2016 RECAP

2016 war voll mit Emotionen, mit guten und schlechten. Ein paar gute möchte ich hier mit euch teilen, als
kleine Erinnerung an das vergangene Jahr. Da ich euch ja bereits mit einer Bilderflut aus Thailand
und Australien bombadiert habe - die 1000 Bilder aus Neuseeland kommen auch noch, macht euch auf
was gefasst! -, fängt dieser Rückblick Ende April also nach unserer Heimkehr an.

NORDSEELIEBE   Zurück in Deutschland ging es mehrmals an die Nordsee in unser Ferienhaus, einmal
auch mit meinen liebsten Mädels. Ich war und bin einfach ein Meerkind, sobald ich die salzige Luft
rieche und mir der Wind durch die Haare fährt, geht es mir schlagartig gut.

FAMILIE   Ein weiteres Highlight war das Familienfest in Husum. Es war das erste Mal, dass ich
nach meiner Rückkehr all meine lieben Verwandten wiedergesehen habe. Zu schön!

HAMBURG   Ich war nicht unbedingt oft shoppen, aber wenn, dann so richtig. Am allerliebsten mit
meiner Mama bei Opus, da haben wir dann immer gut Geld gelassen. Aber deren Teile sind einfach zeitlos
und vor allem sitzen sie perfekt. Da kaufe ich mir lieber ein paar wenige Teile für relativ viel Geld
als viele Klamotten zu besitzen, die dafür aber schlecht sitzen oder sofort kaputt gehen.

SOMMER   Im August ging es nach Italien, zwei Wochen Sonne pur.
Kultur, Strand, gutes Essen - so mag ich es am liebsten.

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MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE

Technikbezogen ist in letzter Zeit nicht alles rund gelaufen - kaputter Laptop, in Berlin vergessenes

Übertragungskabel und und und - aber ich wollte mir nicht nehmen lassen, euch noch schnell schöne Weihnachten

im Kreise der Familie zu wünschen. Dieses Jahr lief aber, wie ihr wahrscheinlich gemerkt habt, auch in Bezug

auf den Blog nicht alles so, wie es laufen sollte. Immer wieder habe ich angekündigt, ab jetzt regelmäßiger

zu bloggen und dann kam wieder nichts. Sorry dafür! Im neuen Jahr werde ich - mit neuem Laptop im Gepäck -

erneut einen Versuch starten, dem Blog zu neuem Leben zu verhelfen, fingers crossed, dass es diesesmal
klappt. Motiviert bin ich nämlich, meist scheitert es an der Umsetzung...
 

Als kleine Entschuldigung und nachträgliches Weihnachtsgeschenk (bin ich die Einzige, für die
Weihnachten immer viel zu schnell vorbei ist?!) gibt es in einem der nächsten Posts dafür aber ein cooles
Gewinnspiel, an dem hoffentlich einige von euch teilnehmen werden, würde mich freuen.
 

Bis dahin alles Liebe, macht euch ein paar entspannte Tage und haut beim Weihnachtsessen ordentlich rein! x

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FAVOURITE WINTER COLOUR

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Long time no see - schon wieder, sorry! Aber in letzter Zeit hieß es, viel Neues zu machen und zu

organisieren. Der Umzug, die Uni, neue Leute, neue Stadt. So ist das nun mal. Und das gefällt mir. Ich habe
mich inzwischen gut eingelebt, habe Freundschaften geschlossen und viel unternommen. Bis jetzt hatte
ich irgendwie jedes Wochenende Besuch oder war selber daheim, dementsprechend ist der Blog hier

leider zu kurz gekommen. Ich hoffe, dass wird sich bald wieder ändern - fingers crossed.

Heute fange ich damit an, indem ich euch meinen momentanen liebsten Modetrend vorstelle - nude

all over. Nicht sonderlich spektakulär, aber irgendwie edel und für jede Situation tauglich.

Nude passt einfach wunderbar zur (hoffentlich) weißen Winterzeit. Wie gefällt euch meine Auswahl?

Und auf welche Pieces könnt ihr im Herbst nicht verzichten? Lasst es mich wissen. x

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OUTFIT 20 OCT 2016

Cape - Zara | Sweater - Esprit | Jeans - American Eagle | Boots - Tamaris

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TIPS FOR TRAVELING IN THAILAND

While backpacking through Thailand I learned quite a few things about the people, the

culture and traveling itself I want to share with you. Thought it might be helpful. So here we go.

