What am I leaving behind?

The prospect of leaving Germany for such a long period of time got me thinking - what (and who) am I leaving behind? And how will everything change while I'm abroad?

Several of my friends just started a thrilling new job. Will they still like it (or work there at all) when I get back?

My sister just started studying at university. She may be nearly half through her bachelor's degree when I next see her.

My mum will be a year closer to retirement. What kinds of retirement plans will she make while I'm away?

Some of my friends are going through tough times in their relationships, while others are planning to have a kid, or already had one.

It will be almost impossible to really stay in touch with all of them - and even more difficult to convince them that their lives back home are just as interesting to me as my long journey may be to them.

Even in the digital age, with Facebook and Skype and all that, communicating while you're half a world away is just not the same as meeting in person.

So all I can really hope for is that we may reconnect when I'm back - I hope you'll still remember me then!

Travel Gear

So, this is the first post that I'm not writing on my computer with its comfortable keyboard and rather large screen, but on my phone, using my new travel keyboard. The keyboard is a rather amazing piece of technology - light, foldable, waterproof, and big enough to allow me to touch-type.

So, on this occasion I thought I'd share some pictures of my travel equipment. In the past months I read a lot about what to take and what to leave at home, and the thing I read most often was: travel light, and use a small backpack. So this is what I did (or tried to do...). My backpack has room for 35 liters, plus an additional 10 via an extension you can fold out (which I am not using at the moment). Everything combined, my stuff weighs a little more than 13kg - which is very VERY light compared to the 60+ kg I took to Japan.

How did I achieve this? First by simply taking less, of course. And second by replacing large and heavy items with small and light travel versions. The best example for this is my travel towel which weighs only 130g and can be packed up to about 8x8x3cm.

So here's what I'm taking. First up: clothes and swimwear.

I'm also taking a medical kit and a bunch of different medication - just in case, I don't need any of it on a daily basis.

Now for the fun part: gadgets! :-)

The one item missing from this picture is my camera - I had to take the picture somehow...

Next up, all the miscellaneous stuff that didn't fit on one of the other pictures.



Now, last but definitively not least, my sports gear. The reason I'm taking all this is that I simply cannot imagine not doing sports. Plus, I want to run at least one marathon during my trip :-)



Everything is already packed up and ready to go. My flight leaves tomorrow morning... First stop: Holguín, Cuba!

Open Water Diver

As of last week, I finally am a certified PADI Open Water Diver! I took the course at Mc Divers, a local dive center with really nice - and very competent - instructors.

So... why learn to dive? If you read my aquarium vs. nature post, you already know why I wanted to learn diving.

For me, it is much more fascinating to observe animals in their natural habitat than viewing them in an aquarium or zoo. It is true that you get a much closer look at them in a confined environment. But what exactly do you get to look at? Depressed, imprisoned animals who don't exhibit any of their natural behavior because their living space is much too small and there's no need to hunt for food. That's why I'll always prefer observing animals in the wild.

In addition to that, underwater is a great environment. Compared to our usual surroundings, it is a very slow and tranquil environment. There is less noise, no chatter, no hustle and bustle, and everything is dominated by the reassuring sound of your own breathing. 

And on top of all that, you get to participate in all three dimensions - without the need to resort to stairs to change your perspective ;-).

So I'm really looking forward to lots of diving during my trip. I'm taking a camera that is waterproof up until 12 meters, so maybe there will be some underwater shots too :-)