Hello to our English speaking friends. Welcome to our blog, we hope you have a good time here. 🙂

Since we haven’t always been in close contact with all of you, some might be surprised about all this. Yes, Kathrin and I are actually about to travel the world, leaving home in less than three days. And no, this idea wasn’t all that new.

To cut it short, we’ve had this crazy idea stuck in our heads for quite a while now (several years, in fact), only the time never seemed right for some reason or other. And one day we realized that the right time will never come – there will always be a job too safe to quit, friends and family too loved to leave behind, worries too big to overcome. But also this dream too beautiful to let go. So we started planning, reading other travellers‘ blogs, thinking this whole thing through…

…and here we are now. Jobs quit, farewells said (mostly), preparation almost completed. The past six months have been a whirlwind. While some people actually manage to just pack a bag and take the next flight to somewhere, we are not that kind of people. We planned the route at least roughly, booked some tickets and accomodations for the first weeks, got vaccinated against some of the crazy diseases out there, got our visas, paid for health insurance, bought some basic equipment, handed in our notices, gave up our apartments and sold/gave away lots of belongings,… Believe me, it was a lot of work. Like, a lot. But we trust that it will be worth it, and speaking for myself (Birgit), I can only say that even before we have actually set out, it has already been a great experience.

Firstly, I learned to handle all that (paper)work that I was always so afraid of. Like changing or cancelling insurance contracts, opening a new bank account, actually filing my own tax return (I will forever be proud of that, and very grateful to Ines for helping me). Also applying for visas and actually having those applications granted was a huge boost for my self-confidence. Or clearing out my apartment. Selling stuff at the flea market. The list goes on, and it makes me happy to see how much can be accomplished through determination and with the help of friends.

Secondly, it has made me a more open person already now. I find it easier to talk to strangers. (Also strangers seem to find me more approachable these days.) When I went to apply for my international driver’s license, I ended up having an excited, almost hour-long conversation with the clerk about our trip because she also loves travelling. Or the guy who bought some of my stuff on eBay and had travelled round the world, too (and we ended up talking for two hours without even knowing each other).

Thirdly, and most importantly, all those farewell meetings up to this point have been awesome. They have been emotional, and sad, and I’m not gonna lie, when we say our goodbyes to our families on Saturday, I will be a complete emotional mess. But those meetings with our friends and co-workers have been so special knowing that this is the last time we will see each other for maybe a year or longer. We spent the time with more awareness, and we did things that we wouldn’t usually do (thank you, Maria, for the fireworks!). Also, we got some great presents, and while it is always nice to get presents, they were really thought-through and made us feel very loved.

So, all of this combined has already been a fantastic experience. Now all that’s left to do is hitting the road (or rather the rails) and follow our dreams. 😀

Our plan so far is to travel overland from Dresden to Berlin, Berlin to Moscow by direct train (25 hours), have a brief look around Moscow and then take the Transsiberian Railway to Beijing, stopping and staying at Lake Baikal (Irkutsk) and Ulaanbaatar/Mongolia for several days each. We have all our train tickets booked, and also reserved accomodation until and including Beijing. After that, we will just go with the flow. We plan on going to Vietnam from China, after that to Laos, Cambodia and Thailand – all of that by train or bus or otherwise overland. From there, we are still somewhat undecided – Indonesia is definitely on the list, and maybe the Philippines. In any case, we want to spend several months in South Eastern Asia, and after that fly to New Zealand, then across the Pacific Ocean to Hawaii (maybe stopping in Tahiti, childhood dream come true), and then to the US and Canada. And probably fly home from there. Although, who knows, one year is a long time and maybe we change our minds on the way, and go somewhere else entirely, or go back again to somewhere beautiful, … Many options, and we don’t intend to pressure ourselves to stick to any plans.

We would be happy to hear from you and read your comments, and we hope to stay in touch with you. 🙂