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Janet            
  Kaufmann   

Travel Writer/ Photographer/ Teacher 

`I never intend to take a picture. I am only catching moments.` Janet
`Only art can capture the magic of the moment in a photo, a poem, a channeled piece of writing, a stream of consciousness. When I look at my photos and my writings in which I tried to capture life, not for the piece of art but just tried to capture life, which consists of a billion moments and that we can live again by looking at that piece of art, I hear, feel, and sense a thousand stories in one image or poem. I feel one million dots of the magic of the universe woven into each other into a piece of art of a million colours, times and dimensions. Hold together through love. That is what life is. A coincidence that never existed but a miracle.` Janet

Egypt Egypt felt like coming home from the first moment on. Ancient land of the golden sun, the kings and the queens. Friendships, memories from another time. Land of power and wisdom. Death and rebirth. The desert and the sea. Purest joy of existence, exuberance, passion, rhythm and sound. Adventure. Life. In its full complexity. One million smiles and gestures from the hearts. I have been welcomed as a friend. I was made a part of the family. Egyptians have an amazing sense of community and hospitality. They are poor but happy. The pyramids connect all places and all times. Climbing inside the inner chambers through the narrow tunnels was a dream come true. The locals know about their secret. Their power and light. Meditation is forbidden here, but if you speak to the guardians and give them tips they will show you around, and you will probably see them meditating themselves — in secret — absorbing the energy as if it were their life’s essential bread. They are programmed into the Muslim religion and practice it, more out of obedience, custom, or forgetfulness. But she will remind you, the Great Sphinx of Gizah, ancient Egyptian leonine race, sitting there for thousands of years in her majesty, power, and perfection. After Gizah and Cairo, I went to the Red Sea, where I lived in a beach house with some lovely people in a small, very chill fishing village. From there, I crossed the desert to go to Mount Sinai, Mount Moses. The media and government warn against travel in the Sinai Peninsula. They say it is a dangerous terrorist land with tourists getting kidnapped. The locals there say it is not true, and my experience was different. When I went through the desert and saw a Bedouin (local Native tribe) village of a few huts, goats, and camels, I asked my driver to stop. Women were waving me towards them when they spotted me approaching slowly and carefully through the desert sand. They invited me for tea. We sat around the fire, sharing silence, smiles, laughter, and togetherness. There was a connection. Of course, it was not planned. I move by intuition and inner guidance, and I go where I am called to go, trust who I feel to trust or get invited from. This is how I stay safe, and I am at the perfect place at the perfect time. I am a part of it all, and I have my own inner compass, and I prefer to listen to the locals instead of tourist guides. I am not a tourist. For me, it is all about connecting to the soul of the land and thepeople through an open heart and mind instead of seeing all of the tourist attractions when I travel. It is all about seeing, sharing,connecting,exchanging, and learning. Groing and expanding. We are all one, all equal, all the same, just in different costumes and colours. After I had tea with the Bedouins, a young man from the tribe took me in a very old car to his favourite place in the desert. This place — so crystal clear, pristine, pure. The most magical place. Total silence, the freshest air, the colours, the powerful sacred energy. The whitest, softest desert sand, framed by red rocks sharpened by the sand and the wind. Before I left, he gave me two crystals from this place that is full of crystals. It is in the desert where you learn everything, not in the oasis. It is one of the most spiritual and beautiful places. Where secrets will be revealed to you. Where you will remember yourself. Dahab, Egypt, March 2021 Essay from my book Taste of Freedom. Buy this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Janet-Kaufmann/author/B098DX4MD4?ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true

Cuzco This trip feels so epic because it is not limited in time or in any other beliefs. The world is my living room. Sometimes, I feel like flying, like the South American condor circling high, to the Peruvian flute that is playing in the background scene, and my heart is overflowing with joy. Cuzco, Peru, February 2023 Essay from my book Like a Thrill. Buy this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Like-Thrill-Poetry-around-world/dp/1915522811/ref=sr_1_2?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.HwFOygQM-uhsQy5eGW9NHQYh1WjL6zfuPJzyqODqRHR2CGbEjSUyA33P_YbjPQRi.yEUfcjFkdwM3LRHF4JZPg_v7hfRcltzPmJ8R9O_BUMY&dib_tag=se&keywords=janet+kaufmann&qid=1721304360&sr=8-2

