The bandana life.

It’s been almost exactly one year since I started my “big trip” to Southeast Asia. Today, back in Munich, seeing the grey and rainy weather outside, it makes me a bit sentimental thinking back to those first days, when I flew to Abu Dhabi and then on to Bangkok. Above all, I can’t believe that it is already one year ago…

…a year characterized by new experiences, challenges, adventures, encounters and a complete zest for life (…well, maybe not every minute and every second, but most of the time, LOL).

And there is a fashion accessory that has somehow become a “symbol” for this trip or this time in general: my bandana!

Or kerchief, as most people would say. A square piece of red cloth with a white colored pattern, that i usually tied around my head for protective or rather decorative purposes, LOL. I bought it in Spain (2 days after quitting my job) and originally planned to use it for the upcoming Oktoberfest. Because with the kerchief tied around one’s neck, you look so cute and countrified, hahaha.

When I packed the backpack for my trip, the bandana went with it automatically. I could certainly use it as a headband on hikes or the like… Thats what i thought and that’s how it was: over time it became my constant companion. I can’t describe it exactly, but when I tied the bandana around my head, I felt (and still do feel) a touch more adventurous, sly and easygoing.

And somehow people always looked at me differently when i wear it, a bit admiring and more interested, because they probably thought what kind of wild guy that is… (It could be, that this is just my weird imagination, hahaha.) I think it also has to do with what kind of image I want people to have about myself: the youthful, carefree traveler who doesn’t give a shit about anything and just walks cool around the world! Of course, that doesn’t really describe me, but from time to time the thought flares up, that this could be a version of me…

A (former) colleague wrote me a couple of pretty clever words when I left the company (Diana, falls du das lesen solltest, die kamen von dir 🙂 ). The gist of what she wrote was:

The pros and cons have been carefully weighed and the decision has been made. The feeling of freedom is yet to come, but when it comes, I wish you can live it out to the fullest. Enjoying without thinking about tomorrow, letting yourself go, trusting that you will regain the security you have given up, if you just want to… And if things don’t go that way – no matter – then something new will come soon. Anything is better than the uniformity that comes with the working life…

When I read those sentences now, i almost notice tears coming up… Well, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but the point is: the words are so true!

For many people, security means a full bank account, a good socially recognized position, a nice house and other possessions. Yes, the partner is usually one of them. Of course, that has little to do with real security. It rather means feeling comfortable in one’s insecurity. True security means having a calm mind that is not afraid of danger. And I think that is actually something I have learned this year, not least against the background of the corona pandemic (but not exclusively because of it). There is a solution for everything, because our life in reality is not made up of problems, but of experiences.

So in a way that’s the true meaning of the bandana life for me. It is, so to speak, a different attitude towards life, that I associate with this little piece of cloth. And now I’m trying to take this attitude with me into the new phase of life, that is probably waiting for me…