• MY WAY

A world tour

A 306-day adventure by MY WAY Read more
  • Trip start
    May 11, 2016
  • Barcelona

    May 17, 2016 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    * Chilling 🌴
    * Marvelling 🌺
    * Falling in love with Gaudi 💛

    Here we go....my first entry!
    After a week in wonderful Barcelona I like to say hello.
    I had some great days. Starting with a tour to Park Güell, which is awesome. The whole park was blossomed, music was in the air and the brilliancy of Gaudi was to find in each corner. The monumental area of the park was only exceled by Sagrada Familia, which I visited afterwards. It is amazing!

    I am enjoying my days with walking around the city (it is like a small pilgrimage^^), lying in the sun at the beach, reading, reading, reading, good food and drinks and just relaxing.

    My next stop will be Valencia. Hope to catch the train on Thursday 😊

    So happy greets from Barcelona - hope you are all fine!
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  • València

    May 22, 2016 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    *Turia Park 🌴
    *Street Art 🎨
    *Pub Crawls 🍻

    Valencia is awesone! Way more relaxed than Barcelona, with a very interesting history and a special atmosphere.
    One of the great things is a park, which was built by the people in an old, dried-up stream.
    Another cool thing is the street-art. Very cool and to be seen on each corner. Pictures will follow, as soon as I will handle the connection between my camera and a PC 😜

    The hostel is also great. I met a lot of inspriring, crazy and nice people here and had a great time so far. The hostel-bar is lead by a cuban girl - she makes the best cuban style mojitos 😉
    So if your questioning, what I am doing all day: walking around the wonderful city. Looking for some good siesta spots in the park or at the beach. Enjoying great conversations and drinks with people.
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  • València - Encounters

    May 25, 2016 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    It's all about the people you meet - that is what enriches you most on your travels!

    Sports-Story
    I went to the park to do some sports. After an hour of running and some exercices I was finished. When I just started stretching a guy came along. He told me he was a personal trainer and done with his first group of the day and asked if I want him so show me some exercises.
    To be honest, first I was sceptic but then just gave it a try.
    AND: it was really cool. We just met, did some sports together, I learned some nice Tricks and that's it!
    Lessons learned again: People are nice! Don't always expect something strange! Just take your opportunities!

    That's it 😊
    Song of the day:
    Skrillex - Bangerang
    https://youtu.be/cR2XilcGYOo
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  • Sevilla

    May 26, 2016 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    * Alcazar 🏰
    * Plaza de Eapaña 🌴
    * First Rain on my travel💧

    Made it to Sevilla. I came here with huge expectations due to recommondations of a lot of people I met in Valencia.
    I have to admit: they were right and they were wrong. I am a little bit ambivalent about this City. It has great things to see - like the castle Alcazar, located in the middle of the center with wonderful architectures and stunning gardens. I explored this with my mexican-canadian roommate today 😊 Fun fact: Remeber the Water Gardens of Dorne from Game of Thrones? Guess where they are 😉
    Also the Plaza de Eapaña is a wonderful proof of architectural skills. It is huge, located in a beautiful park and I have no clue, what it was built for 😆 not yet^^
    But on the other hand the city is not only lacking of the sea, but also of a special atmosphere.
    My favorite so far is still Valencia 🌺

    Some anectodes
    "Snorri and the gender roles"
    I stay in a 10 bed dorm. Yesterday a couple checked in and not long after they joined the room at night everybody was awake. But not for the reason you are probably thinking of.....it was because of a penetrant, not ending snorring. It sounded like a jackhammer was working right next to me. After a more or less sleepless night we felt sorry for the poor girl (after we finished self-pitying ourselves). Just imagine you have something like this at home?^^
    Now comes the tricky twist! In the second night, we recognized, that it was not him, but HER who almost snorred us insane 😂 I love getting surprised by life - this gives you the chance to re-think things like gender roles!
    And last but not least: I want to thank the inventors of Oropax - you are my heros of the day!

