START GUN

Hello dear ones,

in the last few weeks we have heard the words 'Send us photos and let us know how it's going and where you are!' a lot. A task that didn't seem realistic to us in the multitude. So we thought about how to do it smartly, so that even the grandparents can benefit from it - Instagram was therefore not an option. So we will try to provide you with occasional updates here and take you along on our project - without guarantee of completeness and regularity, but we will try our best :)

To catch up some of you at the very beginning...

We, Jannis and Maja, have been living in the wonderful small town of Offenburg in the beautiful Badner Land for a little over 2 years now. Vineyards and the Black Forest at our doorstep - definitely the sunny side of life or at least Germany. We love it here - that's for sure! But we also love our families, our friends... our hometown Bielefeld. We are separated by more than 500km. And so the longing and the desire to settle back in our hometown in the long term prevails.

And then there was our trip to Portugal in autumn 2019. Flew there and rented a camper on site and traveled across the country. At the end of our trip, we met Linda & Christoph with their little dog Freulein. The two gave up their jobs in Germany, terminated their apartments, bought a van, converted it, and off they went on their journey. Until then, it seemed somehow 'impossible' to us, giving up EVERYTHING and starting such a project with a relatively low budget. A huge inspiration. From that point on, we were completely on fire - back home, quit our jobs and apartment and off we went. Once back in everyday life, the euphoria naturally subsided quickly and the classic German mindset of security with steady jobs, a roof over our heads, etc. prevailed. But the idea didn't completely vanish from our minds, especially since it's currently a huge trend and social media doesn't leave you alone with inspirations...

But then we fulfilled another wish first and bam, Fiete moved in with us :) Raising a puppy was already enough work and responsibility.

And then came Corona. A blessing and a curse at the same time. We had time... time at home, time in everyday life, time to miss things and time for more space in our minds for dreams. And there it still was, this dream - traveling! Building our own camper!

Of course, this wasn't decided overnight, but at some point we reached a point where we said 'We just have to take the plunge and commit to it.' - meaning, set a date to quit our apartment and jobs. Said and done. In early November 2020, we quit everything. And now we are here, just a week before our move back to Bielefeld. With mixed feelings, a little melancholy - but definitely with a huge anticipation for what's to come!

In Bielefeld, we will stay with Jannis' parents as an interim solution - it will be a great flat share :) The rough plan is to use the next 2-3 months for the conversion and then hit the road in May. Optimistic? Maybe - we'll see.

And what about the concrete travel preparations? We are proud owners of a Mercedes Sprinter by now :) L2H2, built in 2013, 160 HP, 180,000 km driven. A red beauty - RedRocket. Thanks to Fiete for the name! Insulation, parking heater, and windows are ordered, so that we can start with the first steps right away in Bielefeld. Maybe Jannis will feel motivated to write down some details about this. Maybe not. Probably not.