After a windy good-bye from Slovenja, we decided to go directly towards Croatia and the Adriatic Sea today. We have stranded at Camping Njivice on the island Krk, where we were lucky again to get the last available spot (n° 46) – in direct vicinity of the beach.

The scenery could not be more different than from calm, green Triglav: It is crowded, it is hot, I see burnt backs, beer bottles beside towels (and beer bellies on the towels), shops selling fresh fruit and plastic toys. Meanwhile, the beach bar offers creative workshops for adults to re-use plastic waste... It is fun :-).

We are just encountering the Bora for the first time. Strong wind gusts of over 50 km/h make our camper sway to and fro. A bit spooky... It will be interesting to get some sleep like this. The Bora is one of the strongest winds and usually blows at the Adriatic coast. It seems to start as far up as Slovenia. We will stay here in Ajdovščina for one night only.

I, Karin, am sitting at Split airport right now. I am going back to Switzerland for five days in order to give a language course with a Swiss Federal Department and have meetings with other clients. Although we give it a lot of attention in our daily life to live in a nature friendly way, there seemed to be no alternative to booking a flight for this trip: neither the time nor the cost was in any way comparable with any other travelling mean.
 
Some weeks ago, we met a lovely family from the Netherlands who have been traveling the world in their self built expedition mobile for the last 15 years. They have been to Iceland many times before and advised us not to take the ferry from Denmark to Iceland next year, but to ship Max from Rotterdam while we fly to Iceland instead. This is not cheaper, but way nicer than spending five days on a swaying ship in the North Atlantic sea, with no access to our mobile home during the trip. So... flying again?
 
It makes us feel uncomfortable to use a plane (knowing that using a ship is hardly any better). We are aware that they pollute the air and the environment big time. Yet we realize how difficult it is to refrain from traveling this way. It is easy, it is fast – and it is very cheap. It costs less to take a plane from Croatia to Switzerland than to take the train from Basel to Berne. Considering this, we believe that there is no way enough people – even those caring for the environment – will change their way of behaviour as long as these price differences exist.
 
We know that we are responsible for our behavior (and more). We know that it is in our hands to make decisions to live in a nature friendly way. We tried to find an alternative fuel for Max at the very beginning, wanting to try out promising new technologies. We did not succeed and are now using a truck that consumpts 15 l of gasoline per 100 km. Now, we are struggling again with the flying issue.

While writing this, we understand how little we still do. We’d love to say that we reduce or avoid waste, but this is unfortunately not true, buying products in supermarkets that are along the route. Everything is wrapped up in plastic. In Bosnia, we even failed to separate our trash, as there are no facilities provided for this. Everything is mixed up - or lands on the street in the first place.

​At the moment, our way of contributing is to eat no or little meat, to use biodegradable detergents and cosmetic products only and to learn about the whole production chain before we consciously buy a (non-food) product. And of course, we give everyone a good slap or the deadly look who do not switch off their engine when getting off their car ;-). 

We will find ways to improve. It is up to us.

Water is the predominant element of our trip so far. We have visited (and mostly bathed in) wonderful lakes: Klöntalersee (CH), Pragser Wildsee (I), Toblachersee (I), Wörthersee (A), and drove by many more. And now, we camp right at the border of the Soča river in Slovenia.
 
The Soča has a special energy – and a unique clear blue colour. It springs in the Triglav National Park, crosses over to Italy and flows into the Adriatic Sea later on. In Italy, the Soča is called Isonzo. The twelve „Isonzo battles“ in World War One are named after the river where they took place. It is hard to imagine that this wonderful place formed the scenery of such a dark and sad historical chapter. 
 
The Soča is as cold as it is blue. This does not stop Marian and the kids from jumping into it. Especially Marian has made a habit out of taking a dip into the coldest water. It may have been me who attended a Wim Hof workshop in March 2018, laying down into the ice cold Aare for a minute or two. By now, it is him who practices the breathing and immersing into cold water (cold means below 10 degrees). Why would you do this? Because it strengthens your immune system, clears your mind and gives you a great feeling – right afterwards!