Citizen of the World You change your home every few days or weeks. So does the food, as it changes with the places you roam. You eat fruits and other strange things you never saw before. You don’t mind sometimes having your instant coffee cold, eating with your hands on the bed because you don’t have a table, and you like it because you feel free while you look outside the window of your sweet little guesthouse that costs you much less than renting a house at home, and you look out at the hills and the slogan, Viva el Peru, written there, with the peaceful dawn slowly setting over the red roofs of Cuzco, and you feel like a citizen of the world. You are not sure if you should stop now — sometimes you wish this trip would never end — you could go on and on forever, every time braver, wiser, calmer, happier, and you know that sometimes your body gets tired, and you let it be tired. You don’t rush around only when you need to, and you know when you have to pull yourself ogether and must sometimes run, then you will, and if you still miss the only bus, you go, ‘F*ck it,’ and you enjoy being stuck, and you are not sure which is better — the excitement of moving, gazing at the changing landscapes, heights, climates, vegetation, and traits and customs of the people, or dwelling in the one place you become familiar with and discover its secrets at a deeper look — but you know it is beyond epic, life. And your major concern when you are thinking about what to wear today is to choose between the colour of red or green because all you need fits into a tiny backpack, and if something is missing, you just go and buy it on the streets, and if your favourite hat gets blown away by the wind on the ship you are on, you release it, and you gift it to the silver sea of the Rio de la Plata, and you trust that you will find an even better one. And you leave the new one that you bought in Bolivia to whoever will find it in Peru because it doesn’t suit your style in Colombia, and you will find an even cooler one in Panama. And sometimes, you make new friends along the way, and you tell them goodbye, and you do not know if you’ll ever meet again, but you’ll love them forever. Cuzco, Peru, February 2023 Essay from my book Like a Thrill Buy this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Like-Thrill-Poetry-around-world/dp/1915522811/ref=sr_1_3?crid=15BLSYZU6L1UC&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.HwFOygQM-uhsQy5eGW9NHQYh1WjL6zfuPJzyqODqRHR2CGbEjSUyA33P_YbjPQRi.yEUfcjFkdwM3LRHF4JZPg_v7hfRcltzPmJ8R9O_BUMY&dib_tag=se&keywords=Janet+kaufmann&qid=1721305778&sprefix=janet+kaufmann%2Caps%2C444&sr=8-3

Hidden Paradise I am in paradise; hidden paradise. Getting here was pure instinct and adventure, as usual. Never seen this place mentioned anywhere before, which is why it is soo cool, and it looks like I am the only tourist here, far away from the few overcrowded, overpriced tourist spots in Panama — I have never understood why people want to go where everyone goes. I can choose between having the beach to myself in front of my house or the main beach where the youngsters hang out and party; it’s just that totally amazing Caribbean feel. It seems very chilled here compared to some pretty dodgy places I saw, especially in Panama City; however, I was told that narcotraffic bands are operating all over the country. Nothing to worry about here; I got special protection from the police, and I am being treated by the family where I rent a lovely sea view room facing the white sugar sandy beaches framed by coconut palm trees with the tasty Caribbean cuisine and the freshest fish and boat rides. However, I don’t trust anyone, as usual. The policeman asked for my phone number and the hotel of the family where I am staying, which looks wealthy, is empty, although it is high season. Hmm… it’s not my business. I’m just swinging in my hammock here, where the only noise I hear is coming from the wind blowing the sea, the loud Latin music coming out of the houses, and the funny parrot noises. Locals here approach me with curiosity and friendliness. Speak their language, and go where no one goes. La Guaira, Panama, March 2023 Essay from my book Like a Thrill. Buy this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Like-Thrill-Poetry-around-world/dp/1915522811/ref=sr_1_3?crid=15BLSYZU6L1UC&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.HwFOygQM-uhsQy5eGW9NHQYh1WjL6zfuPJzyqODqRHR2CGbEjSUyA33P_YbjPQRi.yEUfcjFkdwM3LRHF4JZPg_v7hfRcltzPmJ8R9O_BUMY&dib_tag=se&keywords=Janet+kaufmann&qid=1721305778&sprefix=janet+kaufmann%2Caps%2C444&sr=8-3

She Holds the Key My beautiful, gentle, innocent, pure Vietnam — I have come to see your soul and love you on my last day after you taught me all the hard lessons I needed to learn. Now I am feeling like a queen, rolling in my luxury bed that is, in truth, a bus, but it matters no more through your green, tropical, banana, coconut palm tree and bamboo garden, and I am free, free-floating, finally free from all the burden and pain of the old world, free at last. This voyage ain’t definitely no sightseeing — it is spiritual evolution, a growth together in love. There are so many ebbs and flows, tales to tell, challenges you face, bridges you cross, epiphanies you have and precious souls you meet along your way. After all, you realize that all that ever counted was that moment, and that is all that you have. Good or bad, embrace it, live it without judgement or overthinking. Just live it. And there she stands. Little beautiful girl holding the key. Sapa, Vietnam, November 2023 Essay from my book Like a Thrill. Buy this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Like-Thrill-Poetry-around-world/dp/1915522811/ref=sr_1_3?crid=15BLSYZU6L1UC&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.HwFOygQM-uhsQy5eGW9NHQYh1WjL6zfuPJzyqODqRHR2CGbEjSUyA33P_YbjPQRi.yEUfcjFkdwM3LRHF4JZPg_v7hfRcltzPmJ8R9O_BUMY&dib_tag=se&keywords=Janet+kaufmann&qid=1721305778&sprefix=janet+kaufmann%2Caps%2C444&sr=8-3

