People
People
Travel is about seeing new places, visiting cities and towns, getting to know other cultures and traditions, exploring nature and landscapes. And travel is – the most important – about meeting people. People from different countries, speaking different languages, eating different food, telling different stories and having different point of views. We all have something in common, we are all human beings living on this planet called earth. And even on the other side of the world, you find people you can connect with on the same level. People who have big hearts and you can spend a wonderful time with. Here is a small overview about beautiful souls who crossed our ways (in a chronically way).
yVAN
I still remember the first time we met Yvan in our hostel room in Toronto. He seemed to be a shy loner. With every day we spent with him, he opened up more and we can definitely say that he is a person full of surprises.
Even when life gave him a lot of lemons, he is just building his own lemon juice factory – in the figurative sense of course. Yvan is a good person to talk to, about fun stuff and serious topics as well. He is creative, humorous and empathic.
When I think of Yvan, I think of him dancing and enjoying, I see foxes and a baguette magnet, I feel an open-minded and understanding person, I taste Nutella Crêpes and Ice cream, and I hear him telling jokes, laughing and saying „Gute Nacht“ to us.
Yvan and his beautiful friend Eli were – to repeat Yvan’s words – „the best random encounter ever“.
MARSHAL & MANOU
To our „We are looking for travel buddies in Toronto“-message in a Facebook group, Marshal and Manou send us a friendly reply. Only after a few messages and a short call, we went on a day trip to the Niagara Falls with them in their big motorhome.
While we were sitting in the back seats, we admire the beautiful self-made art work with stones, wood and feathers from Manou and the nice sayings written on the wall from Marshal. We spent a nice day together walking around the Falls, exploring and talking.
Even if we just spent a short time, we ended up having almost daily conversations in long voice messages. It’s our „M&M-podcast“ which is part of our travel routine. We really appreciate the honest and funny talks with them. And are thankful for all the hiking tipps.
It’s a pity that we couldn’t spend more time or traveling with them through Canada, because we really think it would have been a funny adventure. But we are sure, we will meet them again.
MAUD
We met Maud on the surprise birthday supper for Jeff, our roommate in Montréal. From the beginning she was really curious about our travel plans and we talked to her about our expectations and wishes. Just after this short conversation with Maud, I felt connected to her on a level I can’t describe.
Maud made me feel comfortable and seen. I could open up to her in just one night and talked to her about intimate topics. She gave me the courage to start yoga again and I went to her yoga course without knowing anyone but of course I know Maud.
When our car broke down close to the city Maud spends her summer, she didn’t hesitate to give us a lift and invite us to her friends home. There we spent some great days, went swimming with Mauds friends and enjoyed a concert with her.
Maud is a really welcoming and supporting person, always believing in the good in people. She is brave, funny, creative and a human who I admire.
STEPH
Maud‘s friend Steph just moved to St. Gabriel Rimouski a few weeks before we arrive at her and her boyfriends house. She welcomes us at her place as we are old friends and when we need to go to the city to pick up our van again, she just says: Just take my car. Just consider my cars as yours.
And this really describes her as a person. She loves to have people around and take care of them. Steph is always wandering around, making tea of dried plants, cleaning and decorating. When she is not in the house, she is outside walking in the fields collecting plants or playing with the dogs.
The same way she treats humans, Steph is also lovely to animals. Sadly the previous owner of the house left two of her many dogs in a broken shelter next to the house. But in reality it’s the best thing what have ever happened to Bear and Pat. Now they live in the garden where they can stroll around and get a lot of daily cuddles from Steph.
We are very thankful for Steph’s heartwarming and welcoming hospitality. Our days at her house felt like holidays and we feel grounded again. Steph’s nature is just lovely and calming. She is funny and a really good person to talk to.
TOM
Tom with his dog Sparky and his two cats Sally und Vivianne is also living in Steph’s house. He has his own room which he painted and decorated so nicely, it looks and feels like a beautiful safe space. When Sparky or Sally is lying on the bed and watching through the window, it even looks like a calming you tube video.
His profession is organising events in the small towns around. These events are for bringing people together and connecting with the area and nature. And in my opinion Tom is a perfect guy for this job. He is a calm, obligingly and lovely person. It’s so pleasant and nice to spend time with and talk to him.
Just after a few evenings together, Tom said some things about us, like he already knows us for ages. He is a really good judge of characters and has a spiritual feeling for the people around him. I think he would be a faithful and true friend and it would have been a pleasure to get to know him better.
