How it all began...

The time has come. What exactly, we can't yet put into words. It feels so surreal that this day is today. Personally, this journey fulfills a destiny, a dream from childhood days. The exciting stories of my parents' travels to distant countries have shaped me, made me curious, and sparked the feeling 'When I grow up, I will have my own adventures!' I am grateful for that because it has given me the courage and strength to move out of my comfort zone, and it has even led to the point where this inner drive has motivated not only me but also my partner to just do it.

Again and again, I have received recognition and respect for daring to travel for so long. And it is exactly at this point that I want to address and share my fears of the unknown. Especially in the months and weeks before, I have questioned everything several times and wondered why I even want to do this, and I doubted that I would really go through with it. I think that's completely normal, and you must not be swayed by it and should keep the goal firmly in sight. Well, a decisive "advantage," as I see it, is that I am planning this project with one of the most important people in my life and I am not "alone". But when traveling, you are rarely alone for long (unless you want to be), because there are so many people doing the same thing. Traveling. And that connects and creates a bond between seemingly strangers.

Just last Saturday, we were both relaxed on the couch, streaming several episodes of a series on Netflix instead of continuing to prepare. That's the little (big) voice inside us that prefers to be comfortable rather than risk it all.

It's crazy how quickly time flies and months turn into weeks and those in turn into days and last hours. So it's not as if this isn't the passage of time that accompanies us throughout our lives and seems to fool us, but it's always impressive how quickly time passes in retrospect or has passed. And so everything has focused on the last few weeks, whether it's getting travel essentials, getting vaccinations, enjoying the last days at work, preparing the apartment for subtenants, and meeting friends and family. I perceived the latter as very intense and beautiful. Somehow, you spend time with your loved ones differently when everyone knows (including yourself) that you won't see each other for a really long time and it's not clear what that means at that time. Who knows if we'll come back?! ;-)

At this point in time, it is a temporary goodbye, as according to the current plan, we will be back in Munich in 8 months. I have to admit that I found it strange to say goodbye like this (physically) because I couldn't believe it myself. For years, I have been looking forward to this moment. On the one hand, I knew that I would be away for an unusually long time, but another part of me didn't want to believe it. Maybe as a self-protection, because that way I could convince myself that we will see each other again soon and thus keep the emotions in check a bit.

Right now, we have been on the plane for 7 ½ hours at an altitude of 11,887 meters above ground, flying at a speed of 963 km/h with a temperature of -55.0 degrees, just under 3 hours before reaching Bangkok. According to my internal clock, it is 20:46, but according to local time, it is already 02:46 in the morning. I haven't even been to the bathroom yet and have slept for about 2-3 hours, and I will try to continue from here to trick the time difference. Since our flight from Munich to Bangkok via Düsseldorf already left at 06:45, we haven't slept from yesterday to today, so I'm already out of sync.

The first destination is Siem Reap in Cambodia, where we are supposed to arrive around half past 1 pm, but before that, we have to pick up our luggage in Bangkok and go through the security area again to catch the connecting flight at 11:30 am.

First post. The end.