World Trip | Why a whole World Trip?

One of the most asked questions was: Why do you want to go on a world trip? Wouldn’t it be enough for you to just take short vacations to individual countries?

And my answer to that: No, that was never enough for me. Even as a child and teenager, I loved getting to know new countries, cultures, and people. But two or at most three weeks of vacation were never long enough for me. Within that short time, we often stayed in places designed for tourists. I wasn’t able to experience much of the real local life back then. My curiosity for the new and unknown was never satisfied that way. Later, during my studies and professional life, I often felt limited by the set vacation times. At the end of many trips, I usually felt that I hadn’t collected nearly as many impressions as I could have.

In 2011, I spent eight months as an au pair in the USA, and in 2015, three months as an exchange student in Brazil. Even then, the time didn’t feel long enough to get to know the country and its people in the way I wanted. But I realized that I enjoyed longer and more intense contact with locals — and that I wanted more of it.

In August 2017, I first had the crazy idea of going on a world trip and immediately created a list of countries and activities I wanted to visit and experience. Back then, though, I still believed it could never actually become reality, I had so many limiting believes and questions.

How was I supposed to finance a world trip? How could I reconcile it with my studies and my job? What would my family and friends say?

So I pushed the idea far away again. I kept travelling within Germany, to Switzerland, Spain, the UK, South Africa, and Brazil again — all of which made me happy, but never lasted long enough for my taste. All the while, I carried the wish to have more time for travelling in the back of my mind.

In November 2021, I was on the phone with a friend. And when we randomly started talking about travelling, she said: Franzi, I’ve known you for about ten years now. And ever since, you’ve been saying that you’d love to go travelling for a longer time. Why don’t you just do it?

And I thought: Yes, why don’t I just do it?

My studies were finished, I had a fixed-term job contract for eleven months, and enough opportunities to save money. So it was the perfect chance to finally turn this long-held dream into reality. And that’s what I’m doing now. I am so excited for the time ahead, for all the experiences, and for my decision to make my dream come true.