Tam Coc Heroine Eat like a local, which means Vietnamese noodle soup for breakfast, because you will be greatly disappointed by any copy of Western food made just for international tourists in this part of the world; no, I am none of them! You will find most of them grouped up in the same ho(s)tels, restaurants and activity spots, following online reviews and recommendations, staring at their phones while crossing the street. I wonder how many get overrun by the flood of motorcycles — no step without Google Maps; never without the phone, but you forgot how to make a phone call. The hero/heroine is not the Instagrammer from the Banana Tree Swimming Pool hotel but the boat-rowing Vietnamese lady who rows together with the others hundreds of tourists every day to a once-upona- time beautiful spot in nature that has been sucked out — a type of non-integrative, nonsustainable, profit-based tourism — I call it neocolonialism — that I don’t support. No, this is not Vietnam! The old charm of it still exists; I found it in the smiles of the people and in the nature and corners where no one looks at, and while you chase up the bus for your next destination on your itinerary or Buddhist temple, I am lying here in the sunshine, surrounded by the beautiful Tam Coc rocks, gazing at the falling leaves, flowers and butterflies, experiencing the Buddhist way to be that is in every Now. Don’t be a follower.Be a leader. A leader of the heart. Tam Coc, Vietnam, October 2023 Essay from my book Like a Thrill: Buy this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Like-Thrill-Poetry-around-world/dp/1915522811/ref=sr_1_3?crid=15BLSYZU6L1UC&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.HwFOygQM-uhsQy5eGW9NHQYh1WjL6zfuPJzyqODqRHR2CGbEjSUyA33P_YbjPQRi.yEUfcjFkdwM3LRHF4JZPg_v7hfRcltzPmJ8R9O_BUMY&dib_tag=se&keywords=Janet+kaufmann&qid=1721305778&sprefix=janet+kaufmann%2Caps%2C444&sr=8-3

Travel Travel It’s not in Paris or Bordeaux (I already knew) where I came to celebrate these last days of my special trip, my epic trip. It’s in the pretty and unpretentious city of Bayonne in the French Basque Country where I want to celebrate this moment, life, me, you, and everyone else. It was a very complex journey, with lots of little joys, surprises, life lessons, extraordinary realisations, and a lot of challenges where I could prove to myself every time how to never give up on my principles and my independence, even in difficult situations, and how to always rely on my inner voice, my intuition, at every step. It was a journey all included with ups and downs like life itself, and in the end, what remains are only smiles, good memories, and a deep happiness inside of the heart. The stations of my journey manifested themselves by surfing the waves of each day; nothing was planned. That’s what fascinates me: the unknown. Plans and holidays are not for me. The illusion that everything is perfect from one moment to the next in an expensive holiday village would depress me. I create my life and my holidays by myself with complete freedom. For me, real travel is one of the most exciting feelings. To be a part of the daily life abroad, that moment when they invite you to play bowls (jouer aux boules)in the central square in a small village in the country, the moment when they invite you to eat with their family, the big paella is for everyone. The most special parts of a trip are, indeed, the smiles and the encounters that you will never forget. They touch your heart and make the trips what they are. After all, you get used to the small differences in food, climate, ways of life, and you realise that we are all the same, that we are all one big family. But the enrichment that travel gives you — the different perfumes, climates, colours, images — these are the things without which I could never live, they are the things that give me inspiration and satisfy my hunger to discover without ever stopping, learning about life and speaking foreign languages never ends, and there is no better school in the world than travel. Long live travel, the traveller, and the travelleress! Bayonne, France, June 2022 Essay from my book Taste of Freedom. Buy this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Janet-Kaufmann/author/B098DX4MD4?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1721311466&sr=8-1&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true

Fujiyama Silver bamboo blossom fields glow in the distance at your foot You hide your white snow crest in the clouds today I couldn’t find the way So I cycled out and lay in a meadow by a stream There was a bridge With bamboo blossoms on the other side I walked across And you were very close to me Fujiyama You blew the clouds away Oshino Hakkai, Japan, October 2023 Poem from my book Like a Thrill Buy this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Like-Thrill-Poetry-around-world/dp/1915522811?ref_=ast_author_dp&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.F2iD5MgFWLzsBtNOKGsXBXEw7QQzmoSoeVOeJ88ljirGjHj071QN20LucGBJIEps.xJt52uIuR30UKm5vvynOz3uktDJPHnAhIqidTi723dw&dib_tag=AUTHOR

Tokyo You lock your entrance-fee-parks at night and carry your people in buses out on Sundays to visit fenced-in nature to throw coins into shrines and hunt souvenirs. It’s trendy to walk around like a copy of a fake comic king or queen. Your trees are speaking louder, the dragons are laughing and your mountain ranges are rising above your skyscrapers. Your future feels apocalyptic, baby! Tokyo, Japan, October 2023 Poem from my book Like a Thrill. Buy this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Like-Thrill-Poetry-around-world/dp/1915522811?ref_=ast_author_dp&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.F2iD5MgFWLzsBtNOKGsXBXEw7QQzmoSoeVOeJ88ljirGjHj071QN20LucGBJIEps.xJt52uIuR30UKm5vvynOz3uktDJPHnAhIqidTi723dw&dib_tag=AUTHOR

