When water runs out...

Day 38: There isn't much to complain about at our current location. We are off the beaten track, but not too secluded, we have a clear view of the sea and direct access to beautiful, small beaches. But here there is no way to empty gray and black water and fill up fresh water. Electricity is not a problem. Our solar system provides more than enough of this.

I suggested driving to the campground, just a kilometer away, and paying a fee to dump wastewater, refill fresh water and take a shower. But Icke is afraid to leave because our place might be gone when we come back. We might only be gone for an hour, but it can't be 100 percent ruled out that someone else would come during that time - which would be a moderate catastrophe, at least for my darling. I still asked the campsite, but the lady there said that we would have to stay one night or at least pay for it. 30 euros for a few liters of water was too much for me.

So: Our waste water tank is huge, and we have a second tank for our toilet, which is enough. The problem is shower and fresh water. This morning we still had 25 percent water in the tank, but it's difficult to estimate how many liters that is. The tank holds 80 liters. If it's full to the brim, the display shows 75 percent - I don't know why that is. 75 – 50 – 25 – 0 – the display counts down in these four steps. We still had 25 percent today. But we had 13 liters of water in a canister as a reserve. We decided to use the 25 percent for a shower and then refill the 13 liters. Once we had used them up in the next day or two, we had to leave. Willy-nilly.

According to Google, there is an Aldi two kilometers away. So go there, buy water and go back. This takes at most 30 minutes. Buying 80 liters of water in the supermarket – how much did it cost? So far we have mostly bought six-packs of 1.5 liter bottles, which we use for drinking and cooking. We always took the domestic water from a tap. I wanted to check out the situation and set off on foot to Aldi .

I had a backpack with me for rolls, cheese and sausage and set off. The path went over a railway line and then over a narrow tar road that led through a farming area. After 20 minutes I was there. It was a new Aldi Nord that had a first-class range. I packed a few small things to eat in my shopping cart and then stood by the water. I couldn't believe it, but an eight liter bottle only cost 88 cents. “The water is very cheap here,” I heard a woman say behind me. I turned around. An older lady stood there with her shopping cart and looked somewhat perplexed at the mountains of bottles. “Do you know what water you can drink?” she asked. I don't know how she knew I was a fellow countryman, but of course I was happy to answer her. “I just know that all types have drinking water, but I can’t say which one is the best.” The woman looked at me with wide eyes. “What are you taking?” I picked up a six-pack of Huerta Rios from the stack and put two 8-liter bottles of Arquillo in the basket. “This is our ration when we shop in a supermarket,” I explained. The woman nodded, took two 0.5 liter bottles of a completely different kind and left. As she trotted off, I heard her murmur, “People drink way too much these days.”

That was on my mind... Lost in thought, I crept to the checkout where no one was standing. I got through it quickly, and when I pulled into the parking lot with my shopping cart, my first searching glance was at our motorhome. The parking lot was almost empty. There was no mobile home there. It hit my head like lightning: You're there on foot. Oh no! I had to sit down first. On a small wall, I briefly ran through various options in my head: ringing the bell, returning the purchase, calling a taxi... None of the solutions were promising.

So I packed the 6 x 1.5 liter bottles into my backpack for shopping, which luckily was big enough, took the two 8 liter bottles with their cute little handles in my hands and started wiggling. Only today do I know how long two kilometers can be. At first I decided to take a short break after 500 meters. The first break was due after just 200 meters. I stopped the last 100 meters of my route after ten steps, put the bottles and backpack down, shook out my arms, rotated my hips, and bent my torso. If I had thought of more gymnastic exercises, I would have done them too if it would have allowed me to extend the time before I had to carry on.

But I did it. In less than an hour and a half. When I arrived soaked in sweat with a hollow back and arms that almost reached the floor and Icke greeted me with the question: “How long do you think that will last?” the answer was on the tip of my tongue: “Honey, I think it will People today drink way too much.” But unfortunately I couldn’t say another word.