Coming home. Somehow.

Coming home; what a beautiful and at the same time terrifying feeling. After six months of wandering through Southeast Asia, sleeping on sometimes uncomfortable sometimes horrible beds, eating hell of a lot of rice and meeting great and crazy people I’m back home. Back in Switzerland where the contrast to those loud and dirty streets, beautiful beaches and smiling people couldn’t be any bigger (There are also friendly people in Switzerland. Well sometimes. xD) 

Now sitting at a table, in a room without ants, cockroaches and spiders, drinking a tea which costs more than a dinner in Cambodia I can’t help but thinking of my amazing time on the road. Like experiencing the famous Full Moon party on Koh Phangan and driving hours every day on a motorbike only to eat at our favourite food court...

Namaste, bitches! :P

...getting a bamboo tattoo, surviving a drunken Tuktuk driver in Phnom Penh (miss you Hilla) and feeling like Lara Croft in the temples of Angkor (and getting up far too early, right Orestis? xD)

Meditating in Angkor Wat

...waking up with a snow-white beach and turquoise water right in front of my bed...

Make sure you visit Koh Rong Sanloem once in your life (it's in Cambodia)

...leading several pub crawls in Siem Reap and drinking more than enough (no comment, Oz xD), chillling two days on a slow boat and enjoying the breathtaking nature of Laos, going crazy while tubing in Vang Vieng (and drowning my new mobile phone. Well done, Ari), spending a week on 4000 islands doing absolutely nothing and visiting the most beautiful waterfall I’ve ever seen in Luang Prabang...

Kuang Si waterfall - don't miss!!

...bowling in the middle of the night with the craziest and most amazing person (miss you Lily), hiking for two days under a merciless sun and eating the best lunch ever on the floor served on a big banana leaf...

Somewhere in the middle of nowhere in Northern Laos

...playing with the cutest girl in a Hmong village and attending a motorbike lesson in Pai (yes, as responsible Swiss girl I simply had to do it the right way)...

Meet my epic scooter teacher from Pai, Thailand

...dancing on the streets with my best (glad to have you closer now Vicky), SCUBA diving for the very first time on Ko Tao and art-hunting in beautiful Georgetown in Malaysia...

Georgetown, "Children on the Swing" (and me xD)

...spending one night in the middle of nowhere in "Baluran National Park" surrounded by thousands of monkeys (thanks for being there with me Anna),  playing beer pong on Gili Trawangan (up for a revenge, Serkan?) and exploring Bali's beautiful temples...

Tanah Lot (visit during high tide!)

...traveling 42 hours in tons of different mode of transport only to safe on 50 bucks for a flight ticket (probably not our best idea ever, Julian xD), seeing the famous Komodo dragons in Flores (Big dragons. Huge dragons. No I wasn’t afraid. Not at all.) and enjoying the most beautiful view point ever on Rinca Island...

Rinca Island, Flores

I could go on and on with my memories and I’m very grateful for them. One quote from Miriam Adeney sticks in my mind since the moment I disembarked the plane in Zurich: "You will never feel completely home again, because part of your heart always will be elsewhere. That is the price you pay for the richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place." So true.

Now back home I should organize my life, being adult they say. But how can you find your way back into this serious and grumpy society? People look at me in a strange way when they realise that I’m 25 without a job, a longterm boyfriend and an own flat. I should plan my life, they say. But I'm not like I that. I’m very grateful for how privileged I am for being born and raised in Switzerland, for having the best family I could wish for and for having enjoyed a good education. I think we owe this world to do something with our possibilities, to see the world, to meet people from other cultures and to realize even more how gifted we are with our lives. I will settle in a way, don't worry but I won’t stop traveling, I won’t stop dreaming. Ever.

(Allright, this got a bit philosphical but I hope you got my point)

Love,

Ari

About monks and monkeys

Sawadee-kah

Imagine: you are lying on the beach, listening to the breaking waves, digging your feet deep into the sand and feeling the sun on your skin. Suddenly you hear something or someone searching your bag! You turn around – ready to fight the thief – and find yourself eye in eye with a monkey staring at you and pulling your camera out of the bag. I hissed at him, showed my teeth and started to scream while grabbing the strap of my camera. I pulled as hard as I could. You can steal my food, you can even steal my money but for Christ's sake don't you dare touching my camera! Vicky who’s sleeping next to me on the beach startled, grabbed the nearest branch and started to fight the monkey. We both screamed like crazy and the monster disappeared…

…and then I woke up, pressing my backpack to my chest, looking around, expecting one of those hairy creatures sitting in front of me. But there was none, I was in the night bus to Bangkok, next to me my dreaming friend Vicky. My heart was still racing; I was ready to fight. The sad thing about the story? It wasn’t a dream, it was more of memory as it actually happened on Koh Lanta while we visited the National Park on the island.

