Travel is not the road, it's a mindset

I'm officially the worst blogger ever...
I set out to write every month... I ended up writing whenever I actually thought of it...

So... Here is the deal...
Here is my wisdom... It's not a lot, but it's something...

Travelling is addictive... Whilst driving through 12.000 km of Australia (NSW, VIC, SA, NT & WA) I realized that I don't care... About what people think of me... Of the way I live... The way I love...
I've never seen so much desolation, so much hatred and still people so close together as here...

People who hate the aboriginals... People who can't stand their liquour, including the aboriginals... And finally, people I love to meet over and over again...

Whilst meeting all these people, I've heard a lot of opinions... And I keep standing by the same point over and over again...
Hatred is bullshit... Race is bullshit... The amount of money you have on your bank account doesn't hold you back from anything... It's your mindset... Anyone who travels will tell you the same...

So I turned 26 years this March... And the last thing I thought was seeing my parents before I would get back to Belgium...
But suddenly, they're in front of me... Thanks to planning from my sister, wich I still blame her and I will get her back for that one...
And the only thing people keep asking me is, is it real? You should've known...

Honestly... I already put my head in not seeing them for that amount of time... Even longer... So no, I didn't focus on it... I didn't know... And although I've seen them and had a great time with them... It made things a lot harder for me...

This trip has taught me that it's good to have someone to rely on... And those people are worth keeping around.... As  long as you treat them right and you keep them close to you... Don't use them... Favors and debts are a mindset you can use.... Money is just another way to pay off those debts or favors...

My girlfriend, with who I am 8 months together now, is the first one of a kind... She has shown me a lot... As I hope I've learned her a lot... I'm in great debt with her... For a lot more than you'd think... Thanks to her I was able to keep on going through with this... Everything....

My thoughts of my friends at home... I miss them... every single day... But it's not that easy... I can't keep pushing them to have contact with me, I have a different life here...
Ellen, I miss you... Every day... Even doing your dreads and stabbing myself over and over again would be a pleasure just to hug you for a couple of hours...
Gunar, I know I'm a dick for leaving you, but I needed to... Hope you understand...
Leo... By the time we see each other, you will have grown in a lot of ways... I hope you can forgive me...

As I hope everyone can and understands my point of view...
I don't want to lose anyone... But I understand that's the price of travelling.

New education, new place, new people

How do you start talking about something that changed so much about yourself.
About the way you see the people around you...

Well... OK, give this a try shall we...

First day in EBS... Old course takes me with to go play beer pong and flair in the park... Of course after a couple of hours and a pub, I'm completely drunk and can barely get home by myself... Good start for a new beginning no?

So... All pretty basic I thought... Cocktails, flairing and some mixology... Nothing to hard right?

What I did not expect was that the studies would be a bitch...
Interesting and I'm surprised that all of this keeps me so interested... I am new to the industry and I would love to grow, but patience has never been one of my strong suits...

Everything changed with this course... I've mad a small family... Friends I will never forget... People and places to go to... They gave me a purpose while I was lost... I'm happy for meeting Josh & Freddy... Both completely different, but both good at what they do and interested in so many different things...
And Amelia... Always going about talking to people she never met before and trying to do something that scares her every day...
She has shown me a way of living I thought I would never appreciate...

Finally... Our three instructors : Nick, Naomi & Affi... They thought us so much... And even if it was a lot of time we spent together, we never really knew them 'till after the course...
Affi is my example... Straight through the woods and not taking any shortcuts... Doing everything by the book... Sometimes a little bit rude, but hell... He can afford it...

We did so many things, to many to write down... To bore people with...
Pub crawl has to be one of my favorites... All the little bars from Sydney... All the most interesting bars... From A to Z... And still so many to discover... I love this city, but it will never complete me... The western culture is way to big here...

So two months in Sydney... I have been ripped off by bars where I worked at... I have been paid by bars where I worked at... I worked as a waiter, barback and bartender... I learn every day to go up to people and start talking to them... People I never saw and maybe never will again... And it feels good to let myself go and meet up with every other guy or girl that I meet...
I learn every day from the people around me... People with diffirent passions and different feelings about life, love and friendship...
I have been hurt, I have fallen in love and I have gained so much knowledge in so little time...
It feels like my head is ready to explode... But I want to learn so much more...

I'm not wearing my mask any more... I protect myself from time to time... Wich is logic, but I'm the person I couldn't be at home... And I need to grow further... I feel old in comparison to the people around me, but I've seen that that doesn't make me wiser...

Let's see what tomorrow brings...

Sleep where needed, Flair wherever you can!

Yes I cooked my own food while stydying... And yes there were some damm fine meals!!!

Thank you EBS for this awesome experience!

Indigo slam

Look at the light, all the time it's a changing
Look at the light, climbing up the aerial
Bright, white coming alive jumping off the aerial
All the time it's a changing
And all the dreamers are waking.

Indigo Slam - Sydney

22 hours of flight, 5 hours of sleep (in a normal bed)

The day has come... I had to leave...

The hardest part of it all? Get my shit together to be honest... Whilst my best friend was helping me I was fighting against tears...

I felt like I was leaving everything behind for something I didn't know... 

A place I didn't know the people nor how they would be like...

So I started printing out my tickets and suddenly realised I couldn't check-in online... 

Panicked... Called my mom to see if I did something wrong... Looked it up again...

I had to leave... 23 o'clock in Belgium... I had to leave NOW!

Got everything together and left...

