My highlights after 5 months of traveling
Five months on the road. Five months away from my old life. Five months without a real plan – but with so many moments and experiences that will stay with me forever. If I am honest, it is not only the “big” highlights that remain. It is the small, unexpected moments in between. The ones I cannot plan or predict.
Bali: Definitely the yoga teacher training! The training was a completely new experience for me and also quite physically demanding. The Vinyasa flows were incredibly sweaty and exhausting, and the feeling in my body after those 90 minutes was simply amazing. Honestly, I can no longer say exactly why I decided to sign up for the training. Originally, I wanted to do an intensive yoga retreat. Then I saw the prices and thought: Okay… maybe not after all 😅 Just for fun, I started looking into yoga teacher trainings. And there it was: the yoga training is basically like a retreat, but with the added benefit that you learn much more about yoga, the body, and the background behind it. And on top of that, you even receive a certificate at the end. And what can I say? This certificate has now opened up paths and doors that I had never seen before or even considered as an option.
My favorite accommodation in Bali was the treehouse I treated myself to right at the beginning of the journey.
Namibia: There were so many special moments that it is difficult for me to pick just one highlight. Three moments that have stayed with me in particular are: A ride with a very lovely couple, during which we suddenly found ourselves right in the middle of a herd of almost 40 giraffes. They appeared everywhere around us. These animals are already incredibly impressive on their own, but observing them so closely, being part of such a large herd, and experiencing it all from horseback was simply magical and a true goosebump moment.
Another moment happened right at the beginning of my time as a riding guide. I think it was my third ride, and I was not even allowed to guide on my own yet. And suddenly a cheetah appeared. This beautiful predator was watching the wildebeest and was probably looking for breakfast. However, it then abandoned the hunt and, luckily for us, decided to observe the new situation with us and the horses instead – for a good ten minutes. And we were able to simply watch the entire scene from horseback.
The third moment was when the four of us, my entire family, galloped together towards the giraffes.
What really made these three months so special, however, were the people. So many different personalities, stories, life experiences, and backgrounds. Encounters that I simply would never have had back home.
But if I had to choose just one highlight, it would be meeting Cat and the completely new door that opened because of it. A door that connects my time in Bali with the time that is still ahead of me. And that is exactly what I love about traveling: that paths reveal themselves while you are walking them, and that things happen that you never could have expected.
The ending of my time in Namibia could not have been better. Isabel and I treated ourselves to a little road trip – simply leaving, getting out, and soaking everything up one more time. From Windhoek towards Swakopmund, to the ocean, and finally back into the mountains for some riding. Just being on the road already felt like so much freedom. No plan, no time pressure, simply driving and enjoying the moment. We sang loudly in the car, ate delicious food, drank good wine, experienced an incredible sunset in the dunes, and best of all: we galloped through dry riverbeds. My farewell to Namibia truly could not have been any better. And just like that, three months in Namibia were over.
Mozambique: My favorite moments so far have been my evening walks along the ocean, the fresh air, the vastness, and the constant sound of the waves in my ears. In the evening, the sound of the waves lulls me to sleep, and in the morning, it is the first thing I hear when I wake up. I open my eyes and look directly at the ocean – a day could hardly start any better.
My journey to the place where I will be spending the next few weeks was not exactly smooth and relaxed, but rather an adventure. Somehow, I always seem to have something happen during my travels. More about that in the next blog post.
Perhaps the biggest highlight of all is the moment when I actually quit my job. Without really knowing what would come next or what awaited me. I avoided it for an incredibly long time. I hesitated to truly go through with it. I found excuse after excuse for why I should not do it after all. I spent a long time talking about what I still needed in order to finally take that step, when the right moment would be, and so on. All that “I don’t dare, but I actually want to, but I can’t…” blah blah. I was very good at that – much to the frustration of some of the people closest to me. But eventually, I took the leap, thanks to one or two well-timed pushes. Looking back, this decision feels like the beginning of everything.
And at this point, I would like to take a moment to thank all the people who never gave up on me, who listened to me, and who held up a mirror when I needed it. Thank you.
And I am proud of myself for eventually stopping hiding. For finding the courage to set out and allowing myself to start a new path. #LivingTheDream
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