4 DAYS, 22 hours

Did some housekeeping yesterday. Vacuumed up the remaining pine needles and mud from the last trip. Everything looks ready to receive bedding and luggage. We decided today to cover both mattresses with a warm fuzzy blanket. We can always remove it if we get too hot, but when it is still cold at night it might feel better. We already have reservations for the first week on the road. Two of the locations at the Outer Banks have no electricity and are directly by the ocean. 

Tom was always trying to find a comfortable lounging position - other than laying down. We had a surprise delivery from Amazon! Two inflatable boyfriend pillows! With our USB Air pump they inflate in 30 seconds!

My hanging window storage is filling up too.

Tom attached our power strip with USB ports with heavy duty Velcro. All under bed bins are labeled and easily accessible.

This top board on the mattress base needed some reinforcement. We didn't like the fact that it was already sagging. Now it is nice and sturdy. I still would not sit on that end, since that is the side where we shortened the base and it does not have the original support.

Tom did a test snooze. I cant wait to hit the road!

SCREENS

Today I attempted to create screens for the bump-out windows. The idea was great, the execution was questionable and the final result went into the dumpster. Damage report, about $10 in wasted material and about 30 minutes of my time.

Here is the story. I purchased screen material and magnetic strip. The magnetic strip was 1" wide and 10' long. I cut the material and folded over the sides to create a sleeve for the magnetic strip. So far, it was all good. Unfortunately though, through the material, the magnet strips were not powerful enough to stay on the metal of the car. After messing with it for a while, I had enough! Failed trials lead to success - they say! We shall see if I come up with a better solution.

I also went to the dollar store today. Needed a few "can't go wrong" items, and found this hanging organizer, like they often sell for shoes, but much smaller. It was only $1.75 and I figured I can use that in some way. I had to shorten the thing and punch some holes in the top to hang it with suction cups into the side bump-out window. That can hold all the things I usually have on/in my nightstand. It keeps the little arm rest compartments free for midnight snacks 😇.

 

WHAT ABOUT OUR MAIL?

In getting ready for our upcoming trip the question came up of "what do we do about our mail for three months?" 

We checked with USPS "holding" our mail and that would be fine if it were only for 30 days, but after that they start sending again, they don't take packages from other delivery services such as FedEx and, any mail that doesn't fit in our box gets returned. Their only other option was to set up a Short Term Mail Forwarding Service but you need an address to forward to! (we have no idea where we'll be). I'd even thought about doing nothing and letting them stuff our little home mail box until it overflowed into the hall (probably not a good idea) and it's too long to ask neighbors to take care of.

We also looked at PO Boxes at USPS and others. Our daughter in NH has the smallest box and it costs her $19 for three months. I checked the local PO's in Hampton VA; $39 for three months, and if you apply for the three month plan, you get automatic three month renewal with "no opt out." And again, what about other delivery boxes, do they sit in front of our door gathering dust until we return?

I had seen Virtual Post Office Boxes while surfing the net and they seemed like a possibility, but never having had one, we weren't sure if they were safe...until we spoke to friends. Our friends have had a Virtual Mail Box for more than fourteen years and have never had a problem, so we looked into it. We decided to go with their choice; St. Brendan's Isle. SBI has multiple package plans depending on the type of traveler you are, whether you travel by boat or by part time / full time RV. 

We decided on the Travelers Special which is the most economical plan and designed for full time and part time RV'ers at less than $12 per month. The great thing about SBI, you get an actual mailing address in Green Cove Springs,  Florida and they accept "all" mail no matter if it's junk or boxes. (you need to start a Temporary Change of Address with your local PO so that you can receive your mail while you're away.)

Now no need to worry where your Amazon, FedEx or any other odd package is going to end up, they all come to SBI. SBI will also help you set up your Florida Residency, get a Florida drivers license, register to vote and register your car, if that's what you want, now that you have a Florida address. Some of the feature are; they bill you monthly, no annual dues or fees, they offer Inactive Account status for part time RV'ers like us, and they will send your mail to you whenever and wherever you want with the junk sorted out.

So, with our mail dilemma sorted out, I think we're ready to hit the road. (still have to stock up on Good & Plenty)

Ziploc bags!

