The Great Journey
In 2025, Svenja and I fulfilled a dream that we had had since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. We promised ourselves that we would take a sabbatical to travel the world before turning 35. Five years before the deadline, we made this dream a reality. Over the last two years, we had converted a used Mercedes-Benz Sprinter into a camper van. Together with our dog Apollo, who had chosen us as his companions a few months earlier, we set off on this great adventure with a rough plan in mind and 10 months of total freedom ahead of us.
Navigation
Part 1 – Preparations
The Road goes ever on and on,
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.
Here’s a situation I don’t think I’ll be in very often over the next few months: I’m sitting on a […]
Part 2 – A Long-awaited Departure
It’s happening! We’re finally going on our great adventure that we had been planning for so long. In the first part of the journey, it’s all about getting to somewhere warmer. First big destination: Istanbul, the gateway to Asia…
Berghülen on the Swabian Alb… To be honest, I thought we’d be a bit further along on the first day […]
On the second day of our journey, we want to get a little bit further than yesterday. So we take […]
We’re in Greece! The original plan was to go straight to Istanbul, but the weather conditions in Romania and Bulgaria […]
The bad 6: that’s the number of days on our journey before our first car crash. I’d have hoped it […]
Chalkidikí On day 8 of our journey, we leave Thessaloniki and head for the Chalkidiki peninsula in the south-east. After […]
Part 3 – Turkey: Between Holiday and Travel
In this next part of our journey, we leave Europe in the rear-view mirror and set foot in Asia: Turkey, this huge, foreign country full of history, breathtaking nature, good food and many surprises lies ahead of us.
Overland to Asia: this is a dream I’m proud to say we’ve made our own! We’ve left Europe and are […]
Now in week 3 and having spent several days among olive trees, watching sunsets and slowly draining our water supply […]
Pergamon Day 19 of our journey brings us to another highlight of our journey along the Turkish Aegean coast: Pergamon, […]
On day 24, we continue out of the Dilek National Park to Didim and visit the remains of the Apollo […]
It is becoming easier and easier for us to allow more peace and quiet to enter our journey. And so […]
Our original plan was that today, on day 36 of our trip, we would have already driven across Turkey, crossed […]
Continuing along the Lycian coast, we make a brief stop at the archaeological site of Tlos. Unfortunately, the weather has […]
We continue along the coast and make a detour to the small tourist village of Çıralı on the coast. Here […]
From Antalya, we drive a little north to the Köprülü Canyon National Park. It’s still raining cats and dogs for […]
Kızıldağ National Park From Eğirdir Gölü we head further east to the Kızıldağ National Park. The weather has become decent […]
Part 4 – Cyprus: Relaxing on the Island of Aphrodite
In this short intermezzo of our Journey, we take a step back and reflect on what we have already experienced. After 6 weeks of traveling, we also feel the need to relax on the wide beaches and rugged mountains of this beautiful island in the middle of the Mediterranean.
What a ride… We were prepared that taking the ferry could be quite an exciting undertaking. But this is not […]
On day 55, after a few quiet days at our beautiful campsite near Larnaka, we feel like exploring the island […]
On day 56, at the end of the second month of the Great Journey, we visit Limassol. The city surprises […]
It was time again for another pet rescue operation… On day 58 of the trip, Easter Sunday, a beautiful and […]
We figure Cyprus is best enjoyed slowly, so we spend a good week in the west of the island, visiting […]
After our trip to the western tip of the island, we return to our parking spot near Kourion, where we […]
We explore the easternmost part of the ‘Greek’ side of Cyprus and visit the extremely touristy town of Agia Napa. […]
After the failed crossing into the occupied part of Cyprus, we continue our journey towards Nikosia, the capital of Cyprus, […]
Ferry days are funny days. Maybe I’ll never get used to the idea of being driven across the sea in […]
Part 5 – Anatolia and Towards the Caucasus: Ever further Northeast
On this part of the Journey we cross Turkey from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea and the Caucasus.
