The way back home

My time at the farm in Al Mansur ended, and I had already spent nearly 5 months on the road. The time so far was amazing, and I got a lot of great impressions from all the places and people. But everything has its end, and my journey was limited to the beginning of April. Well, it was a good reason to stop continuing my journey. I was invited to two marriages and at one of them, I was the best man. So, my next plan was moving back to Germany.

 I left Al-Mansur after four weeks, and I was amazed to hit the road again. This time I was not on my own again. I moved on with Torey, who I met at the farm. She’s from america and took a little stop in Europe, before continuing her journey back to the US. Her plan was to stay a couple of weeks at Al-Mansur and then do a road trip with her sister through Portugal and a little bit of Spain. We understood each other pretty well at the farm, and soon we planned together a trip to the north of Portugal, to do a couple of hiking trips in the national park. So, Torey left the farm two weeks earlier, to join my trip to the north of Portugal.

The first couple of days we went to the west coast and took a little bit of time off. The community was great, but it also took a lot of energy from us. So, we planned to take things easy and not get into a constant rush. We went after the coast to a lovely place near a lake and spent a couple of days in the middle of nature. Then we moved on to the center of Portugal to do a little hiking trip. During this time, we both enjoyed the days off, but on the other side, it was not always easy to live with two people on nearly 6m^2. It was a completely new challenge for both of us.

After the days off, we decided to move further to the north to reach the national park. We planned to meet Giovanni and Ines (friends from Al Mansur) in Braga and then visit the national park together. Unfortunately, the weather had something against it (rainy) and we spent a couple of days in Braga. We did the best we could and went to a camping site in Braga, to have showers and toilets. During the time in Braga, we had some lovely days together, visited the city, played some billiards and darts, went bouldering, and made some nice meals in the van. It was great to see the people from Al-Mansur again, and we made the best of the situation. After some days in Braga, we split up again. It was also time to say goodbye to Torey, who went back to see her sister in Lisbon.

Now I was back on my own, and I hit the road again in the direction of France. The days were really rainy, and it was a good moment to make some distance on the road. On my way back, I planned to meet the people in France, who I visited the last time on my way through France. My first stop was Helen and Tibus’ farm in the south of France. It was amazing to see the people again at the place where it all started. I got some good flashbacks from the last time I’ve been there, and it made me appreciate the time I spent with the family on this lovely farm. After my visit to Daumanzan, I moved on to Toulouse, to visit Kieran in his blue truck again. We spent the afternoon together with a nice grill session behind the truck. The next day I moved on to visit Rocio. She was also a volunteer at Al Mansur, and she worked in a Chateau in the north of Toulouse. The chateau is from the 13th century and is nowadays an education center for hunting. We spent a nice day together, and I got in contact with the people, who were living in the Chateau. I helped Rocio with the tasks in the morning and then helped feeding the deer and boars in the afternoon. The chateau and the nature around were amazing. It was a really nice day, and it ended with a nice sunset walk in the evening. Thanks Rocio for welcoming me. It was a lovely day at the chateau.

My next and last stop was Strasbourg. There I met Julia, who was also a volunteer from Al-Mansur. She worked on a farm near Strasbourg and went for the weekend to the city. I met her there, and we enjoyed a day in Strasbourg with some nice Fondue, a visit to the park, and the evening at a cool spot at the river. The next day we went to a park and had a little walk and enjoyed afterward some pancakes in the van. There is no better way to start the day with pancakes. Thanks for the great time we spent together Julia.

After the weekend in Strasbourg, I finally took the way back home.

So far, it has been one of the most amazing times in my life, and I appreciate the time I had so far. Sure, I will remember this chapter for the rest of my life. I can say that there are many lovely people out there in the world, with good intentions and a warm heart. It was a pleasure to get in contact with all these amazing people. I hope to share this spirit with all the people around me. 

To be continued…

P.S. The journey continues (maybe in June)…