Once again, a sign of life from us..

We spent the last four months in Switzerland. We didn't travel much, but stayed in just two wonderful places. The first stop was in the Emmental at our friends Dani and Micha at their fantastic Sun Forge. Here, seminars are offered on permaculture, electro-culture, dehydrators (which can be purchased at Sonnenschmieden.Ch) and much more. We met two years ago in Spain and were thrilled to see them again. We spent delightful days at their lovely farm, and then we moved on to St. Gallen to visit our friend Dany, whom we initially planned to see for just two or three weeks but ended up staying for over three months. The old farm has a fantastic little community of kind people. Other campers come by, and there's always something happening. We quickly find jobs, from painting our temporary spot in bright colors to mowing lawns, excavating, installing solar systems, setting up parking heaters, helping to move, trimming hedges, and transforming an old fire truck into a turquoise eye-catcher, to name just a few.

After a week, our friends Björn and Lara, along with their furry companion Bärbel, join us again. With few interruptions, we've been traveling together for a year now and thoroughly enjoy it. Now the Tarifagang, including Dany, is complete again (sadly, only almost Andrea and Kai, we missed you 😘).

We are having a wonderful summer. All the dogs are happy and quickly form a pack, and we feel at home at this dreamlike campsite on the hill, surrounded by orchards, forests, and the Sitter River (where both dogs and humans have enjoyed swimming). We continuously receive visitors from home and from friends we've met in Spain (what else). But family and old friends from home were also here, and we were delighted to see each one of you ❤️.

At our lovely 'village square' built for cozy gatherings, which truly came alive with color this summer (thanks Claudia, it was fun 😊), we've celebrated wonderful festivals with residents, friends, travelers, family members, and guests. There’s an outdoor kitchen where the grill has sometimes been fired up. We had live music from Australia, a professional cocktail mixer, and plenty of good food among incredibly nice people. We enjoyed every single festival immensely and met so many new wonderful people.

The weeks fly by in a flash.

Both we and the dogs need this break from traveling and feel incredibly comfortable. Our little Lucy is the perfect farm dog. She looks around diligently all day and seems very, very happy. There’s a lot going on here; some people live here, while others are just here for the summer like us, and friends of Dany, the owner, who travel with their fantastic trucks and other cool RVs in which they live full-time, often stop by. There’s a workshop here, and since everyone occasionally has something to fix, Dany provides us with the space.

It's another stroke of luck for us, as we haven’t had an official vehicle inspection for nearly two years, and our truck has suffered greatly from the constant proximity to the sea in Spain. There are rust spots everywhere, the exhaust is decayed, and the brakes need to be checked.

Fortunately, this doesn't matter to anyone abroad, but before we plan a trip back to our former home in Germany, we obviously need an inspection first. A full restoration begins. We thoroughly sand the truck (by hand!) and then everything will be freshly painted from the roof rack to the wheels. In total, we're using 15 liters of black and yellow car paint. The brakes are causing problems, as we had already suspected, but Kilian will solve that issue, so I remain relaxed and dedicate myself to tasks like decluttering, deep cleaning, and painting (I love it). 😊.

After many weeks of work, the truck now almost looks like new. The effort has definitely been worth it, and now we have an inspection appointment in Germany next Wednesday, hoping for the best that we pass.

Then we'll visit family and friends in our old hometown before we retreat back into the warmth.

Thank you, Dani, for this wonderful summer at your home. We truly enjoyed it 😘😊