Spiritual Masterclass This Asia trip isn’t just one of the greatest adventures, immersing myself in the most diverse cultures that inspire and broaden my horizon in the most enlightening ways; it is a spiritual masterclass. On the one hand, there is Tokyo, where I felt as if I was in an apocalyptic film — the matrix, with its seeming robot-like people moving in perfect order between an endless sea of grey skyscrapers — and then there is the other Japan, a different reality that tastes real, with its lush mountains and Feng Shui. There is the Daosim and the Qi energy I am tuning in. There are so many different teachings in this world, and I observe how many students become dedicated pupils, slaves to a doctrine, whether they are the Buddhist monks or the new age hippies. In my eyes, spiritual practice often takes on too extreme forms. It is nothing that requires to be lived, per se, but to be applied in normal, everyday life, I believe. For me, this is really not about one belief system or the other giving it its absolute righteousness. These are the limits of belief systems that come with the narcissistic need to be righteous, and if any teaching wants to see you as a dedicated follower, it is no more wise but disempowering, controlling. Instead of becoming a follower of one or another belief system, I have studied the secrets of life through inward and outward observation of myself and on my travels around the world, and I have received very much knowledge and wisdom that I mostly picked up energetically and through observation instead of being a follower of someone who wants to be right, and I am thrilled at what I receive. Nor will I convert to Hinduism, Buddhism or Daosim as I haven’t to Protestantism or become a new age hippie but integrated many different aspects because I am either one or the other, but all of that what has greatly inspired and thrilled me because they are parts of my own cosmic soul. Places can carry energy that is information coming from the light or landscapes, and then there are places of the matrix, without energy, like big cities, with the people moving like robots in a scheme that feels like an apocalyptic film, and then there is this dream. This other reality. Heaven on earth. I can channel the wisdom and knowledge from the trees, from the energy of a place, from the music or temples or rocks, which all have an energy imprint you can pick up, rather than becoming a student of a thousand books that others wrote. I read thousands of pages during my studies at university, and now I write my own books that are not about me but written for you to remember yourself. Oshino Hakkai, Japan, October 2023 Essay from my book Like a Thrill. Buy this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Like-Thrill-Poetry-around-world/dp/1915522811?ref_=ast_author_dp&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.F2iD5MgFWLzsBtNOKGsXBXEw7QQzmoSoeVOeJ88ljirGjHj071QN20LucGBJIEps.xJt52uIuR30UKm5vvynOz3uktDJPHnAhIqidTi723dw&dib_tag=AUTHOR

Balanced Way I am really proud of myself that I have found a way to travel the world with little money that saved me from falling into the common tourist traps, where an image of a country is sold that has little to do with reality. I know that people go on holidays to get a break from their ordinary lives, so the cocktail and pool might work, but I live a life I don’t need a break from, and I travel for adventure, inspiration, and to broaden my views. I am always looking for the local experience, and this is how I get treated like a local, which truly touches my heart when I notice strangers caring about me and welcoming me with open arms, which I have experienced so many times around the world, especially in places where true community still matters more than money. To truly get to know foreign places, you need to mingle with the locals, and that just happens by itself here in Mongolia, as the people are so heartful and open-minded, and that originates from their nomadic travelling tribes and lifestyle — nothing opens your heart and mind more. I have been hugged by the sweetest kids, invited into homes, shared meals, exchanged so many smiles and communicated with sign language, and most importantly, with the language of the heart that everybody understands. Never have I seen such openminded, friendly, free and happy kids. I believe all children are by nature, but the upbringing and education turn many kids into fearful, intimidated or even nasty ones. Here, you see them all playing outside together, and they automatically smile at you when they see you, whereas they would look away where I come from. Here, they came running to me with their huge, curious hearts. They fed me with pine nuts, took shots with my Nikon, hugged me, and didn’t stop chatting to me, although I understood nothing except ‘Where are your mom and dad?’ Growing up in nature, community and around animals has major positive effects on children. The children being so incredibly careless, light - hearted, joyful and free, touched me deeply and reminded me to do the same, to go out and play and have fun and not take life so seriously. I have also noticed the healthy, light, spiritual practice of the Mongolian people — not as an extreme religious programming as I have observed in other countries, but a natural way — I call it light or healthy Buddhism, and I realized how we share the same beliefs without me ever studying it in books but by discovering its great universal truths, by following the path of the heart and through the discovery of myself and the world. Seeing people in Asia singing mantras or dancing on the pavement, speaking to their Gods while cooking or sitting meditating in the streets and squares, is the most normal thing, whereas you would be judged crazy if you did the same in the West. It is truly time for everyone to understand the great spirit and cosmic laws if you want to spend less money on booze, pills and psychologists. Mongolia, especially, inspires me because I notice how people here still apply their common sense, opposite of so much programming in the Western world where people just follow blindly the matrix, whereas here, life feels natural, full of sense and soul. Genuine. Kharkhorin, Mongolia, September 2023 Essay from my book Like a Thrill. Buy this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Like-Thrill-Poetry-around-world/dp/1915522811?ref_=ast_author_dp&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.F2iD5MgFWLzsBtNOKGsXBXEw7QQzmoSoeVOeJ88ljirGjHj071QN20LucGBJIEps.xJt52uIuR30UKm5vvynOz3uktDJPHnAhIqidTi723dw&dib_tag=AUTHOR

