Ploudalmézeau (Finistère, France) Sometimes my life feels like a perpetual escape. From one place to another, rarely staying longer than four weeks. Always just catching a glimpse, never arriving. Riding on a wave of positive feelings whenever I enjoy something. Within that, variations from happiness to euphoria. But then also sinking ...

Ploudalmézeau (Finistère, France) I was euphoric when I did my tour along the coast. I was also euphoric when I was working on a website. But what followed the euphoria was different on both days. After the tour I felt fulfilled and happy, but after working on the website I felt empty and miserable. How do you get the feeling out of yo...

Ploudalmézeau (Finistère, France) We go to the sea every day, often in the evening until sunset. We walk along the beach, stop and watch the waves breaking on the sandbank, or the flock of birds moving above the sand in rhythm with the waves. On the way to the beach, we cross the coastal road. There is a horse in a spacious, hilly mead...

Ploudalmézeau (Finistère, France) Every morning, the gentle sound of the sea greets me. It is always the first sound of the day. This is followed by the melodic singing of birds. Sometimes a strong wind sweeps across the coast, but often there is a soothing stillness in the air. The wide window facing east opens a new world to me every...

Ploudalmézeau (Finistère, France) On Sundays, they haunt me - the ghosts of the past. They come in the silence, when everyday life pauses. No work is pressing, no shopping is distracting, no hustle and bustle protects against them. Especially on days like these, when the rain is pattering against the windows and the world outside seems...

Aurillac (Cantal, France) Between two grey high-rise buildings, a magical window into another world opens from the kitchen window. The snow-covered peaks of the Parc naturel régional des Volcans d'Auvergne throne there like silent guardians over everyday life. For almost a week, they were shrouded in fog, as if trying to hide completel...

Gibaja (Cantabria, España) We're leaving Spain a month earlier than planned. It's not our country. I'm looking forward to France, to Brittany, although I'm not sure where this joy comes from. Is it because I'm happy to leave here, or truly because I'm excited to be there again? Of the three accommodations we've stayed in during our thr...

Gibaja (Cantabria, España) ““She had no one waiting for her at home” - Eliza Kubarska about Wanda Rutkiewicz for the film The Last Expedition” Getting up early doesn't work. I keep changing my alarm clock when I've been lying awake for a long time and a thousand meaningless thoughts are running around in my head. The stress from last w...

Gibaja (Cantabria, España) This won’t last much longer. Perhaps we are already on our farewell tour. I keep telling myself that, whispering it at first, as if trying to protect myself. But eventually, it grows louder, unavoidable, and I can’t help but face the truth. The joy I once felt on our trips is gone. Whether we set out for a wa...

Gibaja (Cantabria, España) I take off my headphones, searching for a moment of silence. But there is none. It's quiet, but never silent - footsteps, voices, a constant throbbing fill the room. An oppressive restlessness takes hold of me, followed by a desperate urge to flee. And then a biting, gnawing feeling of helplessness. The paral...

Gibaja (Cantabria, España) You often only realize in retrospect how extraordinary a phase was. Sometimes during it. I knew it straight away. Not immediately when we arrived, but after a few hours and definitely in the first few days. This stay was going to be something special. Now it's over and we're 600 kilometers further northwest i...

Manresa (Catalonia, España) The dirty sidewalks, crumbling facades, and penetrating stench of the city remain an annoyance even after more than three weeks. Too often, I stumble over carelessly discarded trash, avoid dark stains on the asphalt, and involuntarily hold my breath when another gust of wind carries up the acrid smell from s...

Manresa (Catalonia, España) The valleys lie beneath a thick blanket of fog, with peaks jutting out like water lilies floating on a quiet pond. The setting sun bathes the sky in a spectacular display of pink hues. Leaning against the wall of our accommodation, letting my gaze drift through the window, I cannot tear myself away from this...

Manresa (Catalonia, España) I don't know what I expected, probably more than I was offered. Somehow I assumed that we are in the West and the West is rich. That's what I was always told. At school and in the media. And although I never felt rich, which I never was, I was told that I was. Any contradiction was considered inappropriate. ...

Manresa (Catalonia, España) Something must have happened. A tectonic plate has shifted inside me, but it hasn't triggered a quake. It is calm. All I can feel is a deep sense of contentment. The past four weeks have been written inside me like a newly revised code that makes things run more smoothly and fluidly. The meeting with new fri...

