Alright, so it all started off when I left to Iceland on a journey I hadn’t really planned anything for. I just had my flights booked and a couch surfing place for the first night in Vancouver. It actually was the best thing to do, I was more spontaneous than ever before I basically let myself go with the flow.

Just two days after I arrived in Vancouver I found myself on a roadtrip on Vancouver Island and this was more than the perfect start for the whole experience! We experienced nature at its absolute beauty and had deep conversations about life which I haven’t had before in these ways. It just felt right! I knew I was in the right place.

And like I said I just let the flow carry me onto the next experience which was Whistler and Atlin (200 residents village at the border to the yukon) where I had the chance to get to know amazing people and share even more amazing moments with them.

My actual plan for the summer months was to move into my car, get some biking in and do a big, four months west coast roadtrip. I also had in mind to travel south america with a friend of mine, which my roommate and me picked up hitchhiking from Whistler to Squamish.

Soon I had to realize that things wouldn't go as planned…even though me and a buddy of mine converted my car, by the way it was the same car the road trip on van island was done with, and got a lot of great biking in, I got a tough message from home that hit me pretty unexpected...

My mother has incurable lung cancer.

What can I say, it was pretty obvious that I would leave Canada and my beloved car as soon as possible to give positive energy and motivation to my mom, who has done everything and more for our family in every single situation of life.

I moved my flights and had a couple weeks left. Instead of just being in one place I decided that I had to move, to see something I haven’t seen before, to meet people I haven’t met before. That led me to a two weeks west coast road trip and I am more than glad I just did it. To wake up to a different and beautiful place every day, to get to know new people, to drive through the mountains, the desert and next to the ocean for hours, to just be on your own, to get to know yourself in a very different way, to see how less you need to actually live, to realize how much the small things matter. All those things are just a cure for the body and the soul.

I think I can say I learned more about myself during the three months I lived in my car than I did in the past eighteen years.

Right now I am more than grateful that I had the chance to experience something like that and to be at home to spend some quality time with my family! Even though we all went and are still going through hard times my mom is doing pretty good considering the circumstances and I am just admiring her for her unbelievable positivity, motivation and her desire to live.

This definitely wasn’t my last road trip and I am actually planning on doing a France, Spain and Portugal road trip this summer but I am still searching for the right van which I can convert on my own. So if you know something hit me up and if not probably see you somewhere out there! Have a great journey!

Thanks for sharing my diary,

Lukas

@lukas_niedermeier Instagram

Lukas Niedermeier