Travel Log — Chapter 1: Preparation. Anticipation. Escalation.
Nothing beats preparation. That’s the mantra I adopted two months before my great adventure started.
Maybe I adopted it a little too hard.
What felt this the most was my wallet. If you go traveling, you also must look the part. At least that’s how I rationalized buying an overpriced and oversized backpack. I didn’t stop there. I acquired what can only be described as the nuclear option of mosquito repellants. A water purifier killing every bacteria imaginable with blue light got added to the arsenal as well (it remains unused). As if Switzerland was the only country having bottled water. New hiking boots that remained new until the last month of my journey.
But that was it. No more gear.
Just kidding.
If you don’t post about your travels, did you even go traveling? This mystery seems to remain unsolved when looking at some social media feeds. This meant I needed cameras (yes, plural). I already owned a Canon EOS, but these cameras are quite heavy. Not what you want to carry around all the time. I always wanted an action cam so I could film all adventures I’d undertake. After conducting much more thorough research than for my master’s thesis, I decided on a DJI (diving case included of course). The equipment to become YouTube royalty was finally in my hands.
Everything was set up perfectly – I was ready to go.
The last weeks before I left were a blur. I was extremely excited, but other feelings were present as well. Anxiety and sometimes even fear popped up out of nowhere. Did I make the right decision? What if I don’t meet anybody and I’m alone all the time? What if I strand in a foreign country with no way back? But a smart person once said only fear allows you to be brave.
On January 3rd 2025 I left to go see the world.
One of the greatest gifts life has to offer waited for me at the airport. No, I’m not talking about duty free cigarettes and booze. My two roommates went out of their way so we could meet up at the airport and drink one last coffee with each other. It was beautiful, but it didn’t make it easier to leave.
After hugging them goodbye I went on my merry way. If I had turned around, I would’ve seen them wiping away their tears, already missing me (at least that’s my version of the story – they still deny it).
After getting to the gate without any problem, I boarded the plane. The window seat was waiting for me – and so were some people whom I will never forget in my life.
To the left of me, I saw Switzerland getting smaller and smaller. To the right, there were some “interesting” figures. The guy who occupied the aisle seat of our row was flirting in an uncomfortable manner with the flight attendant. She clearly wasn’t having any of it. Cool lady.
The person right next to me smelled like a decaying ash tray. Someone three rows down was screaming for his friend who was wearing noise cancelling headphones.
Sadly, windows on airplanes don’t budge. Getting sucked out of a hole the size of a watermelon into certain bye bye was awfully appealing. My escape plan failed miserably. I had to keep experiencing the free fall of human dignity that was happening inside of the airplane.
Suddenly, I remembered the saying “this too shall pass”. True, but sadly truth doesn’t speed up time.
After ten more hours of horror, we touched down. The guy who screamed for his friend decided it would be a good idea to try hugging the flight attendant at one point. She declined his proposal with the words “no, no, no, please no” while moonwalking away from him.
I had to hurry to my connecting flight to Koh Samui, from where I would then take the ferry to Koh Tao.
At this point, I had been awake for about 24 hours. On the ferry, there was one room blessed with the modern divinity that is air conditioning. I sat down and fell promptly asleep.
When I woke up, I saw one of the most wondrous sights I had ever seen: Koh Tao is beautiful. But even more beautiful was what was waiting for me.
I hadn’t seen Jeannine, one of my best friends for more than 17 years, in one and a half years. She had been traveling the world herself for all this time. Now I’d see her in the next five minutes.
After a lot of jumping around, making bad jokes, and tears (and then whatever Jeannine did) I went to the place where I would stay at: Nadapa Resort.
“But doesn’t that sound like a hotel?”, I hear you ask.
Yes, you’re absolutely right.
Sleeping in hostels is much more fun in your twenties than it is in your thirties… which is why I booked a hotel room for my time on Koh Tao. Blasphemy in the eyes of purist backpackers. Every time I mentioned where I stayed to the “real” guys and gals out there, mockery and condescension ensued.
Turns out the people who act the nicest and accept everybody are some of the judgiest – who would’ve thought?
My hotel stay made me a fake backpacker in their eyes. A fakepacker. Fackpacker. Backwhack.
Let me get back to you on that one.
I checked into my room. A great guy called Yao managed all the check-ins. He’d become one of my favorite people on the island – always wearing a smile on his face. Having a great attitude towards life seemed to be in his nature. He inspired me to cultivate it as well during my travels.
I’d get the chance to stress test this attitude towards life sooner than I thought, because not everything was well in paradise. Sometimes, paradise can be hell – and my nemesis was right on time as well. The one that lives rent-free in my head.
