It's starting soon

So dear relatives, friends and reading enthusiasts, it's that time again. We are looking forward to exploring foreign worlds with you again, getting to know new cultures and taking you away from your everyday life with our reports.

But this time it's not just a vacation far away. This year we're making up for our honeymoon, which had to be canceled 25 years ago because of our pregnancy.

And... this year we are not traveling alone. You have probably already wondered about the name of our blog this year. Not as usual "Schahaatz and I are off then". No, this year it is WebWag2024 - a Silver wedding Trip , because that is the name of our lusty little travel group, consisting of Ira and Micha and Carmen and Carsten and not only us, but also Ira and Micha are on a silver wedding anniversary trip and we are really happy that we are doing it together.

Now we want to tell you where we're going this year. Some of you already know, some of you may have forgotten, and for some of you it's new.

We are spending 10 days travelling around the volcanic island of "La Reunion" in the Indian Ocean. It is a region of France and belongs to the EU, but not to the Schengen area, so we have to take our passport with us, but we can pay in euros. Until 1794 the island was called lle Bourbon, under Napoleon lle Bonaparte , then again lle Bourbon until 1848. Here we will do a lot of hiking, try rum and buy Bourbon vanilla. To rest, we will then fly to the island of Mauritius, 200 km away, for 10 days. Luxury hotels, dream beaches lined with palm trees, turquoise water and hopefully delicious cocktails await us here.

Réunion is located just under 700 km east of Madagascar and, together with Mauritius (200 km away) and Rodrigues, is part of the Mascarene Islands, a group of islands discovered by Pedro Mascarenhas in 1511. But that's enough facts for now, more later.

We're always late with our preparations, but we've never been as late as this year. I think we'll manage to get the clothes sorted by next week, but a few things still need to be done. It's Leon's birthday again - like every year, packages still need to be returned, laundry needs to be done, tidying up, etc. ... you know how it is. What worries me a little, however, is his extremely poor hiking condition. According to travel guides and hiking guides, there are endless hiking routes on Reunion and almost all of them take at least 4 hours (more likely) and almost always involve at least 600 meters of elevation. I find our mountain quite strenuous and that's maybe only 80 meters (from the center of town to the front door). But it'll be fine - you'll be able to follow it.

PS: Just remembered, I need to pack enough magnesium.