And yeah, I must confess, since this incident I can't speak well of monkey's ‘cause they did not only try to steal my camera one of them even jumped on my back when I left the National Park. He just fell off a tree, can you imagine how scary that was?? That has affected me for life. So please don’t talk about “cute” monkeys in my presence, 'cause I may start to scream and fight you with a branch.

Anyway, that's some time ago. Since then, Vicky and I had great adventures (positive and negative ones):

- Observing and making fun of annoying couples

- Dancing to live music on the beach (or on the streets)

- Surviving a mosquito-attack on my humble ass (fun for Vicky, not much fun for me)

- Killing a huge cockroach trapped in our mosquito net (where I almost lost my thumbnail; sending an evil eye to Vicky)

- Spending New Years Eve on Koh PhiPhi with thousands of people (I swear the island was about to sink)

- Traveling in a local bus in Phuket

- Getting upgraded to a double bed room with aircon (‘cause we're awesome)

- Surviving an annoying roommate in Khao Lak (her stupidity knew no bounds)

...and finally organizing the trip back to Bangkok in a night bus.

The last part seems to be quite easy, right? You couldn’t be more wrong. Two days before departure I booked two tickets from Khao Lak to Bangkok with the bus at my favourite tourist office. D-day came, we showed up at the office and there it started: “Helloooo miss, me try to call youuu free times. You don’t knooow? Bus not coming because heavy raaaain. Soorryyyy.” NO, I don’t know!! It would have been to easy if it worked out like planned, I mean it’s Thailand. So we made a new deal: a taxi to the next bus station where another night bus leaves at around the same time. One hour later we found ourselves squeezed in between some Chinese tourists with their trolleys and shiny watches, locals staring at us like we were aliens and a monk who panicked when we sat close to him. But as I learned in my intercultural courses women shouldn’t talk to monks or be near them. Out of respect I tried to sit a bit further which was quite a challenge as the bus station was bursting at the seams. Which was our bus? What time should it show up? We were lost. So we waited and waited and waited, helplessly staring on our bus ticket when the monk suddenly started talking to us. Whaaaat? He’s going on the same bus to Bangkok and we can just follow him, he knows which of those dozens of buses is ours. By looking at his brandnew Samsung smartphone (which was in a way better shape than mine) I guess he must be a pretty modern monk. xD

So we followed his wavy orange appearance (pretty useful in a crowded place), I felt so important. Even more important when we found out that we were upgraded to VIP Bus. Whoopwhoop! Better seats and snacks in the seat pocket, Mama I’m home. 4 hours after departure, we were sleeping like babies, the bus suddenly stopped,  all the lights came to bright and the monk translated the Thai-Lady’s shrill announcement. Something about a 20 minute break and food. Food? Let’s go. We were pushed into a big hall with small stone tables. Everything was organised and we were advised to sit down, immediately. Yes, mam’! Some other people joined our table and not even two minutes later food appeared: currys, steamed rice, vegetables and some other indefinable things. I tried a small spoonful of the yellow curry… “HOLY CRAP!” Oh my god, I really shouted it out loud. The man next to me started to laugh and the old chinese lady on the other side of the table wished the ground would swallow her up. Well done, Ari. I looked at Vicky and we started to laugh. So funny how things can fall together. In one moment you are lying on the beach and in the other you find yourself in the middle of nowhere, eating spicy Thai food with people you’ve never seen before and having a chat with a monk. Life is unpredictable!

It was 5 am when we arrived in Bangkok. Of course with thousands of others. It was quite a fight to get to a taxi and find our lovely apartment with the cosiest bed I’ve ever slept in (many thanks to JJ who was hosting us).

Well this holiday is one for the books. Highfive, Vicky!

Goodbyeee, I'm off to new adventures! (Cambodia is waiting...)

Ari

Raindrops keep falling on my head🎤☔️

Day Nr. 5 and it's still raining. Not like it uses to rain in Switzerland with those tiny lovely little raindrops falling on your head barely registered. Here on Koh Phangan it's pouring without mercy and you're soaked within seconds.

I just tried to walk to the yoga place where we get our daily yoga dose. I stepped out of my bungalow walked 20 meters through the forest barely seeing anything because of the heavy rain. Crossing rivers which used to be small roads; touching a leaf which turns into an even heavier shower; walking, trying not to slip - that's the challenge. But it was hopeless as my rainjacket already surrendered. I ran (or rather swam) back to my place - soaked to the bones and pissed off. 

