Why travel?

Why travel? What’s the point after all? What are all of us travelers searching for in these foreign destinations? Thrill? New sights? Culture shock? Excitement? Challenges? Unique food? Independence? Inspiration? Self-discovery? Adventure? New experiences? 

I follow tons of legit travel bloggers on social media. And when I mean legit, I mean that they dedicate their lives to travel; they quit their jobs and are now traveling long-term as their profession. They make money through their blogs from writing freelance articles, advertising, marketing, campaigns, etc. When reading the “about me” pages and posts of all these bloggers, no one ever really talks about why they travel, they just explain how to travel. I guess everyone just assumes that the answer is obvious? Why not?

One day, Ajay, an Indian guy staying at the same hostel as me in Kiel asked me, "Wanna go to Laboe tomorrow?"

"You should really come!", Leila, a Kenyan girl also staying at our hostel said to me. Maybe you remember Ajay and Leila from my last blog post? Well at the time they asked me to go to Laboe, I had just met Ajay that day and I had only met Leila the day before. They also had only met each other that day but both had free time and were planning a day trip to Laboe, a small beach town on the Baltic sea. Even though I didn't know them very well, they were so friendly so of course I said yes and the next morning we set off on the ferry ride to Laboe. 

Laboe is nothing special, especially not in October when the sun basically doesn't exist in northern Germany and rain falls almost everyday. But it was Leila's first time in Europe and she found everything absolutely "amazing". Literally. She kept pointing at the sea and the buildings saying, "this is just amazing!!". It was nice to see someone so excited about a place that most people consider normal or even dull.

Ajay and Leila turned out being really funny and we all pretty much clicked immediately. We had a lot of fun that day, walking on the empty beach, taking pictures, eating fish sandwiches, checking out the Naval Memorial and the WWII German submarine. Laboe is no Berlin or Frankfurt or Cologne or Hamburg; very few international tourists have even heard of Laboe much less traveled there yet I had a lot of fun that day, solely because of the people I was with. The next night they also surprised me with an early birthday present of chocolate, caramel Müsli (probably my favorite German food ever). It was so sweet of them!

I love these cute, little pod-like beach chair things all over German beaches! 

Naval Memorial commemorating sailors of all nationalities that died during the World Wars

U-boat Nazi submarine

Müsli!!!!!!!! YES

A week or so later, a few days before my birthday, I was feeling a little sad because I knew Mihai would be in school and have German language lessons afterwards until 5pm so I would be alone all day. I asked Leila if she'd like to get lunch with me and she said she was busy on the actual day of my birthday but the day before she could meet! We went to a German restaurant that Mihai's host family recommended and got smoked salmon pizza. And when the check came, Leila insisted on paying for me because I was the birthday girl. I was so surprised, I had only met her a week ago. She was so kind and thoughtful and really cheered me up.

On the actual day of my birthday I was alone in the German countryside waiting to meet Mihai after his German lessons. I couldn't help being a tad bummed. It didn't even feel like my birthday. But that night I met up with Mihai, we went back to his house and he surprised me with a strawberry cake with those sparkler candles that won't stop burning and his whole host family standing around the table singing happy birthday and a few presents. One present was a hat that I had seen at a German market, which was a little expensive. At the market I said I'd think about buying it and keep looking. Later, I went back to buy it, only to find that someone had beat me to it and bought it already. I was so mad!! Little did I know that that someone turned out to be Mihai. After eating cake with his host family, Mihai and I went out for dinner at a sushi restaurant. Definitely turned out being a perfect birthday, all thanks to my perfect boyfriend :)

Before coming to Germany, I knew I'd be alone during the day while Mihai was at school. But then he found out he had a two week fall break from school in the end of October. We were thrilled! We'd be able to spend all day everyday together for those two weeks. Then we found out that Mihai had to go to German language lessons the entire month I was there from 1pm until 5 everyday, even during his fall break. We were upset to say the least. I often got really mad because the whole reason I was going to Germany was to see Mihai. But we did our best not to let this get in the way. We often woke up early at 6 or 7am to spend the morning together before he had to go to his lessons and always met up afterwards in the evening. We definitely did our best to spend every moment together! And now that I'm in Japan I even miss the hour long sleepy bus rides at 6 am with Mihai.

