I travelled in Australia and New Zealand for 8 months in 2022 and 2023, after I finished school in Germany.
I am now back home and think a lot about all the memories I made that I would have never had if I stayed at home.
Now, more than ever, I just want to leave home and travel again.
I knew I would feel like this when coming home and that I will not live these moments twice, so I tried to enjoy every moment of my travels as much as I could and emerge in the moment.
Most of my favorite memories are things that I did for the first time, but I think they will be just as special as the first time if I do it again, as each moment will never be the same.

1. Dancing at the beach in the dark with friends

This is definitely my favorite memory, or better said memories.
I did that twice with two different friends, and every time I just felt so free.
It is the best feeling ever dancing and singing your heart out, barefoot at the beach, listening to music you like, with people you love.
I have one song for each friend that reminds me of that moment, and every time I listen to them, I just have to smile at the thought of us dancing in the dark, spinning endlessly.
The feeling was so magically.

2. Sleeping at the beach

I did this with one friend on Australia’s Sunshine Coast, where I stayed for my
Au pair.
First be built our bed with a picknick blanket, two old pillows and two old bedsheets.
It was more comfortable that I thought, and we picked the perfect night for it.
We checked the tide, it wasn’t cold during the night and there were no mosquitos.
We spent the evening exploring the beach, dancing and making a stop at
MC Donald.
In the morning we woke up at 4 am to watch the sunrise which was so beautiful.
I stayed awake until 7 am, when we left, while my friend fell asleep again.
People on their morning dog walk passed us and smiled at us laying in a bed on the beach.
It was such an odd and fun experience.

3. Meeting like-minded people

I didn’t know that I had to travel to the other side of the world to meet people that resemble me so much.
Two German girls in my age I bonded with really well, and they are so similar to me.
Not just our travel plans, but also our past and what we like to do.
I just felt like I knew both of them my whole life after a few days.
But it is not just the people I bonded with really well.
It is every other traveler I met with on my travels.
Some of them I built friendships with.
I love talking and hearing about everyone’s travel stories and getting inspired by them for further travels.
They get situations you are in and how special or hard times can feel.

4. Swimming in the sunset

I did this in New Zealand at 90 mile beach.
I camped close to the beach with two friends, and we went swimming in the ocean during sunset, which colored the whole sky and ocean purple.
This was one of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen.
It also combined my 2 favorite things…sunsets and the ocean.
It felt so special and magical, swimming in a purple world.

5. Snorkeling

I went snorkeling 3 times.
Twice in Australia and once in Bali, where I stayed for 2 weeks after New Zealand.
I saw different kinds of turtles, white tip reef sharks and mantas.
Of course, I saw many different corals and fish as well.
The underwater world just fascinates me.
Especially all the animals living there, so it was extra special.

6. Skinny-dipping

I went skinny-dipping 3 times on my travels.
Once in a group of friends in Australia, once with a friend in New Zealand, and once alone during the day in New Zealand.
I always feel so free doing it and during the dark you don’t see your friends naked anyway, so it was so much fun doing it together.
When I did it alone I was on a rather busy beach, but because it rained a moment before there was a corner of the beach without people and I didn’t bring anything to swim, so I just went in naked and dried myself with my sweater.
I had a hard time before that, and that moment just made me feel so extremely happy and free of worries again.

7. Picnic with friends

On Australia day, January 26th, I met with some friends, and we had a picnic at a table near the beach.
We spent nearly the whole day there, eating what everyone brought, drinking beers, talking and in the evening when some people already left we all went skinny-dipping together.
It was so much fun listening to the stories of friends and all the other funny things that happened that day.

8. Seeing nature that you can’t believe is real

Of course, I loved the nature everywhere I have been in Australia and New Zealand, but there was a moment where I couldn’t believe this nature is real.
I did a road trip around Northland in New Zealand and went on a couple of hikes and the nature there is so green, and it meets the turquoise ocean with small islands in it (Bay of islands).
The colors just seemed unreal and it was so extremely beautiful.
That is just one of the awesome things I saw.
I am so happy I got to see so many beautiful places on this earth.

9. Waitomo glowworm cave

I went to the Waitomo glowworm cave which was on my bucket list before going to New Zealand, so it was a dream come true which made the experience even more special for me.
We got a short tour through a lit cave before we went on a small boat to float through the glowworm cave.
It was dead silent, and the black caves’ ceiling was lit blue by all the thousand glowworms.
It looked so beautiful.
A bit like a starry sky, but also nothing like it because it was full of little lights and blue.

10. Camping in Western Australia

In Western Australia, I did a road trip from Perth to Exmouth and back, to watch the solar eclipse there.
I love camping in general, but doing it close to the beach, in the wilderness, was extra special.
Being able to jump in the ocean and going to the beach to watch the sunset every day was so wonderful.
And I saw the fullest starry sky I have ever seen on my way to the toilet in the middle of the night.
I just had to lay down on a bench for a few minutes, admiring the sky, before going back to bed.

11. Learning how to surf

I loved learning how to surf.
My teacher was super nice, and it really felt like I made progress with him.
I took 6 lessons with him on the Sunshine Coast in Australia and another one in Bali.
The 2 times I went out without a teacher it was hard for me finding good waves, but I just loved being in the ocean anyway and if I was able to catch a good wave I was so proud of myself and it was so much fun.

All these memories, and many more, made my time on my travels extra special and made me want to travel my whole life.
I am now trying to do new things at home as well to make me feel good being at home and to not always think about how great the time on my travels was.
I learned that I just have to make time special and enjoy every moment even more because no moment will come back and be like the other, so I will emerge myself more in every good moment of my life.