SAMI
When our car broke down, Maud and her friend Sami came to give us a lift. From the first moment, Sami was so nice and really interested in our story. He asked us different questions than people normally do and the talk with him made me think about new point of views.
One evening Sami stayed at Steph’s house and he and Maud cooked a special dinner for us. We really appreciated the effort they put in it just to make something special for us. And of course it was very delicious.
The communication with Sami is so easy and he makes us feel comfortable and seen. We are thankful to get to know such a wonderful person even if it was for only a short time.
LINUS & JONAS
One day Linus and Jonas, our future colleagues at the Christmas market in Vancouver, wrote in our work chat group that their car broke down and they don’t know how to travel from east to west. We offered them two seats in our campervan and did a road trip to Cape Breton for a few days to see if it would fit – for the van and of course if we would all fit together.
Although Malte and me are more than ten years older, we had a great time with the boys. We did some great hikes, washed ourselves in the river and waterfall and drove from Halifax to Vancouver more than 6000km in two weeks. On the way we had some problems with our van and the boys were really supportive and always cheered us up with their positive attitude.
Jonas is a very creative, thoughtful and lovingly person. Linus is more rational, but also more organized and solution-oriented. They are two different people, but a very good team together. Both are always there to help, good to play cards with (the loser had to wash the dishes) and most important very funny. Some sentences from Linus we still use a lot and think of the two, for example “That’s a fact” or “Nützt ja nichts”, what means “doesn’t matter, we still have to do it”.
HEINER
In a small hut on a camp site at Cape Breton, we and the boys met Heiner. We asked him to give us a lift up the mountain to a hike spot. He agreed and asked us if it would be okay if he would join us in the hike and of course it was. After the hike Heiner even drove us back to our car and invited us to stay with him in Montreal where he is permanently living. On the road Heiner visited the boys in Halifax and spend one evening with us at Kejimkujik National Park. It is so nice, easy and a lot of fun to talk to Heiner. He is such a friendly and helpful person who is always willing to share his special beer, fire wood and stories with other people.
On our way to the west we visited Heiner. It was so nice to see him again and he totally made us feel at home. We could shower as long as we wanted to, use his washing machine and he even baked us some cake and arranged his work desk in his bed room, so that we could sleep in his workspace. I think I have never met such a welcoming and uncomplicated person. We are really thankful for meeting Heiner in this small hut somewhere at Cape Breton and looking forward to meet him again somewhere at our travels.
Kaja
The only person I remember from the first meeting with the Christmas market workers, was Kaja. She was the one with a big smile on her face who directly asked us a lot of questions. On my first shift on the market, we instantly talked a lot and found out that she knows the daughter of my cousin. The world is small. Even when we didn’t work in the same hut on the market, we talked before and after our shifts or in a lot of voice messages. Also when Kaja‘s voice messages are sometimes hard to understand and I listen to them in 1.5x speed, I love to communicate with her. She became my best friend at the Christmas market.
Kaja is a very loyal and supportive friend. One who you can always share all your problems with and is there to help. She is a brave woman and a happy human who you can have a good laugh with. Kaja also connected with Malte and the three of us had a lot of fun and spent nice times together.
Although Kaja and we are more than 12 years apart, we‘ve got a genuine connection which will hopefully last much longer than our journey.
Andi & Alex
On the weekends at the Christmas market Andi and me worked together as cashiers while Alex was in charge of the grill in our sausage hut. From the beginning Andi was very friendly and welcoming, so that she directly invited Malte and me to their apartment even when we barely know each other. We had a great evening where we realized that we had the same feelings about traveling and staying away from home, family and friends for a longer time as a couple. It was really good to share the same thoughts and we felt understood.
When the Christmas market was over, we still stayed in touch and spent a lot of fun days together. Like celebrating New Years Eve with a nice dinner at their apartment, watching soccer games, going to the Stanley Park brewery, having brunch, watching ice hockey in a bar, or just going out for dinner. They also introduced us to their Vancouver friends, Sebastian and Nick (and his family) who are all very nice human beings.
Andi and Alex are welcoming, open-minded and easy-going people. They are always ready to help, good to talk to and up for spontaneous ideas. Both of them made our Vancouver time so much better. We definitely want to meet them again, in Hamburg, Munich or somewhere else in the world, because they will always be traveler like us.