After spending one night in the mountains near Mersin, we drive all the way through the Taurus Mountains to Central […]
From Central Cappadocia, we drive south and spend two nights at a cave hotel in Güzelyurt. The rooms at this […]
We had already seen Hasan Mountain, majestically towering over the southern part of Cappadocia and not far from the Taurus […]
Tuz Gölü, Ankara and Hattuşa Quite a few things have happened since my last blog post and I was admittedly […]
We slowly make our way further east along the Black Sea and soon head south into the Pontic Mountains to […]
Bit by bit, we continue our journey towards Georgia, taking a small detour through the Pontic Mountains. From Limni Gölü […]
After spending a quiet night near the waterfall, we head back towards the Black Sea and spend a few peaceful […]
We continue driving uphill into the Kaçkar Mountains, heading for the village of Ayder. This local hub for alpine tourism […]
Part 6 – Georgia: Taking Our First Steps in the Caucasus
We have slowly approach the Caucassus coming from Turkey. No, we are taking our first steps in this fascinating country and are expecting lush green mountains, fantastic hikes and a culture that is very different from anything we have experienced so far. We can’t wait to see what this next part of the Great Journey will bring — it’s the furthest east we’ve been so far!
After our experiences in the Kaçkar Mountains, we drive the last stretch along the Turkish Black Sea coast to the […]
We drive through the beautiful and lush mountain landscape of Mingrelia towards Upper Svaneti. We stop at the wonderful Aghvi […]
After completing a big round trip through Upper Svaneti at a relatively fast pace, we are longing for some peace […]
After a brief stop at the Katshkhi Pillar, a hermitage monastery atop a 50-metre-high stone pillar, we head east and […]
We use the small mountain village of Stepantsminda, only 12 kilometres from the Russian border, as the base for some […]
We’ve had enough nature for now, so we head back south to Tbilisi. We were a bit skeptical about going […]
After spending a few wonderful days in Tbilisi, we set off to add another country to our list: Armenia. We […]
After crossing the Georgian border quickly and succesfully (this time is the first time anyone checks Apollo’s chip…), we arrive […]
Part 7 – Central Asia: Roadtrip on the Silk Road
We now embark on the most adventurous part of The Great Journey so far. We take the big leap into Central Asia: The Pamir Highway, the ancient Silk Road and a long autumn lie ahead.
We spent a few more days in and around Tbilisi, replenishing our supplies, taking Apollo to the vet for a […]
Over the next roughly one-and-a-half weeks, we cover many kilometres. Compared to our relatively slow pace so far, this change […]
Through Uzbekistan to Tajikistan From Tashkent, we drove for about two hours, close to the Tajik border. This time, we […]
Car crash before Chorugh After the high we felt when we arrived at our last stop, we had one of […]
The next day, we set off from Murgab and head further north. We soon reach the highest point of the […]
After two stressful weeks travelling on the Pamir Highway, we take a break for a few days in a nice […]
A clogged diesel particulate filter After a few days of peace and quiet at the foot of Peak Lenin, it’s […]
From Lake Issyk-Kul, we drive a few hours to Almaty, the capital of southern Kazakhstan. Along the way, we reach […]
From Almaty we drive on west and after a few hours driving reach the infamous Kazakh-Usbek border near Tashkent. We’re […]
After the bustling city of Tashkent, we wanted a few quiet days. We decide to take a short detour into […]
After driving for a few hours east from Bukhara towards Tashkent, we arrive in Samarkand, one of the most important […]
Our time in Central Asia is almost over, and we’re taking slow but steady steps to head back west. Unfortunately, […]
Part 8 – The Long Way West
After a wonderful and adventurous time in Central Asia, it’s now autumn and slowly but surely time for us to head home. A long road lies ahead!
There isn’t much to see for the next week other than the vast steppes of southwestern Kazakhstan. We’re lucky with […]