghai to Frankfurt and waiting for the metal bird to take to the air and take me back to my homeland. After 7 months the adventures in Asia will end, the hygienic standards and my average shower/month rate will increase drastically. I have to get used to wearing underwear and socks again, learn how to cook again and stop myself from cheating with the cashier at Phantasialand for entry.

I thought I would approach the end of my journey with more ambivalent feelings. I was already thinking about whether I might just tuck in when I was about to change trains in Shanghai and instead of going to boarding, I would take advantage of the 15 days of free visa for Germans and then just walk further away. I would have a good hiding place from life in Germany among the soldiers of the Terracotta Army. Or would I perhaps move to a Nepalese monastery and learn and practice Buddhism there for the rest of my life? As I sit here now, no needs come close to this. Yes, seemingly opposite expressions of emotion exist, but they cannot be described as ambivalent. Even if the tears slowly roll down my cheek and accumulate in the pimples at the corner of my grinning mouth to form the smallest saltwater lakes in the world, they are more an expression of the indescribable joy that I feel, which must be expressed through stronger emotions than just grinning .

The idea of finally being able to hug my two brothers, my mother, my father and my best friend again this evening seems as surreal as the thought of traveling alone to another continent for half a year as it did at the beginning of the trip.

Sri Lanka, the beginning of getting used to all the circumstances of travel, learning to set my priorities so that I would have maximum enjoyment and meeting Jule, to whom I owe 100% that I can now study. It was she who made me aware of the alternative application process and gave me this opportunity.

India pushed me to my limits more than once. Hygienic, physical and above all mental. A land of extremes and superlatives so incredibly diverse, where the most beautiful sights in the world coexist right next to the dirtiest and smelliest environments imaginable. A country where ideas and ideology are at the same time so inspiring and inhumane and a social class system exists like nowhere else. Books like "Siddhartha" by Hermann Hesse or "The Café at the Edge of the World" had a great influence on me and completed trains of thought that I have read through already had India's input.

Nepal rekindled my wanderlust and challenged me, especially physically. The time in the extreme temperatures of up to -26°C and almost 0.55 bar air pressure showed me how resistant we humans actually are and what adaptation artists we are. After about 250 kilometers of hiking, I was particularly fascinated by the physiological processes and deepened my knowledge of expedition medicine.

Vietnam was a cure. I was able to see my two best friends and Lara again, enjoying and appreciating every day so much. It was a time when, on the one hand, I couldn't get enough of the beauty of the Vietnamese landscape, and at the same time I was able to fill myself up with all the love and affection of these people so that I could continue on my path alone.

Cambodia was largely covered by the setback of rejection from university and offered me time and an environment for reorientation and planning. It reminded me of how I actually liked traveling and stimulated my sense of adventure, which I was then able to live out in an excellent way (or however it is spelled).

In Laos I not only found out that I could start studying in the summer, but also experienced a country more authentically than ever before, which was mainly due to the vehicle I was traveling with, which gave me a much deeper insight into it Everyday life and the culture offered.

Well, and then came Thailand. The last destination where I didn't really learn anything, although of course I acquired a lot of knowledge in the Thai massage course and the two-week diving. But I learned nothing new about myself and had no revolutionary thoughts. Rather, it was a time of enjoyment in which I once again exploited the possibilities as much as possible and was completely successful.

I enjoyed my travel romances from Canada, Colombia, Turkey and Germany and learned to express affection and love under different circumstances and in different ways, but also to deal with and evaluate it differently. But these people are only a small part of all the other people, some of whom I was able to get to know and some of whom I had to get to know. Lovely people like Jule, Shubhangi, Piotrik, Katja, Marissa, Leonie, Anna, Sanne, Ben, Valentina, Paula, Jess and Sudey and inspiring people like the expedition doctor, the stupid and great physics student Chris, the progressive Simon, the brave Lance, The adventurous Marlon and the ever-young Stuart gave me so much warmth and showed me how many ways you can express yourself and love life.

During the times of homesickness, self-doubt and insecurity, I learned to come to terms with it and grow from these feelings, which is of course easier said than done. But I also got to know better the importance of my family and friends to me. They are people who are there for you when you are doing your own thing on the other side of the world and give you a lot of love, support and warmth from far away, without whom I would never have gotten this far.

In the meantime the plane has taken off and I am sitting with even more tears on my face and reading through the letters that Malte, Michi, Undine, Eva and Lara wrote to me and which I have been carrying with me for 7 months and read them on lonely evenings . They mostly led to even more pain at the moment because I longed for these people so much, but it was such a beautiful pain that only came from knowing that there were people waiting for me at home who loved me so much you too.

A deep and extensive satisfaction and joy radiates within me. Even though I didn't learn anything new about myself in Thailand, I sit now with the feeling that would be the closest to describing bliss I've ever felt. No matter where I look, I am happy. I'm happy about all the mistakes, experiences and decisions of the past, I love the situation I'm in right now where I'm finally completely in control of my career and completing this fantastic odyssey and I'm almost bursting with joy when I start think the future. If I just think about studying, moving in with my cousin, training for the Ironman, learning Spanish and... and so much more, then a love of life arises that gives me an energy at this moment that I can't find anywhere else could get it from somewhere else. I am happy with my relationship with my family, my friends and the people who are more than just friends. I can look in the mirror, appreciate my physical appearance and all the layers that lie underneath.

I realize that the adventure doesn't stop here. It just takes on a different face and will stay with me as long as I challenge it.

I hope that the few people who have taken part in my thoughts from time to time now have a not too bad idea about my spelling skills and have enjoyed being part of the journey in this way. At least it was damn good for me to have this output with all the input.

I wish you all a wonderful day and maybe you can smell the smell of cinnamon and burning fires in your room. It is the adventure that awaits you.