Tour I: April - July

After more than 3 months on tour I concluded for myself in the port of Mölschow am Achterwasser to take a break and spend a few weeks at home. The 12'000 km and 15 borders I crossed in Europe helped me to understand what I really like. It wasn't an easy decision, but it was the right one for me.
Articles by Country

Kraków - Oswiecim - Wrocław and Poznań
I entered Poland near Zwardoń. I didn't notice much of border, only the trucks had to drive to a parking lot, while I went overland to Kraków

Slovakia
I've been pondering what I should write about Slovakia for so long. On the one hand, that was because I hadn't been in the country long enough, but I didn't want to stay any longer either

Rubbish update Romania
For me there is a big gap between what I was told and what I saw in Romania

High Tatra Hike
If I'm honest, I didn't have a plan for Slovakia, apart from hiking in the High Tatras

12 weeks and 10'090 km on the road
When I started the Dog.O.Mobil this morning in brilliant weather <26 degrees at 800 m>, I saw 90 on the display

Creasta Cocoşului Hike
The hike to Creasta Cocoşului should be my last hike in Romania

Transalpina - Transsilvania - Maramureș
After my detour to the Iron Gate <Danube breakthrough> I wanted to continue north again. The motto was Transalpina - Transylvania - Maramureș.

From Sinaia to Bucharesti
After we had crossed the Danube at Braila and had visited the mud volcanoes in Vulcanii Noroioşi, we wanted to go in the direction of Bucharesti

Vulcanii Noroioşi
The Berca Mud Volcanoes <Vulcanii noroioși> are next to Berca, not far from Buzău. It covers an area of 30 km² and apart from Camping Muddy there are only a few guesthouses

Danube Delta
Our boat trip into the Danube Delta started at 6:00 in the morning. This was on request of the camp owner of Camping Lac Murighiol.

Bulgaria - Part II From Sofia to Varna
I had comfortably driven from Rila National Park to Sofia. I got a lounge chair from Decathlon and an adapter from Technopolis. Sofia at the foot of Vitosha is a hypermodern suburb. Seriously did not expect this.

Bulgaria - Part 1 till Sofia
Again, the first difference when crossing the border from North Macedonia to Bulgaria was not so big. My first impression of rural Bulgaria was greenhouses, fields and poppies. Also, there wasn't much in the towns next to the border, from time to time a small supermarket.

Rila National Park
Actually, I wanted to go to Mt Belmeken, in the eastern part of the Rila National Park. But the rain had thrown my plans upside down and so I drove to the Rila Monastery and then to the mountains at Sapareva Banya.

Pirin National Park Hike
I had chosen a few hikes again while in Bulgaria. The first hike took me to the Pirin National Park. But I could also have imagined Mt Orelyak while having an espresso at Popov Meadows. BTW Pirin is a little village on the 198 road.

Northern Macedonia
I escaped from the thunderstorms at Pindos National Park without seeing Vikos Gorge. The weather and the forecast for the next 5 days really wasn't the best.

Meteora
I have skipped some TripAdvisor highlights on my tour so far, but it was clear for me that I wanted to visit the Meteora monasteries

Culture
I had planned to visit monasteries, museums and archaeological sites at Peleponnes

Greece - Peleponnes
For €21 you can cross the bridge to Patras and enter Peloponnese. The bridge and Patras are impressive. Driving in Patras, and I'm in the middle of the shopping street, was like Tirana. I enjoyed it.

First Month
When I woke up this morning I couldn't believe that my first month is over

Greece - towards Peleponnes
If you cross the border at Mavromati, you don't really notice any difference until you get to Igouminista. The places are a bit cleaner but that's about it.

Explorer mode - Vacation
I noticed something today. I was standing on Desimi beach and had slept until almost 9:00

Albania - opposites create a new picture
When I was in Montenegro, I started thinking about my tour in Albania. Roughly speaking, what I wanted to do was:

The turn of the Dog.O.Mobil
Finally I got to the point that I considered a road to risky and I took a u-turn

Montenegro - I liked the northern part best
When entering Montenegro at Hum via the M18, the first thing that caught my eye is the EU sign and the second was the SMS saying that you don't have EU roaming

Bosnien and Herzegowina - Looking back
During my first breakfast in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) in Banja Luka near the Vrbas I thought that BiH reminded me of the Westerwald, where I grew up.

R433
In the camp at Mostar I had put together a tour over the hills from Mostar to the Dervish in Blagaj and then via Kalinovik to Sarajevo.

White Surprise
I left Banja Luka because rain was reported for Saturday afternoon and Sunday and I didn't want to get bogged down in the campsite.

Krk - after 2 days
It started well on Tuesday. I left around 10:00 a.m. and treated myself to 2 buttered pretzels, the last ones for a long time

The plan
What are you doing when you have a 6-month sabbatical? Sit at home, start a new project, buy a ticket around the world...

Loading the camper van
Less than 2 weeks before the tour starts. In the last few days I have loaded everything except the clothes and the basic equipment for the kitchen