Life from the lens of a backpacker

Mathias Fallmann in Kongmaru in Ladakh, India on the Markha Valley Trek

Mathias in Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka at a residential library belonging to a Sri Lankan and dedicated to world peace

Meet Mathias Fallmann from Austria, a 23-year-old die-hard backpacker. He has so far travelled to around 13 countries, with Sri Lanka being a destination he explored for nearly two months before departing last week to Nepal. He works in the IT sector and is adamant never to attend university (just as his girlfriend is insistent on pursuing her degree at medical college!). We interviewed Mathias in Jaffna where he had arrived from Arugambay.

By the Harmony Page team

Q: How would you describe travel?

A: It is vital for the human spirit. For me travel is about connecting with fellow humans. It is not about just seeing places. 

Q: What are the countries that you have been to so far?

A: With my parents as a child I have visited several countries. But this list include ones I went to on my own as an adult. I have been to Germany, Italy, Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, France, Portugal, Spain, Morocco, India and Sri Lanka. From Sri Lanka I will go to Nepal. 

Q: How do you afford to travel so much at such a young age?

A: My priority is not earning and hording money. I wish to travel and learn from the world. I fund myself by working for about a year or two and then traveling for some time. Young backpackers like me search for the cheapest flights online and we live off our backpacks and rent inexpensive places, especially home stays and hostels. Staying in luxury is not what we are looking for. We opt to stay with local communities and villages in many of the places we travel to, and we wish to support their economy by doing so. 

Q: In Sri Lanka what are the places you have visited?

A: Colombo, the Southern beaches, Ella, Anuradhapura, Arugambay, Jaffna, Norton, Sri Pada and Nuwara Eliya, to name a few. 

Before arriving in Jaffna, I was in Arugambay. I will never forget Arugambay. Around the second day there the surfing board of a fellow surfer hit my forehead and cracked open my head! I had to stay in hospital for three weeks. See the mark here. This is the cut they stitched up. I normally do not look like this; I have longish hair but my head had to be shaved after this accident so the stitches could be put.

Q: You seem to take having your forehead split by a surfing board in an unknown country quite lightly!

A: Yes. What else can I do? It happened. So I just made it a point to enjoy the many cups of Sri Lankan tea from my hospital bed.

Q: What are your favourite places in Sri Lanka?

A: I would say Anuradhapura and Jaffna.

Q: Why?

A: Because they are not so touristy like Ella is. I really liked Jaffna. It was very calm.

Q: Do others in your family travel too?

A: Yes. My parents converted a van into a travelling caravan and we travelled to many neighbouring countries when I was younger. This instilled in me the urge to travel. 

Q: Would you say Europeans travel more than Asians and South Asians?

A: Not really. There are enough of Europeans my age who are more than happy to sit at home and not venture out. 

Q: From the countries you visited so far what is your favourite?

A: Morocco. When I visited Morocco I had previously travelled to mainly only European countries. Because of this I got a real culture shock as it is a developing country and I was not used to some of the social realities I saw. However from day two onwards I loved this place. It was so rich in culture and colour. It will I think always be one of my favourite countries. 

Q: How did you like India?

A: It was really nice. I spent most of my time there attending two separate meditation retreats, in Dharamshala and Manali in Himachal Pradesh.

Q: What were the retreats like?

A: There were several mind and body related exercises, different types of meditation, yoga and practices related to sun and moon homage. It was really a wonderful experience. I plan to do another intense spiritual retreat that lasts about two weeks in Nepal. 

Q: In Sri Lanka did you attend any similar meditation sessions?

A: No. But I visited many Buddhist and Hindu places of worship. 

Q: How did you like them?

A: The energies were very different. In the Hindu temples I found it heavy and intense and in the Buddhist temples very light. 

Q: How do you plan to navigate your love for travel with earning and living through adult responsibilities?

A: I will maybe take on full time work, for some time at least. From Nepal I will return to Austria where I will plan our future with my girlfriend who is studying medicine. 

Q: Why did you not choose university?

A: I chose to learn things outside of the university system. In Austria all males have to work in military service and the standard duration is for six months. I did not wish to hold a gun in my hand. Therefore I picked emergency ambulance related work connected to military service. 

Q: How was it?

A: It was quite tough at times as one had to look at blood – for example there was this guy who severed his finger accidentally. This six months was an eye opener about life and also death. 

Q: What is it that you like most about being a backpacker?

A: That you travel without frills. You eat in the simplest of places and you meet the best of people. I travel without my laptop which was a very good idea because I put my bag-pack in the luggage section in the bus on my way to Hatton from Jaffna and found that it was full of water. It was raining heavily and somehow water had got into where my bag was in the bus.

Q: What are the memories you will carry most from Sri Lanka?

A: Probably attending a pirith ceremony in Nuwara Eliya where an 80-year-old gentleman briefed me on his three marriages! 

Q: How did you end up in a Sri Lankan pirith ceremony?

A: I went to have coffee at a café in Nuwara Eliya and the lady who ran it was saying that it was the first year death anniversary of her father and that she was having a Pirith ceremony that evening. She said that she was inviting friends and relatives. So I said that I am a friend too and that maybe I should also come. She immediately said yes and I went there. It was a very unique experience for me. See, this is the thread they tied. We all had to sit and hold this thread while the Buddhist monks chanted.

Q: In your travels do you choose activities like hiking, mountaineering and boating?

A: Yes. All three but I am a mountain person as I live on a mountain in Austria. So I naturally am drawn to mountains wherever I go. Arugambay was one of the few times I chose to surf.

Q: And see what happened!

A: Yes. Maybe the mountains wanted to teach me a lesson and that is why I got whacked by a surfing board!

Q: What is your message to the world?

A: Travel with your heart. See with your heart. Engage with people. Travel is not just seeing places. It is seeing people. And the beauty in their hearts. Wherever you go you will find this beauty. Whatever the culture.

Q: Do you make many friends in your visits to different countries?

A: Yes.

Q: Are you not sad to leave them so soon after becoming friends?

A: I learnt from a monk who said that every single meeting in life ends in separation. This is a reality. Either death. Or some other reason for parting. 

Q: One last question. Is it not heavy to carry this back-pack?

A: No. If you carry it in the right mindset it’s not heavy. Same as life.