Pip
When we were at the Bushcamp in Inuvik, Phillipa, called Pip, just turned up one day and made our time there much better. With her hands on mentality she fit in the team since day one.
Pip likes to try and learn new things with such motivation and interest, which I would love to have for myself – especially for food. She is not afraid to try new food which smells disgusting and then she really likes it at the end.
At home in New Zealand Pip worked in elderly care and I can imagine all the old people having a lot of fun with her being around. She can tell funny stories as if you were there yourself. When Pip enters the room, she always brings a little bit of chaos, but also the greatest laugh, a laugh you can’t help but join it.
It is very easy to talk and open up to Pip and we had some great talks with her. When she had a stop over in Whitehorse, she came to visit us at the goat farm. Even if she felt sick, she still helped us with the chores at the farm.
Pip is a lovely and honest person who we love to spend time with.
Oksana & Vitalina
We‘ve spent one week with these two young women at the goat farm. The two come from Ukraine, travel together through Canada and also want to go further to South America.
We are very impressed by the way they travel. They hitchhike and couchsurf through the country. Sometimes they stay in one place for a longer period of time, such as on the farm with Workaway.
We love to spend evenings with them together and talk about how traveling changes our life. It is refreshing and so encouraging to exchange ideas with the two girls, who are almost 10 years younger than we are.
Especially Vitalina is one of the most positive people I have ever met, with such a special joy for life and a great art of communicating her feelings and thoughts. We hope that this isn’t the last time we’ll meet them on our trip.
Karen & Chance
We never expected the Yukon would be a place where we would feel at home. From the first moment Karen and Chance made us feel welcomed at their Sunnyspot farm.
Karen is a hard working woman who always thinks first of others. After a long day of work she comes home and cooks nice dinner for all of us, manage the office work for the farm, does volunteer work for the church and takes care of the goats or her grandchild. She is always up for a chat, tries to help you and notices immediately if something is wrong. Her husband Chance is a quieter person with a nice sense of humor. He is very patient and a great teacher with showing us the farm work. Chance is taking great care of all the animals at the farm. He is the Mummy for the two little baby goats and they always follow him.
The second time we come back to the farm, it is a little bit like we’ve never left. Only that are a lot more workawayers, because in the summer there are much more projects like working on the barns, fences and a new paddock. First we wanted to stay until we sold the van, but in the end we spent more than 2 months there. Karen and Chance helped us a lot with selling the van and gave us other opportunities like going with the jetski and doing a road trip with their car. Although the summer time was a bit more chaotic, we loved our time at the farm with all the wonderful people and animals. It was hard to leave this wonderful place which will always have our heart. It seems like we have found a second family in the Yukon.
Megan, aron & aislyn
Karen’s daughter Megan (in our age), her boyfriend Aron and her one year old daughter Aislyn visit the farm often. We immediately get along well with Megan and Aron and she invites us to go snowboarding with her. When she is gone on a weekend trip with some friends, we help Karen and Chance babysit Aislyn and fell in love with this cute little girl. It’s so nice to spend some family time and celebrate Aislyn‘s 1st birthday with all of them.
The second time back at the farm, it’s so nice to see Megan, Aron and Aislyn again. We all go on a camping trip together, spend a nice evening playing games with some friends of them and they invite us for a tour with Megan‘s boat, which is so much fun. Before we are leaving the farm, Megan gives my hair a beautiful purple fresh up which I love a lot. We are really thankful for meeting Megan and her cute little family. She is such a happy, active person and a lovely mother. We wish them all the best and really hope to see Aislyn all grown up someday.
susanne
Okay that’s a long story: My mother and Susanne went to school when they were in grade 7-8 something and lost touch after that. But my mother always remembered that Susanne moved to Canada because she liked it there so much. Some years ago my mum found Susanne in some friend suggestions on Facebook and they talked a bit over messenger. When Malte and me got the job in Vancouver and struggled to find a place to live, my mother wrote Susanne who is living in Vancouver if she knows someone or a place to stay. At the end we found another apartment and only needed a place for one night for that Susanne invites us to stay at hers. It feels weird to go to a completely stranger who was a classmate of your mother more than 50 years ago. But Susanne is so friendly and welcoming that we instantly feel safe and home at her place.
The funniest thing is that she didn’t remember my mum from school, because she didn’t really like school and her classmates, but she still welcomes us with an open heart and even invites us for Christmas. Since the day we‘ve met Susanne, we have such a nice relationship to her and she helps us a lot. We could park our van and store some luggage at her place for the two months we were up north.
