Maybe we are lost, restless, bold, stupid or just too impatient but we have moved out of our freshly rented apartment on the outskirts of Bielefeld last week. The past few month have made us not only question our own sanity but also the general state of society. However at the end of countless thought experiments, we had to realize that however hard we tried, we probably would not be able to fit back into our old life for now.
The apartment that we had rented was way to big for us but because it had been a too-good-of-a-deal we had taken it at that time. Most of it's furniture was gifted to us by friends and family but we hardly used any of it, instead dust was settling on books and shelves. Filling the void of our apartment with pointless possessions didn't really help to make us feel 'homely' at all, but rather we perceived them as a burden.
However, six month ago, there had been a good reason for us to return home after traveling the world for five years. We had craved a 'home', a place to retreat to from time to time but the four walls of our apartment confined instead of protected us, so we decided that we had to redefine our vision of 'home'.
This is when we came up with the idea to move into a van. It's neither brilliant, new or genius but we liked it. The very first concept we had when we returned to Germany, was to built a so-called 'Tiny Home' but that soon got demolished by the amount of senseless bureaucracy going along with it, unexpected costs and in the very end, probably also by our hesitation to commit to something we weren't fully convinced of yet.
Converting a van into a tiny, mobile home seemed like we were getting a very similiar deal but with less rules and regulations.
Fast-forward, we did it. We bought an old car, with way more kilometers on its speedometer than it should have to be still a sensible purchase but after countless hours of planing and converting the car into a camper, we finally moved in last week and we're loving it.
Currently we're living in a parking lot, on the fringe of the Teutoburger forest and even if the surroundings aren't the most romantic, we're totally happy. There is no WiFi, no electricity and we spent 90% of our time outdoors again or at least with the doors of our car wide open. We hear the birds again in the morning, the rustle of the leaves in the trees and probably what we missed the most, it matters to us if it rains, if it's cold or hot. Being exposed to the elements and the immediate surrounding again, makes us instantly feel more alive.
However, we don't plan to stick around that parking lot for much longer. Different opportunities have popped up for us and Jona also wants test himself by riding some multi-day bikepacking races. This summer, we'll be back on the road exploring Europe with our bikes and our new 'home', scouting out bikepacking routes, going camping and exploring the wild places and taking in whatever else this continent has to offer. Needless to say, that we're are overly excited and are curious about what it feels like to have the opportunity to be 'home' wherever we choose to park our van in the future.
But first things first: Italy.