    Pictures will follow.....📷
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  • Lucky coincidents // a day trip to Cadiz

    May 27, 2016 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Life is great! On my first night in Sevilla, an old friend and me recognized, that she was also in Spain and we were just150km apart.
    Luckily she is as spontaneous as me, so we organized a meeting for the next day in Cadiz.
    It was wonderful 😊 we enjoyed the sun and sea and got lost in uncountable narrow streets of Cadiz. Felt like no time has passed until we met last time (almost 2,5 years ago).
    @Shirin: it was a fairytale 😉💜
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  • Càdiz

    June 4, 2016 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    * Sun, Beach& the Sea 🌊
    * Biking 🚲
    * Wine tasting 🍷

    Càdiz is wonderful! Surrounded by the sea and sunny all the time with a nice breeze.

    My time here is pretty relaxed. I spend my days at the beach, in the park, nice tapas locations and the amazing roof top terrace of the hostel.
    With some girls from London I had a very fun day riding bikes across the city and along the beach. Unfortunately we had problems with the chain of one bike, but girlpower fixed it!!! The guy from the bikestore was pretty impressed^^ When we called him, he was enjoying his siesta and <of course> didn't returned to help us. So he actually thought we would just finishing our bike trip instead of getting rid of the problem 😁.

    With the great people here we decided to try out some regional wine brands in the evenings 😉
    I can negate one prejudice about travelling so far: "You hear the same, superficial stories day by day" - this is definetly not true! I hear a lot of interesting and amazing stories of brave and bold people, of those who are encouraged to take lifes' hurdles with a smile and of those who are just living their dreams!
    As I sit here under a sky full of stars, holding a good glass of wine in my hand, feeling the warm night-breeze on my face and listen to inspiring stories I know: I took the right decision!

    What I missed to do so far is to thank all the people who supported me, who encouraged me, who I know I can rely on! Thanks to my parents who gave me a shelter again and who support me no matter which concerns they have (@Mom: no worries - everything will be fine 😉). Thanks to my closest friends for uncountable conversations and your believe in me - 💜

    Only one thing left to say: Estoy feliz!
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  • Tarifa

    June 18, 2016 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    * Climbing, Biking, Hiking 🗻
    * Spanish 📚
    * The Sea 🌊

    Tarifa is an awesome place!!!
    During the last 2 weeks I improved my spanish skills in the mornings. It was really weird to do homework again, after....pfffff several years without^^
    Most of my afternoons I spend with the nice people from Girasol Outdoor Aventure 🌻, while great hikes, mountainbike tours and climbing. They showed me the stunning nature around Tarifa, I never thought that it's such a rich area.
    And they also took me to my limits - and even a bit beyond. It is awesome to experience, that there is always a way to improve and grow 💪
    Literally "hanging around" at the top of the mountain after climbing it, feeling a soft breeze on the face, the hot sun in the back, having 15 meters of nothing than air under your feet and watching the sea to your right and the mountains to your left - that is pure freedom!
    Thanks to my tourguides for this experience 🌺

    Above that I joined a whalewatching tour - and I could witness the incredible event of a cachalot taking breath 🐳 Check on my bucket List ✅

    My Tarifa Soundtrack (a.o.):
    Avenged Sevenfold - Gunslinger, Scream
    https://youtu.be/Y58xMOx-qsQ
    https://youtu.be/Hg7lIkZdTPk

    Next stop: Granada
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  • Granada

    June 25, 2016 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

    * Alhambra 🏰
    * 38 Degrees 🌞
    * Walking, walking, walking 👟

    I spend some nice days in Granada.
    The Alhambra is beautiful - just like a giant artwork in arabic architecture 💟
    And as far as I know also another location of GoT 😉

