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It was in February 2018 on a small island in the Philippines when the question … and why do I not cancel my flight and just travel on? was written in the sky for the first time for me. And although it took me many weeks to take the final decision and say it aloud, one thing was always for sure: I wanted to continue my studies in Global Health Policy and learn while travelling.

Already in Palawan I did a first idea ping-pong with a friend, and I remember well how he smiled and painted a tempting picture: Can you not study next to the beach? With a cocktail in your hand?

Nice one. In getting organized I was still very sure that it would be no problem to find quietness, a decent WiFi connection and conditions needed to learn or also write some texts for this website.

However, after 14 weeks on the road in South East Asia I can tell that the reality looks quite a bit different.

I find it extremely hard to get the ball rolling with learning, and I have not even managed to finalize one rather complicated text I am writing now since my time in Myanmar. Incredible.

If I discount for the fact that there is of course always some tempting alternative to spend my time, and if I pull all my motivation together, it still remains a challenge. And while experiencing this, my respect for all children around the world increases, who manage to learn, grow and study under conditions which are anything but ideal.

1. How can you learn if you have no quiet place for yourself? I tried to do this in various places, but quietness is THE Conditio sine qua non for me if I really need to think about a complex issue or get some new stuff from a book into my head.
2. WiFi connection is often a limiting factor. In many areas there is simply none. Or it breaks down when the temperature rises, because the router which can stand the heat, was too expensive to afford. Or it is of a completely inacceptable speed, driving me nuts when searching for something. In many places decent WiFi is only available in the public areas and this means …
3. co-existence with at least one of the following conditions: locals competing in connecting their phone to the loudspeakers, resulting in constantly changing songs, beats and genres and increasing excitement and volume. I’m gonna stand by you foreeeever! (sing along is a must!), the 100th Despacito spin-off version, techno lounge. Computer games with sound on are a great alternative. Socializing, people coming, going, leaving, shouting around. Great! I love it! Shut down the computer.
4. Learning in the evening? Good luck! Many kids have no light at home. At the places I stay, there mostly is, but guess where the mosquitos and all other crawling and flying insects have their party after sunset? And if there are not a lot of light sources, this is where everyone meets. Go back to field 1.
5. A desk is a nice to have. It works quite well also without, but my spine puts a time-limit on learning in bed on a supersoft mattress.
6. Sweat running down your face and dropping on the pages of a book or your laptop keyboard tells you that temperature range is not irrelevant as well.
7. And I do not yet talk about fancy requisites like paper or a printer or my famous door posters with sticky notes and key items, which I use to learn at home.

Finally, to go back to the initial picture, the cocktail is no problem. Depending on the country you might just have to exchange it for a beer, tea or water. I tried it, but honestly, a cocktail in your hand does not compensate for the points above.

I see a lot of people taking selfies for their Instagram travel posts, and I see how stressed they are and how people around start rolling their eyes while they compose a picture which you can then later find with a subtext like: Blissful peace and a healthy green detox-drink together with beautiful new friends in the most awesome place ever.

Equally, you can forget the picture of learning and working on a beach with a cocktail in your hand. This does not exist, or at least I have not found it until now. Yet, I so much enjoy roaming around and travelling, that I know I have to find a solution for me. And rest assured that I will post a picture of it with the following subtext:

Mojito number 3, chapter number 7 & sunset in paradise together with my inspiring digital nomad friends. #beach #cocktail

Apart from my first world struggles, I need to say again, that I admire all kids, who manage to learn and even more so the ones who enjoy studying. Especially when all of your friends and children in the neighbourhood face exactly the same challenges as you do and just wait for you to throw the book into the corner and come out to play.

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