Land of Freedom Mongolia My heart was aching for the land of freedom That I recognized By the burning flame inside of me That was lit like never before When I saw the endless steppe and grasslands Shimmering in the golden light again Where only the horizon calls my name Where we sit under a million stars around the fire Share our hearts The eternal love For the land of freedom Forever burning Kharkhorin, Mongolia, September 2023 Poem from my book Like a Thrill Buy this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Like-Thrill-Poetry-around-world/dp/1915522811?ref_=ast_author_dp&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.F2iD5MgFWLzsBtNOKGsXBXEw7QQzmoSoeVOeJ88ljirGjHj071QN20LucGBJIEps.xJt52uIuR30UKm5vvynOz3uktDJPHnAhIqidTi723dw&dib_tag=AUTHOR

Scotland Magical land of the fairies, the elements, the freedom and eternal love Hiding your rugged beauty in misty rain To those who understand you, you will lift the clouds and Reveal your soul in all your glory You made me find myself in the middle of nowhere And made me understand that nowhere is everywhere That we are one Connected through each rock, leaf and whisper of the wind And with every passenger we meet on this beautiful journey Highlands, Scotland, October 2018 Poem from my book Taste of Freedom Buy this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Taste-Freedom-LEsprit-Libert%C3%A9-Libertad-ebook/dp/B0BPPJGZRY?ref_=ast_author_dp&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.F2iD5MgFWLzsBtNOKGsXBXEw7QQzmoSoeVOeJ88ljirGjHj071QN20LucGBJIEps.xJt52uIuR30UKm5vvynOz3uktDJPHnAhIqidTi723dw&dib_tag=AUTHOR

Skye Skye Cosmic play Of black and white Day and night Dark and light Neverending universal dance Of the polarities Every day being witnessed in the Sky e Isle of Skye, Scotland, September 2022 Poem from my book Taste of Freedom Buy this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Taste-Freedom-LEsprit-Libert%C3%A9-Libertad-ebook/dp/B0BPPJGZRY?ref_=ast_author_dp&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.F2iD5MgFWLzsBtNOKGsXBXEw7QQzmoSoeVOeJ88ljirGjHj071QN20LucGBJIEps.xJt52uIuR30UKm5vvynOz3uktDJPHnAhIqidTi723dw&dib_tag=AUTHOR

Leap of Faith 2 I thought I was an experienced traveller already, but little did I know. The adventure gets better every time, so does the experience, and the learning never stops. Now, I am looking back, amused at the memories of the recent rough moments that are a part of every adventure. The uncertainty of where you will sleep at night, the exhaustion from carrying little, but all you really need in life on your back under the Spanish heat with the destination lying open. I am looking back, amused at the moments you hated — having beans in tomato sauce, three days in a row when you’re far away from everything, and then having your favourite calamari, three days in a row at the local pub when you finally made it back into civilisation, which all makes up for it together with the few but special encounters along your way that you will never forget while you were looking for a place to install yourself for a bit longer to become fluent in Spanish again — a mission you had nearly given up while crossing the mountains, rivers, and seas, and you understand that every step of your journey was and is always perfect — that you are always in the right place — something which you often only see much later. And then suddenly, you find yourself working with these lovely people from Spain, Columbia, Honduras, Romania, and Africa who all open up your mind and heart together in this hidden gem of a 200-year-old hotel in this medieval town at the foot of the Pyrenees you stumbled upon in the last attempt when you wanted to go as far away as possible from commercial mass tourism, and where you suddenly get to speak the four languages you’re fluent in with the guests, and learning and applying new and old skills, and you’re feeling thrilled about your own adventure and your perseverance and your faith with the Spanish, heavy church bells ringing in the background scene while you’re lying in the shade of the citadel with the crickets‘ sound, and you now know that you can do this in any part of the world and have done in a few countries already — the leap of faith. You can just go anywhere and anytime whenever you wish to go away from home because you love the discovery of the unknown, which is all a part of yourself, and you love your life, and you grow rich inside. Jaca, Spain, June 2022 Essay from my book Taste of Freedom Buy this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Taste-Freedom-LEsprit-Libert%C3%A9-Libertad-ebook/dp/B0BPPJGZRY?ref_=ast_author_dp&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.F2iD5MgFWLzsBtNOKGsXBXEw7QQzmoSoeVOeJ88ljirGjHj071QN20LucGBJIEps.xJt52uIuR30UKm5vvynOz3uktDJPHnAhIqidTi723dw&dib_tag=AUTHOR