1. Take the local way. Instead of going by taxi or tucktuck, inform yourself about different ways to get to your
destination. Google will be your best friend! You'll find the cheapest way is as so often public transport like
busses for instance. No surprise but I feel like almost no tourist would consider that option. And they are missing
out on so much! We had the coolest experiences and met the nicest Thais on these trips. And the prices... In
Bangkok we paid 8 Baht to get to the MBK Centre (huge shopping mall) by boat, a tucktuck would have been at
least 150 Baht. The boats use the small canals there and seeing all the wooden houses at the bank gives you a
pretty good impression of the real life in Bangkok. But make sure to be quick when hopping on or off, otherwise you
are stuck on the boat or at the station. To get to the Chatuchak Weekend Market we only paid 8 Baht per person per
way as well, this time for the bus. Just hop in and someone will come and charge you - if there is a vendor at all.

2. Bargain down prices! This really is one thing you have to remeber: Never go for the first offer you
get immediately. Look around, ask at other shops etc. The prices in Thailand are almost always way too high so
go ahead and negotiate. Tell them, you've seen the same product somewhere else for less money. If they
want 200 Baht, don't start with more than half of the price. We saved so much money by doing so
and were able to lower prices even in pharmacies and travel agencies! Pretty cool!

3. Keep safe and make sure you have got everything important in a bum bag while traveling. Because
even though most of the Thais are extremely friendly and helpful, there are - like everywhere in the world -
also a bunch of bad people. Unfortunately, on the way up from Koh Lanta to Bangkok, we experienced
this ourselves. We took a bus over night and at around 9pm we had the strangest stop ever in the middle of
nowhere next to some kind of garage with four or five guys outside. Partly the engine of the bus was off, partly
the bus was driving forwards and backwards for some time. No idea why, the only reason I could come up with
is they wanted to make us think we were driving normally. I was pretty afraid they might steal our big backpacks
which were in the boot of the bus. Or even worse, they might be releasing some substance into the air to make
us unconscious so they could rob us of. Sounds pretty crazy but I had read some reviews beforehand and although
they were mostly positive, one wasn't. A guy stated he got robbed of in an overnight bus and suggested that the
whole choach got kind of drugged since no one noticed anything and he felt really dizzy the next day. Anyway,
the next morning we got literally thrown out of the bus at 6am and after less than five minutes the bus was gone!
This only intensified my strange feeling. And it turned out that they indeed opened our big backpacks -
thankfully nothing was missing. But did they honestly think we would have anything valuable in there? Since no
one is probably that dump we started asking ourselves whether they might have put something in there instead
of taking something out. Not at all realistic but this actually happens quite frequently in South America so it
might as well occur in Thailand. Well, we couldn't find anything when we checked our luggage... But what
upset me even more was the fact that someone obviously went through my small backpack which was laying
next to my head while I slept. Luckily, I had all my important stuff in a bum bag so just 5€ were missing
but still. They even checked my small bag with electronic stuff. I couldn't care less about the money but
that someone came so close to me and went through my personal stuff - and I didn't notice anything
although my sleep is normally not at all tight while traveling - leaves me with the strangest feeling ever!

So be attentive! But guys, the main thing to remember is to enjoy the time and try

out everything! Whether it's food or transport wise. Go for new stuff!

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NEW CHAPTER

Es ist offiziell - ich bin ein Berliner! Beziehungsweise wohne ich jetzt in Berlin, zugehörig fühle ich mich
noch immer zu Hamburg. Aber ich bin super gespannt, was die Zeit in der Hauptstadt so
mit sich bringt, das ist einfach ein ganz neues Kapitel meines Lebens.

Passend zum neuen Lebensabschnitt habe ich nun auch einen neuen Kalender. In Kooperation

mit Persönlicher Kalender durfte ich ihn mir selbst zusammengestellt und ich bin ganz verliebt.

Der begleitet mich jetzt überall hin, ob durch Berlin oder zurück nach Hamburg!

Kalender - Persönlicher Kalender*

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LET'S LAUGH EVERY DAY

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ELEVEN DAYS, FIVE ISLANDS

We didn't have loads of time in Thailand but wanted to see most of the country so we did quite
some traveling. After flying up to Chiang Mai we took another plane down to Surat Thani four days
later. Bus and ferry got us to Koh Samui where we stayed at the Chaweng Beach, to Koh
Phangan next and then to Koh Tao - we spend two nights on each island "only".

But somehow that was definitely enough, especially for Koh Samui since I didn't like it that much there.
It's not that I didn't enjoy the day we had, it's just that the island is super touristy. But even in
Chaweng you can be surrounded by Thais only if you want to, just get away from the main road and check
out the local market for example. Besides of a nice atmosphere it offers loads of yummy food -
fresh fruits/veges as well as meat sticks, deep fried bananas etc. So good!