And when we come back from Whitehorse, we can stay a few weeks at her house. We completely fall in love with her cute little dachshound Ottilie, the other dachshounds who are always around and her grandson Wolf. At that time Susanne’s daughter Kristiana (being pregnant with baby number two) needs some help with Wolf, so I babysit and have some great days at playgrounds with smart and funny Wolfie. We also meet Kristianas husband John and directly connect with them too. Susanne needs some help around the house and garden and Malte and me are happy to earn some money for our travels. After three weeks we move to a nice villa from a friend of Susanne, because she goes on a trip to Europe for 4 weeks and we water the plants and do a housesit there.
We can’t even describe how thankful we are that we met Susanne and for all the opportunities she gave us. Without even knowing us, she welcomes us in her home and give us work. She is a strong, brave and special woman. We like that she is honest, direct and tells you what she expects from you. With her everything is easy. Susanne has her own strong opinions, but would do everything to always support her family and friends. That makes her a good mother, good grandmother and good friend and we are really glad to call her our friend.
anke
Anke is the sister of Susanne who followed her to Canada. When we told Susanne we want to travel to the Okanagan Valley with our friends, she directly asks her sister if we could stay a night at her house. And so we end up with our two friends staying for a few days in Summerland with Anke and her family. Like Susanne she welcomes us like we are old friends and makes us feel at home, our friends can even sleep in their camper. We meet her two sons, the two dogs and her husband James who is a wildlife ranger. James is so friendly and welcoming, too, and he can tell us a lot of interesting stories about his work. We spent some nice days, talking, having dinner and watching the Ice Hockey Stanley Cup together, oh and one night the most beautiful Northern Lights at the beginning of May.
Anke and James, and their friend, give us some nice tips for activities in the area and for our next travel plans. So we do nice day trips in the Okanagan Valley and change our planned route to a much better one. We are sad to leave after just a few days, because we enjoy the Okanagan Valley and the time with Anke‘s family. We love to come back to the Okanagan Valley for the fruit season and it’s nice to know that we always have a nice place to come back to. Thank you, Anke and James, you and your boys are always welcome at our place in Germany.
leah
Puuh, where should I start here? I know it sounds pathetic, but I never met a girl like Leah before. With her 20 years she is very mature and also childish and naive sometimes. But I think that’s what makes her so special.
When we first met her, everyone called her „one arm wonder“, because she had a broken arm and for example still carried baby Aislyn around with the other. Leah is always doing something, either she is backing or fermenting her own drink called „Hooch“, she is outside hiking, swimming, she is carving wood on the front steps or journaling on the bench in the sun. And while she does all that, she is always singing and dancing around. I enjoyed watching and listening to her, except when I was barely awake and had to listen to musicals and opera while having my breakfast.
Leah has a complete different worldview than ours, but still we could form a deep connection to her. You could always fool around with her, but also talk about serious topics. She is very reflected on her words and actions, and she is very brave. As a young woman, she is traveling alone, doing different jobs, eager to learn new things, connecting with people and nature and trying to find herself and what she likes. What I really learned from her, is to live in the present and be present. Also when she is sometimes in her thoughts and her own little fairy world. We are looking forward to meet Leah while she is traveling Europe and we are curious where she will be when she is in our age.
maël & max
Maël, 19 years, from France, comes for a 4 week internship first time to Canada and it feels like he is our cheeky son, we teach English and all the important things on the farm. It’s really fun spending time with him, and answering all his funny and honest questions, for example “Why is there a baby?” the first time Aislyn showed up. Maël tries hard to improve his English and skills in general, so he is often in the kitchen, baking bread, pancakes or making jam like his grandmother used to do. And he is always up for an adventure like kayaking, hiking, driving with the Rhino or staying up all night to watch the Northern lights. We hope he stays as friendly, attentive and curious as he is.
Max, 20, sorry now 21 years young, from Mexico, is also another lost son of us. The first days he needs some time to get used to the chaos on the farm, but then he becomes an important part of the Workaway family. With Leah, Max and we have some deep talks about everything, and it’s fun but also educational to philosophize with them. He is a very creative, thoughtful and reflected person. Oh, and he has a great sense of humor, so Malte and him get along very well. We love to spend time with Max and learn about the Mexican culture – so be prepared for our visit in Mexico City soon, Vanboy.