Ibiza The truth is that I don’t really like living in the Western world anymore because it has become too much of a world of money. You won’t discover these things as a tourist with glasses (sunglasses), but only upon a second glance. I went to Ibiza because I had never been there before and because of the good memories I had of Spain, where I lived 16 years ago. I lived in San Sebastián in the Basque Country, and making a living was not as difficult as it is today. The world changes fast. I do not envy the people who now live in their luxury apartments all day long, at home in front of their computers, working for a strange online company to be able to pay for their apartments with a swimming pool on the beach. This kind of new apartment with palm trees and no soul but it gives its inhabitants the illusion of being something better than those who never manage to leave their village on the country that wakes up every day at the time of aperitivo when they gather together in the immortal, numerous bars, every day and every year the same thing. In the end, those who stay are the disillusioned ones who give the poor village a bad name. Where do the others go? Those few who want to escape from this senseless world? To the ‘Third World’? How I wish I was there now. Countries likeNicaragua come to my mind. Anyway, they must be places where nobody goes (there are a few also in Europe) because in this case, originality is guaranteed, pure life that does not revolve around money alone, great opportunities to plant trees with our hands in the youthful earth, to grow our world of dreams with people who do not care about money in the first place but about being human — real community that has been lost in the modern Western world. I must stop dreaming and come back to the present moment. Spain is the best place to practise my Spanish, the first reason why I came here. Castilean, the clear Spanish, is only spoken here. I have to motivate myself and go into the streets every day again and discover what I don’t know yet — what lies beyond my imagination. Walking with this feeling of freedom under the hot Spanish sun with my hair down and my dress floating in the wind between the orange and lemon trees, rejoicing in the sea of flowers of a thousand colours growing in the innocent land, it does give me this feeling. For me, the hippie Ibiza no longer exists; it is a nostalgia of another time that people here still try to imitate and sell in the various hippie markets and exclusive shops. Being a hippie is not a style — it is a feeling, and it can neither be bought nor sold. It is a feeling of freedom and love in the heart that is not preserved with jewellery or clothes, nor does it depend on place or time. It is a feeling that grows inside and is carried with every step around the world every day. San Miguel, Ibiza, May 2022 Essay from my book Taste of Freedom Buy this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Taste-Freedom-LEsprit-Libert%C3%A9-Libertad-ebook/dp/B0BPPJGZRY?ref_=ast_author_dp&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.F2iD5MgFWLzsBtNOKGsXBXEw7QQzmoSoeVOeJ88ljirGjHj071QN20LucGBJIEps.xJt52uIuR30UKm5vvynOz3uktDJPHnAhIqidTi723dw&dib_tag=AUTHOR

Home II I am going back home And nobody can condemn Me from my land I chose to incarnate on Ever again Because all that I am Is in plain sight Not hideable Ever again And if it does not fit Into your fenced-in minds I shall no more hate For I am circling above In my free world Where I penetrate your walls of fear With love Ore Mountains, Germany, May 2023 Poem from my book Like a Thrill Buy this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Like-Thrill-Poetry-around-world/dp/1915522811?ref_=ast_author_dp&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.F2iD5MgFWLzsBtNOKGsXBXEw7QQzmoSoeVOeJ88ljirGjHj071QN20LucGBJIEps.xJt52uIuR30UKm5vvynOz3uktDJPHnAhIqidTi723dw&dib_tag=AUTHOR

Soul of Siberia Holy breeze Carrying the golden leaves of joyful birch trees Sparkling the carpet of soft sands Washed on your shores From your crystal pure waters From the depth of your soul Where I dance alone With the spirits In fairytale, light-flooded woods of larch and pine Holy Baikal Here and beyond Glorious Creation Celebration Maksimikha, Lake Baikal, Siberia, Russia, October 2023 Poem from my book Like a Thrill Buy this https://www.amazon.co.uk/Like-Thrill-Poetry-around-world/dp/1915522811?ref_=ast_author_dp&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.F2iD5MgFWLzsBtNOKGsXBXEw7QQzmoSoeVOeJ88ljirGjHj071QN20LucGBJIEps.xJt52uIuR30UKm5vvynOz3uktDJPHnAhIqidTi723dw&dib_tag=AUTHOR

Freedom Everybody can sit at a hotel bar and order a cocktail but not everybody can handle remoteness. You, alone in a place nobody wants to go because nobody ever mentioned it in a tourist guide. People are like sheep. Follow the herd blindly, but I am like a lone wolf who follows her instincts to discover the world and choose her herd well. The city person lands on a bus in the beauty of the wilderness, and their first remark will be: there is nothing. The wolf understands that nothing is everything. He hears the elements speak, the wind, the waves, the trees, the other animals, and sits quietly and listens to the nothing that reveals the magic, the secrets to the one who listens beyond time. Silence speaks. He needs no fence around him to feel safe, but he loves to roam in space. He trusts he’ll meet a friend like himself. Turka, Lake Baikal, Siberia, Russia, October 2023 Essay from my book Like a Thrill Buy this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Like-Thrill-Poetry-around-world/dp/1915522811?ref_=ast_author_dp&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.F2iD5MgFWLzsBtNOKGsXBXEw7QQzmoSoeVOeJ88ljirGjHj071QN20LucGBJIEps.xJt52uIuR30UKm5vvynOz3uktDJPHnAhIqidTi723dw&dib_tag=AUTHOR

