Santa, we got everything we need, this year you're free

Christmas afar

Either way, whether we celebrate Christmas away or at home, we remember that there are so many ways to enjoy the magic of the holidays.

In the first "part" of our lives, in our own childhood, Christmas (let's face it!) played a big role because of the presents.

In the second "stage of life", the part where we were allowed to accompany our children as they grew, Christmas played an extraordinary role. Many rituals, the Christmas story, the handicrafts, the joy of giving something to loved ones, the gatherings with family and friends. Christmas carols, biscuit baking, Advent calendars and being together were invaluable. And they still are.

Now that we are on our great journey, Christmas is also different.

The first year we spent time with newfound travel friends around a campfire on the beach in Greece, appropriately enough in Koroni.

In the second year of our trip, our daughter wanted to spend Christmas together. And it was wonderful to spend Christmas with her and all in family. The first time as guests. It was wonderful to feel that a large part of our rituals had an influence on our daughter. Incense sticks, Christmas songs, chestnut soup, red cabbage & dumplings. Little presents and the Christmas walk. And for mum, eggnog.

This year will probably be another very special Christmas.

We spend the days at the gates of the city of Douz, rightly called the "Gateway to the Sahara". When our gaze falls from Felix, we look out into the desert. A huge sandbox in bright sunshine! And we forgot the ramekins! At night, the stars glitter in the black sky and our Felix cools down quite a bit.

On the table there is a Christmas wreath, a smoking man and the last smoked candles from the Erzgebirge are glowing. I found red cabbage at the market, which has been cooking for hours with the last drops of red wine from Ireland. Potatoes for the dumplings were given to us by our Hungarian neighbours at the campsite. The chestnuts, stowed away in the secret compartment at home, will put the finishing touches to our Christmas menu tomorrow.

Unfortunately, neither the Spekulatius nor the Christstollen lasted until the 24th. On some day in the last few weeks, we had an acute attack of Christmas appetite. Well, that's how it can go.

Longing? Homesickness?

Yes, of course. On days like Christmas, we miss our loved ones. On other days, too, by the way. Homesickness is a feeling of longing and missing the familiar living environment. Yes, that's the way it is and we can't lie about it. And we don't want to.

Longing is a feeling of strong emotional connection with something you don't have (right now) or are not near. We try to feel the connection, to stay in touch with our loved ones and to keep in touch especially on this one day.

The exciting thing is that even when we were still living in Switzerland, we couldn't spend Christmas with all the people who are dear to us. And now, far away, we are for once the ones who will not be there.

Gratitude is our key

Even if a bit of wistfulness and nostalgia resonate, we are fundamentally grateful for so many things (which are not a matter of course for quite a few beings in this world, not on Christmas, not on all other days).

• We are grateful to know that our children are doing well.
• We are grateful for the health of our family.
• We are thankful for our magical granddogs who, if it wasn't for our kids, wouldn't still be at the shelter, or maybe wouldn't be.
• We are grateful for the opportunity to shape our lives the way we do at the moment.
• We are grateful that our Nero is obviously still doing wonderfully (and hope that his fur is still growing along with him, as he is being fed so lovingly).
• We are grateful to meet people in other countries who also celebrate an exotic in-the-far-away Christmas on 24 December.
• We are grateful to learn and above all to accept that not all places in the world measure with Central European (I don't always want to say German) yardsticks.
• We are grateful for all those who accompany us on our journey, "for real" and especially here on our blog. Thank you all!

So today we will have a normal Christmas meal, Gerd will do the dishes afterwards as usual. We'll sit together in a cosy atmosphere, I'll lose at SkipBo as usual and knit my jumper as emotional compensation.

Maybe we'll put on our winter jackets afterwards (it's freezing cold in the desert at night!), walk out into the Sahara and Gerd will explain all the constellations to me in the greatest romanticism. Or he gets out his star app. If you have an IT nerd for a husband, you have to be able to live with a nerd Christmas. Either way, we will enjoy the day. Just as we try to discover something good in everything.

Blessed holidays to you all!

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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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