On the Road

Jens

Growing up in a small village in eastern Germany and surrounded on three sides by an impenetrable border fence, the day trips had the nearby Harz mountains as their destination, and the holiday trips mainly the beautiful mountains of the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

 

Almost every summer holiday we spent hiking between high mountain peaks and building stone dams in quite refreshing mountain streams. The evenings were campfires, sausages and kettle soup between retro tents.

After the fall of the wall, the whole world suddenly opened up to me, and after an intensive exploration of Europe by train, I hitchhiked deep into the Algerian Sahara, wandered through Bali’s rice terraces, enthusiastically crossed Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula and cycled across the plateaus of Chiapas.

With my partner Ana we later rowed following caimans in Ecuador’s Amazon rainforest, and spent wonderful days among huge shield volcanoes, seals and giant tortoises on the Galapagos Islands.

 

In Cuba we rented a tiny car and took as many Cubans with us as we could fit into the back seat to learn more about this lively and at the same time contradictory country. We walked on Fidel’s paths through the Sierra Maestra and spent the night in the so-called Casas particulares with family connection.

We drove the Highway Number One from San Francisco down to the Mexican border and with a night train from Chicago up to the Niagara Falls, roamed New York, lived a few years in Madrid, Florence and London.

Then we moved to Lisbon and our daughters were born. Now we are looking for the big adventures in the vicinity again and surprisingly they can actually be found here. Here in Portugal, just like in Spain, Italy or Germany.

 

We have understood that an activity becomes an adventure not so much because of the exotic environment, but much more because of one’s own commitment. When you are ready to start walking, even if you don’t know how to get back, when you don’t just take pictures of a pretty lake along the way, but jump in for a refreshing swim, when you talk to the locals and try out their insider tips, then you have created the basis for an adventure and can live it out together with your children.

I present our most beautiful finds to you in this blog for your own after experience, because it is easier to live through a beautiful experience in a wonderful place. We have visited all the places listed here ourselves with our children. And we are constantly adding new suggestions.

In addition to the travel tips, I would also like to inspire you with cultural ideas, so that you can make your trip even more beautiful and intense, empathise even more deeply with Portuguese life or dream a little more of what you have experienced at home. Also in this matter I am looking forward to your ideas and suggestions.

 

Porta do Mezio