The next Shopping Queen

If there is something that I am very good at, then it will surely be spending money. This does not mean that I like doing so, but I find it quite easy to spend a lot of money in a short period of time.

As I mentioned before on the information-page, it all starts with immunisations and medicine. Unfortunately, polio, diphtheria, meningococcus and the malariaprophylaxis are not entirely covered by health insurance. This meant that I had to drive regularly to my doctor´s with a cool box containing all my drugs.

Also, I had to negotiate different kinds of insurances, like health insurance, cancellation insurance and luggage insurance.

After all this I still had to get my other equipment. Therefore, I went to a big outdoor shop in Cologne last week and I have to say the trip was worth it. On different floors you can try out canoes in a big pool, test your new winter jacket in the cold chamber, climb up walls in your new climbing shoes or you can simply do your shopping. Today the focus was to buy practical stuff rather than fashionable clothes. Although I tried to concentrate on the things I needed I found myself rummaging around in all kinds of areas of the shop. After I found a thin cotton sleeping bag, a mosquito net, zip-off trousers and odds and sods there were only some shoes missing that were suitable for the savanna. One of the staff told me that because I was not too heavy the chushioning in the children´s shoes would be quite adequate and they are only about half the price. That was some good news! Funnily enough, I went up in the lift to find what I was looking for and the assistant came from Angola. With the professional advice of this lady, I did not only get some nice leather shoes and some thin merino wool socks but also very good tips on the purchase of my gear. After I finally put everything in my shopping basket I kept talking to the lady for a little bit longer. As I told her what I planned to do on my adventure her eyes grew big and she put her hand over her heart and said: “Your journey will be one for your heart!“. I am looking forward to such friendly and heart-warming people and I hope that the lady´s foreboding will come true.