Hello, cheers and hello

And suddenly I found myself on German soil and didn't really know what to think about it...

First and foremost, it was really nice to hug Dexter and my family again and sleep in my own bed or at least in my bed with mom and dad for at least four nights. And then there was the clean, warm shower, the functioning toilet and mom's delicious food. Luxury! Nadine and I had adjusted the time period so that we could celebrate Grandma's 85th birthday and say a quick hello to the rest of our clan. At the latest when you see the next generation growing in the family, you know how quickly time flies...

It was nice to have a “feeling of home” for a short time, but I was even more itching to set off again. After just 4 nights we went on tour again (sorry mom). This time with a car, tent and Dexter. Luckily the stinker didn't hold it against me that he was allowed to spend a few weeks on vacation with mom and dad and he was very happy to see me again. Since then, he seems to have left my side even less than before and is making sure that I don't accidentally "forget" him again. If he knew...

Well, it definitely felt good to just set off without a specific destination. We first spent two nights close to home on the Baltic Sea, found shelter in Bremen as a stopover for one night and then drove via Koblenz and the Black Forest to the Allgäu. We spent the first week quite sporty and were never in one place for more than 2 nights. I wanted to take a little bit of Germany with me before I go to my sister's in Switzerland tomorrow for my upcoming birthday. Some people have asked why I chose these exact stops?! To be honest, I just tried to see Germany not as a boring home country, but as an exciting tourist country. And, when I talked to people in South America about Germany, the first places they mentioned - apart from big cities and Oktoberfest - were always the coast, the Middle Rhine Valley, the Black Forest and Neuschwanstein Castle. Well, I know the coast, but unfortunately I hadn't seen anything else before. Now I can check it happily and contentedly and I have to say that Germany really surprised me. I saw really beautiful places and realized that great things/places don't have to be so foreign or far away. Sometimes good things are so close.

In addition, the sporty travel pace was good so that Dexi and I could quickly find our rhythm. Similar to the beginning in South America, I first had to get a feel for the new part of the journey. First I had to see how I could best store and sort my things, how I could best set up the tent and our camp, how Dexter would deal with the new situation and so on. Traveling with a dog is great, but of course it also brings with it a whole new set of difficulties. I mean, where do you leave the dog if you just need to go to the toilet or go shopping? Suddenly the climate, the altitude and your own well-being are no longer a problem, but rather lattice bridges, steep stairs, camping cats, hiking trails with steep slopes or hot tar roads. And then there's still the worry of whether everything is okay for Dexter, whether it's too much for his old bones, whether it's too warm or whether the route is too long. The fact is, of course, I have to think a lot more about it beforehand so that Dexter is okay, but so far we've managed everything. The little chubby fairy, who weighs 35 kg, is sometimes carried by me, detours are taken or situations are mastered with a lot of patience. It doesn't work, it doesn't exist. I have the feeling that Dexter is really blossoming again and curiously wandering the world with me. I can now leave Stinki alone in the tent in the evening for 20 minutes so that I can shower, wash up or whatever in peace and I no longer have to run across the square to the sanitary facilities like a crazy person to get scared Make sure you get back to Dexter as soon as possible. I just have to learn to trust Dexter and the situation. And - apart from a spilled beer in the restaurant (which wasn't actually his fault) - he's really behaved like a model dog so far. This makes the whole thing twice as much fun.

Life on the campsite is actually a bit like the backpacker vibe in hostels. I thought that I would be more alone for the next few weeks thanks to Dexi and no hostel stays, but we have already met so many nice people at the campsite and had great conversations. Well, me at least, Dexter just let him rub his stomach. And since I want to make positive advertising for holidays in Germany, I won't report on nerve-wracking but somehow funny discussions about waste separation and parking rules or unnecessary conversations with animal rights activists and public order offices.

Don't get me wrong, I'm totally on the animal, nature and environmental protection team and love order and rules, but can't we just be nice to each other?! It's not always just black and white. Well, for me it mostly contributed to the amusement and somehow it's part of it in Germany.

For our part, we definitely feel comfortable with a labrador crossbreed (haha) and are excited to see what else awaits us.

So now I'm enjoying the last few evenings in my twenties and crossing the border with Dexter for the first time tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed for me that everything works out.