f i n d i n g f r e e d o m

01 november 2025                                                                                                              kuta, lombok

during the first weeks of my travels, i carried many small fears within me that quietly limited my sense of freedom.

one of them was the fear of riding a scooter on my own.

which was actually quite funny, because i had lived in freiburg for years and even had my own scooter there. but on the very first day after buying it, i had an accident. and somehow, that fear stayed with me.

if you have ever been ride a scooter, you probably know how free you can feel. but during the first weeks of my travels, i didn't feel that freedom at all.

instead, i walked everywhere. under the burning sun, with sweat all over my body, dogs barking behind me, and constantly depending on long walks or finding someone to drive me. i felt like i couldn't really explore the places around me and every single day, i asked myself the same question.

should i finally do it?
or maybe not?
if i'm honest, i was simply scared.

a few weeks later, i moved from bali to lombok for my yoga teacher training. there, i met some of the kindest people. one of them was my now very close friend, isi.

interestingly, she had also been afraid of riding a scooter for a long time. but one day, she decided to face that fear because she knew how much freedom was waiting for her on the other side.

so one day, i asked her if she would help me face mine. we rented two scooters and drove together to watch the sunset and oh my god..

i still remember that feeling so clearly, the wind on my skin, the sunset in front of me and this indescribable feeling of freedom.

suddenly, i realized that i was doing the very thing i had been afraid of for so long. i still remember screaming out loud while riding my scooter because i felt so proud of myself.
so happy and so alive. from that day on, i rode a scooter almost every day while travelling through indonesia.

sometimes, i still think back to that sunset ride.

not because of the scooter.

but because it reminds me how much life can open up when we stop standing in front of our fears and slowly begin to move through them.