Early morning in Schwedeneck

One of our early morning breakfasts in Schwedeneck before Mihai's German lesson

Like I said before in a previous post, I was forced to learn how to spend a lot of time alone out in the middle of nowhere German countryside. This alone time also made me appreciate conversation and socializing so much more. Silke, the owner of the hostel stopped by often to help clean, make jam or get some other errands done. We'd also sit and chat while sipping on tea and I got to know her a little bit. After finishing gymnasium (German high school) she spent a year au pairing in Ireland. In university, she majored in English and art. She spent a year studying abroad in Canada/backpacking around the U.S. Silke then saved up money during university and after graduating spent a year backpacking around New Zealand, Fiji and Thailand. Silke is in her 40s so she did all of this traveling in the 90s, back when there were no cell phones, much less iPhones. I asked her if it was scary, not being able to call someone if she needed help, or look up directions with a GPS if she got lost. She said no and that she liked the freedom traveling gave her. She physically couldn't text or call her parents everyday and liked the independence. She also did all of this travel alone. She said she prefers traveling alone because she could do exactly as she pleased. She loves horseback riding and hiking. Originally, she wanted to be an art teacher but after staying at so many hostels around the world, she decided that she too wanted to open up her own hostel. Silke said she's done traveling and settled down with her boyfriend and daughter in Kiel but enjoys meeting travelers that stay at her hostel, like me, because it makes her feel like she's still seeing the world. Wow. Talk about inspiring.

One day when Silke and I were making jam together I mentioned that my birthday was in a week. She asked me what my astrology sign was. I told her that I was a libra and she said she wasn't surprised. "My birthday is in October too but I knew you couldn't be a scorpio like me", she said. "Why??", I asked. She said that she could never do what I was doing; traveling the world by myself at age 19. I argued that she had done nearly the same thing!! But she said she wasn't quite as young when she traveled independently (in her mid twenties) and is not as outgoing as I am. I found this to be such a wonderful compliment from such an experienced traveler like Silke.

One Friday, Mihai's host family went to spend the night in Hamburg to visit their eldest daughter/sister. They told Mihai he should spend time with me because I'd be leaving soon and I was welcome to sleepover while they were gone. We went out that night to some bars/clubs in Kiel. The next day we were pretty tired and spent our day sleeping in, drinking tea, listening to music and just relaxing. We expected his host family to be home at around 3 or 4 in the afternoon but they never showed up. Every time we heard a noise, we thought it might be them but it never was. We felt like parents anxiously awaiting our kids arrival back home. We kept joking that we'd taken over their house and owned it now and they were never coming back. Finally, his host mom texted Mihai saying they wouldn't be home until around 8pm. We then went grocery shopping and decided to cook a big, delicious dinner as a surprise for his host family when they came home. Even though we barely left the house, I think this might've actually been one of my favorite days in Germany just because Mihai and I laughed so much!

We found this bent up spoon in Mihai's host fam's kitchen and couldn't stop laughing

So you're probably wondering why I'm telling you all of these random stories from Germany? Well, all of these moments made me realize that more often than not, the people we spend our time with are more important than where we are. Northern Germany may not have been on the top of my travel list but it turned out being an amazing month because of the people I was with. And yeah, maybe Mihai and I didn't get to spend all day, every day together but we did our best! Plus, seeing him only for a few hours everyday will always be better than not seeing him at all.

This realization brings me back to the question, why travel? Why travel if, like I just said, the destination is irrelevant compared to the people? Well, ironically, I never would have made this realization if I didn't travel. That's what traveling does, it exposes you to new challenges, new experiences, new situations, new cultures and new people, which forces you to learn lessons that you'd never learn by just staying at home. And that's why I travel. Oh yeah, and because it's fun and I like foreign food ;)

How to deal with bad luck while traveling

Ever gotten stuck in a traffic jam before? Or bit your lip while chewing? Spilled hot coffee all over your lap? Slipped on ice? Unless you're not human, you've probably had one of these experiences before. Bad luck. Almost everyone deals with it at least once in his or her life. But for some reason, me and my boyfriend, Mihai, were handed an extra dose of bad luck during my month visit to Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Maybe we walked under too many ladders? Or crossed too many black cats? Or maybe it's because our anniversary is on the 13th? Whatever the reason, I have a lot of funny stories to tell!

