My Journey around the World

The Pilgrimage of Life

In July 2022, I was the opposite of who I am today. I was a high school graduate (Gymnasium) in Germany with good grades, on a clear path to university. But I was also socially awkward and shy, unsure if that path was the right one for me.

I felt an urge to step out of the small bubble I had called home for the past 18 years. So, I planned an pilgrimage on the Way of St. James, walking from Germany to Spain. I bought equipment and saved up money, but fate had other plans. When I started, my credit card didn’t work, and I only had 50€ in my pocket. Still, I was determined not to turn back and I made it work.

For four months, I lived on about 1€ a day, eating oatmeal and bread. I asked farms, city halls, and churches for places to sleep, and I did small jobs along the way. Against all odds, after walking every day for months, I arrived at Santiago de Compostela at the far end of Spain.

This journey taught me what I’m capable of if I truly commit to something. On my way back, I hitchhiked for the first time, discovering that you don’t always need money to achieve great things and that you can be happy without it. I realized that persistence, humility, and resilience trying again and again, even after rejection are often enough to get you where you want to go.

However, I didn’t use this newfound insight to pursue wealth or material success. Instead, I learned that I’m happiest with just the bare minimum.

My Journey around the World

With that realization, I decided to embark on a new journey: to travel around the world without money or planes, relying only on my determination and resourcefulness.

I travel this way to immerse myself in new cultures and live as close to them as possible. One of my biggest dreams was to live with an Indigenous tribe in the Amazon Rainforest, and I was fortunate enough to realize that dream with the Warao people in Venezuela.

Homeless in Berlin

So I started with just my backpack and not a single cent to my name. I hitchhiked to Berlin, hoping to find a job to fund my journey, but it wasn’t easy. In the meantime, I stayed with a friend and survived by selling pillow fights to tourists. Eventually, I found a job, but things took a turn my friend asked me to leave, and I was left with only 10€ and 2.5 weeks until my first paycheck.

After my first shift, I walked around the area, asking landowners if they would let me camp in exchange for work. I found a community willing to take me in, but it came with a challenge: I had to walk two hours to get to work every day.

During those weeks, I lived off old bread I managed to get from supermarkets. I had to wake up at 4 a.m. or work through the night on a conveyor belt, packing instant pizzas I wasn’t allowed to eat. It was one of the toughest experiences of my life a true baptism of fire. I worked 6 weeks in Berlin in total and those weeks where what made the entire rest of the journey possible not only financially but mostly mentally.

Meeting Models in Paris

I left Berlin and headed to Paris without knowing a single person there. After spending nights sleeping outside and getting eaten alive by mosquitoes, I got an unexpected message from a nightclub owner. He invited me to work at one of Paris's most exclusive nightclubs during Fashion Week.

Suddenly, I was surrounded by models, designers, and a world I had only ever seen in magazines. To top it off, I met a girl at the club, and we ended up going on my first ever date at the Louvre. Going from never having a girlfriend in my small village to flirting with top models in Paris felt surreal. My life was like a dream.

I worked at the club for two weeks, then spent another week exploring Paris. Before I left I managed to campe in front of the Eiffel Tower and in the gardens of Versailles.

Hitchhiking across the Atlantic

After leaving France, I hitchhiked to Spain. I spoke almost no Spanish but spent two weeks in small agricultural villages learning the basics. From there, I traveled to Gibraltar, determined to hitchhike across the Atlantic Ocean.

I had never set foot on a sailboat before and knew nothing about sailing. I worked restoring an old sailboat in the port while asking every captain who came through if they needed extra crew. I faced over a hundred rejections most captains told me no one would take me, that my plan was unrealistic, and that I should give up.

Eventually, one captain agreed to take me to the Canary Islands. But the journey didn’t get easier. In the Canaries, I had to start the process all over again, living in a cave in the mountains while continuing my search. The sailing season came to an end, and it seemed like my dream might slip away. But I didn’t give up. Eventually, I found a boat willing to take me across the Atlantic to Trinidad.

This experience taught me not to let others define what’s possible. Many captains told me to give up, that my dream was pointless. But their opinions didn’t matter. You don’t need everyone to believe in you, you just need one person to say yes.

Becoming Famous in Trinidad

I arrived in the island nation of Trinidad without knowing a single person. I had read stories about the high crime rate and was unsure what to expect, but I quickly made local friends who welcomed me warmly.

I came up with the idea to walk across the island to show that most people in Trinidad are incredibly kind, despite its reputation. To my surprise, the journey went viral. Within days, I was featured on every TV station, newspaper, and radio show. Before starting, I had created a new TikTok account, and by the end of the walk, I had 30,000 followers.

The support I received from people was unbelievable. It was overwhelming, too—I had dreamed of this kind of attention before, but experiencing it in real life was far more intense than I had imagined.

During this time, I also met a local Indigenous leader who offered to connect me with the Warao people in Venezuela. That meeting would eventually lead to one of the most transformative experiences of my journey.

Living with the Warao

I found myself in a motorboat, traveling deep into the jungles of Venezuela to stay with the Warao people. Our destination was a small family home along the river, far removed from modern conveniences. The Warao are incredibly hospitable and open to strangers, living with modest means yet radiating a sense of community and contentment.

Most Warao families live in simple thatched huts without walls, own a canoe, have a cooking area, and a few clothes that's it. Yet, they seem to have discovered a kind of happiness that doesn’t depend on material wealth. I realized we don’t need much to be truly content. With a bit of agriculture, fishing every other day, and a large family always around, life can be fulfilling even if your total possessions are worth less than €500.

That said, the Warao face significant challenges, such as a lack of medicine, education, and the poisoning of their rivers. Despite these hardships, they are the most resilient people I’ve ever met. They can sleep in the jungle on the bare ground, enduring thousands of mosquito bites, and yet, as long as there’s food on the table, they are content. They can spend their days without rushing or worrying about wasting time, a mindset that seems to me to be completely different from almost everywhere else in the modern World.