Home Sweet Home!

The last three days of our adventure weren’t particularly spectacular. We stopped at a workshop to try our luck fixing Mike’s bike. The mechanic suspected a faulty spark plug, and indeed, one of the plugs wasn’t working well. Unfortunately, that didn’t completely solve the problem, so we continued our journey home, mostly sticking to highways with the occasional side road.

After the ferry crossing, we headed straight to the mechanic. At first, the place didn’t look like a proper workshop—it seemed more like the garage of a very well-equipped bike enthusiast! He turned out to be a former racer, and he shared some great stories about his racing days. We had a good time helping him troubleshoot the issue, and I even picked up a few cool things about bike mechanics along the way!

By lunchtime, the bike was reassembled, and we hit the road again. Our goal was to reach a campsite beyond Magdeburg, but that turned out to be a bit too ambitious. Instead, we found a spot to set up camp in Havelberg.

We pitched our tents and went for a stroll through the city to find some food. Unfortunately, we were a bit too late, and the town wasn’t exactly bustling with options 😅.

Packing up our tents in the rain wasn’t the best way to start the day. Honestly, though, it was only the second time we’d encountered rain on this entire summer journey—we’d been pretty lucky! But as we got closer to home, we heard about a big storm coming, bringing heavy rain. Sure enough, it poured, but thankfully not during the day. We made it to a campsite in Paulfeld for our last stop, a much bigger place with more people around, including some fellow tent campers. That evening, it started pouring heavily, and a thunderstorm rolled in.

Despite the rain, we decided to head to a nearby Chinese restaurant with one bike. My shoes got completely soaked in the process 😄. On the way back, we stopped at a Rewe supermarket. I still vividly remember the odd looks we got from the lone employee there as we loaded up on snacks and energy drinks!

By the time we crawled into our tents to sleep, it was nearly impossible to rest. The lightning and thunder were crashing loudly and felt uncomfortably close. At one point, we even heard emergency sirens in the distance because of all the flooding. I was so relieved my tent held up and kept me dry—it was touch-and-go for a while, and I wasn’t entirely confident it would.

The rain still hadn’t let up by morning when we had to pack up, so we made an early decision to spend our last night in Germany at an Airbnb. It was the perfect choice—we were able to dry off, recharge, and finally get a proper night’s sleep after the stormy, sleepless night at the campsite!

The last stretch back home felt strange. Suddenly, the streets were getting more and more crowded. After being so used to almost no cars on the roads, I’d totally forgotten what it was like to constantly check my back—it immediately became stressful. But despite the traffic, we arrived safe and sound in Zurich after 25 days, back at the same place where our adventure began! All I had left to do was make my way back to my place.

The first thing I did after arriving home and unloading my luggage? Cleaning my bike! xD Mike always teased me about bringing cleaning supplies on the trip, but every now and then, when there wasn’t much to do at the campsites, I’d take the time to clean and admire my Tenere—what a beauty! (And of course, it gave me the chance to check if anything looked off—you never know!)

A few weeks later, Mike finally figured out the problem—it was the kickstand sensor! It was turning off the bike even while the engine was fully running.

<3 Tenere

And that was it—7,180 km through the northern part of Europe, all the way to Iceland and back! What an adventure it was, especially for my first long journey. I was hooked! I wanted more—more off-road trails, more time on the road, and definitely more Iceland!

Be sure to check out my 2022 journey, where I traveled to Iceland again. This time, I went solo, taking two months off to make it happen. Mike couldn’t join me, and honestly, I think it wasn’t always easy for him to deal with me and my wild ideas anyway! xD