Travels. Music. Love.: from seaside to insights (Vancouver)

After having been back for a while, I feel things are coming together again. The loose threads emerging from my travels are beginning to be woven to something, in between a golden thread and a net in my life. Conversations I had back then, experiences I've made, some of them unconsciously triggered a change that I only now begin to see.

For instance, I learned a lot about my ego and how it controls my thoughts and feelings, distracting me from what I truely want and need. Clothes and looks became less important when I was on the road, worries about other people's judgements of me, and the anxiety of not being in control faded in the light of trust I had discovered within myself. Like last night, when I dreamed about somebody being mean to me and throwing my backpack around for no reason, and I got so angry about this injustice. Until, in my dream, I realized only my ego was hurt, and I went over to that person and said: thanks for reminding me (of what's important).

You could say I have changed, but really I only grew closer to who I truely am. Because we're all a lot more than our bodies and egos, or why do we have feelings and dreams? Of course this realization is nothing new, it's found in bhuddist practises (thanks, April, for pointing that out) and other spiritual beliefs, and I can only touch the surface here. And a lot of these thoughts started in India, and then again, in Vancouver... Have I ever told you that story?

walking along the seaside, 5mins away from the house

I haven't said much about my time in Canada, though looking back at it now, it left quite a big imprint on the rest of my journey. Lucky as I've always been, I got to stay with friends in Vancouver: April, Wayne and son Rory, who I knew from Frankfurt frisbee. They provided a cosy home and fantastic family dinners for more than a week, took me to frisbee fall league, yoga, around the city, and helped reconnecting with other German friends in town.


April, Wayne and Rory


hiking with Korbo (and Caro)

Caro and Lia at halloween

As some may remember from countless philosophical lines in my blog posts back then, I had tons of time to think about myself, how to go on. I realized I had loads of possibilities where to go next, and also some profound conversations with April, Caro and Korbo, helped me recharge my mental batteries and get back to what's important to me. Before coming to Canada, which I had been dreaming of many years in my life, I expected to be outside most of the time, climbing trees and meeting bears, throwing my body into the harsh wildlife, barely surviving on berries and water from streams. This didn't quite happen, not only because I'd become a pussy and wanted to stay inside where it's warm, but also because I needed a rest. So I spent lots of time pondering, allowed myself to feel down, which was only possible because I had a comfortable place to hide at. Then I usually spent the rest of the day having great fun, hanging out with my friends, being amazed by Vancouver's beauty, or what you could see of it through the fog...

foggy morning 1: walking over the bridge

foggy morning 2: view over the city

sunset fog


city at night, seen from Norman's

I got to see another side of Vancouver when hanging out with Norman (also a frisbee friend from Germany, yeah, I know, deja-vu...), who lives downtown with a bad-ass view. We strolled through the autumn streets and I learned that sushi is the cheapest good food to find there, the town is 420 friendly and doesn't have whatever it is that Berlin has, at least in my opinion. We went to see a movie with his friends and I bought the biggest box of caramel popcorn for $8, that I took with me into the bar afterwards and which lasted until long after halloween. Other good memories include cycling through the park with Wayne and throwing a disc on a meadow covered in bird poo, trying not to drop it. Or cooking with other volunteers for April (and everybody who wanted) on campus, where she worked, after picking veggies from the university fields. Or hiking with Caro and Korbo, including foggy views over Vancouver. Many cool things happened, and I haven't even been out of town much. Oh Canada, always good for a surprise. And holidays.