LOMV Expedition Report 1.1

Life - Berlin - Southern Baden - Austria - South Tyrol - (Corsica - Sardinia - Sicily - Greece)

Hello everyone.

I hope you're all doing well and feeling good!

Quick update for those of you who don't know. Last year, I decided to take a break, which of course had to fit well with my employer and my studies. It was soon clear that it would be March 1, 2018 (my apartment in Berlin was sublet for this year). The plan was to take a bus from Berlin to Southern Baden on March 20, and then continue to Austria, Italy, Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, and hopefully spend the summer in Greece. I hadn't planned anything beyond that, just for the first few months.

Since I have a wonderful furry companion named Mahin, I thought about spending the first few months of European spring in my bus with him. I'm familiar with traveling alone with a backpack, but not with a vehicle. So, decision made: bus, Mahin, and me. Further thought: make preparations. Two dear friends soon decided to accompany me partially in Sardinia and Sicily.

In the weeks leading up to my departure in Berlin, I (with the help of dear friends) spent hours making the bus presentable and travel-ready. Now it has solar panels and power outlets for my phone and camera, a new color on the inside, and useful and probably useless stuff.

Unfortunately, my immune system didn't take the outstanding 'Dance-Friends-Finale-Weekend' in Berlin as positively as my heart did, so a nasty flu with a temperature of 38.8 degrees knocked me down for 48 hours. This forced me to postpone my departure to March 22, but dear friends nursed me back to health.

So, without further ado, I'm back in the solution-oriented phase and don't need any more sympathy.

On March 22, after a wonderful breakfast, I set off and after a while, I noticed that the bus was making strange noises. Near Halle an der Saale, I called the ADAC for the first time, and they towed me (ADAC Plus membership proved to be the best investment in years) to a VW workshop where I trusted them to take a look. I explained the symptoms and they promised more for the next day. So, I got a rental car and visited a dear friend who was waiting for me and Mahin with wine and food. Feeling a bit down, but eventually more relaxed, I received a call the next morning. They found a few little things and fixed them, but didn't find anything major. So, on March 23, I continued my journey, turning onto the A4 towards Erfurt, only to find that the engine noise didn't change every 15 minutes, which didn't exactly thrill me. I thought, I'll just have to endure it. Being oversensitive won't help on this journey. After a while, I pulled into a parking lot to adjust the side mirror, and when I hit the brakes, everything shut off. Rolling onto the parking lot, I already knew that this was the end of the road for the bus for now.

Once again, ADAC breakdown assistance. First acoustic diagnosis: engine failure. Conclusion: economical total loss. Bitter. Very bitter. Having the bus brought to Jena by tow truck at 5pm, I received another rental car there, as the workshop can't provide further diagnosis until Monday.

Then I unloaded the bus, which was loaded with half of my belongings, and drove back to Neuenburg with the rental car. After 4 hours of driving, the rental car informed me that it had detected "tiredness" and that I should "drink coffee", so I did.

After a journey that felt like the speed of light, in a car that is 25 years younger, I arrived exhausted and quite disappointed in my mother's bed after 1.5 days of travel.

In order to give myself some peace from all the intrinsic chaos of figuring out how to proceed, I then went on a planned family vacation to Austria in Montafon with my mom, Alena, Oskar, and Mahin. Without the bus, but with my mother's car, because I wanted to complete the first leg of my bus journey.

Snowboarding, half board, and my sweet nephew Oskar revived me, and so I was able to communicate with the ADAC, the workshop in Jena, and friends who love buses about how to proceed with the bus, which I had invested money, a lot of work, and a lot of love in.

After a week of thinking, I decided to have the bus brought by the free ADAC delivery service and have it repaired. I don't want it to be in vain, and getting a proper and guiding diagnosis from a good friend who happens to be an expert in cars and especially VW buses is worth gold and makes it easier for me to steer away from an economic total loss.

Even though most people now think, "ohhhhh - it's just an old bus, it's bound to break down..." - No, it's not gonna happen. "A six-cylinder engine doesn't just break down like that." One of several possibilities is that some past "essential repair", such as the timing belt, wasn't done properly

or something else was wrong or...... Either this problem can be fixed or a used engine will be put in. At the end of April, when the bus arrives and the engine is opened, I will know more. More details in the next report.

After my family vacation in southwestern Austria, I drove with Mahin over the Reschen Pass in the Alps to Merano in South Tyrol, Italy, to see this beautiful and somehow Mediterranean Alpine city for an afternoon and a night.

For the Easter weekend at the end of March, a birthday surprise weekend with friends from Berlin had long been planned in the Dolomites, with extensive hikes and social evenings.

This weekend largely rehabilitated me from my post-traumatic bus breakdown experience. So many beautiful mountains, views, great friends, delicious food, and lots of laughter were the best medicine. And instead of leaving for Corsica as originally planned on April 3, I drove back to Markgräflerland with Mahin.

I spent the last few weeks with my family, met friends in Freiburg and the surrounding area, went on trips to the Black Forest and the French Vosges, picked flowers, enjoyed the views, went to the Rhine, and spent a lot of time making new plans and researching. For the next few weeks, I will stay here and in the surrounding area, repair the bus, and then see if I continue with the bus or if I try a different mode of transportation for the first time. Until then, I send you all my best wishes.

Sincerely with a kiss, Mahin and Vanessa

Neuenburg, April 22, 2018