Ride into the Unknown Yesterday, I hired a local on a motorbike to take me out to the mountain by just pointing in the direction of the horizon behind the sand dunes that looked intriguing to me, and it’s not a good idea to walk as everything that looks close in Mongolia is very far away. We communicated in sign language, and I gave him $10, for this is the way I learned to travel like a local for the real deal, out of the initial reason of never having much money, and that has saved me from falling into the main tourist traps where I learned to be brave and apply common sense by observing my environment and listening to my intuition, — that is better than any paid guide in the world and the best guarantee for adventure and to get to know a country as it really is instead of some fake, sold up tourist image, plus, it gave me the opportunity to learn, grow and expand myself in the broadest ways instead of ticking off tourist sites from a list other people consider important! My driver brought me to the most special, hidden place of incredible, pristine energy, where the monks had erected some small Buddhist temples, for they recognized the mountain as holy. On my ride through the free, vast, open grasslands, I passed by a few nomads’yurts and camels and many sheep and goats, with my friendly driver singing some songs, me thinking I could live here, lol. The one who will overcome the fear of the unknown will be gifted with the greatest freedom, fun, and magic. Kharkhorin, Mongolia, September 2023 Essay from my book Like a Thrill Buy this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Like-Thrill-Poetry-around-world/dp/1915522811?ref_=ast_author_dp&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.F2iD5MgFWLzsBtNOKGsXBXEw7QQzmoSoeVOeJ88ljirGjHj071QN20LucGBJIEps.xJt52uIuR30UKm5vvynOz3uktDJPHnAhIqidTi723dw&dib_tag=AUTHOR

My Nomad Heart is Beating Faster My Nomad Heart is beating faster since I set my foot on Mongolian soil. Ever since, my heart has been aching for living under the great blue skies of the endless land in tune with the elements, the seasons, the animals, the natural flow of life; an old love, indeed. All my life, I have been the happiest outside, beyond little concrete boxes, walls and frames. Nowhere do you feel freer than waking up in a traditional ger (yurt) with dozens of eagles circling above you, to the freshest air I ever breathed, and flying on the back of a wild Mongolian horse over the endless serene, beautiful grasslands. To me, this is one of the most inspiring places I ever travelled to, also because it is the least Westernised and globalised country I have ever witnessed. The Mongolian people have maintained their very own proud, strong individual and independent identity, and they are the sweetest and coolest folks I ever met. They are incredibly hospitable, friendly, open-minded and smart due to their way of life and due to the fact that they apply their own critical mind instead of being programmed by the media and social norms and constraints. They don’t look poor at all but rather wealthy, and they dress up kind of cool — you see them in those long, colourful satin coats with a belt and a hat and sunglasses, riding those vintage motorbikes. I am in the former capital of the huge, vast, ancient Mongolian Empire. I only figured it out when I visited the most special Buddhist Erdene Zuu Monastery that dates back to the 16th century, and I am staying in a yurt I rent from a lovely local family whose kids seem super mature, independent and smart and who look after the whole place by themselves when their dad just goes out into the wild for days — something completely normal in Mongolia. The country has only three million inhabitants, of which one-third live a nomadic life, and the towns have a handful of shops only where they sell the locally produced products and that what is needed instead of overconsumption and waste. The nomad way of life is, in truth, the most sustainable, responsible, conscious, natural and happy way of life there is, the opposite of an archaic colonial Western way of thinking to be superior, and it is the future. Owning little, having all. Freedom. Kharkhorin, Mongolia, September 2023 Essay from my book Like a Thrill Buy this https://www.amazon.co.uk/Like-Thrill-Poetry-around-world/dp/1915522811?ref_=ast_author_dp&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.F2iD5MgFWLzsBtNOKGsXBXEw7QQzmoSoeVOeJ88ljirGjHj071QN20LucGBJIEps.xJt52uIuR30UKm5vvynOz3uktDJPHnAhIqidTi723dw&dib_tag=AUTHOR

