Published: December 9th 2024, 11:44:10 am
"I love journaling" I said, knowing well its been a few months now since I actually took some time aside to sit and write. I used to write every single day when I was around 18 years old. And one day I stopped, said the books were too heavy in my luggage and lost the routine of it. Until now, it's time to pick back up this routine that I used to love so much.
My days here in papua have been intense and beautiful. I have been here for 9 days now. In the past week alone I've visited some of the most remote places I've probably ever been to. Hence my inactivity on Instagram. In a way I know its bad, once you stop posting as much I always feel like the algorithm punishes you badly. But it will be okay, right now I'm just LIVING.
I've been sleeping on floors, taking bucket showers and cooking over fires. We don't even have electricity, usually we have power from a generator 3 hours at night that allows us to charge our things for the next day. We've been the first white people to many we have met here, encounters have truly been unique. Being stopped on the street because kids want to touch your hair or an old lady walking up to you and hugging your legs isn't something you experience every day. I'm not doing this trip alone. Daniel, a friend of mine is with me, we met on Instagram. Its nice to be traveling together, also challenging from times. It shows me where I still want to work on myself, which is also good because it gives me the opportunity to grow. It's also nice as I am not being confronted with having to deal with men - which in Papua I don't think on this trip I would have had a major issue anyways, however, the difference between being a woman solo vs accompanied is shocking. My mind has rarely been that peaceful on a trip, its wonderful. We have barely been in cities, which definitely also is a factor to consider. I often find myself enjoying natural places way more. The cities here are rough and can be dangerous. Most days we wake up at sunrise anyways, so by the time it gets dark we are falling asleep anyways...
My skin is suffering a bit from the not very well balanced diet, and the intense traveling. Also surely because I just had my period. That's a whole other thing you have to learn to master if you are a woman and travel. My secret hack is: period underwear. Literally a lifesaver. Only that I left mine at one of the villages which is by now a plane ride and a few busses away, but maybe I can still find a way to retrieve it before I leave PNG, if someone does me the favour and ships it to the capital. If one thing, I have really learned to take care of my health this year. My iron deficiency from earlier this year is still noticeable in my hair thickness, which sometimes annoys to me. On my trips, I have to be 100% healthy or else I can really get myself in potentially dangerous situations. You don't want to be 5000m up on a mountain and realising you're too weak because of a nutrient you lack. Luckily, that hasn't happened to me yet but I certainly will go draw blog again as soon as I'm back home in Austria just to make sure.
Right now, as I'm typing this, it is 9:41pm. I always did this with one of my very best friends Lou, whenever we'd spend the night with each other before we fall asleep, we'd ask "What are three things we are grateful for today?".
I find gratitude to be the key to happiness. And happiness one of the most valuable components of my life. "What do you want to be when you are older?", I'd always answer "happy". I find happiness in many things. And now if you say you don't, this is something you can teach yourself. The first step is awareness. You can do this in ANY moment, no matter how fuck** up the situation seems. Even when I got robbed and my bank account got hacked (bye bye 5000€) during my trip to Morocco, I still was able to find in the moment. I was safe. I knew I had at least one person around me who actually cares for me and will help me. And I knew that I will be okay. So I went from bawling my eyes out to realising how stupid that is, and since it already happened, I can now move on to accepting and letting go.
Today, I am grateful for the cozy bed I get to sleep in.
I am also grateful for the friendships I have, I love my friends.
Additionally, I had three !! Avocados again after over a month of being deprived, and truly I am SO grateful for that.
What are you grateful for today?