On Koh Phangan we met up with a friend of mine from back home and hat the best 24 hours ever. With a

scooter rented at our hotel for 250 Baht (6,30€) we drove to a small beach in the North of the island to

see an amazing sunset.We then made our way through the dark jungle to another tiny beach were we watched

the stars and talked about everything and nothing til 4am. I just love these kind of evenings... At first I was

a bit afraid to go by scooter since it was my first time ever but it was way easier than expected. And

feeling the warm wind and the speed gave me such an amazing feeling of freedom. So shoud

you travel South East Asia, do yourself the favour and rent a scooter, it's so much fun!

Koh Tao was a must for us, the island we were looking forward to the most. It wasn't too clever
to get there on Thai New Year - even though our guesthouse was only five minutes by foot from the pier we
were soaked in water when we arrived - but the traditional water fight on the streets without our backpacks
later on was great! The island is pretty small and everyone is basically "just" hanging out at Sairee Beach in the
West but we loved the chilled atmosphere. Like probably everyone else we HAD to go to Koh Nang Yuan,
the prettiest island ever. It really looks like paradise there and is definitely worth the day trip. Just keep
in mind to take some money with you - the longboat costs 250 Baht (6,30€) per person return, they will charge
you an entrance fee of 100 Baht (2,50€) to get onto the island and since you are not allowed to use your
towel to lay on you will probably end up paying another 150 Baht (2,60€) for two sunbeds with a
parasol. Walk up to the viewpoint, go snorkling (you might be as lucky as we were and see sharks!) and enjoy
the time. But make sure to get to Koh Nang Yuan early in the morning - not later than 8:30am or 9am - in
order to have the island more or less for yourself. Afterwards it is getting extremely crowded.

Our island hopping ended on Koh Lanta, definitely my favourite isle. Getting there was quite a trip (seven hours

on a night boat, eight hours in various busses) but we rewarded ourselves with four nights in a guesthouse

at Klong Nin Beach and loved the relaxed time. But first things first: exploring the island by scooter. Laid-back

Lanta Old Town has got a lot of charm with its wooden houses on stilts over the water and is definitely

worth a visit. It's probably pretty chilled to have a guesthouse there but all the beaches are on the other side of

the island so that's where basically everyone is staying. Again, I was super in love with going everywhere by

scooter - I mean how cool is it to casually jump on it to drive to the tiny restaurant you discovered the day

before in the middle of nowhere to have breakfast?! The last two days were spent at the beach, soaking

up the sun and getting tanned. Watching the sunset, drinking a cocktail and then going for an evening

swim completely naked made me realise that life really isn't too bad after all... It's actually pretty cool.

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CHIANG MAI STOLE MY HEART

Chiang Mai was our first stop in Thailand and I totally fell in love with this city. Every few

hundred meters you pass by a temple while strolling around and the most important city of the North

is somehow not at all touristy. It's self evident that you will bump into some tourists on the night

market and in the temples but besides of that it's super easy to avoid them. You just have to

go where the locals go in their daily life and that's definitely not the night market.

Instead, the Warorot Market is the place to be for them. It stretches across three levels, is full with
life and Thais are bustling about everywhere. No matter what you are looking for I'm sure you will find

it there! Another nice local market - that only takes place in the morning - is close to the Chiang Mai

Gate. You'll find loads of fresh fruits and vegetables there but make sure to try Khanom Krok, a super

delicious, typical Thai 'pudding' with coconut. There is just one old lady offering them and she is

the cutest! Besides, the price is incredibly good, you'll get one portion for 10 Baht so 25 Cent!

Like I mentioned before, Chaing Mai has loads of temples but there are three you definitely

have to visit. The Wat Chiang Mai - the first temple of the city -, the Wat Chedi Luang and the

Wat Phra Singh. All of them are worth a visit and give you a good impression of Thailand's culture.

But make sure to show some respect and cover up, everything else would be super rude!

My highlight was a Thai cooking course we got recommended in Australia, that was honestly so much

fun! In comparison to other cooking schools ours was definitely pretty expensive but the whole experience

was just perfect. The facilities where extremely clean, the groups small and the staff super friendly. After

deciding on what to cook (everyone was able to choose five individual dishes) we went to a local market to

get the fresh ingredients. Our "teacher" told us a lot about them and about possible replacements we

could use at home. I was honestly so impressed by the taste of the dishes we created in the end,

everything was super delicious! I couldn't really believe that I did them myself... Before getting dropped

off at our hotel, we got a cookbook with the recipes of all fourteen dishes we were able to choose

from so now that I'm back home I will definitely do some of them for my family.

If one of you is ever going to Thailand please make your way up to Chiang Mai. I loved the whole

three weeks of traveling around and the islands and Bangkok are great but the first days in the North...

For me definitely by far the best part of our time in the land of smiles.

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HEARTS WITHOUT A HOME

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