About me
On this page you will find out what motivated me to become a full time traveler.
BORN WITH A PASSPORT
Since I can think back, traveling has been part of my life. I was born and raised in a small village in the countryside near Hanover, Germany. My family took me on adventures around Europe before I even had my first birthday. I took my first steps in Italy, bought breakfast rolls in Greece, made friends in the Netherlands, and went skiing in the mountains of Austria. I feel very lucky that I was born into a family that loves to travel.
I learned to be open-minded to new countries, cultures, and people. When I was little I often played with other kids who didn’t speak my language. From an early age, I learned that you don’t need to speak another language fluently to make new friends. In the end what matters is not where you come from, or which language you speak, but what kind of mindset you have.
No matter where we went, if we only had rain all week long or if it was freezing cold or super hot, I was always sad to leave. Once we came home I was just waiting for the next school holidays to travel again. I could never get enough from it and I honestly think this will never change.
My heart always jumped a little higher when there was a new travel adventure coming up. I love exploring new places, trying new dishes, meeting new people, and learning about foreign cultures. I love to listen to different languages (even if I don’t understand them) and to learn them. Everything new is exciting and interesting and I feel the most alive when I travel.
MY FIRST SOLO TRIP
After I finished school I decided to move to Ireland as an au pair, because I always dreamed of spending more time abroad. I wanted to get to know another country from a local perspective. This was my first time abroad traveling solo. Even though I have traveled a lot before, I was really nervous about this trip and homesick like never before.
Sometimes it was challenging to only speak English instead of German, taking care of three kids and not having my friends and family around, but my wish to spend more time abroad was too big to give up. I pushed myself again to step out of my comfort zone and this is when I really started to enjoy my time. I joined an English school and made friends from all over the world. We had so much fun together and suddenly I felt like I am part of a family of travelers. I loved it and I learned another important lesson: I knew from then on that wherever I travel I can always make new friends. Even if I travel solo, I can always meet like-minded people who share the love for traveling.
I also learned that I am totally fine with traveling solo. In the past, the thought of traveling all by myself really scared me. I always thought I would be super lonely, but instead, I learned to appreciate it. You can travel at your own pace, you are more likely to make new friends, and you are fully independent. In fact, I really enjoy solo traveling! It’s not like I don’t want to travel with friends anymore, but I think both types of traveling have their advantages. If I could choose I would still decide to travel with my friends, but it gives me so much freedom to know that I can also travel alone. This led to more solo traveling in the future..
ESCAPING THE 9-5
After coming home from Ireland I got a job offer from an advertising agency and decided to study part-time at university to become a web designer. It was the perfect job for me! I loved creating websites for real customers. It was definitely one of the best times of my life. With a focus on digital marketing, I finished my studies in 2 instead of 3 years. Once I finished my studies I found myself on a cross path again. I loved marketing, but working the 9-5 in an office wasn’t really what my dream life looked like. I wanted a life I don’t need to escape from, but no idea how to make it happen.
LEAVING ON A ONE-WAY TICKET
For a long time, I felt stuck and wasn’t sure what to do. Should I keep working in marketing and stay in Germany? Or should I leave? What would happen if I leave? Would I regret it one day or would I be happier? I was frustrated, my heart was craving a life of passion and adventure. Instead of looking at the pro and contra lists I created, I listened to my intuition, which told me to fly to Australia. Moving to Australia has been my biggest dream since graduation. I can’t tell you where this idea came from, I didn’t know anyone who has been there, never visited this country myself, but since it came to my mind I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
I always say if something sticks to your mind it’s there for a reason. No matter how much time passed and which decisions I made, my dream to go to Australia became bigger and bigger. Once again I decided to leave.
Luckily I can say that since I made the decision I haven’t regretted it a single moment. Living in Australia was literally a dream coming true. I lived with the most amazing, lovely host family, made friends from all over the world, and lived my dream life. I loved everything, the weather, the animals, the city, the beaches, the people, and was literally living my best life.