    Albaizìn is the old muslim area of Granada and has a very special atmosphere. It consists of thousends of narrow streets and offers a wonderful view on the Alhambra, the old town and the mountains 😊
    I walked for looooong hours through this neighborhood and enjoyed getting lost!
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  • Travellers' Wisdom

    June 25, 2016 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    I like to present a nice collection of things I have heared on my travels so far.
    I hope you enjoy as much as I did 😉

    "Don't drink tapwater in Europe! They add chloroform - it will kill you!" - a girl from Turkey

    "Germany is not a production country. Therefore you can't learn things about logistics and production processes in german universities. To learn this, you have to go abroad!" - a guy from Germany

    "A minium wage of 8,50€ is too less. Just think of the people who only work 1 hour per week - how can they survive?" - a guy from Brasil

    "In Europe it is not possible to make savings, because you earn little and living costs are too high! The europeans spend all their money for living." - a girl from Brasil

    "I don't order desserts in Restaurants. I have the feeling they are no experts in this field." - a girl from Germany

    "Oh wow - this movie shows 2nd world war. That means...America fought against whom?" - a girl from Austria (stated proudly that she just passed her A-Levels in Austria)

    "I think, germans hate to smile! They are in a bad mood always. Btw - where are you from?" A grumpy girl from China

    "It's awesome - you don't tip in Europe! They just don't want the extra money." - a girl from USA

    "Which kind of blood the Sangria is made of? The pigs or the cows?" - a guy from USA (Remark: "Sangre" means "blood" in spanish...actually it should be obvious, that the name "Sangria" describes the drinks colour,not its ingredients)
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  • Malaga

    June 28, 2016 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    * Biking 🚲
    * Bad Hostel ☔
    * Last station in Spain ✈

    "If you don't have to tell something nice, better tell nothing at all" - for me this saying fits perfect to Malaga ;-) This place is a big City with a lot of waste at the beach and no flair. Even the ocean is not very enjoyable. Beside a nice and long bikeride along the beaches it has nothing to offer for me.
    The hostel is sooo bad - the worst thing I have seen so far - so bad, that it is almost funny (in this special sense of gallows humor 😉). It starts with disgusting bathrooms (I will save you from the details), "Godzilla" my bankbonker who mess up the whole room with her cloth, clean and dirty, with dirty cups and glasses, empty bottles of wine - everything mixed together and well spread over the 8-bed-dorm. And at night she is making sounds as if she was fighting against whole Tokyo^^ And on top come a lot of weirdos - good package tho 😂

    But anyways - after 49 days in Spain I will finish the first chapter ofmy travels. It does not feel like 7 weeks away at all, but on the other side I feel like years away from certain things I have left behind, which is veeeeeery good 😊
    I've learned a LOT during the last weeks, I retrieved some things which I was afraid of being lost, I met wonderful and inspiring people and I did some aweeeeeesome experiences.
    Being so, so happy that I took this step in my life I close this chapter now, fly home to Germany for almost two weeks and prepare myself for the next travels 😊🌺
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  • Short Summary // Home

    June 30, 2016 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    I safely arrived at home in good old Soest (after an interesting and looong night at Malaga Airport).

    In the next 2 weeks I will spend time with my family and friends, get some administrative things done (well, it's Germany 😆), enjoy the Möhnesee and Soests surrounding and plan my upcoming stations roughly.

    Short summary of my travels so far
    1 Country
    7 Cities
    1.872 km in Spain
    4.023 km in total
    2 weeks of spanish lessons
    2 Hikes
    2 Mountain Climbing
    4 Biketours
    And a million experiences and memories
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  • Leaving for the states

    July 12, 2016 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Spend two wonderfull weeks at home filled with quality time with friends and family.
    Unfortunately I couldn't manage to meet everybody I wanted, so we save that for my return mates 😊

    I enjoyed my beloved Möhnesee (luckily the german weather god gifted some days of sun in between rain and storms...), the Blumenthaler Haar and Soest and even had a visitor from Leipzig 💙

    Now I am pretty excited about the second part of my travels. A bunch of awesome things are ahead of me and I am full of hope and trust that it will be the adventure of a lifetime!

