First camping spot on our trip 🙂 after we walked 23 km on the first day. Damn, my feet hurt!!! This morning they hurt a little less, then 5 min into the hike they started hurting again. All well though and anticipated. Soon, it should get better!
Our sleeping spot was fun. Meadow with cows close by so we heard their cow bells all night long. Then got woken up by a deer that decided to trample straight through our little camp at 6am. Today we are 3 hikers 🙂
Found this amazing tree along our route yesterday. According to a sign next to it, this tree was first mentioned in the year 1668! It was so beautiful I wanted to stop right there and just stay.
It’s time to head out! This morning, I’ll start my long-distance hike along the E4 in Brugg, Switzerland… Amazingly, I am not heading out alone. 3 old friends have spontaneously decided to join me. Stefan will join for the first day only. Andrea will join for the first four days. And my good old buddy Dave is open-end for now. Might be as much as a month…
If at any point in time any of you feel like joining in for a few days/weeks as well, just let me know! Any time!
Alright, here we go…
Boo is helping me pack the last odds and ends. So tempting to pack her too while we’re at it… But it’ll mean an additional 4 kg, so I guess I better not 😉 I’ll miss her to bits but, gladly, my dad is taking great care of her.
2 more days! Still packing… This is all the stuff I’m planning to take. Need to ditch a couple more things though. I’m still about 4kg too heavy. Altogether, I’m at 14kg but should have no more than 10… What to leave behind? (I have to take my iPad mini and a solar power bank so I can write while on the road).
Packing!! Only 3 more days until the start of this adventure ☀️
I am properly nervous and excited. Making sure I don’t overpack, but also being sensible regarding safety. Pepperspray, just in case. A well-stocked 1st aid kit, an emergency blanket and whistle, and a Spot Gen3 satellite tracker with which I can broadcast my location from anywhere, plus send off an SOS signal to rescue services if I need to. More tomorrow, gotta run, pack a bit more!
In 4 days, I’ll begin what might be the adventure of a lifetime. Before I head out, I had planned to write some articles, to take with me and publish on the road (then I’ll also keep writing whilst on the way). Currently, my head is so full with packing, planning, last minute changes, ideas, and projects, that I’m experiencing what can only be described as a big ol’ writer’s block! Just now made myself a steaming hot Amarula coffee which will hopefully get me into gear!
What do you crave when you are far away from home? For me (don’t laugh) it’s Aromat. It’s a Swiss-ism. A quite unhealthy, artificial salt thingy. Most Swiss can’t live without it. Neither can I. And I’m not even Swiss. I’ve only lived there, off and on, for 17 years. Wherever else I went during the last 30 years, an Aromat was always with me. Making hard-boiled eggs and not having Aromat to go with it is a major emergency. Very sad.
So, even though I need to keep my backpack weight as low as possible, this Aromat shaker WILL have to come with me 😂☀️
Liam Klenk 