New Zealand Weekly Update #40

24th of July until 31st of July 2023

Approximate reading time: 7 minutes

Lets get it started

And again, it is way too late to post the weekly update. But time is limited at the moment since I am travelling a lot to see family and friends (and those who became family to me). So nevermind the blog is a little late this time (and maybe also next time). At the moment, I experience a lot of adventures, see a lot of good people, I have great talks and way too less sleep. And sometimes a little less time to rethink all the moments I have had so far here in Germany. But I am really, really grateful for every meeting, for every person and the time they spend with me. It is worth it to travel back home from far away to see all those special people. And to see their progress, to hear their stories and to share time with all of them, even if it is just for a couple of hours…

Travel the East

After the big birthday party of my grandparents, I had a quite chilled monday. I went for a little walk with my parents in the forest and met some friends which I know since school. Both couples building a house at the moment and it is really impressive, to see their progress and effort. To see their commitment and how far they are willing to go to reach their personal goal – build up a safe and comfy home for their family. I am always impressed by those people who decide to build a house and settle down, since I am not „brave“ enough to decide for that. It might be difficult to compare our lifestyles with each other – but I have great respect for my friends and their decisions and for what they have achieved. And even though we did not see each other for a long time, some talks did not change at all. The comfy feeling did not change. And I still feel welcome and great while being with them.
Tuesday, I met another friend of mine, we also know each other for a long time already and did not see each other for a couple of years. We spent a lot of time together long time ago, went to parties, spent school courses togehter and have been friends for a long, long time. And we were talking a lot about our last years, our experiences, about the meaningfulness of therapy and the importance of self-awarness and personality development. A really great and worth time and talk.
In the afternoon, I picked up my cousin and her son, to visit our grandfather for some talks, a coffee and some familiy time. Anton, the son of my cousin, is a really great guy and we always do a lot of jokes and I am really proud of him and grateful to be a little part of his life as well. And even though I would not live in my hometown anymore, it is great to listen to stories of my grandfather and about how proud and grateful he is about the landscape, the area and his home.

The next day, I went back to my grandparents for a coffee and a short last talk before I made my wa to Jena. I lived here for almost 9 years, studied, worked in reasearch and made some great friendships. And the first meeting was with a good friend of mine, we know each other from our time working with ZEISS. He climbs a lot, boulders a lot and is way too fit and way to crazy 🙂
Afterwards, I had some icecream and some walk in the park with old friends, who have already two children and also a house nearby. Playing with their daughter at the playground, enjoing the sun in the park and just a good time with friends was just great. 🙂
In the evening, I went to friends of mine to get some rest and some sleep. And again some nice talks about this and that.
Thuersday, I realised that the current pace is way to fast so I decided to relax that day and had some more sleep during the day, before I made my way to the sportsstudio, where I spend a lot of time in Jena and made some good friendships. Long story short, two sport courses, a great dinner with a lot of good people and some drinks. Talks about old stories, old and new adventures and just an amazing time seeing all of them again.
Friday, again some meetings with friends, before I made my way to a couple I know already for some years to have some BBQ, some music and just a relaxing time together.
Talking about everything else in between would be way too much, but I am really grateful for every little moment and the time with those great people.

Saturday, I made my way to Chemnitz to see a very good friend of mine again. We spent the whole day together, went for a walk, went out for some wine in town, for a great dinner and afterwards to the cinema to see Oppenheimer. And to talk about our experience and progress during our way of personal development, our struggles, our challenges and about how grateful we are to be able to share all of those things with each other 🙂
Sunday morning I went to a great breakfast with my uncle and aunt and their kids, before I made my way to the southern part of Germany – to Sonthofen, which is located in the area called „Allgäu“ – where Canyoning began for me.

Back to the roots

Sunday again, 5 hours on the road. No breaks. All the way to the south. To see some friends of mine. To go for some hiking. Some canyoning. And to see Daniel again, who was guiding with me in New Zealand and who became a really good friend of mine.
After I arrived in Sonthofen, we get all the gear ready andmade our way up to the mountain, together with Fabian, who I met during canyoning and who became a very important friend of mine as well. Since he and the canyoning company „Die Canyonauten“ gave me the opportunity to learn all the important techniqes about canyoning. Since I met people who motivated me to join the canyoning course to became a guide and I met people who already have been in New Zealand to guide. Without this company and all those people, I would have never been able and brave enough to decide to guide in New Zealand. Cheers to you guys!
Back to the hike, all the way up to the mountain „Geißfuß“. 1100 meters in elevation. Perfect timing for sunset. And of course, time for a great picture, this time not with a lake, but a great view 🙂 And this time, all of us got naked and made a memorable picture 🙂 (which I will not share with you guys hehe, might be enough to see one bump again and again).
And afterwards, we made the sleeping bags ready and had a great and way too short night up the mountains. Silence, nature, friends. Nothing more necessary.

What else to say?

The current pace of meeting people, of travelling around Germany and of adventures is pretty high. Sometimes too high, too fast and too much to be honest. It is not possible to talk about everything, to explain all my feelings and emotions which show up meeting all those great people again after months of even years. And sometimes, I am not able to express how grateful I am for every single person. For every meeting. For their time, their support and their honest interest. But be aware of that, be aware of that I am really gratefull to have so many amazing people in my life. To be able to drive through Germany to meet so many different persons. Different stories. Different lifestyles. And to feel welcome. To feel home.

Your DingyInternational
Felix