    Next stop: Boston

    Todays soundtrack
    Justin Nozuka - After Tonight
    Far East Movement - Like a G6
    https://youtu.be/hgGkJez6pcM
    https://youtu.be/MCZo2PHH-c0
    +"Catch me" from "Bandits" which is unfortunately not available on YouTube - but try to check it out - it's awesome 👐🌺
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  • Boston Family Affairs

    July 12, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    What is the best way to be welcomed at the airport? Right! With a selfmade sign.
    When I was enjoying the bumpy flight to Boston I was thinking of this for a moment. When we stepped out of the airport I got so surprised when I saw my relatives with this cute sign 😊 It totally made my day!

    We spent a great time together with my family (day trip to the coast and to Boston, pizza party for Hildegards Birthday....). I was very excited, cause most of them I met for the first time (talking about grand-grand-grand-uncles and aunts and their children with families). All of them are so nice and lovely and I am very happy to know them finally🌺
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  • Washington DC

    July 16, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    * Planetarium ✨
    * Monuments, Monuments, Monuments ⛲
    * Prayers for me....😆

    Have you ever been to a Planetarium? If not, you should go there. It is so cool! We watched "The dark universe" in the Air&Space museum and it was beautiful🌟 I was asking myself why I didn't pay more attention to sciences in school....well, but then I remembered 😂

    What else happened at the Air&Space....When I was 6 years old I wanted to become an astronaut. My dream was to be the first woman on Mars (....I knew there had been people on the moon before and obviously I was aiming for pioneer work^^)..."somehow" it didn't worked out, so I remained on earth....BUT at least, a bunch of years later, I could touch a piece of a moon rock here in DC 👍🌖
    Okay, okay....yes it was from the Moon, not from Mars....and yes, it was displayed in a museum and there was no need to go to space....but hey - reality gets us all 😂

    Beside that we watched a dancing event of native Americans as well as a stunning exhibition of nature's photography. The cool thing is that all museums (at least in DC) are for free and very detailed and interesting. Another goodie is, that they have AirCon, which is pretty nice at 35 degrees outside.
    If you are looking for some goosebump, check this out: http://www.naturesbestphotography.com

    Ofcourse Washington has much more to offer - from Washington Monnument to the Lincoln one is a nice park with much to see. I didn't expect the city to be so green.

    The prayer story:
    On my first day a storm was coming up. As I was still missing my first summer storm this year, I settled down in the park to watch and enjoy. Suddenly two girls came along and started a nice conversation with me. After a few minutes they talked about Jesus and asked if they could pray for me. You can imagine how iritated I was - this never happend to me before 😂
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  • NYC

    July 19, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    * Top of the Rock 🌟
    * Central Park ⛲
    * Everything else 💚

    New York is simply awesome!

    There are 1.000 things to do and I think we did a good job during our 4 days stay:
    Starting from a circle line Cruiser along the Statue of Liberty a.o., a visit of the Broadway, the Central Park, Wallstreet, a visit of MoMa to Top of the Rock and many more.

    Some Highlights:
    On mums birthday we got up to Top of the Rock two times // Sun and Stars // and it was great seeing the city in a 360¤ view at day time and by night when all the lights where shining. It was definetly worth time and money.

    My "highlight" in the MoMa (museum of modern art) was a pile of straws in front of a cardboard box. No, I am NOT kidding. Next to it there was a Barbie-doll, sitting in a wheelchair and starring at a picture of an drained pool! I am still not kidding. I have no clue what the "artist" wanted to tell me....but I was thinking for a moment how rich and famous I could be by now, if my parents hadn't trashed all my "childhood-art" 😂

    To sum it up: great family-holiday-stop 😊
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  • Burlington Part 2 // Leaving for Detroit

    July 26, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    🌺
    After our roundtrip we were welcomend by Hildegard and Wolfgang again. We spend two more beautiful days with them - cooking, shopping, chatting.
    "It felt like coming home" brings it to the point.
    Many thanks to them and their family for all the great time, memories and of course a special "thank you" to Martina und Michelle for the airport pick ups!