Ziploc bags - a must have item for campers! I'm so happy they finally offer 2 gallon bags too. Instead of keeping 150 tea bags in this big square cardboard box, I transferred them to 4 quart size ziploc bags. They use much less space this way, are easy to slide into small spaces in the big bin and my teabags are never subject to moisture or bugs. I fill the bag, and sit on it as I zip the bag, to get (almost) vacuum sealed results.

I always transport plenty of them and when they are not soiled, I reuse them often. Even for transport, I take them out of the box and roll them into a big roll with an elastic band around. Again, it takes much less space in the bin. We usually buy in bulk. Having plenty of the items we constantly use on hand, prevents trips to the grocery store. Space is a serious concern when VanCamping with 2 people for about three month. Efficiency packing, loading and organizing becomes a game of Tetris! The big hole where the rear seats were is fantastic!

We have 7 more days until we leave. The van is almost completely packed, suitcases are also just about done. Most of the missing items have to go through the laundry next Monday.

I got my hair cut today. I was sporting the "Covid19" style. No style at all, my hair just grew. Now I have a medium short sunshine cut, appropriately for Florida. 

Everything we had on order from Amazon and other places has arrived and nothing else is in transit. Our mail forwarding order starts on Dec. 15. Tom will fill you in on our mail arrangements in the next post.

COMPLETING THE PACKING LIST

After every trip, we revise our list of things to take. There is always room for improvement! We both like our hot coffee/tea in the morning. Preferably right when we wake up. On a campground that is not always an option without getting out of the warm car. Years ago, while working nights at the USPS, we had issues keeping our tea hot through the night. It was very cold at the docks and nothing kept us warm inside, but our tea. We tried multiple different mugs, but by the end of the night, our beverages were lukewarm. The Thermos tumblers ended up being our choice, because our beverages stayed hot until the end of our shift. For our camping trips, we prepare the tea and coffee before we go to bed at night. Tom drinks coffee, and the coffee bags are a tasty alternative to fresh brewed (it's between Army coffee and home brew). I let the tumblers sit, filled with boiling water, for about 10 minutes. Then I re-boil that same water to brew the coffee/tea, close the tumbler tightly after the desired steeping time and set aside until morning. It is still really hot!

At home or on the road, our breakfast smoothie is a MUST! At home our smoothies are loaded with many different nutritional ingredients, including frozen berries. Even though the USB Blender Bottles are working well, they are not designed for frozen fruit. Besides, frozen fruit doesn't stay frozen for long and fresh fruit is just fine. Normally our smoothie provides about 24 ounces at home, while in the car it only provides about 12 ounces. We try very hard to keep up on our healthy eating regimen. Part of that routine is our daily intake of JUICE PLUS+. Our smoothie without Complete Vanilla/Chocolate is unacceptable. With getting only 12 oz of liquid from the blender bottle, we are not satisfied so we add a NUTRITION BAR to fill our breakfast needs. These bars are also in our backpacks for hiking provisions. Another staple nutrition product is the JP Capsules. We have been taking all of these products faithfully for 20 years to keep us healthy and vital for our adventures. It has served us extremely well and prevents the emergency stops at fast food restaurants. We are never starving!

We also have a constant supply of home made trail mix. We have an Amish store close by where we can purchase a huge variety of raw nuts, dried berries, chocolate covered seeds, coconut chunks, wasabi peas, and other tasty surprises. I have a two gallon Ziploc bag at the beginning of our trip and so does Tom, since he has his own combination.

We rarely eat at any restaurants. Instead we plan ahead, go grocery shopping and cook. As I mentioned before, we try to stay at sites with electricity. Water is not important, since we carry along 5 gallons (see previous post). Depending on what's for dinner we either use an Infrared Cook top or our Pampered Chef indoor outdoor grill. 

This grill is so cute. We can use it either with charcoal or electric power. The size is absolutely large enough to grill for two, but it is also small enough to transport behind the seats! A purchase that has proven itself worthy! Pampered Chef products are my favorite travel companions (besides Tom 😉). In our travel set-up, we have no room for bulky items and multi-function tools are a must. Some of my kitchen tools are also nation wide permitted self defense tools. Look at this! I think this could do some serious damage to any attacker!

                                             GRILLING FORKS with tip cover

SANTOKU KNIFE with protective sleeve

I hope we will only have to use them for grilling and cooking purposes!

