Coronavirus and Goodbye

Before we started our journey in July 2019, I sometimes thought - We have to do this now and fully enjoy it and as long as possible, because who knows if it will still be possible in the future - You never know what will happen. Maybe you get sick, have an accident, maybe your own parents get older and need support, maybe you are affected by one of the countless fates you never want to encounter. But I quickly pushed these thoughts aside with the motto - You can worry when the time comes - or - nothing will happen for sure.

Seven months later. At some point in February, we hear about the coronavirus for the first time. A few days later, when we are in Disneyland in Paris, a Parisian teacher dies from the virus. An uneasy feeling comes over us. Shortly after arriving in the Netherlands, the Basel Carnival and all events with more than 1000 people are canceled in Switzerland. A week later, we meet friends from Switzerland in Amsterdam. They are all surprised that you don't notice anything about the coronavirus here. We stroll through the city for five days, visit bars, cafes, restaurants, museums, go shopping and even attend a concert with over 1,200 people. We have a great time with our friends - without knowing that it will be the last time for a long time.

In the following days, the situation gradually worsens. The future becomes more and more uncertain, as do our travel plans. We consider whether it would be more sensible to go back to Spain instead of going to England - then, if things get worse, we will at least not be stuck on an island. And we would have a bit of sunshine, could go surfing. But from day to day, more and more drastic measures are announced, and the question of whether further travel is even possible becomes more and more urgent.

At some point, it became clear: we can't continue traveling. Countries close their borders, important infrastructure for us such as campsites, swimming pools, and fitness centers close down, and no one knows how long this story will last. Nevertheless, we want to stay with Grandma for a while and see how the situation develops. Maybe everything will be over in a month, and we can continue our journey?

And suddenly, a lot happens at once: The Federal Council calls on all Swiss travelers to come home immediately. We check with the EDA and the German and Dutch embassies - it could actually be that we will soon no longer be able to return to Switzerland because the borders will be completely closed. Regardless of this, both of us receive a job offer on the same day - me as a corona temporary worker for a few months at the social service of the city of Lucerne, and Sarah also as a corona temporary worker in a children's home, where she can be used as a "homeschool teacher" for the next few months.

24 hours later, we are back in Switzerland. The journey from Duiven in the Netherlands to Ottenhusen in Lucerne to my parents went smoothly. No traffic jams, no controls, only at the Swiss border, they briefly asked where we came from.

Four days later, Sarah is already working as a teacher again, and I will start on April 1st.

That we are back and our journey is actually over - I don't think we have really grasped that yet. We are too busy getting our lives back on track in Switzerland at full speed, dealing with things like apartment hunting, health insurance, and registration with the municipality. There are only rare moments when memories of the life we ​​led until recently come to mind. Memories of the freedom we took for granted. And when such a moment comes, I am incredibly sad. I never thought that the quiet worrying thoughts I had from time to time before the trip would come true. That it was now actually no longer possible to just drive off. It's so surreal. And at the same time, I think about how lucky we are: for almost eight months, we were able to enjoy a beautiful, carefree time with the person we love and the four-legged friend whom we are both crazy about. And now we come back and both have jobs, while many people can no longer work at the moment and are threatened with serious existential fears. While other vagabonds can no longer start their travel adventures. While people get sick and die. While no one knows what the future holds. While the world is somehow standing still. And at the same time, something fundamental is changing. Something that is still not quite tangible. We shall see.

For us, the time has come to write the last entry in our travel blog. I am doing this with very mixed feelings - it is probably one of those rare moments when you realize what is happening. I am sad, but also happy that all the people we love are doing well. I sincerely hope that this will continue to be the case and that Corona will soon be history. That we can go out again and laugh together and hug each other.

A big thank you to all the people who actually read our travel blog 😊 It is only through the positive feedback that we were always able to motivate ourselves to sit down somewhere and start typing. We are very grateful for that. Especially in times like these, this blog is very valuable to us - so that we can occasionally drift off in our thoughts and relive all the beautiful moments. Thank you so much!

If anyone ever wants to contact us for anything and doesn't know how: Just write an email to stephanie.koellinger@bluewin.ch or follow us on Instagram at

https://www.instagram.com/stephanie.koellinger/

Take care!

Steffi, Sarah, and Filou

Author: Stephanie Köllinger