Switzerland

So there we were knowing that we wanted to take a long break and go abroad. We have both handed in our resignations and a letter to terminate our apartment and are left with a metric shit-ton of tasks to do before we can actually disappear.

The biggest of those tasks was to get the room, which will be Matthias’ future workshop, ready to store all our furniture and belongings for the next couple of years. And of course, preparing everything and placing it neatly into storage took a substantial amount of time as well. But mainly it was the countless and often nerve-wracking small things, which needed to be organized, that ate up all our energy and made us wish we had already left. Among these was almost everything from vaccinations to insurances to visas but also our regular lives in Switzerland including the related paperwork. Speaking of vaccinations, if you're looking for a quick way to get rid of a 1000+ bucks, here's an idea for you…

And, of course, personal matters needed attention too - like a last visit to the hairdresser just two days before departure. This brought Marina frome having long blonde hair (for many years) to having short(er) brown hair. Despite the advantage of being of less maintenance during our travels, the new hair style led to a major existential crisis, which took many days to fade.

But here we are now, on the day of our departure, grateful that the stress is over, despite not realizing it yet, and ready to embark on our biggest adventure yet. A big thank you to all the people who supported us during this stressful preparation time, contributed to our travel budget, and to everyone who found their way to the airport to say goodbye.

A bunch of last hugs, a few tears, and off we go…Read more