Mihai came to visit me in Schwedeneck and we cooked dinner together :)

During my first week, I decided to go visit Mihai in Kiel. It was my first time taking the bus from Schwedeneck to Kiel but Silke had showed me where the bus stop was and gave me the bus schedule booklet so I wasn't worried. However, knowing myself (I kinda suck at public transportation) I got to the bus stop 10 minutes early just to make sure I didn't miss it.

My bus was supposed to leave at 1:13 but even by 1:15, there was no bus in sight. Hmm... maybe it's just a little bit late?, I thought. I waited 5 more minutes then texted Mihai and asked him if he could use the DB Navigator app he had on his phone (I still hadn't downloaded it and had 0 wifi out in the middle of nowhere) to double check what time the bus was supposed to come. He told me that the app said that the bus had already passed my stop, Krusendorf, at 1:13. Uhh... no it didn't?? Crap, maybe I'm at the wrong bus stop... ? But Mihai had come to visit me just the night before and used the same exact bus stop so that wasn't the problem.

"Eh maybe that bus broke down or something, who knows, just wait for the next bus to come, the app says it'll come at 2:13!", Mihai told me. Thinking he was probably right, I just continued sitting on the bench reading for another 45 minutes or so. It was a nice sunny day out, no big deal. I could relax for a while.

At 2:13, once again, no bus showed up. Seriously... Now I was getting upset and worried. I called Silke and explained what had happened. She said that she wasn't sure what was going on because I was at the right bus stop and the bus should've come. She said that she hadn't heard of any bus strikes going on that day but she would double check online for me. I googled "bus streik Krusendorf" as well on my phone and found the same bus schedule Silke had given me but with almost all of the times crossed out. Yup, there definitely must be some type of strike going on. Silke called me back and said there was a strike, but only with my bus, #900. You've got to be kidding me. I was so disappointed because I was really looking forward to seeing Mihai that day.

I called Mihai and was about ready to give up and just go back to the hostel but he found an alternate route I could take instead. I had to take a different bus that would come at 3:53 and take me to another small town called Eckenforde, then from there I could take a train to the Kiel Hauptbahnhof (central station). Ugh. Back to sitting on the bench and reading.

Gelato ice cream with wild berry sauce mmm

3:53 rolled around and no bus in sight. I waited anyway. Any time I heard the faintest sound I looked up in hope of a bus but normally just a car or tractor drove by. A few minutes later, a white van drove by and the driver looked at me quizzically but I just shook my head no and he drove past. I was talking on the phone to Mihai when the same white van came back but this time the driver yelled something to me in German. I walked over to him and sheepishly said, "Ich sprechen kein Deutsch" (I don't speak any German). "Where do you go?", he asked me. Ah, this I knew! "Eckenforde!!", I answered. He signaled for me to get in the van and charged me 3 euros for a ticket. Woah woah, wait a second, this van was the bus?? Yeah, I really am in the middle of nowhere.

I made it to Eckenforde but had to rush to catch the train (or have to wait even longer). I frantically went to buy a ticket from the machine, only to find out that I had no change left and only a 100 euro note, which the machine didn't accept. Okay, I'll just use my credit card! Nope. The machine only accepts credit cards with the new microchip, which of course, I don't have. I ran inside the convenient store and bought a 1 euro donut with a 100 euro note. Using the change, I was finally able to purchase my train ticket from the machine! And you'll never guess how much that ticket cost. 8.70 euros. So much for making my budget today, I thought.

FINALLY, I made it to Kiel by 4:50. I had left the house at 12:50. A trip that only takes 30 minutes by car or 1 hour by bus #900 took me 4 hours. Not to mention, the normal bus only costs 4 euros as opposed to 11.70. Yeah. Mihai better not ever complain that I don't love him.