Max, Luisa & René
We are glad that Max and his parents invite us to stay with them in México City. Max mom Luisa and Max are even picking us up from the airport very early in the morning. They show us their home, the city, all their favorite spots, give us so many helpful tips, answer all our questions, invite us to restaurants and make us feel so welcome in this complete different culture and country than ours.
It’s nice to get to know Max parents and their daily family life (including their dog Ava and their cat Sumi). Luisa and René are both kind hearted, always there to help, genuine and very funny people who welcome us with open arms. Even when the three of them are working a lot, they still find time to show us the university, take us to nice places, give us tips for our next destinations or just sit together and talk about our day.
All of them have a lot of knowledge not only in their specialty and we are very happy that they share a lot of information with us. Max tells us about the buildings in Mexico City (he studies architecture), Luisa about her work at university (she is a professor for art history) and René about his experiences in the film industry (he is a director and a writer).
We feel how important culture and art is for all of them and we don’t know what it is, but it always feels so warm, open-minded and cozy to stay in a creative household like this. René says for goodbye that we don’t have a place to stay in Mexico City, we have a home we are always welcome to come back to.
We can’t even put into words how much their hospitality, help and kindness mean to us, but I think Malte found some beautiful words to describe it: Max, Luisa and René are the reason, we are traveling. We are on this journey to meet wonderful people we can learn and adapt from – in their case especially how a good parent-child relation can be and how you are a really good host. We hope that they will come to visit us in Germany one day and we are able to return all the nice things they did for us.
Rosa
In Guatemala we visit a school and stay in a host family to improve our Spanish. Unfortunately we don’t feel quite comfortable in our host family and decide to change the family after a few days.
That’s how we end up with Rosa, our new host mother, who is very nice and funny. She welcomes us with open arms, tells us about her story and wants to know everything about us. A few years ago she lost her husband and is now the provider of the family. She cooks delicious meals for us and the four other students and takes care of her little granddaughter Dana while her two sons are working.
Every day she asks us a lot of questions in Spanish and tries to challenge us to get better in the language. Taking care of the students is her job and she really loves to do it. Her favorite activity is to tease you and telling jokes.
We are glad that we decided to switch families and feel very comfortable at Rosa’s big house. We will always remember Rosa loud voice shouting up the stairs „Chicos comer“, when it was time to eat or her cheeky face when she was about to say something funny.
Thank you Rosa, for making us feel welcomed, showing us your wonderful home at the Lake Atitlan and teaching us Guatemalan traditions.
Silvan
We meet Silvan at our host family in the Spanish school at the lake Atitlan in Guatemala. First we don’t really know who this calm and more quiet man is, but we meet up for doing homework together. Of course we end up chatting more than actually doing our homework.
He becomes our friend and we are doing a lot of trips around the lake together. In the evening we sit on the rooftop terrace of the students house, talk and play a card game Silvan teaches us.
We learn a lot about his life at home. Silvan grew up on a farm where his parents have a lot of chickens to sell eggs. They were one of the first bio farms in Germany. Now his parents want to retire and Silvan could take over the business. He likes the work, but it’s also a big responsibility and a hard job. And of course it would be difficult to travel when you are a farm owner.
We have really good talks with Silvan and learn a lot from him. Even when Silvan seems to be more calm, he’s a sly one and has many funny stories to tell. He’s a very helpful, open-minded and spontaneous person. And a really good friend.
When we work in Bacalar, Mexico, in the hostel, Silvan comes to visit us and we spent a nice Christmas together. Now Silvan is already back home, taking over the farm, but we are still in contact and he is repairing my laptop at the moment. Because of course Silvan is also an allrounder talent. We are looking forward to visit him at the farm or hopefully we will already see him somewhere in Asia next year.
loz, max & Anna
We were all students at the Spanish school, but didn’t spend much time together. Then we end up traveling the same route and meet each other by chance in different places in Guatemala. First we meet Loz on the bus to Semuc Champey, and coincidentally she is staying in the same hostel. Max and Anna follow a day later. After a few days apart we meet again in Flores. From there Max is going with us to San Ignacio in Belize to do the cave tour (which we couldn’t do due to heavy rainfall). And then we all reunite on Caye Caulker to enjoy island life.
The five of us are very different people who would maybe never end up spending time in daily life at home. I could write a lot about everyone of them, but actually it doesn’t matter where Loz, Anna or Max is from or how old they are. All that matters is that we are a group of funny people who met by coincidence and created a bond. As we are all traveling, we are connected through the journey and have such a special time together.