Nice view but definetly too much rain :/

 

Two days ago it was even worse when I was at the beach with some fellow travellers. By then it was raining for three days in a row except for a short time on that particular day. We could even see the sun through the clouds which made us jump on the scooters to reach the beach. Two carefree hours chatting, swimming and eating Thai Food. And then the sky got dark again...We looked at eachother - perfectly aware of what's going to happen next - and rushed to the scooters to get back to our place carrying three people on each bike (living the Thai way of life ;) ). Two minutes later it started to pour like hell. I still have no idea how my driver could still make out the road which was more of a river by then. Rain in my eyes, in my hair, everywhere - it felt like standing underneath a waterfall. We somehow made our way back, though.

I miss the sun, the warmth, the summer.

After Bangkok I spent two amazing (sunny) weeks on Koh Tao where I learned diving, swam with thousands of fish, saw some bluedotted rays (with whom I fell in love immediately), dived by night, inspected a sunken ship of the second World War, going crazy at the famous Koh Tao Pub Crawl, discovered the best beaches and viewpoints with great people I met along the way, spent three days at a dream beach and - yeah - finally got a tan (Yes!!💪🏻)

Freedom Viewpoint, Koh Tao

Now, I'm on Koh Phangan volunteering at the Pyramid Yoga School in the middle of nowhere (it's a nice nowhere, though). Actually, we should renovate the whole area but as it is raining for days it's pretty hard to fix roofs, paint walls or clean the roads in the forest.

The last two days we spent two hours each cleaning the area while getting wet. I'm about to turn into a huge raindrop. Seriously. Oh and what do you think how many mosquito bites would it take to turn a human into a mosquito? I suppose I'm pretty close. And guess what? At this very moment the roof of my bungalow started leaking. Above my bed.

But do you know what I'm concerned about the most?

Loosing my tan.

Cheers,

Ari

Female dorms - The struggle is real

Hello from the othersiiiide, I must have called... Haha, sorry xD

What I actually wanted to say: Hello from the Inncrowd Backpackers Hostel in Singapore after a pretty tough night. No, it was not how you may think. I’m sleeping in a damn cold 10-bed female dorm. And guess what? The aircon wasn’t my worst enemy. I know – I’m a girl too and I sometimes talk a lot – but how can they be so disrespectful? I went to bed around 10:30pm and I was totally okay with it if it hasn’t been quite yet. But at 00:50am the room was still bright and the light was shining directly into my humble face. Oh and did I mention that everyone was talking like it was tea time in England? So I pulled myself together and stood up, asking politely – a little sarcastic, I confess – if they mind if I turn off the light. I walked back to my bed - slowly - by giving them the devil's eye. Finally laying in my cold bed, wrapped in blankets and a scarf, the room was now half dark as a girl was still sitting on the floor working on the laptop (I just hope she’s saving the planet – so it’s legit) It got more quiet but some of the girls were still talking – damn it. Because of all the stress I was suddenly wide awake. Around 2:30am the last soul found its way to the bed and finally turned off the light. Silence. Thank god... Until the alarm clock of a girl rang around 8am.
8.01am: everyone was happily talking again.

But enough of annoying stuff. It’s acutally pretty awesome here. :D

On my first day in Singapore I went to the Gardens by the Bay and had a totally nice day walking through hectares of beautiful flowers, trees and plants.

Gardens by the Bay

It was the perfect thing to do when you're jetlagged and basically just wanna lay on the floor and sleep. The atmosphere was relaxing but the walking more exhausting than expected. Maybe that's the reason why I fell asleep on a bench in the afternoon. Ooops.  But after a refreshing cup of fruits (with a suspect little plastic bag filled with white powder laying on top of it... Okay, I'm definitely watching too many detective series xD) I was ready to discover the rest of this beautiful area.

See? Very suspicious... xD

Later more! (And yes I tried the white powder. Just a little bit. Could be sugar. Could be something else. xD)

 

Over and out,

Ari 

 

 

Memories

Moving out isn’t only a great deal of work; it also has a spiritual aspect. You go through all your stuff, decide what to keep, what to throw away. You are not only sorting through all the chaos in your room but also the one in your head; your thoughts start to wander. I stumbled upon small things of great significance like a Festival ticket from last year’s Sonisphere festival in Lucerne, a handcrafted elephant from my first time in Tanzania or a train ticket to Paris where I spent an amazing time with my Mom. Suddenly you stop filling your boxes and suitcases and find yourself sitting on the bed (or in my case on the mattress as I already sold my bed. Ka-ching!) with a stupid smile on your face remembering all the beautiful moments.  