To extend my visa I moved to the Australian outback to do farm work for the 2nd year visa. It was definitely the toughest time for me in Australia, but I learned that I am much stronger and braver than I thought. I pushed myself and was able to complete 88 days of farm work. The best thing about it is that I saw Australia from a side no tourists can see. I learned about what life looks like in the Australian outback and was part of another amazing Australian host family with four kids. This time taught me that if I set myself a goal, no matter how challenging, I can achieve it if I really want it. It helped me to believe in myself.
DISCOVERING MY PASSIONS
During my second year in Australia I explored one of my biggest passions, photography. I got my first DSLR camera when I was 18 years old and always loved photography, but never really discovered what I can do with it. Moving to Bondi Beach in Sydney was a game changer. I was speechless by the beauty of this place, the ocean, the surrounding cliffs, the sea life, the people, and just wanted to capture it. I wanted to take a photo of the ocean where the water looks super silky and soft. I researched it, bought filters, got a tripod and took my first long exposure photos.
That day changed everything. I was caught up in my newfound passion. I forgot about time, didn’t care when I had to leave at 5 am in the dark to capture the sunrise, if I was freezing while waiting for the perfect moment or sweating in the sun. Suddenly it was like something lit a fire inside me and this one kept burning. I soaked in everything I could find about photography and brought my skills to the next level.
The question was how I am going to use that passion? I couldn’t imagine doing the typical photography jobs like studio or wedding photography, because I still wanted to travel. My goal was to have a job that allows me to travel unlimited. What I want to do is travel photography to inspire other people, but also have the freedom to decide what I am going to photograph.
I had three months left from my visa until I had to leave Australia and still had no idea what I was going to do afterwards. I just knew what I didn’t want: going back to my old life, working the 9-5 office job. I decided that something had to change. I wanted to escape the busy city life and feel more balanced and grounded. I packed my bags, moved to Byron Bay, and hired a life coach.
Through a lot of coaching sessions and some deep soul work, she helped me to find out what I really want. Byron Bay, a small surf town, was the perfect place to go inwards and ask myself these questions. Together with my coach, I created a 10-year plan to live my best life that is true to myself. Since then I have a clear goal in mind and I keep moving towards it every single day.
CREATING MY BEST LIFE
I have learned so much from coaching, but most importantly how to create the life I’ve always wanted. A life of freedom, happiness and adventure. I discovered that I want to be a life coach to support other people creating their best lives, because it’s in alignment with my personal strengths and purpose.
The first thing I did was to get an online job in marketing to start traveling the world unlimited. In 2021 I traveled to Sweden, Mexico, France, Spain, Turkey and Germany. In summer I signed up for university to become a certified life coach. I chose the university Coach U, because it’s one of the most well known universities for coaching. I am aiming to graduate at Coach U by March this year and get certified by the ICF (International Coaching Federation). Getting certified is really important to me, because I want to make sure that my clients get the value from coaching they deserve.
My mission is to support people around the world to create a freedom based life. A life filled with personal purpose, more freedom and greater happiness. A life that is true to yourself and not about what other people expect from you. If you are interested in working with me, you can book a FREE 30 min discovery session.
WHY I STARTED THIS BLOG
As you can see, my zig-zag path wasn’t straight forward and I wouldn’t want it any other way. Going after my dreams and choosing to live a life off the beaten path helped me to find out who I really am and what my dream life looks like. The reason why I shared my story with you, is that I want to encourage you to follow your dreams and explore your passions. You are the creator of your life and you are free to decide what your best life looks like.
The reason why I started this blog is that I want to share my experiences with you and inspire you to travel more. You will read real stories from a solo female traveler, find out more about unique destinations and get the best travel tips.
GET IN TOUCH
I would love to hear from you! The best way to get in touch is to send a message to info@nomadicseasons.com, I reply to every message I get!
