Backpacking (2008) ✍🏿
Leaving my comfort zone to see a world.
Coming from Brooklyn, New York United States, the idea of visiting another country is a big deal and several scenarios played out in my head some good and some bad. But when I was able to visit places like this it becomes all worth it. Backpacking through Germany in a small SMART car with your friend for a month was a crazy idea.
It was not as scary as my trip to Japan by myself and since I did this vacation first I believe it really helped prep for that journey alone. Germany was not my first vacation outside the country and I have family that lives there so I always had something familiar to fall back on. Germany was very different then America. The roads and buildings were much much older and in fact that help bring all the history I had taken in School come to life as I passed through places like Berlin, Munich, Switzerland and Hamburg.
Being a person of African descent and from America I did not run into the inevitable prejudices and stereotypes I expected to run into. I mean at least not directly. My Cousin’s friends who were familiar with people from other parts of the world was much more open and friendly. It was 2008 and Barack Obama was running for President of the United States. At this point in presidential race he was most likely to win.
The questions about me living in American and racism was some of the questions that people were more interested in learning about from me. How I handled it was I afraid for my life if I was stopped by a Police Officer and What did I think of Germany? It was weird to have caucasian individuals interact that way to me. It was indeed a first for me. In the States, White American friends all knew very well what was going on and was interested in announcing it to you or other individuals who was not White but here in Germany it was more about empathy in my opinion and they gave me the encouragement that it was not going to be like that with them or something like that.
I think in life we all have something secretly we wish to say and even become but we are afraid of the trememdous backlash that will come from society if our beliefs do not align with the general. Now I am sure there was rascism in Europe I am aware of the Neo Nazi and many other independent thinkers who are against living in peace among people different then me. I didn’t feel that around the individuals I ran into.
Everyone must visit a place different than your own
Before Germany I have been to Canada and Nigeria but those didn’t feel like I was really out there until I visited Europe. Going with my Family to visit my fathers hometown was never like leaving my house since my family was together anywhere could actually be considered home. Call it a cliche but I was 10 years old at the time and this was the way I looked at the world. ( My mom also bought me the new Gameboy from Nintendo so I was in heaven lol).
Did I mention to you that I was driving in Europe? Me and my friend rented a small SMART car for a week from Berlin ,Rothenberg, Munich, Switzerland, Holland and back to Hamburg to fly home. Driving was similar to driving back home the steering wheel was on the same side the only thing that was different was I didn’t notice many speeds signs on the autobahn or highways. The price was pretty reasonable then using the Train where we would have not been able to stop at anytime and take pictures like we did here.
At the time of this writing it is during the Panademic and the idea of traveling like this seems to be slim to none. I doubt that is true and there are still people traveling and even backpacking but I do believe this kind of trip is worth taking before you take on an serious responsibility in your life. The price was reasonable for the income I was getting during the time. I notice that the way the world was for me was not the same for everyone else but at the same time, we all strived for similar things many people worked, had family and wanted the best for them.