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My plans to ship to Australia have been changed and delayed a few times, yet in the end it turned out to be good just this way and I wouldn’t want to have missed out on all of the past months’ encounters (and meals). In the end, I didn’t have to look any further than Bali to find a company that could handle my bike and so I could enjoy Ubuds atmosphere a bit more.
It’s kind of funny how you set an intention, give it some time, and rather suddenly you reached what you wished for and the bike is loaded. What will expect me anyway? I’m looking forward to what comes and yet I’m already feeling I will be missing Indonesia.
Having spent about five days disassembling and thouroughly cleaning the R to meet with Australian quarantine/biosecurity regulations, the Black Beauty is now strapped and bubble-wrapped, ready to be sent on a container vessel to Down Under.
See you in a month!
Main-Post, a regional German newspaper, got interested in my story. I consider it an appreciation of my journey to get interviewed and see they are printing a whole page about it. Even if it seems difficult to break down my so-far experience of 18 months in one interview and article, I hope to get some messages across:
1, the world, in all its variety, is much brighter and less cynical than we tend to think based on media (you knew that, right)
2, plan less, accept more, embrace whatever comes and act from there.
Here’s to the next leg of the journey. Thank you @dave_globetrotter @barbara.k.herrmann @mainpost.de
Taking a summer break from travelling. Ironically, it indeed feels a bit like being on a holiday when I don’t have to move places every other day. It’s easy to settle back into a used environment and yet I continue to see the beauty of Germany, maybe more than I did before.
On that day, I was touring an area in North-East Bavaria, which is known as “Franconian Switzerland”, featuring picturesque fields, rocks and rivers. The latter were most welcome as the temperatures peaked at 38 degrees.
For now, it’s not yet that I miss riding a lot, but when there’s another BMW in the family, temptation is there.
Is it me or is it your projection?
“Life is like a mirror. Smile at it and it smiles back at you.” — Peace Pilgrim
1st image: Encounter on the road in #myanmar. A woman on the way home with two of her children.
2nd image: Girl behind long houses in #marudi, #sarawak. In the more rural areas, people seem so happy to see a foreigner.
3rd image: Ainu, a teacher and education activist in #kualalumpur, #malaysia.
4th image: Shop owner selling sweet potatoes on a market in #taipei, #taiwan.
5th image: Filipino fishermen in #taiwan, waiting to go back out to the sea.
Both Bali and Lombok are super beautiful and picturesque for their landscapes, architecture and cultural life. It’s no wonder that these islands have been so popular amongst international visitors. Even the more touristic hubs have maintained their beauty, but roaming around Bali’s Ubud or Lombok’s Kuta as a foreigner can be tiring for the sheer amount of taxi services, tour operators and hawkers which can become VERY pushy (while just trying to make a living). You will literally be asked to buy bracelets over lunch for a sixth time even if you’ve said no to some other five just before.
The amazing thing is then if just taking a step out of these hubs, the experience becomes a very rural and more original one. Needless to say that I still draw a lot of attention in the villages, but solely in a positive way. People genuinely smile at me and seem so welcoming, something I would not have expected when considering the amount of visitors these islands see. Young boys are usually the bravest and sometimes approach to curiously hang around. In this case and at Pantai Torok, I got to take a ride on Özil’s bicycle in exchange for letting him sit on my bike. He was with his older brother and two friends. I also liked how the one in blue totally lost it. #boysgonnaboy