    🗽
    My parents also left today. We had 2 wonderful weeks and it was really nice to have another family vacation trip after all those years.

    🎉
    Right now I am waiting at the airport for my plane to Detroit! I'm really excited to explore another part of the US and to meet Carolyn again. Whooohooooo
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  • Rockin' Detroit

    July 30, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    * Birthday Celebrations 🎂 (Who the hell is Bob?)
    * GO Tigers ⚾

    Hello from Detroit!
    I am having a total fun time over here. Carolyn and her daughter Brooke are hilarious.
    Togehther with Laura and Pragya we had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory and I had a raspberry-lemon-cheesecake-birthday-dream 💚 so yummie!

    Yesterday we went to Eastern Market, a semi-open air market with local veggies, awesome Capuccino and Pizza 🍕did a River walk (with a nice view on Canada, which was only at the other shore), entered the Roofbar of the GM building (72. Floor) and joined a Tigers Baseball Game afterwards. I was so excited and it was awesome. There were not only the game going on, but also lotteries, races of people who were dressed as foam-cars (siriously), dance-battles, Group karaoke (Bon Jovi 👍) and so on and so on. It felt like the biggest children birthday party ever!

    Beside that we visited the Henry Ford museum where I found my 4-wheeler-dream 🚃, the Detroit Institut of Arts which was really cool. Drawings, furniture and sculptures from almost every century and culture.

    In between I am planning the Canada Roadtrip Adventure, which will start in a week 😁
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  • Kanada - mein Traum

    August 19, 2016 in Canada ⋅ 🌙 18 °C

    Das Knistern des Lagerfeuers mischt sich mit dem Rauschen des Bachs. In einigen Minuten wird das Feuer das einzige sein, das die Nacht erhellt, so fernab der Zivilisation sitze ich inmitten eines Nationalparks irgendwo in Kanada. Hebe ich meinen Kopf, so erblicke ich endlose Weiten, eingerahmt von Baumwipfeln und Berggipfeln. Genau so habe ich es mir vorgestellt - Kanada, mein stiller Traum.
    Heute lebe ich meinen Traum und es ist unbeschreiblich schön. Alles fühlt sich so leicht und richtig an. Und obwohl ich so fern meiner Heimat bin, ist es hier doch so vertraut.

    Heute Morgen kreuzte ein Elch meinen Weg, so nah dass ich ihn fast hätte berühren können. Auf einem Ausritt durch die Wälder und Flüsse Banffs' habe ich die Landschaft noch einmal aus einem völlig anderen Blickwinkel gesehen. Und eine Wanderung auf den Sulphur Mountain hat mich erneut über meine Grenzen getragen.

    An fast jedem Tag, den ich hier verbringe, erfülle ich mir einen kleinen Wunsch - Kanutouren über stille Bergseen, Ausritte, Gletschertouren, Bikerides entlang der Küste Vancouvers, Wanderungen, Besuche der Hot Springs......und all das kann ich mit meinem phantastischen Travelmate Shirin teilen, die es ebenso versteht sich an den kleinen Dingen zu freuen wie ich.

    Ich habe in den letzten Wochen viele Dinge erneut zu schätzen gelernt: das einfache Leben mit wenig Materiellem, ein gutes Lagerfeuer, besondere Dinge aus wenigen, einfachen Mitteln zu machen, Landschaften an denen man sich nicht satt sehen kann....

    Eine Decke aus Sternen legt sich über den Nachthimmel und unser Feuer brennt langsam aus. Während ich noch die Wärme der letzten Flammen genieße freue ich mich schon auf die Abenteuer, die der morgige Tag bringen wird.
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