So happy to finally have made it to Kiel!

Mihai and I ate dinner with his host family that night in Flintbek (where Mihai lives; a small town about 10 minutes away from Kiel). It was my first time meeting them and they were super nice but I'm not going to talk much about them yet, saving it for my next post! After dinner Silke was kind enough to let me sleep at her other hostel in Kiel so I didn't have to worry about trying to figure out how the heck to get back to Schwedeneck again late at night.

The next afternoon, Mihai and I were sitting outside a restaurant eating lunch, him a currywurst (literally a sausage dipped in spicy curry sauce), me a smoked salmon fischbroetchen (fish sandwich). Suddenly Mihai looked up and all around him in confusion. "What's wrong??", I asked. "Did someone spray me with water or something?!", he exclaimed.  Uh, nope. No surprise attack water-gunners. He was touching the back of his head and neck in puzzlement. There was a white liquid on him. "It's bird poop!!", I shrieked as I looked up and saw a black crow perched on the tree branch right above us. Hahahaha I couldn't stop laughing. It was as if the bird aimed for him! I could almost recognize a smug look on that crow's face.

The next morning I went to catch the bus and surprise, surprise, it didn't show up again. There was another strike that day. But at least this time I knew the correct alternative route I had to take to get home!

German breakfast <3

Only an hour south of Kiel lies the 2nd most populous city in Germany: Hamburg, an important port city connected to the north sea by the Elbe river. Mihai and I decided to take a day-cation to Hamburg one Saturday. We wandered all around the city, drank some beer, strolled beside the port, ate fischbroetchen and lastly hung out in the notorious St. Pauli's district. The Reeperbahn in St. Pauli's is easily one of the most infamous streets in Germany, known for it's crazy nightlife, countless bars, clubs, liquor stores and the city's red light district.

Am I dating a 10 or 18 year old?

The Hamburg Rathaus (the city hall)

Rainbow over the Alster river

The calm waters of the Alster river

Some type of street performance with bottle caps, I didn't really understand it much though

Beautiful day at the Hamburg port!

Idk why he wanted me to take a picture of him with these random metal sticks but he was so happy about it

After a long night on the Reeperbahn, complete with Doner (huge Turkish kebab wraps, the ultimate late night food), we decided it was about time to head home at 2 am. We made our way back to the train station only to find that the train we needed to take wouldn't run for a few more hours. Great. We should really start double checking these types of things... So instead we decided to take a bus to Neumünster, where we could catch a train back to Mihai's house. There were 2 buses, both going to Neumünster. One left in 5 minutes and the other in 20. We, of course, took the first option. However, what we didn't know is that the bus we took stopped at every single station along the way. I kept falling in and out of sleep, asking Mihai if we were there yet. We'd be the type of people to miss our stop because we were passed out. As more people got off we kept switching seats to stretch out and get more comfortable until we were the only ones on the bus. Finally we made it to Neumünster, nearly two hours later (it should'v only taken 45 minutes). Next, we had to wait 20 minutes for our train. Then there was an announcement that the train would be delayed 20 more minutes. Just our luck.

Matching hats!!

Took us three tries to finally get a picture without Mihai blinking...

By this time it was 4:30 in the morning and we were both exhausted, cold and thirsty. We bought two hot teas from the convenient store in the train station. As we walked down the stairs back to the platform, I tripped, fell down and completely spilled my tea everywhere. Mihai couldn't stop laughing but I was so mad I just kept picking up the empty paper cup and throwing it back on the floor again to try and let my anger out. To make me feel better we went back to the store to buy another drink.

"1 euro and 30 cents", the cashier said as she scanned the bottle of flavored water. We fumbled with our wallets to collect up enough change to pay because, of course, we had both spent all of our euro notes at St. Pauli's. We realized that we were 15 cents short and awkwardly looked at the woman, expressing to her that this was the only money we had left. She waved her hand, clearly irritated, and just snatched up our measly coins and handed us the water bottle. Pretty sure she just wanted our grimy butts to leave her the heck alone. Oops.

