Free-standing - why you don't need an alarm clock as a vanlifer in Tunisia (and elsewhere)

In the course of the last 15 months in the van, various opportunities for awakening have happened to us. We want to report on these today.

Best of all, if you have a great spot, it's quiet and you can sleep in without being disturbed.

And then there are those other nights

• You could be woken up by noisy or talking donkeys. Gladly at sunrise.
• Roosters are also excellent early risers and inspire us for a long day, which starts very early.
• Also popular, but from the "man-made" category, are car alarms that suddenly go off, but whose owners have disappeared into the inaudible distance. We now know that alarm systems like to make noise for up to 15 minutes.
• If you're not careful, you might also get knocked awake in the middle of the night: "We want to set up our market stall right here, would you please move?"
• The police also knock on the door from time to time, although we have never had this happen, but we always hear it from other travellers. It is never a nuisance, rather they are concerned about us guests and want to communicate that.
• Near the lake, you can find the stupid seagulls romantic or annoying. By the way, seagulls are even loud twice: once the screeching, on the other hand when they stomp around on Felix in the morning. 
• Apropos Felix: Rain can also wake us up, as can strong winds. We've rarely had them in Tunisia so far, but in Scotland and Ireland we changed places several times because of the swaying.
• In Ireland and Scotland, by the way, we also had sheep rubbing their horns against Felix several times, which makes noise like someone hitting the "house wall" with a hammer.
• Here in Tunisia, it is rather the barking dogs that keep us from falling asleep or sleeping through the night.
• If you have found a great spot, perhaps behind a building with a beautiful view into the distance, you will also be surprised when the electricity generator starts up in the middle of the night. That's the time for reading, knitting or whatever else you do when you can't sleep any more.
• Then there are noisy teenagers on the street, donut-circle-driving hormone-hormone bolts or simply arguing people on the pavement where you are spending the night.
• In beautiful places there are discos - not consciously noticed when looking for a place - that only show their full potential at night. Then the decision has to be made: get dressed again and dance along or get angry?
• What we experience in Lapland in the winter of 2021/22 was waking up to cold. Yes, it can get very chilly. But even in the Tunisian Grand Erg oriental (desert) it got cold: 4° Celsius and so one of us had to get up and grab a few more blankets from our blanket stash.
• On the other hand, we have also been awakened by heat. No, not the heat inside us, but the heat of the sun. Because it can get pretty hot when the sun slams down on our van roof.
• If you want to stand in the city, the larger, shady car parks at mosques are wonderful. But here you have to live with the early morning call of the muezzin. Here in Tunisia, it's around half past five, and you're already awake and looking forward to a long day!
• The same thing, okay, not mosque but church, is also nice in Italy. Because there the bells ring all night long. If you can't hear them, you'd better look for another place.
• And then there would be one last reason for the sudden awakening: The nocturnal sawmill of the fellow traveller.*

So anyone who still wants to travel or perhaps even live in a van and indulges in freestanding seems to belong to the intrepid, the adventurous or the ignorant. 

*Note from fellow traveller: "You should have used gender here, my dear!"

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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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