Liberdade do coração

It took me around 8 years to follow my dream of a really long journey.As i grew up in South america and then moved back to Germany when I was 11I guess I always had a strong desire to go back, to experience more, to see more of other countries. I travelled a lot, but that where mostly short trips in Europe or business trips, so not really satisfying me and my idea of being free of the normal everyday life. I also must admit that I kind of liked my comfort bubble and the security of my monthly pay check. But the older I got the more I missed something and my desire to leave grew bigger. It never really was important where to travel to...it was important just to do it.
When i finally decided to leave to Australia I got the most different comments to it.
" Wow thats great"
" I wish i could do that"
" Thats cool, but aren´t you afraid of having trouble to find a job again coming back?"
My ex-boyfriend asked me:" Why do you have to do this journey?" The only thing that I could respond was:
" I don´t know, but I know that I have to do it...i´m following my dream"
And that's what i did, and it was the best decision of my life.
But to be honest it was also a very tough decision for me...it took me 2 years of serious considering, half a year of planning and 2 months of second thoughts before just going into uncertainty and adventure.But even then..as I was always sensible, I had my plans, followed them without big hesitation and was always a step ahead in my itinerary.It was when I arrived in Australia and met Scott when I got to know another way of thinking and living. I was always worried, about finding a job, about money, about missing my family and friends back home, about being alone, about travelling alone, about breaking down with my van...the list goes on and on.
He said to me: " Don´t worry, you´ll get everything you need right when you really need it. Just let go"
Just let go.
So easy to say, so hard to really do. But he was right. I learned more and more not to worry so much, to let go, to be positive and to enjoy life.
To enjoy the moment.
And i noticed that everything changed.I got everything i needed when i needed it, Sometimes I had to wait a little, but when it came to me I realised that I wasn´t ready for it earlier anyway. A lot of times the universe wanted to teach me how to be patient....with little signs...like always having red lights when I was in a hurry, having to wait for replies from facebook or email, people not attending their phones when I wanted to talk to them ( NOW, of course!). After a while I just had to laugh about myself, so I just sat back and waited.
And like this I met the most interesting people on my way, each and one of them teaching me their ideas about life, freedom, enjoyment and love.  Each of them becoming a part of me.
I also met people that showed me how i don´t want to act and be, but even that is important, because even if you don´t know where you´re going..at least you know where you don´t want to go.
Do I know where I want to go now? Do I have everything sorted out? I thought I would by the time ending this journey and going back home. But I haven´t.
First I was really nervous about it, but now I just let go again.
I don´t have everything calculated, I don´t have my life figured out, but I know now that I move with the time, I am passionate to live, passionate to cross, passionate to get to know what´s behind the next curve, the next mountain, the next lake, the next sea.Passionate to get to know new people and ask them how they feel, what their passion is and what they think.Because the most important thing about life is the people you meet. They become part of you and your heart and shape you to a better person.
In the end life is a journey with an unknown destination, so I enjoy the way, listen,observe, share, taste and feel.
I pay with a smile that comes from my heart and the only thing I expect is one back.

So whatever you dream about, whatever is on your mind over and over again, whatever your heart is longing for, don´t let doubts, critics, age, money, your family or society keep you from following it.
Just do it!
Take the steps in the direction of your dream NOW.

with love, J

Sri Lanka: tea, trains and temples

Our first day in Sri Lanka was rather hectic as we had to organise visas for Joanna and Andrew, i had to find a bank which does cash in advance and so we were running around from our arrival in the morning till the afternoon. But as soon as everything was done we sat down, ate something and planned our next steps. As Colombo the capital wasn´t really our favourite place to be we bought tickets for the next morning to go to Kandy, a nice little town further to the east and a wonderful train ride away. 

The trains in Sri Lanka are the best way to travel, it´s slow, but the landscapes are one of the most beautiful a saw on my journey. The trains are really old and slow, but that really makes the journey, they are the ones where all windows are open and the doors too, so you can enjoy the wind in your hair and the excitement of standing or sitting in the doors seeing how the train slowly moves deeper into the mountains.

