Journey Home 2022

After a good year and a half in the Caribbean, we set off on a short trip back home. We went to Switzerland for a few days, and then to Germany for a few more days.

Homeland – where is that now, really?

There are many definitions of home. If you ask five people, you'll get five opinions about their journey home. For some, home is where they were born. Others define home as the place where they grew up. If someone looks down at Earth from the ISS, Earth is their home. So it also depends on where you're viewing home from.

Seen from a more philosophical perspective, home is where the soul resides. That's how I've also developed my own sense of belonging over the years. My home is wherever my own family is. It doesn't matter if we live in a rather ugly small town in Northern Ireland, stay in a different hotel every few days while traveling, or hang out on white sandy beaches in the Caribbean for years. I feel comfortable anywhere my family is with me.

For our youngest, home is Barbados. She really had homesickness on this trip. We, on the other hand, were rather glad to be back in Barbados because of the temperatures.

Switzerland

My second adopted homeland besides Sweden (It's been a long time). It just feels good. The mountains, the mountain lakes, the clean air. Of course, we have plenty of that in the Caribbean too. The very first thing I did in Switzerland was drink a glass of fresh tap water. Sooo fresh and the water is cold. Really cold! I actually forgot what cold tap water feels like. There is no cold water in the Caribbean. You can leave the tap on here for minutes and the water is still only „lukewarm.“.

The jump out of the shower the next morning was the next shock. Here in Barbados, you simply step out of the shower, stand in the bathroom for two minutes, and dry yourself off comfortably. In Switzerland, you have to do it lightning fast, brrrrrrrr... we were quite cold for the first few days. However, the house was nicely heated. That made the situation simpler and more pleasant.

Chur – Switzerland's Oldest City

Our family in Switzerland and most of our Swiss friends live in and around Chur. This allowed us to spend a lot of time in my favorite city as well. Gothenburg and Church are my two favorite cities, as some of you may know.

Chur has absolutely everything and is wonderfully located in the middle of the Alps. A city with a feel-good factor. Especially if you're on your way down to Italy, you can wonderfully spend a few nights in Chur. Not only the old town invites you to stroll, but also the new district, City West, is now great for shopping.

After 1.5 years in the Caribbean, however, I was overwhelmed and out of my depth. There are so many things to buy in Switzerland! And there are so many new things. That's really great when you live in civilization =)

We were also happy because everything was finally cheaper. So on our trip back home, we packed our suitcases full during our week in Switzerland.

My top three culinary things this week included the fresh tap water, veal (which you can't get here in Barbados – only beef), and crispy croissants (yummy!). That's just how it goes when you suddenly don't have all of those things anymore.

Saarland – The most beautiful state in the world

Germany, one of the most beautiful countries on our Earth. I grew up here in Saarland and that's why I always feel really comfortable here. When traveling back home, Saarland is always a top priority. The people of Saarland are known for their hospitality, and now we are always just guests in Saarland. Therefore, I can fully agree with that. If then, Swivel When unpacked, the stay is perfect. This makes the trip home culinarily and socially perfect.

But in Saarland, there's also a lot Great to undertake. There are numerous Seen, wonderful forests and many rivers and streams. Barbados has exactly one river and no forests, only jungle. That's also great, but mostly muddy and a huge mess 🙂 The kids love it, of course.

We had a good week here too and visited many friends and, of course, our family. Wadern is a great city and we always look forward to shopping there and enjoying a delicious ice cream.

Conclusion of our trip to our homeland

We had a wonderful stay in Europe and want to thank our families and friends. You helped make everything go so smoothly and we had a great time with you. ❤️

Here are a few more impressions from our trip to our homeland, especially of the beautiful landscapes.