Finally – the journey begins

Now that the shock absorbers have been installed, we can indeed finally drive off. We drive to Illighausen and deliver my Volvo there. Now finally – the journey begins.

Finally – the journey begins

On August 1, 2018 in the morning we will cross the border near Konstanz in the direction of Singen. We still have to go to the hardware store and replace a newly purchased fan that is already defective ex works. Then on to Eigeltingen and beyond in the direction of Ulm. This is exactly the boring stuff that nobody here wants to read. That’s why I want to write in a different direction here.

About work and age

Originally the plan was that we would extend our honeymoon trip to 4 weeks. Suddenly it was two months and then six months. Currently we leave the end open. Is so much easier and is mental hygiene – it takes the pressure off. 🙂

I (Thomas) have always worked 100% since I started my apprenticeship in 1984. At the same time he completed various training courses and studies. So a lot of life time has been lost at the expense of career and career development. Don’t get me wrong – training and further education is extremely important and I support it completely. However, if one believes the statistics about the years of life, a person in Switzerland becomes on average about 81 (male, 85 years female) years old. Today I count 50 years. If you keep the average age in mind and compare this with my years of life, then the way behind me is longer than the way in front of me.

My life line from birth to today 2018 until the statistical end.

Time slave or not?

Throughout the entire working time I was always of the opinion that the normal employee is nothing more than a modern slave – better paid, but still exposed to whip lashes. The difference between the whip lashes of the past and the present is that today lashes are no longer distributed with leather straps but verbally. Under threat of penalties (poor employee qualifications, entry in the personnel file, dismissal) pressure is put on the employee so that he sputters as desired. The demands and pressures in today’s working world are enormous and constantly increasing. These excrescences are absorbed and processed differently by people. Negative consequences are shown by various illnesses – such as depression, anxiety, palpitations, insomnia, lack of concentration etc. etc.

Motives for a new lifestyle

I was under great pressure for many years. At this point it is clear that it is up to everyone to break out of this treadmill and change the situation. Many also speak of it. For many years I too have only spoken of the fact that something must change. It’s easier said than done. As mentioned … under threat of punishment and the prevention of becoming unemployed, I have always pulled myself together and made the best of the situation. But basically nothing has changed, rather only shifted in time. The years passed me by, the lament about the loss of years of life continued. Slowly physical symptoms began to appear. Since I already knew these symptoms from a previous experience, I was able to pull the emergency brake early on. So I needed a second – even if only striped – shot in front of the bow to realize what situation I was already in again.

Goals show the way

Why did I let it happen again? Basically, very simple. I lacked – like most – a clear idea of what I needed to change. The first big step was that I set myself a goal. A target with a time horizon. I have worked towards this goal – with great support and enormous patience of my beloved wife Claudia. And once the goal and time horizon had been set, everything went at lightning speed – in the truest sense of the word. So today we are sitting in our Duro which we call lovingly DuBu and drive through Europe.

So – enough talk – the journey begins. This is how we see the Europe we have traveled through so far. You can also find the individual stops along the way here.