Sister, mother, father and best friend sitting in the car with me... Holding me...

I wanted to cry... To scream... But kept smiling... I needed to leave... I need a new horizon...

To see if I was right...

Got at AMS Schiphol... Checked in via a terminal and we had a coffee (beer for me to calm down the nerves a bit)

Went for a smoke or two and got my guts together to leave everyone...

Got in line and my backpack went into oblivion, only to resurface in Sydney Airport...

Kissed my parents and sister goodbey... Hugged and kissed my best friend... Told each other we won't forget us...

Whilst I was searching my gate I got back into the non-passenger zone...

I called them again and said they had to come to me... They still hate me for that one...

I kissed them a second time and whilst they were crying... I sucked it all back in and left... Not turning around 'till I was halfway and turning back around when on the stairs... 

After that... Everything is a haze... No tears... Just my stomach turning around every single step I took... For the record... I love every single person that wanted to say goodbey to me... Who understood why I had to leave... As for the people I left behind that declined saying goodbey and think I'm leaving them... That is the reason why I'm leaving... As I'm walking I know that I'll be back... Belgium is my home... Can't change that... But I can't tell how long I'll be on the road...

To continue my story... Got on my first flight... Fell asleep before the security bla bla bla was done :)

Woke up when we landed... I was knacked...

Second flight didn't go without that easily... I couldn't check in that easily into the flight so I had to start looking for the check-in... Finally got it (after a half hour of walking twice around in Heathrow) and got into the line... Whilst the guy was checking me in, computer froze, he called upon his supervisor, this went on for about an half hour. He finally got me into the list and whilst we were both waiting we started talking about Italy and Chinque Terre... How beautifull it is... Said him goodbey and got into the passenger zone... Only to stumble upon a place with Panini's, of course... Italian... Got myself a little panini and a Peroni beer... Whilst sitting there and chatting with some people on WhatsApp and Messenger, they start asking my opinion... The people of the bar and I started talking to them. They didn't know I understand Italian, what made it only funnier as longer the conversation continued. When I said them my goodbeys, I did this of course in Italian. Last thing I heard coming out of the mouth of one of the bartenders (F) "Porca Putana"... 

I did a tour of the airport... Got a magnificent view of Heathrow Airport and didn't understand why I was the only one to stumble upon this, whilst it was made for people like me (tourists)...

Got back down... Chatted with my mon on Skype and decided it was time for me to get a nap... Slept for a little hour and went for a smoke, just in time to start boarding... 

Got on the flight, and what a flight... 12 hours of flight with a connection of 30 minutes before parting.

They skipped me a couple of times because I was sleeping during dinner and they couldn't wake me (surprise there no?)

I got off the plane, every joint in my body aching and went for a smoke... Whilst all the others were checking in, I was getting a nicotine rush from the first smoke in 12 hours...

Got into the line afterwards, they took my visa and wrote down the number. I still have no idea why. The haircut?

finally on the last flight... This was it... Every movie couldn't keep my excitement at bay... Every time I looked at my phone the minutes ticked away at a slow pace... I was sicked to get somewhere unknown... Finally fell back asleep... When I woke up I felt the plane descending...

Finally got onto Australia soil... Now comes the hard part... Get into Australia... Got my sheet...Filled it in and got in line... half an hour later and I got into Australia... Finally...

Called my parents and my best friend... And of course my little sister... 

Gave everyone my love and got into a cab... Finally at my hotel... Got my key and installed myself a little bit into the chilly room...

Stood up, got my guts together and let the night beast in myself go... Went for a walk across Sydney... Talked to someone in the sailor harbor of Australia and got to the Botanic Gardens of Sydney... 

Got across some Australian night beasties, said them goodnight, have fun, and went back to my bed...

Got into my room... Took me long enough to fall asleep and 5 hours later I got up...

Went downstairs to get a coffee and see what I could eat... After a banana bread and a small coffee, got myself a fanta, had a long chat with the hotel chief and finished my blog for today... 

G'day mate (first words the australian border officer said to me) :)

Ja Ellen, ik weet het... Men puntjes zijn ambetant :p 

Days in life

These are the days in life where I put everything to doubt...

After weeks of nightmares... Dreaming about the same person... Looking around me and noticing that we all live the same lives... Being fed up with life...

Being in need of staring at the stars... Hoping they would come closer than they were yesterday...

Realizing that only I can change the way I live... And not wanting the same of other people...

And above all... Realizing that the reality.. My reality... The truth... My truth... Is nothing but a smokescreen wich I hide behind...

Wich I refuse to live by for I am not to be controlled... I am not to be instructed what to do... Where to stand and above all... How to live...

In this society of jealous... Racist... And egocentric people... I hope to find that special soul wich makes me feel at home and not another freak in this damned freakshow...

How can anyone live by his or hers hopes and dreams whilst being in the corner of the room... Being so shy that he can't even start a conversation with someone else and becoming every day more and more disgusted by social contact...

How to live in this society...

Standing tall... Standing proud...

Here I am...
Standing tall, standing proud...

Trying to make a life...

Trying to be social... Within the world, this world...
Full of hatred, fights and determend ways of thinking and judging...

Why can't we just live together?
Why is it so hard just to live next to one another and smile from time to time...
What do we all have to lose?

Why is it so hard for people to be honest...
To look up from their cellphones and talk to one another...
The guy or girl next to you....
That you've never met but is worth meeting with...
How can you tell that person is beneath you...
We all end up in the same place after all...

Breathe, love & live...