my story of living somewhere else
When I was 27 years old, I felt an incredible urge to leave my life in Germany. Back then I lived in Hamburg in Northern Germany, after having finished my studies of literature in Kiel, another town even further North. I didn't like the life in a big city, I didn't like the constant grey cold weather, I didn't like my job - something inside of me was calling out for a change. I was longing for sunshine, and I had always felt home in the Southern Mediterranean regions of Europe, like Italy. In fact I later found out I have Italian genes (my mother was adopted). Once the pain gets too big to handle, you know something has to change.
And so I jumped into the unknown. I quit my job and apartment, sold and gave away most of my stuff, and with only a few savings and one backpack I got onto a plane South - to Malaga. The whole time I knew inside it was the right decision, and I never forget the moment I got off the plane in Malaga. I knew in my heart that everything would be fine. I had found a place near Malaga where I would volunteer, a German family running a little hotel. I stayed in a caravan with sea view on the property and started working, and from the first day on I felt a happiness I hadn't known before. I was doing all kinds of jobs, gardening, sweeping, harvesting, cleaning, painting, helping in the kitchen. And I would stay 2 years. After some time of helping the chef in the kitchen, I became his right hand, and they started paying me a little salary - my first job in Spain!
I loved every minute of my new life, the sunshine, the fresh air, working outside in nature, the people, the beach. Granted I worked way more hours than they expected from a volunteer, but I didn't do it to make a good impression or in hope for a salary - I wholeheartedly loved every minute of it!
After about 1,5 years I had saved enough money to take a holiday -my first holiday outside of Europe! I went to 2 places I had always wanted to go: Istanbul and Bali. I traveled for 3-4 weeks, fell in love with both Istanbul and Bali, and also met a guy I fell in love with. He was living in Italy, and so I decided to say goodbye to Spain after 2 years, and moved to Italy.
We lived 1 hour away from Rome and I started working in his business, renting out holiday homes to foreigners. I had always loved Italy and we had a great time living in a tiny medieval village. After 1 year we figured though that the holiday homes didn't make enough money, so we had to come up with another solution. He always wanted to live in Bali (where we had met) or somewhere similar, so after some searching we found an opportunity to help a German woman in Langkawi Island, Malaysia. She had a charter business but wanted to start a second business, a healthy food cafe. With my experience of healthy and raw vegan foods, we quickly made a deal, and soon we were on our way to Langkawi Island, a small island near the border to Thailand.
We started preparing the health food cafe, the only one of its kind on the island. I created a menu and we soon had out first guests, mostly expats. I also catered on boat and yacht trips around the island. Soon we realised though that the German woman was an alcoholic and pretty irrational so we stopped working for her. We moved in with our neighbors from a massive hotel complex. We had become good friends, and we helped them with the renovation of the hotel. I took on the huge kitchen, and soon had my own little space there where I started out own little business, a catering service and product line of healthy food products. I even catered for Paul Penders, the owner of the natural cosmetic company.
6 months after we had landed in Malaysia, I saw an ad of a newly opened yoga retreat center in Southern Spain, looking for a chef. Again, I had the strong intuition, that this was where I should go. As much as I loved the tropics and most of all the tropical fruits like durian, I missed the Mediterranean, the dry climate and most of all I wanted to be closer to my family in Germany. So I applied, got accepted and hopped yet again on a plane, back to Spain. The yoga center would become my home for the next 6 years. I left my partner and started a whole new life in Spain, became a resident, rented an apartment in the village, made friends, learned Spanish and felt home.
And so I jumped into the unknown. I quit my job and apartment, sold and gave away most of my stuff, and with only a few savings and one backpack I got onto a plane South - to Malaga. The whole time I knew inside it was the right decision, and I never forget the moment I got off the plane in Malaga. I knew in my heart that everything would be fine. I had found a place near Malaga where I would volunteer, a German family running a little hotel. I stayed in a caravan with sea view on the property and started working, and from the first day on I felt a happiness I hadn't known before. I was doing all kinds of jobs, gardening, sweeping, harvesting, cleaning, painting, helping in the kitchen. And I would stay 2 years. After some time of helping the chef in the kitchen, I became his right hand, and they started paying me a little salary - my first job in Spain!
I loved every minute of my new life, the sunshine, the fresh air, working outside in nature, the people, the beach. Granted I worked way more hours than they expected from a volunteer, but I didn't do it to make a good impression or in hope for a salary - I wholeheartedly loved every minute of it!
After about 1,5 years I had saved enough money to take a holiday -my first holiday outside of Europe! I went to 2 places I had always wanted to go: Istanbul and Bali. I traveled for 3-4 weeks, fell in love with both Istanbul and Bali, and also met a guy I fell in love with. He was living in Italy, and so I decided to say goodbye to Spain after 2 years, and moved to Italy.
We lived 1 hour away from Rome and I started working in his business, renting out holiday homes to foreigners. I had always loved Italy and we had a great time living in a tiny medieval village. After 1 year we figured though that the holiday homes didn't make enough money, so we had to come up with another solution. He always wanted to live in Bali (where we had met) or somewhere similar, so after some searching we found an opportunity to help a German woman in Langkawi Island, Malaysia. She had a charter business but wanted to start a second business, a healthy food cafe. With my experience of healthy and raw vegan foods, we quickly made a deal, and soon we were on our way to Langkawi Island, a small island near the border to Thailand.
We started preparing the health food cafe, the only one of its kind on the island. I created a menu and we soon had out first guests, mostly expats. I also catered on boat and yacht trips around the island. Soon we realised though that the German woman was an alcoholic and pretty irrational so we stopped working for her. We moved in with our neighbors from a massive hotel complex. We had become good friends, and we helped them with the renovation of the hotel. I took on the huge kitchen, and soon had my own little space there where I started out own little business, a catering service and product line of healthy food products. I even catered for Paul Penders, the owner of the natural cosmetic company.
6 months after we had landed in Malaysia, I saw an ad of a newly opened yoga retreat center in Southern Spain, looking for a chef. Again, I had the strong intuition, that this was where I should go. As much as I loved the tropics and most of all the tropical fruits like durian, I missed the Mediterranean, the dry climate and most of all I wanted to be closer to my family in Germany. So I applied, got accepted and hopped yet again on a plane, back to Spain. The yoga center would become my home for the next 6 years. I left my partner and started a whole new life in Spain, became a resident, rented an apartment in the village, made friends, learned Spanish and felt home.