Today we are going to a workshop. Felix suffers from constipation. Despite a healthy diet, he won't or can't let go. The grey water tank is clogged or the cap is broken. And that at well over 25 degrees. So slowly Felix steams out of the sink drains, it's a real pleasure to carry around sewage that is fermenting in front of him.
In a workshop, however, we are quickly helped: a little disassembly here, a worn-out thread there, and the culprit is found. Unfortunately, the mechanic is lying under the grey water tank and Felix lets it run during the first repair test. Not tasty, not tasty at all.
The mechanic quickly reseals everything, temporarily repairs the thread and we can once again decide for ourselves when it should run and when it is better not to. A small temporary solution that will hopefully last until autumn in Switzerland.
We go in search of a place to empty the tank, then throw in a little tank cleaning agent (sometimes it has to be the evil chemicals) and swing into Galway. We want to stay here, get a taste of the "big city air", visit the cathedral and then indulge in the nightlife. That is, how we define nightlife.
So we sit late in the evening in various pubs (with water and coke - yes, we are full pub heroes!) and swing happily to the beat of the Irish pub music. We chat with other guests, observe the hustle and bustle here and sometime around 10 or 11 o'clock we are already lying in our Felix, which feels quite comfortable today in the harbour between some other campers.
And since everything has a purpose, going to bed early also has one: at half past seven in the morning, the harbour master knocks on the door and tells us to move the car "just for a moment". Good thing we are already awake and wanted to go anyway.
Merci for "travelling with us
We are thinking about taking another break from travelling in the summer and visiting our families in Germany and Switzerland. One of the ideas is to organise a Lecture about our long journey to the Persian Gulf to prepare. If you would like to, what would interest you the most? We will also tell stories here that don't find a place here on the blog. We're thinking of the Bern and Berlin area - simply because we have family there. But other places are also conceivable. Feel free to write to us.
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Ouch....now I almost got lost in the Georgia podcast. 😱 Thought so, funny.
From Ireland to Georgia? But something doesn't fit now. 😂🤣
If you meet my singing and puppet-making Mary in Galway, she must be around 60 by now, say hello.🥰
Have a great start to the week, with a hopefully functioning Felix.
Why don't you have a dry toilet? 🤔 Google Trobolo. 😘
Kind regards
from Racheli
Hello dear Rachel,
we met so many buskers there, whether your Mary was there, we can't tell now....
We have a dry separation toilet. What makes you think that?
Grey water: sink, shower
Black water: Toilet (we don't have it any more, we have separated pee and big business = compost).
And to georgia: we have indeed decided to podcast again. Now the old episodes that we had recorded a long time ago simply have to be put online. You have to go through that now ❤️
See you soon, love - Heike
Good morning you two dear ones.
I probably made a mistake and confused what grey water etc. is.
How do I come up with that?
I am also concerned with such questions concerning the witch's house and have read a little.
I didn't know you already had such a solution.
Or just forgot. 🙈
Are you happy with it ?
I have been wondering for a very long time why in a house that flushing water, bath and shower water , washing machine water cannot be used for flushing toilets. 🧐
I also still dream of my van, where I can store my motorbike and sleep in it if necessary. A toilet (dry) has to go in and electricity for my kettle! ☝️( Coffee! That's another reason why I'm doing a bit of research 😉.
I'm dreaming! 🙈😁🤣😂
Wow, this is going to be a longer answer.
Well, we have a Nature's Head dry separation toilet. I think it would also make sense for home use, possibly with a larger urine tank or direct drainage. We are very satisfied, have to empty the compost part every 3 weeks, use coconut litter from the garden centre. The urine tank has to be emptied every 2-3 days with two full-time campers. All without chemicals. That's what we like best about it.
Since we have been living in our Felix, we have been using about 80-100 litres of water per week. (Washing machines are external, so if we do our own washing, we use another 5-15 litres per week). I don't know how much you use in a flat, but certainly more. Through Vanlife we have realised how little we consume and how little we harm nature. That makes us very happy.
And yes, diesel is another matter. however, you should always compare yourself with your former self. We had about 50,000 kilometres per year commuting (Gerd) and I had considerably more than the 50,000 kilometres on the clock just for work (I train & fly). So in that respect, all was well for us.
You may not need electricity for coffee, but gas does the job: a saucepan, a gas cooker and that's it. It takes much less than creating electricity (230 V!).
Best wishes!