A Q&A About My Time in Germany

I debated how to write about my time in Germany.

I could've listed everywhere I went and recommended all of it. I could've pretended I had some profound philosophical awakening, when in reality I just had a lot of time to think and I learned how to be alone without spiraling. I even thought about breaking it into multiple essays.

That all felt unnecessary.

So this is a Q&A.

Enjoy.

So... what were you actually doing in Germany? And why Germany?

I was there for work. I'm part of a leadership rotational program in the Business Technology department at my company, which I've been in since graduating college. When I was an intern, I was told there was a possibility of spending time in Germany at one of our offices, and I latched onto it. Fast forward two years into full-time work, and I got placed into a rotation there.

My role was a Cybersecurity Network Engineer in the Infrastructure division, working primarily on firewall maintenance for the EMEA region. The company I work for has a large R&D and manufacturing site in Germany, and owns over 50 buildings in one city alone. On the tech side, they service the majority of the OUS offices. So it was a really cool opportunity to get some international business experience.

I won't get too deep into the work itself, mostly because it ended up being the least interesting part of my time there. What's relevant is that I only needed to be in the office about two to three days a week. The rest of the time was mine.

For most weekends, and a good number of weekdays, I was traveling as much as I could around Germany and Western/Central Europe. Seriously, I'd more or less throw a dart at a map and go there that weekend.

What did you expect it to be like before you got there?

Ironically, I didn't have many expectations at all. I had no real plans or aspirations to travel going into it. The main thing I was looking forward to was living away from home again. I lived on my own from 2019 to 2022 during college, but spent 2023 and 2024 back at home, and I could feel myself needing space.

Beyond that, I intentionally didn't overthink it. It would've been easy to plan every detail, what I'd eat, how I'd work out, how I'd handle minor inconveniences, even things like shopping or getting packages delivered. I didn't want to do that. I wanted to embrace the unknown.

I remember loosely thinking about visiting family in the UK. Cousins, aunts, and uncles I don't get to see often. And I was curious about the healthier European lifestyle, especially how my workouts would look over there.

Other than that, I kept my expectations deliberately vague. More than anything, the whole thing felt like a test of my adaptability.

Okay, so what was daily life actually like?

The days spent in other countries usually consisted of the same thing. Find the nearest landmark, see if there was some type of reservation required, then head to it. Explore points of interest, or just go off on side quests to interesting things. I did cursory research into the "must hits" of every destination I went to, but I pretty much vibed most of my travels.

In Germany, it was actually pretty mundane. There wasn't much of a social outing there, so most of my time in Germany consisted of the office, gym, laundry, etc. I usually spent Friday through Monday in a different country or on a trip, so the Tuesday through Thursday block was usually used for administrative stuff and recovering from whatever I just did.

Did you make friends? How was socializing?

So an important thing to note here is that I was practically alone. There was another DP in the building, and eventually someone from HR living there on assignment, but it was essentially a very long solo trip for me. I chatted with random travelers I met along the way, but in essence, it was a solitary time.

And in hindsight, I felt lonely in the moment but I look back on that time fondly.

What was harder than you expected?

Loneliness, honestly. That's the real answer. You can prepare for it logistically but not emotionally. Some days it just hit.

Beyond that, a lot of the "small life" stuff added up. Laundry with the stairs was a constant annoyance. Finding varied food from different cultures was harder than I anticipated. Picking up a package from DHL felt like it required a PhD. Somehow, my birthday was rougher than I expected. Travel logistics got exhausting, I never had lounge access, and Deutsche Bahn was constantly, reliably, the worst service of all time. And the jet lag never fully went away. More or less constant for seven months.

What ended up being better than you thought it would be?

The gym, fitness, and health stuff in general. I had so much time to walk, and the European lifestyle lends itself to that naturally. Prague, Krakow, and Copenhagen were all surprise hits that I wasn't expecting much from and ended up loving. My direct manager ended up being a really lovely guy. And I traveled even more extensively than I thought I would, which is saying something because I went in expecting to travel a lot.

And oh man, driving. Guys, get a BMW and rip it across the Autobahn. Stupid good time.

What did you end up doing for fun?

A lot of long form content. I went through this phase of watching really deep Elder Scrolls lore reviews and video essays, the kind of stuff that's like two hours long and you just zone out to. That was a big part of my downtime.

Otherwise, the fun was mostly built into how I lived. Throw a dart at the map and head over there. Spend a lot of time at the gym. When you're alone in a foreign country with a flexible schedule, the line between "routine" and "hobby" gets blurry. The gym became my social anchor, travel became my weekend default, and the long form content filled the gaps in between.

Favorite foods, drinks, or random staples you picked up?

Frittenwerk was a go-to. Doner kebab became a staple for obvious reasons, it's everywhere and it's always good. Katik was a nice find. Roman food hit different when I was in Italy, something about the simplicity of it. Copenhagen had incredible food across the board. Krakow surprised me too.

And honestly, anytime I'd go to my aunt's house, I remember any homemade food tasting amazing. Defintely a highlight.

What places or trips stood out the most?

Here's a quick rundown of every major city I visited: Frankfurt, Mannheim, Stuttgart, Munich, Berlin, Heidelberg, Strasbourg, Paris, Copenhagen, Prague, Budapest, Madrid (twice), London (five times), Rome, Milan, Florence, Zurich, Grindelwald, Lucerne, Dublin, Nuremberg, Cologne, Ludwigshafen, Erfurt, and Barcelona.

The ones that stuck the most were probably Prague, Krakow, and Copenhagen, mostly because I had low expectations and they blew past them. London obviously had a different energy because of family. Rome was Rome. Grindelwald and the Swiss stuff was visually unreal. And Barcelona was just a great time.

Did it change you at all?

Yeah, it did. I'm not going to dress it up in transformation language because that's not really what happened. In truth, I was probably in the middle of some type of mental turbulence going into it, and all the alone time actually gave me the space to clear it up while also giving me a nice breather from my day to day.

I remember it not taking long for me to think "wow, I have a renewed vigor for life, can I go back and start doing cool stuff." And after a period of graceful return, I jumped feet first into Shadow Solutions, Caleo, and Verity while also hitting a stride in my new role. Fast forward a few months, and brewing mead, dieting, gym, cooking, and writing are all added to the cacophony of "things going on."

So yeah. It didn't transform me. It just gave me the room to get back to myself.

Would you recommend it? And would you do it again?

Sure. New experiences are great. If you have the chance to live somewhere unfamiliar for an extended period, take it. You learn things about yourself that you can't learn from a two-week vacation.

That said, if you struggle with anxiety, be prepared to deal with a lot of it. The logistics alone will test you. The loneliness will test you more. There's no sugarcoating that part.

Would I do it again? Yeah, probably. But I'd do it knowing what I know now, which is that the hard parts are the point. The discomfort is where the growth actually happens, even if it doesn't feel like growth while you're hauling laundry up three flights of stairs wondering why DHL won't just deliver to your door.

Subscribe