We eventually made it home by 6 am. The sun was coming up as we walked back to Mihai's host family's house.

Neumünster train station after I spilled my tea

Ever since I mentioned to Mihai's host family that I'm good at making apple pies, they begged me to make one for them. So one evening, Mihai and I were in his family's kitchen working on an apple pie together. I poured the sugar on the cut up apples and tasted one to see if it was sweet enough. After taking a bite of the apple, I recoiled back in disgust. It wasn't sweet at all but extremely salty. What the heck?? "This is sugar right??", I asked Mihai and pointed to a jar full of white granules that I had just smothered the apples in. "Uh no.. that's salt", Mihai said. Nooooooo. We explained what I had done to Mihai's host family and everyone just started laughing. Oops. Thankfully, Mihai's family had more apples so we threw all of the salty slices away and began again. 

Our 1 year anniversary; October 13th (is that unlucky??)

Mmm delicious authentic German meal

The love lock Mihai got me <3

Last but not least, comes the unluckiest day yet in Germany. It was my last day before leaving for Japan. Mihai and I woke up at his home in Flintbek and ate breakfast before setting off to Schwedeneck because Silke needed me to be at the hostel to clean up and let some guests in. Except there was a train strike so we had to take a much slower bus. We thought we'd be clever and save some money on the bus by sneaking on using a cheaper ticket than required. Except, we got caught. The driver announced something in German and then when we arrived at our stop she asked to see our ticket and angrily told us that we were 'black riders' (meaning we hadn't paid the correct fare) and now we had to pay a 60 euro fine. "What?! We thought this was the right ticket? Sorry, we're (stupid) Americans", we replied. Thankfully the bus driver showed some sympathy and only made us pay the original, normal fare instead of 60 euros. Phew. Never going to try that again.

Next, on the bus, I realized that I had accidentally forgotten my suitcase at the other hostel in Kiel and had no key to go get it. I called the hostel in panic; I needed my suitcase, I was leaving tomorrow!! She said that there should be a guest there later that night to let me in so I could grab my suitcase. Thank goodness. I couldn't go to Ghana without my malaria pills later this year. 

Like usual, Mihai had also forgotten his wallet at home that day. We had spent my last cash on paying for the bus tickets and had no clue how we would pay for the bus ride back to Kiel because there were no ATMS in Schwedeneck at all (remember, in the middle of nowhere) and we definitely didn't want to get caught as 'black riders' again. We took a bike ride to the local grocery store to see if they'd give us cash back but they said we had to spend at least 20 euros in order to get cash back. Great. Short on time, Mihai and I frantically ran around that grocery store searching for stuff to buy. I picked out the most expensive chocolates I could find to bring to my family in Japan and bought expensive salmon and shrimp to make for dinner for me and Mihai. We went outside to unlock our bikes and head to the beach but, of course, the bike lock was stuck. I started freaking out. "What are we going to do!? Just leave the bikes here?!". Finally after a good 15 minutes, Mihai got the bikes unlocked and we pedaled to the beach. 

After all that stress, we eventually relaxed a bit and swam in the Baltic sea on the Surendorf beach. Okay, not really swam, more like quickly dipped our bodies in and ran back out, me screaming from the extreme cold. The water was also very shallow and there were sharp rocks, not sand, on the bottom making it not too enjoyable. We vowed that we'd return in the spring and take a real swim with flip flops so our feet wouldn't get cut up this time! After that we rode our bikes home in the darkness and made a yummy homemade dinner with our fancy seafood purchases. Although it wasn't the last day in Germany that I had imagined, it turned out being perfect, simply because I was with Mihai. Bad luck won't get us down ;) Being with someone you love is definitely the best way to deal with bad luck while traveling. But even if you're alone, whenever something bad happens, just remember that although at the moment it may not be funny, it'll make a great funny story or blog post one day!

Just like an old married couple, looking at our scrapbook together and eating our last breakfast of leftover apple pie (not salty) & cappuccinos

Before boarding my flight to Tokyo