When packing my suitcase, I like to use a lot of Ziploc bags. Generally, I can fit three t-shirts in one 1 gallon bag. As I close the bag, I sit down on it to transform it into a vacuum bag! This way, I can see what is in each bag, it protects my clothes from moisture, and I can fit so much more into my suit case.

We bring along some laundry detergent pods because they are too expensive to buy at the laundromat. 

As of right now, we have 11 days, 18 hours, and  50 minutes left to get ready. So far it looks like we are ahead of schedule! I don't like the last minute rush. (Tom!.....are you packed yet!)

#vanlife #simplicity #vancamping

CATCHING UP TO THE PRESENT TIME

We always liked camping. I grew up in Germany and went camping with my parents every year. I'm like my mother. I don't need much, but it has to be organized and easily accessible. I hate wasting time searching for stuff. My parents had a rather big tent to accommodate a family of four. 

One day, many years ago, one of Toms acquaintances gave him something she "found" at the curb to be trashed. It was a rather large JEEP brand bag. At the time we were so involved with our construction mess in the house, that Tom just set it down in the garage and never looked at it. Several months later he decided to take a look at what's inside the bag. I was busy indoors and didn't pay any attention to what he was doing outside. After some time, Tom came inside and asked me to come outside and look. I came around the corner and see this huge beautiful tent! We inspected it; no holes, no rips, all complete! It was perfect! Why would anybody toss a perfectly fine tent like this? We decided on the spot, "we are going camping!" We looked at a few campgrounds within a one hour radius and started camping almost every weekend. 

To move forward to what we are doing now. We still have the tent and will use it again eventually. For now, we've discovered that we can camp comfortably in our van. We own a Dodge Grand Caravan. With the stow-and-go seats folded down, it provides a large platform to serve as a sleeping space. Many years ago we got a full size, dual bladder, Sleep number bed. Over the years the mattress got dirty due to spills and we tossed everything but the bladders. We thought they would still be good as emergency beds. Little did we know. The platform in the back of the van is 4' wide. Too narrow for a full size mattress, and too narrow for 2 twin size mattresses. But guess what? Our two bladders fit perfectly side by side! I cut an old king size flat sheet and created two custom fitted sheets for our new beds. 

Our bedroom

Cooler and luggage

After this discovery, we went on our "test" trip. We didn't know how this would work out and were prepared to opt for a hotel or motel, just in case. To our surprise, we managed this well and spent only one night in a motel because we were not able to find a camp spot before dark. A list of campgrounds is provided on the matching page. We'll add new locations as we continue to travel.

Right away we realized that one bladder was leaking air. It was a slow leak and Tom did not end up on the floor, but that needed to be fixed before our next trip. We had a few nights with temperatures in the low 40s and even high 30s. Air beds are a good option, but as soon as the air inside the mattress gets cold, it feels like sleeping on a block of ice! While tent camping, we used to remedy this by placing a heating blanket UNDER the mattress. Even the lowest setting warmed the air in the bladders and kept us comfortable. Most of the time we stay at campgrounds, and have the luxury of electricity. We stopped at a Walmart and got an electric lap blanket for cars. It was returned the next day because it had auto shut-off that turned off after 3 hours. We replaced it with a regular heating blanket. That solved the problem, as long as we had power. We also had a bunch of hand warmers (to stick under the mattresses) on board, but did not use them. It would be easy to just run the car engine for a while, but that is not allowed at most camp sites and is not the safest option either. There is room for improvement.

Our old electric cooler was alright, but that too was only cooling when the car was running. At times, when we were out hiking or at night, the cooler did not hold the temperature for long. Therefore we opted for food that didn't spoil easily, and went to the grocery store more often than we liked. The idea of a power pack did not work out, because it extended cooling for only four hours. That purchase was also reversed.

This power pack is ideal for charging cell phones or other small devices, but not to run a thermoelectric cooler or an electric blanket.

As we arrived back home, we had some issues that needed to be addressed before the next trip. #1 was the mattress. What a lucky goose I am! Somebody offered an identical mattress with similar soil problems on Face Book market place for $30.00. We didn't care about the condition of the outer shell, as long as it was holding air! We only needed the bladders. A beautiful 2.5 hour drive north was in order to pick it up. At arrival, we found out that it actually came with the plastic box spring! Of course it would be too wide as well, but that can be rigged. The plastic frame is an assembly of multiple side bars and 4 platform covers. Out comes the circular saw. At the middle seam, we cut off about 3 inches on each side, and shortened the platform also by about 3". 