In Kandy we had a very weird couchsurfing experience and decided to head to Adam´s peak the next day. It is known for the Sri Pada, the "sacred footprint" a rock formation near the summit. In Buddhist tradition it is held to be the footprint of Buddha, in Hindu the one of Shiva and in Muslim and Christian tradition the one of Adam.

Unfortunately my kidneys began to hurt so much again that i hardly couldn´t walk and so i decided to stay in the train and head directly to Ella, a nice little town surrounded by tea plantations and mountains, which sounded like a good environment to relax and get well.

Indeed it was a good decision and despite of having to say goodbye to Joanna and Andrew it was nice to be alone again. My days were very simple filled with easy morning walks, light and healthy food and a lot of sleep.

Like this i was ready and fit to leave the mountains after 4 days and head to the beach where i spend my last week in Unawatuna, a small town at the beach. The beach, sun and some surfing made me feel better instantly and with the good mood coming back to me i met nice people to hang out with. I also met the Canela boys again, 2 days before they left in direction of Mauritius. This is the best about travelling, you meet some people again on your way and you instantly feel like meeting a family member again. They know you, you know them, the normal small talk is not necessary and you go straight to the deeper conversations and get to know more layers of the other person.

But then the day arrived and I headed to Colombo to take my flight back to Germany. It was a weird feeling, but I tried not to think about it too much. I enjoyed the last crazy bus ride that took about 4 hours, the last crazy sweating all over and the funny music videos they played on the bus. To ensure a save travel and brakes that work the bus driver ´s assistant donated 3 times 2 rupees to a Buddha temple and prayed for a smooth journey. It´s nice to see this little rituals, and secretly you also pray for getting there alive ;-)

But of course, I never had a doubt, everything was fine and I arrived on time to  check in.

Alone standing in the queue was kind of hard for me as I was surrounded by Germans all complaining about the smallest things. It is sad how people just think they are on top of everybody else, you can feel their egos growing bigger and bigger demanding to be treated as if they were more special than others. Luckily I had really nice women sitting right next to me and so I took a deep breath and reminded myself that I will find people that share my interests and views of live all over the world and also in Germany.

One more time I closed my eyes to fall asleep with a big smile on my face feeling excited to see my family again so soon.

Malaysia- 9 hours at the Kuala Lumpur Airport-Transit

Normally i wouldn´t write about this..but this was the most hilarious night on my whole trip..so worth to be in the blog. As we landed at 9 pm and our flight to Sri Lanka was at 6 am we thought we´re just gonna sleep at the airport..no problem..but what are the odds..exactly this night the shops and restaurants all closed from midnight to 4 am for cleaning and fogging. What the hell is fogging? Yeah..same question here. Nobody really could tell us so we just arranged our camp in a quiet corner of the airport...just to be told an hour later that we have to leave the building as they are gonna spray anti-bug spray. So yes..they just kicked everybody out and we collected our belongings and went outside to look for a nice spot to sleep. (Do they do that in Europe or cold countries too?? I mean, here it was nice and warm but in other countries you will freeze to death...but i also guess that this countries don´t have a problem with cockroaches)
Approximately 15 minutes after having set up our camp again a non visible cloud of toxic whatever it was overfall us and under coughing and rubbing our eyes we fled into the night. We found our dream spot between the car park and the drive through area for the buses on a green grass patch with palm trees. Wonderful cosy and distant enough to the poison.
Well, you can guess what happened next....exactly..after 1 and a half hours it began to rain.
Extremely tired and feeling like bums having all our belongings on a carrier we couln´t help but bursting into uncontrolled hysterical giggles. Back to our original place as the airport was fogged we kind of dozed for a while before finally checking into our flight to Sri Lanka.
What an experience!

cosy corner @ KL airport

cosy corner outside KL airport

the best spot with own palm tree

But now for real..bye Southeastasia, hello Sri Lanka.