"My Story" Personal Page by nepalgoods

Here a summary of my travelexperiences:
I started travelling as a baby with my parents. Even as a school-kid I could not imagine, that there could be a year without travelling. We started in the 60ties with tours to Denmark, Finland and Sweden, where we stayed in small houses, went fishing in the lakes and picked mushrooms and berries. I loved to visit museums and archaeological sites with my parents. Specially Sweden was fantastic for that! And the nature in these countries! When I was 16 years old, I stayed with the family of a Swedish forest ranger in Lappland. Unfortunately I did not see any elk and no beaver, but I had a great time, hiking in the deep forests. In this time it started, that I always thought, that there must be more to see around the next corner. So I went on hiking and travelling and going around the next corner, in Germany, in Sweden, anywhere.

When I was studying Archaeology, it was like discovering a whole new world. I went on an excavation in northern Germany. All we discovered were old ceramic bowls and dark spots in the sand, where the huts once were build. But it felt like digging for gold! That was in the 70ties. And Archaeology was not really always discovering new things (ha: old things!). So I decided it might be more interesting to work in a travel agency, where I could combine travelling with my interest in Archaeology.

Then I started travelling on my own. None of my friends was really a backpacker. I went with my Interrail-Card, by train, to Ireland, Scotland, France, Italy. I learned backpacking the hard way: I slept in trains, because I had almost no money. I got robbed in Edinburgh and I walked in the Irish mountains at midnight, because there was nobody taking me back by car to my place. But I was hooked. I could not stop travelling anymore. When I had money, I loved to go on a guided tour (like a hiking tour in Greece or a study-tour in Syria and Jordan). When I had no money, I took the train somewhere like Spain f.E., where I stayed mainly in small hostels and got an idea of understanding and sometimes even speaking Spanish.

In the travel agency I was the one, who always said "me!", when somebody asked "who wants to go on this or that fam-trip?" That way I stayed in some really luxurious hotels and saw wonderful places like Sardinia, Tunisia, Bahamas, Turkey, Egypt and Sri Lanka.

And that trip to Sri Lanka hit the bull's eye! I got lost for the rest of the world. I only wanted to see Asia again and again. After Sri Lanka I went to China. When I visited Beijing in 1988 for the first time, I had the feeling, I must have lived there in a former life. Everything just seemed so familiar to me!

At that time backpacking became my favourite way of travelling. It made me independent and open for the contact to other travelers. Nevertheless I still love luxurious hotels and guided tours, as travelling is much easier that way.

Beijing - Bai Yun Guan

1991/92 I travelled in Asia for 18months with only my backpack and all alone. I did, what I always dreamed of: Transsibirian Train, Mongolia, Karakorum-Highway, Taklamakan Desert. It was a big adventure. It was really a dream come true! I had no problems whatsoever: I never got really sick, I did not get robbed, I (almost) never lost my way. I met many nice people, backpackers, world-travellers or Chinese farmers.

While I was travelling in China I started to learn the Chinese Language, reading, writing, speaking. Finally I ended up at the Beijing Language Institute, where I studied Chinese for one year (1993/1994). When I came back to Germany, I very quickly found a job in a travel agency. There were not many jobs, where I could use my Chinese. I had no problems to get used to normal life in Germany again, as some fellow travellers did have.

I even decided, that I could not travel to China every year. So in 1995 I spent 4 weeks in Yucatan/Mexico. Well, that is a country with so many old temples and archaeological sites, that I was really happy there! But still, I was homesick for China! When I went to Madagascar to visit a friend, I thought Africa is maybe also right for me. But when I visited Beijing again or when I went to Cambodia - in Asia I always felt like coming home. I love Hannover, Germany, and I love to live in Germany, but deep in my heart, there will always be a longing for China.

2005 China

In 1997 I started my own travelagency. I was happy with that for a few years. Even though I had no money and no time to travel in this time. Between 1997 and 2001 the only trips I did were one week in Beijing and one week in Jordan on a fam-trip. After Sep 11th I had to give up my travelagency. Years of desperation, a few different jobs, no money, living on social welfare for a few months followed. One special highlight in this time was my husband. We finally got married in 2003. It is good to have good friends in hard times. My Stephan, my family and many friends helped me a lot. Also VT played an important roll in this times. When I felt lonely and depressed i logged into VT and found many friends all over the world. Thank you all!

In 2004 I finally found the ideal job for me: working for a touroperator which is specialised on group tours to China! Here I can use my experience in travelling in China and my Chinese language. We moved to Hamburg, as the job is in Hamburg. We now have rented a nice flat and a regular income. My husband can not work as he has some problems with his back. But life seems to come back to normal. I even travelled to China for 2 weeks in September 2005. I am wondering, what my future will bring. I hope for more happy days and happy travels.

Our Wedding Pic July 2004

On March 16th 2007 my beloved husband Stephan died unexpectedly. He was 43 years old. There are no words to tell you how sad I am!

But I am coping, learning to live alone again after 12 years living with the love of my life.

Karakul Lake

I have been to Usbekistan and China in June 2007. An organized tour with a group of 12 people. I enjoyed this easy way of travelling very much. I was lucky to see some places again, which I have already visited in 1992: Turpan and Kashgar. How lucky I am to see such a beautiful and remote place like Karakul Lake a second time in my life!

2007:
I have been quite sick. I stayed in a hospital for some treatment for 4 weeks in December and January. Well, it was no mayor illness but a case of burn-out. I have been heavily exhausted and the sadness about the death of my husband made me feeling very depressed. 4 weeks of many sportive activities and massages and relaxing helped me a lot. I feel very good now.
2008:
My job changed a bit. I am now in another departement, do not have as many contacts with clients any more, but a lot of arranging tours to China and buying the flights for our groups.
2009
Just 2 weeks in China: Beijing and Datong
2010
A nervous breakdown, total exhaustion and two weeks in a comfortable hotel in Side, Turkey
2011
A big trip to China: Beijing - Datong - Wutaishan - Pingyao - Xian - Chengdu - Lijiang - Dali - Kunming - Guilin - Yangshuo - Shanghai - Wuzhen: lots of places revisited and some new discovered.