It was an easy job to customize the frame

We tried to fit the bladder with the matching shell, but that too was too wide and too long.

The frame lifts the mattress about 6" off the floor, creating some storage space underneath for items not used regularly. Also, Tom removed the last row of seats, which left a wide and deep hole under the bed. In this space I will have labeled bins with items we need access to frequently, like silverware and cooking utensils, spices, cans, toiletries, meds and supplements, and other odds and ends.

We carry a 5 gallon bottle of water with a USB pump, available at: USB Water pump

Once empty, we refill with two 2.5 gallon jugs available in every grocery store. 

Our new cooler arrived. We selected an Alpicool model available at the link below.

Alpicool cooler  We have tested it and it works well. Problem solved! 

It got pretty stuffy in the van at night, and we were looking for "bug free" ways to open windows and doors. This Hatch tent will be tested in a few weeks.

We also found slip over

Window screens for the front windows. They are super easy to install, fit over the mirrors, and are black to darken the inside of the van.

#vanlife #simplicity #vancamping

SIX YEARS LATER

Much has happened since our last post in July 2014. Let's start where we left off. Our home did not sell in time, and turned into a rental. Thankfully occupied by our daughter and her family. Back on the island of Fehmarn,

Tom was asked to help the grounds keepers getting the campground ready for the winter season. Cutting back shrubs, securing structures and such. He agreed and was volunteering through October and November 2014.

We were planning and preparing for our own first winter in the camper, when the campground owner approached us with a proposal. She asked if we, since we were the only campers around all winter, would be willing to keep an eye on things and make sure nothing freezes, report damages and mop the office/stairwell as needed. In exchange, we were invited to stay in the apartment above the office overlooking the Baltic sea. That was a "very difficult" decision to make! We moved to the apartment when the water to the campsites was turned off, and enjoyed the luxury of a large livingroom/dining room, a bedroom, a well equipped kitchen, and a bathroom with a deep soaking tub. We even had a car available to drive to the grocery store or get needed parts for the campground. 

It was cold! It's always windy on the island, but during the winter months, it is brutal! We did not have much snow that year, but it was cold enough to freeze the coast.

We spent Christmas and New years in Kassel with our German Family. That was a lot of fun.

In March 2015 we travelled back to NH  for a few weeks. On our return trip we ended up in Rota, Spain for a week. That's what happens when you fly "space A" on military planes. Unfortunately, there was no flight offered from Rota to anywhere in Germany. We ended up taking an endless, horrible bus ride from southern Spain all the way to Hamburg, Germany. From there it was only a short train ride to our island. 

In May I surprised Tom with a 60. birthday trip to Berlin. We stayed at the house of a super nice Couch surfing host through www.couchsurfing.com. We toured the city, and on his birthday we enjoyed a show at the Friedrichsstadt-Palast. The show was called "The Wyld". Similar to Cirque de Soleil. Great performance, great costumes and all in all a huge surprise for Tom.

The summer was warm and we took trips to Hamburg, Lübeck, Bonn, Berlin, Mainz, Kölln, Kassel, Eutin, Dahme, took the ferry over to Denmark, and explored the island.

In June we purchased our own car. We got a cute little used and cheap BMW. It served us very well, and to this day is still in the family.

In October 2015 we came back to the US and stayed there until March 2016. We took a flight from McGuire AFB to Sigonella, Sicily.  It was beautiful. We explored the city, climbed up Mt. Etna, traced the steps of "The Godfather" in Taormina, and then took the ferry over to Malta. We spend only 3 days there. It is on the list to go back and spend more time there.

After we arrived back on Sicily, it was no problem to catch a flight over to Germany. We had the great privilege to travel in the cockpit! That was a first time experience. I loved it!

Summer 2016 was cold and windy. Problems with our rented home in the US turned out to be a big and constant worry. We were contemplating, thinking, revising, until we decided to relocate back to the US and take care of business first and come up with a new plan. Now since we had figured out the SpaceA situation, it really didnt matter much where our headquarters was. We sold the camper and pretty much everything in it and came back to NH for good - for now.

From there we drove across Canada to Madison, WI.

