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