We are doing the best snorkeling tour we ever did in our life’s. Sharks, turtles, rays, barracudas, plenty of beautiful fish and most important we see manatees in the wild! Together we explore the island, choose our favorite restaurant called Aunties and a free pontoon where we watch awesome sunsets. We also find a nice bar with billard tables, it’s for sale, so we discuss how we would develop the best bar on the island.
And then the hardest part while traveling hits: We all have to say goodbye because everyone is going a different way and most likely we will never see each other again in this constellation. But that’s okay, because we cherish the time we had and will never forget all the funny days and nights with the Belize Bad Man Team.
Jenny, Philip & children
On a guided coffee tour in El Salvador, a young Austrian couple with three kids is joining us. While tasting coffee, we get into conversation with them and instantly connect. After the tour we have lunch together, share a lot of stories and fell in love with their children.
They are 9, 5 and 1 year old and all so curious, open-minded and funny. It’s really impressive to see that it’s still possible to travel as a big family – long distance with just backpacks and to countries other people would not even consider to travel to.
Jenny and Philip are not just only nice people and good to talk to, they are also very relaxed parents. We enjoy spending time with the whole family instead of hanging with the other traveller in their mid twenties at our hostel. That’s why we accept the idea of also having dinner together right away.
We meet again at the best Pupusa place in town. It is full to bursting, but we still find a table. The children are playing with the other children, they don’t need to speak the same language. Even when the oldest can already speak English and a level of Spanish to order more Pupusas for all of us. One big family is celebrating a birthday. The whole restaurant sings happy birthday and everyone gets a piece of the birthday cake. As we tell the family that it was Philip’s birthday yesterday, all the people start singing again for him. It’s such a special moment and we will always remember the hospitality and warmth of the people in El Salvador.
Unfortunately we can only spend this day with Jenny, Philip and the kids because they will travel on to the coast. (That’s why we don’t have a photo with them, only from the pupusas). But we enjoy this short time and learn a lot from them. Especially that having children doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to restrict yourself. You are still able to do mostly everything, just in a different way. And that gives us hope and optimism, that we don’t have to give up our dreams if we want a family. Thanks to both of you, for giving us other perspectives. If you want to get some tips about traveling the world with children, we can recommend their blog: www.nunu-reist.at
anoushka
When we arrive in Nicaragua, we are pretty exhausted and not really in the mood to meet people or explore the place. But the city Leon is full of bars, clubs and people who want to drink and party. Except for one person: Anoushka. We already went with her on the boat and the bus from El Salvador to Nicaragua but didn’t talk much due to the mentioned reasons. By coincidence we end up in the same hostel and relaxing at the same time in the hammocks, while all the other travelers in the hostel already went out.
We get into conversation with her and notice that we are all in the same mood. She tells us about the volcano boarding tour which is a famous activity in Leon where you hike up a volcano and slide it down on boards. We were thinking about doing it, but it’s connected to a ride back in the chicken party bus with loud music and a lot of alcohol… but Anoushka found out there is another option: An early morning tour where you watch the sunrise on top of the volcano, slide down and drive back normally without any party. The only bad thing is, we have to get up at 3:30 in the morning – nevertheless we are up for it. And it happens to be the most amazing tour, because it’s only the three of us and the guide – the whole time. We watch a wonderful sunrise on the top, seeing more and more of the amazing landscape appear in the light while we feel the heat of the volcano on our skin. Sharing these kind of beautiful moments, you connect on a level you can’t explain.
After Leon we urgently need some time to relax, so we decide to go just 30 minutes by car to Las Peñitas and spend some days at the beach. There we meet Anoushka again and get to know her better at a nice dinner.
She is a really powerful and independent woman, who has a nice sense of humor. Anoushka is a special person with a strong presence most people don’t have. She tells stories in a funny way, loves good food and has the same values as we do. The next day we also meet her friend Gusman, who she met while traveling. He is also a very funny, talks a lot and is just a special person.
On our way through Nicaragua we end up meeting Anoushka a couple of times more and really enjoy spending time with her. I think it was destiny that we met her exactly at that point. We were really tired of socializing with other travelers and going out to have drinks everyday. And then we met Anoushka, who also preferred relaxing more than party and with who we had deep and nice conversations instead of talking about the same meaningless traveler questions. Thank you for showing up at the right time Anoushka and making us feel better again.
