The days in wage and bread are for me as good as counted and inversely proportional increases for me the anticipation of complete independence. It’s interesting how many people I tell about my travel plans react with some envy and awe and how few could actually imagine taking this step themselves

I quit my job in a large international corporation almost a year ago and am now just waiting for my contract to end. Yes! I have a year’s notice

One night when I couldn’t sleep I read Adam Grand’s “Think Again” and got the idea to change something big in my life and quit my job. At that time I had already been working for the same company for 17 years with a break. Subconsciously I had the feeling for a long time that I should change something, but it never really bubbled to the surface. Initiating change has always been externally motivated for me. This time it should be different (apart from the book, which is also somehow an external factor)

Now the impetus was given, but still without a plan. After all, I still had a year to set the tracks for my new life. It was clear to me that I can not / will not just sit at home and so gradually the idea was born first to use the newly won freedom to travel a really long. Since I liked my 30 day hike in New Zealand so much and I have become a real long distance hiking freak anyway, I decided to run the complete length of the two New Zealand islands. A distance of about 3000 km in 4 to 5 months

Here in Germany I have no real attachment anymore. I quit my apartment, my relationship broke up, unimportant contracts I either cancelled or put on hold. In the meantime I have reduced my hiking equipment to the most important and have already tested it on a four day hike in Portugal

The trip goes first on September 25 to Fiji to meet an old friend and then on October 9 from there to New Zealand to fly. There I will meet up with my long time friend and travel partner Logan in Kerikeri, the northernmost town in New Zealand that has an airport. Logan then accompanies me for the first few legs. When people I tell about my plans ask me how long I will be traveling, I can only answer with “I don’t know”

. The planning horizon is currently until mid-March 2023, when I want to go to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil to visit my friend Stephen and explore the continent from there. The limit is only my financial means or my will to work from on the road. Since I speak the two most spoken languages of the continent and I haven’t been there yet, this part of the trip promises a lot of evening hay and interesting encounters

The only thing that really saddens me a bit are my friends and family that I am leaving behind and who unfortunately will not see me for a long time. Please come visit me wherever I will be

Is there anything you are burning to know about my preparations? Feel free to comment below the article