{"id":9546,"date":"2022-10-09T12:48:40","date_gmt":"2022-10-09T10:48:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/artowl.ch\/all-beginnings-are-not-easy\/"},"modified":"2023-07-17T16:34:13","modified_gmt":"2023-07-17T14:34:13","slug":"all-beginnings-are-not-easy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artowl.ch\/en\/all-beginnings-are-not-easy\/","title":{"rendered":"All beginnings are… not easy!"},"content":{"rendered":"

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All beginnings are… not easy! Map of our route of the first 2 months & almost 3’360km<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/p><\/div>\n

Chapter Two<\/h4>\n

All beginnings are… not easy<\/h3>\n

Arriving on the journey…<\/h4>\n

On 6 August 2022, after three turbulent years of building our “dream touring vehicle”, we finally arrived on the road.<\/p>\n

First of all, we had to visit my 93 year old grandma in Volketswil ZH. That was a very nice visit – even if – it was probably the last time we met together during our lifetime, which also brings its sadness.<\/p>\n

The same day we happily chugged on towards Wachau DE, where the Ziss family was about to say goodbye. After 2 very relaxing nights in the countryside, near Schw\u00e4bisch Hall as well as near Weimar, we had our first taste of the freedom & deceleration we had hoped for before we arrived for the second last farewell ceremony. P\u00fcnktli, our kitty cat, is doing wonderfully so far with the change and the constant change of location. She is an absolute free roamer and gives us the impression that she likes it.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n

When we arrive in Wachau DE, the first technical problems begin – the overpressure valve\/frost control of our Truma combi heater (with boiler) keeps opening. The entrance door, which I had made a huge mistake with during the construction (we managed to get it right by the skin of our teeth), is increasingly dragging and the closing mechanism is starting to make strange noises.<\/p>\n

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When we arrived in Wachau, the first technical problems began – the overpressure valve\/frost control kept opening and the door closing mechanism began to make strange noises.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I’ll leave the increasing problems aside and go into detail at a later date.<\/p>\n

The “farewell birthday wedding party” in Wachau was a successful evening. Yes, that’s right, I forgot to mention – dear Ziss & I are now wife & husband \/ and Katha, Ziss’ sister, celebrated her 50th birthday. Afterwards, the emotional rollercoaster of my beloved wife began – saying goodbye is seldom easy for us, especially when there is the possibility of uncertainty.<\/p>\n

Here are a few words from Ziss:<\/h4>\n<\/div><\/section>
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The first thing to mention from my side is that I am an absolute family girl!<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

And I have a very large family. This includes the close circle of my 3 siblings Katharina with her boyfriend Gert and Katha’s sons Bruno and Noah, Lukas with his wife Madlen and their children Kurt and Charlotte and last but not least Constanze with her boyfriend Franz and their children Lieselotte and Ludwig. And of course my beloved parents Lothar and Barbara. Furthermore I would like to mention my dearest aunts and uncles and their children, Tanti Christine with uncle Mathias with cousin Leni and cousin Georg, my dear uncle Tino with girlfriend Jana, and of course the youngest of my aunts my Steffi with uncle Kai with cousin Elli and cousin Dennis. Of course I have many more aunts and uncles, but since I moved far away from home at the age of 18, I don’t have such a good connection to all of them and it would go beyond the scope to mention them all here, I hope you’ll forgive me.
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I wanted to say goodbye to all of them in person, as such a farewell party doesn’t bring the necessary peace and quiet and one or two people get lost in the process.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

However, I didn’t manage to do that, so I was glad to have seen everyone together once again for the occasion. But I was most happy that my parents both! appeared for the first time at one of their children’s festivals. I cried with happiness and now I have to pull myself together when I write this so that I don’t start crying again!
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However, the saddest thing for me was that I might never see my father again like this.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

That’s why it was especially important to me to spend the time I spent in Wachau primarily with him. My father is not the emotional person I often wanted him to be, but I think I sensed that he noticed my efforts and was pleased. So the 2 weeks in Wachau went by quickly and I didn’t begin to understand what else was in store for me. It felt like a million impressions, but I was not able to process them. Every evening I fell into bed dead tired and the next day came in a flash! Until the day when it was time to GO!
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As Jan and I had decided well in advance to take my mum on board Oleg for the first few days to travel with her to her second home in Stralsund, it was a double challenge on an emotional level. On the one hand, it meant saying goodbye to my father, and on the other hand, it meant that my mother was already in the cab of Oleg waiting for the time to start.
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I know it’s like that in many families and it’s nothing special…<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

…but of course I suffer from it, even though I’ve been grown up for a long time and am independent. Saying goodbye to my father was very hard on me, I already mentioned that he is not a person who shows his feelings, but on that day he showed them in full presence. So now I still have to cry when I put it all down here again and remember to let you all share! I am a super emotional person and I show this bluntly. Crying is liberating \ud83d\ude42 I am still considered an emotional crybaby in my family. But I know that it’s just envy, because many wish to show their feelings, but are ashamed of it! But now back to the essentials….
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Saying goodbye was hard, of course, what else. I cried, and cried hard, instantly questioning everything. Is Dad proud, is he worried about me, is it right to leave, even though he needs each of his children now, more than ever?
\nMy sister-in-law Madlen calmed me down and encouraged me, thank you Madlen! Everyone was crying with me, Daddy, Jan, Madlen and even my little niece Lotti couldn’t hide it. So I got into our lorry, Oleg, completely at the end of my nerve, where my mum and kitty Punkti, as I mentioned, were already waiting for me. Logically, I couldn’t change my mind right away and Mutti gave me time to sort myself out. So off we went in a northerly direction….<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/p><\/div>\n

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In any case, it went bang on and the desired peace and relaxation seemed to be getting further and further away. Constantly among people, one goodbye and visit after another. Arriving in Stralsund, it continued in the same rhythm.<\/p>\n

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And then – the locking mechanism of the door now completely screwed up and during the repair of a USB socket, short circuit from the eternally unsecured SmartPhone – data loss total….!<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

That’s why I can’t provide any pictures of this rather darn breakdown, which I would have liked to do. Maybe it’s better that way, it will be forgotten more quickly.<\/p>\n

With a bit of luck, Mr. Hummel from KCT was able to deliver spare parts for the door within a few days, for which we are incredibly grateful to the service of KCT. To solve our heating problem, we installed a pressure reducer in the machine’s supply line – this too was now solved for the first time.<\/p>\n

After a few days in Stralsund, Lukas (my brother-in-law) and Bruno (my nephew by marriage) who, by the way, is coming with us – at least up to and with the USA – arrived. Finally we set off in the direction of Poland where we had a visit from Max and Luisa. Although their visit and Lukas’ trip were nice, I always longed for peace and quiet.<\/p>\n

Poland is a beautiful country, for me personally a bit too flat like Germany, but still very fascinating. Once at a leisurely pace and a few nights across to Krakow. Once at a camp, washing clothes, cleaning the truck, with the plan to visit Auschwitz in the next few days.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n