Benitatxell (Alicante, España) There are exactly three reasons why we leave the accommodation. When we go shopping, take out the garbage or go on a hike. I've forgotten one, the platform near the house. But I usually go there alone. It's less than 50 meters away and I can look out over the open sea. There is nothing but the sea and the...

Benitatxell (Alicante, España) The pendulum swings far in both directions. Sometimes I am flooded with the greatest happiness and then crushed by deep depression. The center is a place I rarely find. I start most days with a meditation. During this time, I am completely with myself and time itself disappears. Time is precious, I tell m...

Benitatxell (Alicante, España) Will the sea remain in me? Or the rough rocks? Or a clear memory of it? The sound of the sea, like last night? I no longer know whether I can rely on my memory, it is never as clear as the moment itself. And this is always just a hint, a fleeting experience at best. We use the weekends to go out into natu...

Benitatxell (Alicante, España) The first impression is never the one that lasts. Neither a bad one, nor a good one. We have arrived at a small house at the end of a street. There is only one other house next to it before the road turns into a dead end. But this one takes away a large part of the view of the sea. It seems to be new, the...

Sauveterre-de-Comminges (France) Our time is limited. This is more true since we travel and change where we stay every four weeks. It is also a general truth that I have always been aware of, but never fully admitted. Here I have no choice. We like to be out in nature and so we are dependent on the weather and the conditions outside. S...

Sauveterre-de-Comminges (France) “Did you know when you was there, that it was special? - From The Bear” I am glad that the fear is gone. It was back, just as strong and powerful as before. It paralyzed me and severely narrowed my view of the world. I saw danger everywhere and terrible things would happen to us. My thoughts were full o...

Sauveterre-de-Comminges (France) This is not a country to live in, but one to visit. This realization is solidifying. But it is not set in stone. A week of adjustment lies behind me. It is and remains a difficult undertaking. Despite a good night's sleep, I am tired and exhausted most of the time. The illness that put me out of action ...

Sauveterre-de-Comminges (France) A lot of time has passed. A lot has happened in that time. Berlin is behind us. And the Black Forest too. We've been in the south of France for a few days now. More precisely, in the Pyrenees. It's a small community made up of 10 or 11 smaller settlements. Around 700 people live here in total. But it fe...

Berlin (Germany) Just as I'm about to park the car, I see a creature coming out of the hedge. At first I think it's a dog and wonder at its strange appearance. Only when it trots past my car do I realize that it's a fox. A Berlin fox. In the middle of the street in a residential area. One trip to the office is enough for me. It takes a...

Wiesmoor (East Frisia, Germany) At home in bad thoughts. Enveloped in loneliness. And I can't find a way out of it. The feeling: I have no one who could help me, no one I could turn to, no one who would be there for me. I am completely alone and lost in this world. It's hardest in the morning. A swarm of rats circling in the back of my...

September 22, 2024 Wiesmoor (East Frisia, Germany) Some days I want to scream. On others, I lack the strength to get out of bed. And on a few, light shines through the narrow window. Light in which there is peace, but also hope. It keeps me alive. One day passes after another. The overall picture is not a positive one. Not a time that ...

September 09, 2024 Wiesmoor (East Frisia, Germany) I don't have to find a language for a feeling of powerlessness and anger. Not anymore. A lot of things are good. Well, let's put it this way, some. The noise remains annoying. And it remains. People are only concerned with themselves. I'm no exception. And yet I am in a happy state. We...

Wiesmoor (East Frisia, Germany) For more than a moment, we thought about looking for something in the area. A house or, if necessary, an apartment to rent. Rather an apartment, so that the costs remain low. After some initial research, I even found out that a fully furnished house was available for the same price as an apartment. The p...

Leer (East Frisia, Germany) I prefer to be where there are no people. Like in this little church. A brick building. The norm, not an exception. A heavy door made of dark wood, behind which silence lives. So unusual for a Catholic church. No ostentation. No pictures. Modern and wide and open. I sit down on a chair in one of the front ro...

Wiesmoor (Germany) The rain follows us. It follows us for months, always with us. But before the rain comes the heat. And it is merciless. The air is so thick and heavy that you could cut it with a knife. There's no wind, not even a breeze to cool you down "Why don't you go out into nature to clear your head?" Will I succeed? The week ...