Mona & ALex
On our journey through Patagonia we are back in the camping life, where we don’t really meet other backpackers. But this changes in El Chaltén, Argentina. We start the „Laguna de los tres“-trail at 7am in the morning to have enough time for the 20km hike and the famous mountain Fitz Roy. It’s still dark and we have to organize ourselves and the backpacks on the first meters on the route. That’s when we cross path with a young couple who overtakes us just before we overtake them again. This happens a few times before we notice they speak German as well and we start a conversation which will not end the next 6 hours.
Mona and Alex are also longterm travelers and we share a lot of the same thoughts, fears and wishes. The 9km we walk together, feel like 3, because we are all so into the conversation we totally forget about the time. Unfortunately Mona can’t hike up the last kilometer of the trail because she has problems with her knee and it’s a steep and rocky climb with 400m elevation gain. So we split up, but promise to meet again.
The next day we are all pretty exhausted and don’t feel like hiking. That’s why we meet in a cafe and continue our talk where we stopped yesterday. We were thinking about driving around the national park in the car and invite Mona and Alex to join us. We all don’t expect the views on the road to be so nice and are surprised. When the sun comes out, the mountains, river and trees look even more beautiful. We end up at a lake, go for a little walk and try some mate tea and typical Argentinian cake in a cute cafe.
And the whole time we never stop talking, because it’s so interesting. We have many things in common, it’s already a little bit scary, but have completely different characters at the same time. Alex is very eager to learn and wants to know how everything works. He developed his own method of learning the most in less time and has a great way of explaining complex topics with clear pictures so everyone understands and remembers. Mona is a very creative, empathic person with a big heart and love for the world, people and animals. We like how honest and authentic they both are and enjoy talking to them a lot.
After our little roadtrip, Mona and Alex invite us for cooking dinner at their hostel. They not only share their food with us, also they offer us to sleep in one of the beds in their room, because it’s really windy and cold outside. We accept the invitation and talk until 2am, and only stop, because we need to get some sleep. The next day we do one last roadtrip together a little bit of out town, because the visibility is clear and we have an amazing view on the mountain range around the Fitz Roy. The view doesn’t feel real, we are overwhelmed and thankful to have the opportunity to experience this beautiful nature together. When a Guanaco mother with her baby and Condors show up, the moment is just too perfect to be true.
A few days later we agree to do another big hike at Torres del Paine National Park together. But unfortunately I get sick and I’m not able to do the hike. We don’t meet again in Patagonia, because we have different destinations. But we still keep us updated about our travels and look forward to visit them in their base in Austria when we are back home.
DaNi & her team
Close to Valparaiso, Chile, we volunteer in an animal shelter with over 40 dogs and 3 horses. Dani founded this place to help animals from the street or from bad people who mistreated them. Most of them are sick, old or have behavior issues due to cruelty of humans. 5 other longterm volunteers help Dani in different shifts to take care of all the dogs and horses.
From the first minute Dani picks us up from the bus station, she is welcoming and loving towards us. Arriving at the Refugio we feel it’s a very special place in the middle of nature with lovely animals and humans. We also meet the wonderful team of Jazmin, Claudia, Johannitha and Melisa who are as friendly and welcoming as Dani. We are able to ask every question and you can feel that everyone human or animal is treated with a lot of respect here.
After a few days we also meet Likan, who is taking care of the horses and dogs in Dani’s house. It is really nice talking to him and he says that the dogs never were so calm and relaxed with other volunteers especially with taller men like Malte. This is the nicest compliment we ever got and we are glad to have the opportunity to stay in this animal paradise. Likan also invites us for selfmade Kombucha and tells us about the indigenous people of Mapuche and the oppression they still have to face today in Chile.
We enjoy spending time with the dogs and the peace and love they give us. We have a lot of respect and admiration for Dani and her team and all the work they are doing everyday to give these wonderful creatures a safe place for living. The shelter is completely depending on donations to buy all the food and medication for the animals. Especially Dani is working a lot to keep the place running and to fight for the rights of animals everyday. She is a really powerful, ambitious and lovely woman who puts the life of the animals above her own. We are thankful for getting to know her and learn a lot from her about having a dream, fighting for it and never loose hope. Dani, we wish you all the love, support and energy to continue with the work you do, it’s really important and you are making a positive change in this world. If you want to support Dani and the team of the amazing project „Fundacion Animal Chile“ visit their Instagram or donate on PayPal via fundacionanimalchile@gmail.com