For the remainder of 2017 we, once again, worked on the house to get it ready for the market...again. We really did not want to live in that house, in that State since a few years. We moved away for that reason. After long and hard thoughts we settled on a new location. Close to military bases from which we could fly out to destinations around the globe, and below the snow line. We zeroed in on Virginia and plotted our next move. 

While in the planning stage, we managed to travel to TX, FL twice, a big Canada loop, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and Germany.

Finally, in March 2019 we moved to VA. More tenants moved into our home. The market was not in our favor. That rent to own situation turned sour within a few month. In September they vacated the property and left us with much damage and dirt and financial stress. We spent from September to November working on the house - again. Finally by the end of November it was listed for sale. We went back home and anticipated a quick sale, only to find out, on Christmas Eve 2019 that the house suffered extensive water damage due to a frozen pipe. Back to NH we go to assess the damage. Is was not pretty...

We had it all back to normal by February. That's when covit19 started occupying the news.  Long and behold, our home sold at the end of February 2020. After all was set and done, a HUGE burden lifted off our shoulders. We were free! But then again, the pandemic kept us home. We originally had plans to travel to Japan for cherry blossom season. That did not happen. All international travel on military flights stopped completely. 

Today it is December 1. 2020. This crazy year is almost over, but I dont see the care free living, we enjoyed in the past, coming back any time soon. I'm certain that future international travel will require the covit vaccine. That will certainly curb my desire to travel.

We decided to venture out and explore the State of Virginia. We did 2 weeks of van camping along the "Wilderness Road". We started in Winchester, VA and traveled south to Cumberland gap. Then through N. Carolina back to VA. 

We enjoyed it so much that we have two new trips in the planning stage. We are leaving December 16. 2020 to Florida. But that will be in a new post.

Stay tuned. This is going to be fun!

#vanlife #simplicity #vancamping

GERMANY WON THE SOCCER WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP!

Last night the German team won the Soccer World Championship Game against Argentina. It was a “nail biter” game. No goals throughout the entire game and the first set of 15 min overtime. Then, when all the players were exhausted, in the second 15 min of overtime, Mario Götze secured the winning goal and with that the title of World Champions. This is the fourth time in Soccer history that Germany won the Championship!

It was a sad day for Argentina. They played well, had great chances and showed a lot of effort but this is a game where only one team can win. Second and third place it really not that bad. If your team qualified to play in this competition in the first place – you got to be good.

Now Germany can go on with normal life. I was informed that all the German flags are not out because Germans are so patriotic but only in support of the German Soccer team. They will now be packed away again until the next World Championship in 2018 in Russia. Until then the flags will be replaced with flags of their favorite teams, their regional district or simply decorative flags. I guess that means that our American flag will be the only patriotic country flag proudly waving in the wind on this German Campground.

What is the latest from our new life? We truly enjoy retirement and the simplified lifestyle as long term campers. Our new home is so small that I keep wearing my reading glasses all the time – lol. But no, seriously, it is really cute. We still have a rather unpredictable weather pattern. A mixed bag of beautiful sunshine, storm, heavy rain, thunder storms and currently temperatures lower than desirable for mid of July. The 2000 predicted hours of sunshine on this island must be squeezed into the later part of summer. We do enjoy the fact that we have daylight often with the sun still shining until 9:30/10:00 pm to sit outside. It gets cold as soon as the sun disappears behind the trees.

Our new bikes arrived and are all assembled waiting for a stretch of nice weather to be taken for a ride. The internet is still a big problem. We are in constant contact with the provider but find customer service is terrible. No communication with the customer, no call back, no refund. It is so frustrating to sit and try to connect to the internet again and again. To get disconnected every few minutes or not to be able to connect in the first place. I guess we are rather spoiled with high speed internet connection and 4G service everywhere.

We have very nice neighbors in our little cul-de-sac. One had discovered a rather large wasp nest between his vent cover and the screen. That took some careful action to get it safely removed.  This couple only comes every two weeks for a few days. Others across the way stay all summer or for 3 weeks at a time. Behind our camper, past a wide ditch, we had a large area for tent campers. That usually was a bit rowdy on the weekends. Campground rules though are followed and everybody calms down around 11:00 pm. Now, much of that tent area has been turned into the boat storage area and the weekends are much quieter now.

