We travel because life out there is calling us. It's not the place that counts, but the people we meet while travelling. Strangers, friends, family, acquaintances - they are all part of our stories. We share moments that stay with us: a laugh at a wobbly folding table, a look that says more than a thousand words. In a foreign country, it is these connections that give us a sense of home. It's not always the journey that counts, but the people we meet along the way.
It is often chance encounters that open our hearts. Strangers become friends if you only spend enough time travelling together. It is the shared experience that connects us. We don't travel to be alone - we travel to meet each other. And all over the world there are people who give us a piece of themselves. These friendships are the true treasures that we find on our journeys.
Every time we Barbara and Robert meet, our hearts light up. Spontaneous or not - it doesn't matter. It's the joy of bringing them tea and Robert screwing our Felix again. Sabine and Jens? They are permanently saved in our mobile phones under "Knit Sabine". It's clear what connects us. Kilometres may separate us, but travel updates, girls' topics and knitting patterns create closeness, no matter where we are.
Then there are our Pupiswho we once met professionally but have long since become friends. These encounters are no coincidences. It's as if life knew exactly who to send our way. And we, in the middle of a travelling community that we slipped into rather than planned - through lectures, through this diary.
But when Dylan's new, crazy ideas shoot around the corner or Martina with yak wool from Mongolia brings along, if Chris and Conny us to a Globetrotter lecture that we would never have gone to in our lives and are now all the happier for having done so - then we know why we belong. It is this "more" that surprises us again and again and takes us away, that shows us: We are exactly where we are meant to be.
It's these moments that make our hearts beat faster. People who have somehow tumbled into our lives as if fate had a plan. We may not have known each other since childhood, but every encounter carries the weight of familiarity. We "clicked", as they say today, and that's what counts. What remains is joy. Always. The anticipation of the next encounter, the unexpected news, the crazy adventure that is shared.
And long-standing friends? They are our constant in a spinning life. No matter how far we go, they stay. We meet up years later and nothing (or at least almost nothing) has changed. One look, one laugh - and we are back where we left off. However, these connections also require careful nurturing and sufficient time. Maybe that's why we keep extending our holidays at home. Perhaps we have a growing desire to bring a little more consistency into our lives. How can we achieve this? Oh, if only we knew. Perhaps it's time to rethink our way of travelling. Maybe it's time to travel a little less. And maybe we even have a tiny little desire to have a tiny little home base?
Travelling is great, the places we see, the friends we meet along the way. But after four years on the road, we have a quiet longing for a home that we can return to again and again. Not just a pitch for the night, but a place that belongs to us, where we can arrive without thinking about moving on again. And finally a place for which I could buy souvenirs.
Because in the end, it's not just the landscapes and adventures that count - it's the people we love that really shape us. Their stories, their dreams and their tears. They remain when the places fade. We travel to lose ourselves, but maybe it's time to find a piece of permanence. A place that catches us again and again, no matter how far we have travelled before.
Andreas Altmann writes the following in his new book: "I distrust all those who are restlessly absent. I can't do that, I have to stop in between. To refuel, at home. Because after months on the road, the memory space in my head overflows. At some point, there's no more room for a picture or a story. The heart wants to catch its breath..."
Merci for "travelling with us
Here you can find our future lectures:
Our current and past lectures are listed here. You can register via the links next to the dates. There will probably be new ones every now and then, so make a note of the link!
Date: 25 & 26 October 2024
Our lectures: 25. 10. 14:00 & 26.10. 10:40
Location: Switzerland, two Vanlife lectures at the Suisse Caravan Salon Bern
Registration: not necessary, but you have to pay admission to the Caravan Salon (or contact us, we can give away a few day tickets).
Date: 24 November 2024 4 pm (doors open at 3 pm)
Location: Germany, Landgasthof zum Mühlenteich 15345 Eggersdorf near Berlin
Registration: https://forms.gle/5XFgSz31NKzmCzmT8
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