Australia - Step 8.2: housesitting from Sydney to Torquay

The dogsitting was like a nice holiday in a house with pool in a calm area and a goldie. We established the morning routine of going for a one hour walk, breakfast and some work on the terrace. Even though he got some attachment issues as every minute you don't give him attention and affection, he will be mad at you. I love him.

Within this time I went to manly beach once and also had friends over to enjoy time at the pool. Long story short: it was paradise.

Writing this now, I am finding myself in the next house with two dogs, this time in Torquay. I am visiting friends here, that they got this housesitting for 1 year. Living here and supporting in the household and with the dogs, it gives me opportunity to find a routine, a job, productivity and maybe a fucking clue what to do with my life. Well, yes the last weeks after arriving in Aussieland, I was questioning a lot again and was maybe a bit lost. I guess thats usual in life. Everyone will be lost.

Anyways, here I am got not a lot to write about atm, as I just arrived some days ago and nobody cares about daily dog routines and a kitchen that comes with a class container for oats and chia seeds. Nevertheless I am posting this, as I found a old journal entry to recycle.

late night talks about community vs individuality etc.

I started writing this in Sri Lanka and I just found it, unfinished so I felt like continuing and even posting it.

In Sri Lanka was a lot of party and good life, but not as many late-night-deep-talks, as I will usually have in my life.

But it seems that this day, within a conversation that smelled a bit like weed, we couldn't avoid discussing some interesting topics.

So we couldn't help but talk about the strong cultural contrast that is clearly noticeable on so many levels between the western world and Asia. The difference between rich and poor, structure and chaos, cleanliness and dirt, individuality and community, society rules and religion, modern and old-fashioned, and satisfaction and survival. One realizes how different the world one believes to know and the world one has experienced are.

So we question, "why is that?"

Terms like needs, self-realization, Maslow, poverty, privilege, and consciousness were constantly mentioned.

It is obvious that people whose basic needs such as food, shelter, and health are only inadequately met, do not think about how our planet can be sustained. Those who never have to worry about their next meal and receive a fixed income every month, and thereby have the time, resources, education, and awareness to question things, will have completely different values, views, and priorities. This results in western individualism versus collectivism that you find in most of the south-east-asian countries.

Does this also result in happiness and unhappiness? Healthiness and unhealthiness?

What about depression versus hunger? Fulfillment or survival?

Reflecting on this, we realize that it is not so clear-cut.

At first glance, one might think that the people who have everything: a house, cars, running clean drinking water from the tap, an abundance of food and materialism, financial stability, and health insurance - are probably the happiest. However, studies show us that among the 10-44 year olds in this society, suicide is one of the three most occurring causes of death. Depression, anxiety disorders, and burnout are everyday occurrences. People feel lonely, drained, and drifting in their golden hamster wheel. We have everything and yet we feel nothing. A life of external abundance and still we are empty inside. Of course, it cannot be generalized, but when I walk through the streets in some western metropolis, I see many lowered faces, staring at smartphones, the Google Calendar always open to see when the next meeting is that they have to rush to. The next appointment, the next salary increase, the next BMW, the next all-inclusive vacation to "let the soul dangle" for a few days. A few days of escaping from a life full of expectations, stress, societal norms, important emails, diet plans, dating apps, master's degrees.

Now let's look at this situation in the countries we are allowed to visit as backpackers. Instead of houses with gardens and fences, I see small wooden huts by the roadside, clotheslines between chickens, fires, and garbage. Running and playing children. Street dogs, TukTuks, scooters, monkeys. Small shops that offer goods for tourists, and if you want to try something on, you stand in the living room with the store owner's grandmother. Generations live together in the tightest space, which they then share with the retail space for us tourists. Large pots of rice and curry, cooked over a fire on the roadside. Right next to it, an expensive Western café with a yoga studio, pool, and lounges. Bars and clubs that are bigger than the living space of several families in the same place.

In short, these people don't even have the bare minimum to meet their basic needs. Now I look into the faces of these people.

In the faces of the locals, I see a sincere, warm smile. I see a helping hand and genuine interest. I see children playing in the water at the beach and joining the children of tourists to share their game. In conversations with the people there, jokes are always made and life stories are told. The Uber driver who has two jobs to support his wife and child. Our goal is to travel the world, get to known to ourselves, achieve self-realization. His goal is to sit with his wife and daughter and know that they are taken care of. People live in communities and support each other unconditionally. If a child three huts away is sick, everyone comes over with soup, medicine, and support. If you, as a tourist, get stranded somewhere on a remote road with a flat tire on your scooter, a local who doesn't speak a word of English will give you his scooter and accompany you to the nearest workshop.

These people have nothing. And they are full of love, sincerity, and empathy. Again, this is not meant to be a generalization. I am simply reporting from my perspective.

Collectivism and individualism meet here. The individuality of the Western world where everyone takes care of their own shit. My job, my house, my car, my friends, my shoes, my food.

And then yet we are here, and none of that matters. I have been traveling with a 40L backpack since 2023 and sometimes I feel like I'm carrying too much stuff. Also since 2023, I have the least feeling of lacking something.