I start packing everything into my rucksack, leaving only the sleeping bag and sleeping mat outside for the time being. This is the baptism of fire for my new tent. It has to prove itself. Not much can break. Unless the fabric tears.
While we were still in the Allgäu in the Pyrenees in the first week, we were in the real high mountains in the last week. Every day we have between 1000 and 2000 meters of altitude on our plates.
As luck would have it, we met up again with my friends who had already accompanied me in New Zealand. We meet up in Saint Jean. Many others, with lighter backpacks that seem much lighter than ours. They head west, we head east, along the Pyrenees.
After a year and a half journey across two continents and ten countries, I am returning to Germany to begin a new chapter in my hero’s journey. Hiking has proven to be a central part of my experience, covering over 5000 km on foot and overcoming more than 12000 meters of altitude. However, despite my return, I don’t see this as the end of my journey, but the beginning of a new chapter.
After everyone had arrived, there was a light dinner and then the introduction that began the seriousness of the silent retreat, absolute silence. Basically no contact was allowed, not even with gestures or eyes. Part of the program was to hand in our phones. Reading, writing, sports, everything was forbidden.
