BooksTerra

Author: Franziska Schmitt is a German author and former marketing professional. Born in Leipzig in 1974, she studied business administration before beginning a career in marketing at an international industrial company. Her career took her to several German cities, including Hamburg, Landshut and Munich. Eventually, she realized that neither her career nor the places she lived in were giving her the sense of belonging and fulfillment she was looking for. She decided to leave her established life behind and travel the world in search of something different. Her experiences became the basis for “Trade Everyday Life for Living”, originally published in German as “Tausche Alltag gegen Leben: Meine Reise ins Glück”. 

Summary: Trade Everyday Life for Living follows Franziska Schmitt, a woman in her thirties whose life appears successful from the outside. She has a career, friends and an enjoyable life in the city, yet she increasingly feels that something is missing. A question begins to occupy her: Is this really all that life is supposed to be?

After more than ten years in her job, Franziska makes a radical decision. She quits her career, gives up her apartment and says goodbye to her family and friends. Instead of continuing along the familiar path, she decides to travel alone through Asia for an entire year, hoping that the journey will help her find answers to the questions that have been troubling her.

Her travels take her through different countries and cultures, exposing her to unfamiliar situations and new perspectives. Along the way, she encounters a mysterious fortune teller in Thailand who tells her surprising things about her future. Later, a significant encounter in Bali becomes another important moment in her journey.

As the journey continues, the book follows not only Franziska’s travels but also her changing perspective on her career, relationships, expectations and the way she wants to live. What begins as a physical journey across Asia gradually becomes a search for a different way of living and for a stronger connection with herself.

The book combines travel memoir, personal development, self-discovery and life reflection, making the journey itself the central framework for exploring what it means to move away from an established everyday life and search for something more meaningful.

Personal opinion: I initially thought “Trade Everyday Life for Living” would focus more on the travel experience itself, as much of the book follows her journey through different places and countries. However, toward the end, the focus shifts more strongly toward her personal life and the experiences that led her to make an important decision that ultimately changes the direction of her future.

I found this change in focus interesting because the journey becomes more than just traveling from one place to another. It becomes a way for her to reflect on her life, her previous choices and what she actually wants for her future. The book therefore gradually moves from being primarily a travel story toward a more personal story about change, self-discovery and making a life-changing decision.