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