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I myself have long yearned for adventures throughout my youth and adult life. I embarked on backpacking tours and later off-road adventures in Thailand and Laos, drove the Trans-Africa route along the western route, and shipped my vehicle to South America, where I traveled alone for six months. I spent many weeks in Iceland and explored the southeastern part of Europe alone for two months.
As group travel felt too sheltered to me, I always undertook all my journeys with vehicles, with just a single vehicle - often alone, sometimes with a friend, and occasionally with my respective partner.
In my travel life, I can still count the visits to campsites on one hand - usually, I was always wild camping, meaning I stood alone somewhere in nature at night. For those who think that having a second vehicle makes no difference - the sense of security at night when someone approaches the vehicle at night is a different story altogether.
I love the connection with nature, the tranquility, and seclusion, as well as the small thrill that arises when a fox barks, a branch cracks, or an engine approaches and the engine noise suddenly fades away.
Especially since previous travel destinations such as African countries like Nigeria, Congo, or Mali are not considered tourist-friendly, and travel advisories have existed for many years - and we're not talking about free camping in Switzerland or Sweden.
The fact that wild camping isn't always so peaceful, the incidents with a higher adrenaline level, I've already processed in an article once and linked further incidents. Much more often I was awakened because my presence was unwelcome to someone, from the landowner, hunter, forester to those whose language I couldn't understand - but who could convey their agitation to me.
But much more colorful are the memories of the nature experiences, the animal sightings, the evening campfires, and waking up in the middle of nowhere, outdoor life - because only sleeping happened in the vehicle, for everything else, I had to get out of the vehicle, regardless of the temperature, whether it was raining or snowing.
Unforgettable is the changing landscape during longer journeys - the lush valleys, the humidity of the jungle, the mountains, and the desert landscapes. These experiences remain hidden from the ordinary tourist who reaches their destination by plane.
I haven't documented all my overlanding journeys in a blog or article, but these trips are documented so far: Trans-Africa, Iceland, Laos, Thailand, South America, Southeast Europe, Sweden.
It really took a while before I learned that I had been actively avoiding some of the greatest adventures for a long time. An adventure that had been enjoyed by many friends in their homeland for years. One of those adventures that can't be easily concluded like a trip.
Embarking on the journey of parenthood with his dream woman - a sea of adventures and uncertainties. The outcome is uncertain - the gender, the health, the trajectory - truly an adventure with an uncertain outcome. Also, to open oneself up to a relationship in this depth that the topic of children even arises. But of course, it also involves the immense happiness of eventually meeting one's perfect match.
While I risked my vehicle and life crossing the Andes over a closed mountain pass for the sake of fun and adrenaline - in search of adventure - I completely overlooked the adventures that friends back home had long embarked upon:
From nest-building, mortgages, children, school - and putting the children on the right path. In contrast, the adventure of travel - an experience that, except for a few unlikely safety, financial, or health-related aspects, could simply be terminated.
I don't want to weigh this - I just want to highlight my own blindness regarding the adventures that await me at home. It truly took the birth of my first child to recognize the true extent of this adventure.
In any case, I am grateful that I am able to experience the variety of adventures in various facets - and haven't "only" fallen into nomadism. Life offers many choices and possibilities, and for many, these are much more fundamentally either/or - I'm excited about the "and" and the future that lies ahead!
The range of possible life models changes over the years - the question of children is also a topic that can't be revisited if one's attitude toward it changes in the second half of life. For women, it's the biological clock, for men, it's usually practicality - not wanting to tackle the issue at a certain age anymore.
On one's deathbed, one is supposed to regret the things one didn't do, something with which many initiate their start into carefree, unattached travel life on websites, blogs, and vlogs. But that can also mean regretting later not having pursued the topic of family & children. Traveling can still happen after the children have grown up. My example shows that the topic of children can change over the years, even for a formerly convinced bachelor.
I'm not trying to turn the question of children into the meaning of life - I just want to encourage that one should regularly examine this topic for oneself - to be able to live well with the paths one has chosen.
Whether the compromise that I arrived at, the long phase of travel and freedom, and now, at a relatively older age, a committed relationship and resulting fatherhood, will prove to be good - sort of "the best of both worlds" - you'll be able to follow that.
At least experiencing becoming a grandfather is unlikely within my remaining lifespan, not even a topic for me today. How beautiful it is to follow and support the development of a child in the second row - that's something I'll never be able to judge.
But I'll never write here "I'll never..." - I never thought about a traditional wedding, and yet my hand now sports a small golden ring. The topic of children was a possible path for both of us, and not a "must" for our happiness.
It's fascinating to observe the changing views over a period of time - here on the blog, you can track my views on the subject quite well over the years in the "Emotional World" section. Have fun with it! Keen readers wouldn't have missed my vehicle change from the Land Cruiser to the VW Caravan- so in hindsight, the "why" might be even clearer.
Please note that while I have provided a translation of the provided text, the German text itself is quite lengthy, and translations might not always capture the nuances perfectly. If you have any specific questions or need further assistance, feel free to ask!
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