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Hey you,

I'm reaching out to you with my first blog post. It's currently 10 AM here in Dubai and I'm sitting in a café, waiting for my final flight to Kochi.

The past few hours have been quite exciting. It was my first time at an airport, so I had to figure things out and after a long wait, I boarded my first flight. The excitement and anticipation grew as the plane accelerated down the runway and gradually took off. I think I had my eyes closed for the entire first hour because I didn't feel quite safe and my fear of heights kept creeping in. But then, after some time, I was able to enjoy it and I was truly speechless by the breathtaking view unfolding before me; the folding mountain ranges and hills, the sparkling rivers winding through the valleys, the lakes, the soft white sea of clouds, and the emerging fiery red sunset over Istanbul.

What impressed me a lot was experiencing how incredibly fast I flew from Basel to Istanbul. It took me only 2.5 hours. As someone who has taken long train rides through Germany for many years, I honestly couldn't believe it... amazing!

Unfortunately, my layover in Istanbul was very uncomfortable as I had severe stomach pain and nausea, but luckily, both subsided quickly during the flight to Dubai. I slept a bit and looked at the black night sky. It was a whole new feeling for me to leave Europe behind, the familiar culture, languages, people, landscapes, and norms.

To fly over completely unknown parts of the world, which usually seem so distant and far away. To actually see them, even if only through the airplane window, gave me a sense of being able to grasp them better, it created a feeling of closeness for me.

Towards the end of the flight, there were some turbulence, and I have to admit that I started feeling quite strange during those.

The landing approach to Dubai was impressive on one hand, to see the thousands of lights, the huge buildings, and the various colorful lights, but on the other hand, it's something that doesn't appeal to me at all, rather it repels me, especially because I have the background and the creation of this city in mind, which leaves a bitter taste..

I spent the rest of the night sleeping in my sleeping bag on my yoga mat on the airport floor.

Even though there are moments of excitement and anticipation, right now, there is a prevailing feeling, a mix of fear and loneliness. The closer I get to India, the further away I am, the less familiar things there are, and I wonder what I'm actually doing. What it means to travel alone to India for six months..

What brings a smile to my face is all the Indians walking around the airport, having the warmest, funniest, and brightest smiles and laughter.

And something a friend said to me some time ago makes me smile and takes me away from my worries:

'You're going crazy because you're going to India? Why is that? I think there are many more reasons to go crazy when thinking about staying here in Germany. Like the people here, life is crazy.'

See you soon 🇮🇳

Warm regards,

Sarah