We went to Burg auf Fehmarn a few times. We biked, walked and also tried the Bürgerbus. This bus runs 3 times a day and is operated by volunteer seniors. It’s just a simple tour bus and costs only €0.50 for people with Ostseekarte (a certain tourist discount card). In town we can shop for pretty much anything we need and, since we don’t need much, we can transport it back home in the baskets of our bikes or carry it to the bus stop.

Last week Wednesday we picked up our new grill. It’s a small 2 burner Broil Master. Noting fancy, nothing big for the two of us. It does have a side burner if needed. We already had a few small gatherings with new friends and everything cooked very well. Since I don’t have a cook stove in my kitchen yet I find it interesting to prepare dinner for a few people on a 2 burner electric stove. For just the two of us it is perfectly fine but for a group of friends one has to become a bit creative. It is possible though in combination of the electric cook top and the large toaster oven we have. End of the month we will be able to install our ceramic cook top and our oven. Another step toward permanent camping in style.

A car is still not one of our desires since we don’t have to be anywhere at a certain time and also, with a little bit of prior planning, public transportation is readily available.

We have spoken to several other camping enthusiasts that stayed at the campground through the winter and it doesn't sound too bad. It’s good to gather some information and pick the brains of people that have been here in winter. All of the people we talked to have/had canvas/heavy tent material camper extensions while ours is a hard shell with plexi glass windows and insulation material in the walls, floor and ceiling. We hear that it could be damp and clammy at night and in the morning. I assume that can be remedied by a steady supply of propane for the heaters. We shall see. I decided to look for a large carpet to keep floor temperatures comfortable and to prevent heat to escape through the floor. Heated mattress pad will also be a must have.

The individual beds in our camper will not work for us long term. They are too narrow. Strangely, they are wider on one side than on the other. It will be an early fall project to replace the bed design with a large sleeping platform, almost the size of a king size bed. Our “living room” space was originally the dinette part of the camper. Not comfortable to sit and watch TV for a few hours. It’s a square U-shaped set-up and it has to go. We are looking at an IKEA Manstad sleeper sofa. It has two seats on one side and a lounger on the other. It should fit in the space and we will still have some bed box storage space. Besides, it will look much nicer.

THE FIRST MONTH BACK IN GERMANY

We live a very quiet lifestyle here and truly enjoy the fact that we honestly don’t NEED to do anything. The first 2 weeks were filled with hunting and gathering for household and food items I hate to be without. All in all I can say that by now we are almost all set. This weekend we are picking up our new stove and a new grill is also on the way. The grill that we found in our shed was too small for 2 steaks and unfortunately was very rusty. Certain things are very important to me in my household, for example Teflon coated frying pans. I’m not completely opposed to coated pots and pans but once I detect any peeling, the pans have to go. We also organized a different dining table. The one we have is round/oval and takes up too much space with the extensions in and without the extensions it is too small. So we switched to a square table. Both ends extend to easily accommodate a moderate crowd if needed.

o find the foods that are important to me took a bit longer. It was not a problem to find Coconut oil and shredded Coconut, raw Honey, Peanut Butter (for Tom) and other little kitchen supplies. Black seed oil and Black seeds, Flax seeds, Hemp oil and seeds on the other hand were not available on the island.

The next two weeks we spent in Kassel, Germany at my daughters house. Meanwhile the 2014 Soccer World Cup countdown has begun and every evening is filled with soccer. From my daughters roof-top patio we can see the Aue Stadion (soccer stadium) where the games are displayed on the big screen for public viewing. After Germany won the first game, pretty much every car in Kassel was on the road; people sitting on top of cars and hanging out of side windows with flags waving, honking all available horns, singing, drinking and congratulating each other like they already won the final game. This convoy of happiness snaked all over the city with no cops anywhere in sight! It was a lot of fun riding around with our grandson (a big soccer fan).

A few very positive things struck me with surprise. For one, pet dogs are allowed almost everywhere the owners are allowed. They go into grocery stores, restaurants, offices and on public transportation. I have to say, German dogs are extremely well behaved and their owners are very concerned to pick up their messes. I have not encountered any dogs pulling the owners all over creation nor have I seen a dog barking in places where they should not. In fact, I have seen more misbehaving children than dogs. I compare that with some dogs we owned and they could not be taken out in public. I really like the fact that they can go where the owner goes because it prevents dogs from getting overheated in parked cars and also don’t have to stay home alone for long hours.