I am the Master Manifester of my Dreams I am the master manifester of my dreams. This means that you must paint out your wishes of the heart precisely and very clearly and without a single doubt of receiving them because why would you not be given that of which you dream, and then you give it away to the Universe, and it will be given to you. This is what I did. I longed for a place in Goa without any noise, without hoards of new age hippies or tourists in a beautiful, cool house under palm trees with a great bed and a terrace facing the ocean, and this is exactly what I got. It just showed up to me today while I walked along the beach — actually, a fisherman brought me there after we had a chat at his hut under the palm trees by the ocean between the fishing boats and flowers that I love so much with the locals that love to share their meals with me and treat me like family. I did not want to stay in a small, half-moon palm tree bay overloaded with a hundred sunbeds, beach shacks, hotels, people with a thousand stories and with that noisy animation for people who cannot handle silence, cannot handle life, cannot handle themselves, who need a constant program, who have zero understanding of nature, but all I hear from my room is the sound of the ocean. I needed to listen to the earth and the cosmos again. My greatest inspiration. Here it is, just me and the fishermen — who often give me dinner straight out of the boat — and the wide, open, warm, enchanting, powerful, beautiful Indian Ocean. I needed to be by the ocean. The ocean is my animation, healing my soul, cleansing my body, filling me up with power, with life. Colva, Goa, India, November 2023 Essay from my book Like a Thrill Buy this https://www.amazon.co.uk/Like-Thrill-Poetry-around-world/dp/1915522811?ref_=ast_author_dp&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.F2iD5MgFWLzsBtNOKGsXBXEw7QQzmoSoeVOeJ88ljirGjHj071QN20LucGBJIEps.xJt52uIuR30UKm5vvynOz3uktDJPHnAhIqidTi723dw&dib_tag=AUTHOR

They Cannot Conquer Holiness I am lucky that light and running water don’t cut off here in Pokhara in my three-dollar hotel room where I am at the foot of the 8000 m high Annapurna range like it did in Kathmandu from where I came on the worst eight-hour bus trip of my life, 150 km along the main highway of the country, and decided to take a flight back to the capital later, instead, because I don’t want to fall off the unpaved road a hundred meters down into the riverbed, as it occurs often here. Why is Nepal one of the poorest countries in the world despite the million-dollar business of climbing Mount Everest, which costs between $40,000 and $100,000 with hundreds of climbs each week?! Sitting around temples imitating Buddha isn’t enough if we want to stop the corrupt world leaders. You must stand up and take your power back, not by conquering the holy Himalayas, but by standing and acting in your sacred power from within. I am at the footof the sacred Machhapuchre, which is one of the very few peaks that cannot be climbed. They cannot conquer holiness. Pokhara, Nepal, September 2023 Essay from my book Like a Thrill Buy this https://www.amazon.co.uk/Like-Thrill-Poetry-around-world/dp/1915522811?ref_=ast_author_dp&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.F2iD5MgFWLzsBtNOKGsXBXEw7QQzmoSoeVOeJ88ljirGjHj071QN20LucGBJIEps.xJt52uIuR30UKm5vvynOz3uktDJPHnAhIqidTi723dw&dib_tag=AUTHOR

Free Tibet In one special encounter I had with two Tibetans in Nepal’s main buzzing square at the step of one of the numerous stunning temples that is a crazy merge of Kathmandu’s hectic daily, with their intriguing spiritual life, I feel I learnt more than some people do in their ashrams and spiritual retreats in weeks, from the most beautiful smile, love and light-heartedness the little Tibetan girl radiated with her dad, giving me a handmade book in the Tibetan language that I cannot read with plenty of Kamasutra paintings inside, and from the mesmerising children’s play of the flute that I followed with the highest happy vibes I ever heard into one of the temples. I felt more the soul of the Tibetan culture than I would maybe have on an organised, supervised, expensive tourist-group tour — the only way to get into Tibet — that I decided not to do because the money I’d pay would go to the Chinese government that destroys the Tibetan culture and forced thousands into exile. No matter how hard life is — Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world — and how unfair and corrupt those who rule the world are, run free and happy like the little Tibetan girl. Kathmandu, Nepal, August 2023 Essay from my book Like a Thrill Buy this https://www.amazon.co.uk/Like-Thrill-Poetry-around-world/dp/1915522811?ref_=ast_author_dp&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.F2iD5MgFWLzsBtNOKGsXBXEw7QQzmoSoeVOeJ88ljirGjHj071QN20LucGBJIEps.xJt52uIuR30UKm5vvynOz3uktDJPHnAhIqidTi723dw&dib_tag=AUTHOR

Like a Thrill Special, intense, exciting, At times smooth like a Columbian coffee on a golden afternoon in the plaza central of a sweet colourful Columbian mountain village, At other times ecstatic like a Brazilian night at the edge. Sometimes I wish this trip, This thrill, Would never end. I take my choices about where to go and what to do out of moments, from an input I get, a picture I see, or an encounter I have. It’s like driving high speed fully switched on taking that Exit 29 you didn’t know that existed, that brings you to Paradise. Somewhere in Panama, March 2023 Poem from my book Like a Thrill https://www.amazon.co.uk/Like-Thrill-Poetry-around-world/dp/1915522811?ref_=ast_author_dp&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.F2iD5MgFWLzsBtNOKGsXBXEw7QQzmoSoeVOeJ88ljirGjHj071QN20LucGBJIEps.xJt52uIuR30UKm5vvynOz3uktDJPHnAhIqidTi723dw&dib_tag=AUTHOR

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