Category: Self-Discovery

“The Things You Own End Up Owning You” – Why I Love Minimalism

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Over the course of the last few years I’ve sold my identity.
Okay, that sounds overly dramatic and exaggerated, but for a long time I actually thought that my video games and movies were a physical manifestation of my identity. I mean, I wasn’t just any casual gamer or movie fan. I had over 700 movies from all eras and a video game collection composed of multiple consoles, collectibles, special editions and rarities. In fact, by selling these possessions I managed to finance many of my travels.

Continue reading ““The Things You Own End Up Owning You” – Why I Love Minimalism” →

Why Do We Travel?

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“The world was simple – stars in the darkness. Whether it was 1947 B.C. or A.D. suddenly became of no significance. We lived, and that we felt with alert intensity. We realized that life had been full for men before the technical age also – in fact, fuller and richer in many ways than the life of modern man. Time and evolution somehow ceased to exist; all that was real and that mattered were the same today as they had always been and always would be. We were swallowed up in the absolute common measure of history – endless unbroken darkness under a swarm of stars.” Continue reading “Why Do We Travel?” →

Building Dreams In Nicaragua

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It has been a long year. Many people say that time goes by so fast and they may be right. But only if we look back and reflect we can actually see how much has really happened in the past 365 days. For example, just the thought that at the beginning of 2017 I was still working at Slumber Party is unbelievable. To me it seems almost like a lifetime ago. But now it’s time to finally wrap things up and close the chapter of 2017. And I’d like to end it by writing about the last country I have visited before flying back to my family and friends for Christmas and New Year. Nicaragua is not only a beautiful and friendly country, but also absolutely “diacachimba”! Continue reading “Building Dreams In Nicaragua” →

I Think I’m Ready To Settle Down

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Traveling in my opinion is a roller coaster ride in many ways. It is exhilarating and exciting, full of rapid ups and downs, twists and turns, and in our adrenalin fueled state a journey often ends with a wanting for more. The high intensity with which we feel our emotions during traveling is a big part of why it is such a unique and sought after experience. We are scared shitless at first, when we are thrown into a seemingly different world, thousands of miles away from our home; unsure what to do and scared of the bewildering unknown. Then we are relieved once we find a partner or partners, who will join us on our trip and who give us a warm sense of security and the opposite of loneliness. We experience joy and happiness as our travel group grows and we are saddened once the inevitable goodbye disbands this group, at least on a physical level. We fall in love, we fall out of love. As I said: a roller coaster ride. And although it often leaves us with a wanting for more, eventually even this adrenaline rush will fade and exhaustion will take its place. The roller coaster stops for a while. And I’m beginning to feel that I might have reached this point. Continue reading “I Think I’m Ready To Settle Down” →

Dear Travelers, Please Be Respectful!

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If we travel to a new country we usually do some research beforehand about said country, so that we know at least a little bit about their culture, history, language and so forth. We want to be prepared for what we can expect and also to prevent as many unintentional faux pas from happening. We are by all means not perfect and still make our fair share of mistakes, but doing a little research can help minimizing them.

After years of typing “Things to know about [country]” into Google and gathering all kinds of information, I realized that we can essentially wrap up a lot of the details into one simple truth: Continue reading “Dear Travelers, Please Be Respectful!” →

My Favorite Story From Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara’s “The Motorcycle Diaries” And What It Taught Me About The Human Side Of Icons

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One of my favorite stories in Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara’s ‘The Motorcycle Diaries’ is the one that takes place somewhere on the road in Chile, where he and his friend Alberto Granado found shelter for the night in a German household. During the night Ernesto had a “bad case of the runs”, in one word: Diarrhea, and because in his opinion it would have been rude to use the pot under his bed, he thought for whatever reason, it would be a better idea to relieve himself by sitting out on the window ledge and down “into the night and blackness beyond.” The next morning when he looked out of this very window, he saw to his utter disbelief that at the bottom the German family had placed their sweet peaches to dry in the sun and Che’s “contribution” was in his own words “a spectacle that was impressive. We beat it fast.” Continue reading “My Favorite Story From Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara’s “The Motorcycle Diaries” And What It Taught Me About The Human Side Of Icons” →