For people who do not believe that everything is energy and that energies influence our behaviour and our life: You better stop reading this blog here. Because that’s what it is all about. 
 
The last three days in South Tyrol have been very demanding. Every day, either one of us felt that his or her needs were not fulfilled. First, I wanted to sightsee Meran (finally!), only to find out that the rest of the family did not share my enthusiasm. So we left after three hours. I was disappointed. Then, we came to the lovely Pragser Lake where Marian wanted to climb what seemed to be (well, it WAS) a steep, wet scree slope, so I was not excited. Marian was disappointed. The next day, Lou threw a tantrum because she felt we had chosen the worst place ever for her to climb – after we had patiently belayed both children for more than four hours. We were disappointed.
 
Every time, we ended up in a conflict. Every day, our mood turned bad even after a good start into the day. The atmosphere felt heavy, we felt heavy. Things did not go as smoothly as usual. We somehow felt that the surroundings were hostile. Yesterday evening, I felt so exhausted of calibrating the moods of all family members that I broke down into a sobbing mess when we did not find a nice place to put our mobile home for the night. It was a disaster.
 
Today, I woke up knowing what it was: It had to do with war - THE war! Although I had not spent a thought on it before, I all of a sudden was sure that we were in a place where war once raged in the past. We felt war energies! I got up at four in the morning to read all about World War One. And sure enough: We were placed near the „Drei Zinnen“, exactly where the front line of the horrid „Gebirgskriege“ lead through a hundred years ago. It was a sad, desperate and deadly place to be. Hundreds of thousands of men died there. And despite the fact that the Dolomites are a wonderful, highly frequented hiking region, it still carries these energies. They want to be healed. My own issues with war wanted to be looked at and be healed, too. It is no coincidence that we drove right there into the middle of it. Life always brings you where you need to be.
 
This morning, we left Northern Italy and drove to a nice camping place near Villach in Southern Austria. The conflicts are gone, the heaviness is gone. We feel light again.

What an adventurous day! We left Sölden to cross over to Italy via Timmelsjoch, a mountain pass 2'509 meters above sea level. Adventurous because of the curvy, steep street - and because we did not fill up "Max" before leaving... We basically rolled to the gas station arriving down in the valley on the Italian side - our brakes literally smoking.
​
After that followed lunch in beautiful Meran, which I decided to visit again with a friend instead of hungry family members... Our mood instantly increased, however, after we got hold of the last spot at the lovely camping site we are staying for tonight (Camping Ganthaler in Terlan).

That's it! We left Bern shortly after we returned the keys of our former apartment to the owner, cheered by some neighbors who witnessed our departure. Let the journey begin!

Friends, family, neighbors: Quite a crowd joined our farewell "apéro" in this lovely place near the Aare. It fills us with a wonderful feeling to know that we have such lovely people in our lives. Thank you for your support, thank you for being there!

It’s with – quite surprising – joy and ease that we started to sort things out. Both in the material and in the mental way. The kids let go of a lot of their toys and put them out on the street, where people walking by eagerly pick them up. Meanwhile, Marian and I cancel all sorts of contracts and insurances, declutter the attic and the basement, and drive to the disposal centre with car loads of waste. 
 
Speaking of our car... This evening, I got home from an event just in time to see our car being driven away by a nice guy who bought it some minutes before. This was the moment for me and Lou to get emotional. I can’t believe that we do not have our VW Passat anymore! She has been such a dear and faithful companion for the last seven years. I still remember driving to the car dealer in Winterthur and sitting in the brand new car for the first time, me with a big belly, pregnant with our daughter. It is odd how you can develop feelings for an automobile! Bye bye, my friend! I always enjoyed driving around with you and now wish you the best of luck with your new owner!