Shopping carts in all stores are chained together and are released by inserting a Euro or a special reusable disc. After shopping, the chain plug from the cart in front is inserted into the slot of your cart and returns your money or disc. You don’t see shopping carts in a 2 mile radius around the store or scattered in the parking lot. People are trained to bring their carts back, and they want to, because they want their money or disc back.

Plastic/glass bottles and soda cans are recycled for cash back. Every store or beverage market has a section where customers insert their bottles or cans into a machine which counts and calculates their refund. 0.25 Euro per bottle adds up and reduces your final shopping bill or provides cash. Therefore, you don’t find many empty drink containers on the ground.

Trash is separated by bio, hazardous, paper and card board, and compost for recycling as well. Nobody complains about taking out 3 or 4 trash bags, and collectors pick up several times a week. The residential garbage cans are locked and occupants of apartment buildings all have a key. This prevents dumpster diving or animals rummaging through the trash and creating a mess.

People drink beer at any time of the day or night – in public! What a concept. Don’t think they are always drunk, but beer is one of the staple beverages. Most households buy it by the case and rarely will you find the case empty. Of course there are always people that drink too much – just like in the US.

Public transportation! This is the best way to travel! You can go from anywhere to anywhere by city train, bus, regional train to long distance train or airplane. You never have to wait long, the vehicles are very clean (even though they transport a lot of dogs), and your bicycle can also be taken onto the trains in case you have to travel from the station to your home or work by bike. Besides the convenience, it is very affordable to use the public transportation system; we paid 7 Euro for a 24 hour ticket for two travelers. That ticket is good for any lines. You can get on the train in the morning and ride from end station to end station, switch to another one and again go from end station to end station. Take an ice cream break and do some shopping or sightseeing and continue your trip all day long. Parking downtown is a nightmare since spaces in parking garages are super narrow and you have to be a skinny belly dancer to get in or out of your car. The parking fees are also rather expensive and free curbside parking is very hard to come by.

Man-powered transportation is extremely popular. So much more walking or biking results in a population, in general, that is not as overweight as people in the US; most people are slim and trim. For many people a bike is the main means of transportation. They have a relatively new systemin Kassel called Konrad http://www.konrad-kassel.de/. They distribute bikes in many different locations all over town and people can rent them. You register on line and then you can pick up a bike in one location and drop it off at another. It costs next to nothing and provides a great alternative to the other transportation systems available. 99.9% of roadways are split up into train tracks in the middle, road ways, pedestrian walk ways and bike trails. Of course, the bikes too have to follow traffic regulations. This is the case in most inner city environments.

Now let’s talk about food. German food has an old, very positive worldwide reputation. There are bakeries and butchers everywhere. Everything is super fresh and delicious. Food is one of the things that irritated me a lot in the US since it is all laden with chemicals, preservatives, food coloring and taste enhancers. Many of the poisonous additives are prohibited in Germany and Europe. As a result, everything comes in smaller packages. The first shopping trip, I made the mistake of buying bulk (just for Tom and myself), to find out that we were not able to eat it all before it spoiled. In the US I bought milk with an expiration date a month and a half out and it was still good on that date! Not here; milk comes in 1L cartons (no plastic jugs that sit in the landfills for the next 250 years) and you better drink it or it will spoil. Raw honey is not something you need to search for or pay extra for the chemicals you DON’T get, it’s readily available in any grocery store. Tomatoes also go bad very fast too, what tells me that they are not sprayed and irradiated like US produce. I could go on forever about the food, but let me just finish by saying that many items that we have to buy organic in the US are not specially labeled as “bio” since they are, without question. There certainly are exceptions to the rule. Fast food places are somewhat rare and not on every street corner like in the US. In Kassel we saw only 2 McDonalds, one BK and one Pizza Hut. In commercials on TV they are also not as overpowering. Fast food is not glorified as the great food it pretends to be in the US.

We are now back on the island and will be here for several months before we return to Kassel or travel elsewhere. Local trips are possible but nothing it scheduled yet.

QUEEN MARY 2 IN PICTURES

If you consider a transatlantic crossing, we suggest to select Cunards Queen Mary2. In the pictures below you will see why we feel this way. We are open to answer any questions you might have as we feel qualified to answer. Enjoy the tour.