While sitting and smiling like an idiot I stared at my huge vintage world map glued on a corkboard, covered with colourful needles representing the places I’ve visited. My mind started to wander… What’s going to happen in the next months? What places will I visit? Who will I meet? Will I handle all the challenges? Then I thought about all the beautiful people I met on my last year solo-trip to Thailand and I knew that somehow everything’s gonna be alright. I met Ben from Germany and Raimund from Austria in Bangkok with whom I spent a legendary “bucket-night” on Khao San Road, Sophie form France who returned to Paris to start a new job and came back to Southeast Asia a few months later to travel for another 8 months because the travel bug totally caught her (a huge kick in the ass to just follow your heart). The crazy girls (Hi Eilidh and Alexis!) from Edinburgh I met on Ko Phi Phi (Ladies, I will never forget our karaoke night xD ), then there are Will, Julian and Sascha, three Swiss guys who made themselves a challenge to talk to every single girl who crosses their way (Just kidding… Wait, am  I..? :P). 

And my favourite part of my trip: the days I spent on a backpacker beach in Tonsai next to Ao Nang. I met TomTom a totally talented photographer and rock climber who was kind of the social leader of the backpacker-group (I was sitting all alone - like a lost puppy - when he picked me up and introduced me to the “family”. Thanks again, TomTom!) and Genya, a passionate masseur (in fact, he likes to torture people xD) and as well a fearless rock climber. I will never forget the day we climbed the muddy hill to get to the lagoon and ended up taking a swim with all our dirty clothes on (and shoes, my god they stank like hell after drying in the sun xD). Then on my last stop before heading back home I met Wandee in Khao Lak. She now runs a popular "Cooking class company" (haha, I honestly have no idea how to name that) but back then I was her first customer and we spent a fantastic day buying fresh ingredients on the local market and cooking delicious Thai food (see you soon, my dear!) 

And the ones I mentioned are only some of all the amazing people I met along my way.

Viewpoint, Tonsai Beach

All these priceless memories collected in roughly two weeks.  Even though I’ve only spent a few days with those people I feel a much stronger connection to them than to some people I know for years. Memories you make on the road are deeper and last longer (or quite often forever). 

Okay, enough sentimental stuff here. I need to get my things back to my mom’s house now. My goodness, how many things can a single person possibly own?! xD

For me it has never been easy to part with my possessions. I anyway hate to say goodbye; especially to people I love. I ‘m always like “see you soon” or...

...see you in a while, crocodile! (Sorry, I couldn’t resist)

Love, Ari

To see, to wander, to live

What a cliché. I’m sitting here in a cozy XXL-cotton sweater (men’s collection), black tights and knee-high boots at a small table in a Starbucks coffee shop in Zurich, Switzerland. Staring at my computer, trying to find a suitable start for my new blog while sipping at my overpriced Java Chocolate Chip Frappucino (most women have a handsome male muse, I find my inspiration in chocolate). Don’t worry, this will neither be another fancy fashion-blog nor an organic-vegan-whatever food-blog.

As a 24-year-old Flight Attendant I have seen quite a lot of this world in my rather young age but I have never been somewhere for real. Like living abroad, working with people from other cultures for a longer period of time or building another home in a new place – never happened so far. And that’s why I decided to quit my job, basically quit my life here in Switzerland and leave. Alone.  Just me, my camera and my laptop. And of course some clothes, oh and shoes, and a lot of other stuff (I’m a woman, what did you expect?). I will start my adventure on 10^th November in the evening; already got my flight ticket to Singapore and my connecting flight to Bangkok two days after. Got my first-aid-kit, my travel towel, my Lonely Planet-guide for whole Southeast Asia (another cliché I know), got my new trekking shoes and will buy a suitable backpack tomorrow in Johannesburg, Southafrica. Yes, tonight’s my last flight. At least my last flight where I have to deal with rude passengers (it wasn’t that bad at all but after hundreds of flights serving people tomato juice;  I’m happy to leave).

I loved my job. Two days in Hong Kong, one day in New York, two days Los Angeles, one night in Rome and the month hadn't been over yet. It was a crazy life and I enjoyed traveling the world (actually it was more like jumping from one place to another like a kitten chasing a laser pointer). But now I’m looking forward to dive into a culture, really get to know a country not just step in for a few hours, totally jetlagged, and be forced to leave again the moment you finally realize in which city – or sometimes even on which continent –  you find yourself.

My traveling route’s going to be a surprise – even for me. I don’t want to plan anything and get inspired by the stories people are telling me on the road. I will use “workaway.org” to find people I can work for and therefore experience working abroad and get a room & some food for free. I don’t have much money to spend, so this isn’t going to be an I’m-so-fancy-and-only-live-in-5-star-resorts blog. You will read funny stories about a girl, traveling solo and trying not to get lost (too much), wandering the countries in Southeast Asia on a low-budget, meeting people from all over the world and maybe –  just maybe – find the purpose of life (haha, you should set your goals high, remember?)

Sometimes the only right thing to do is to leave.

To see, to wander, to live.

Cheers,
Ari