PHOTO-A-DAY CHALLENGE
Traveling From One Home to Another
When you’re home in more than one country
Life isn’t always that easy when you’re home in more than just one country. Instead of going on holidays traveling to countries you haven’t seen before, you’d much rather travel “home” to visit friends and family.
Don’t get me wrong. I love having more than one home in the world. It kind of allows you to travel more often than you would usually do. It allows you to have more than one group of friends.
Having two countries you can call home has a lot of advantages. Lots of goodbyes and farewells parties are involved. But just as many as welcome-back-home events.
And it’s that time of the year again. Our working season in one place is finished and we’re traveling back south to spend some time in the other home. To travel the vastness of Namibia and explore its rough ocean.
This week’s photographic documentary brings you across the vast African continent. We’re escaping the cold winter and Germany and are exchanging it for some African summer vibes.
This is week seventeen of the photography challenge started by Dennett. One week. Seven days, seven photographs. That’s all you need to start your own story. Share a bit of your life with us. A beautiful challenge without any competition but rather some lovely exchange of words.
It’s 7 am when we’re leaving my parents’ flat. My mom drops us off at the subway station taking the last picture before leaving for work. A quick hug and that’s it. Goodbye for a couple of months.
Taking the subway to Stuttgart main station we travel along with kids on their way to school. Memories of my own school time come up while driving past the high school.
Walking through the main train station in Stuttgart is a bit challenging with all the luggage we have. One inflatable SUP (stand-up paddleboard) in one backpack and an inflatable kayak in the other one. A suitcase filled with climbing and skydiving gear didn’t leave much space for clothing or other private items.
That’s how we travel. Heavy on sports equipment and light on clothes.
Waiting on the tracks in Stuttgart for our train to arrive we are shivering in the frosty morning air. Walking up and down keeps us warm and lets the time fly past.
It ends up becoming a long day with several articles being written before boarding the plane at 9 pm.
Waking up in the clouds I realize only later that we’ve crossed already most of the vast African continent. Recognizing the country I’ve spent five years of my life in, I know I am about to land back home.
Unfortunately, the country did not receive any rain yet and looks rather sad from above. Being just at the beginning of the rainy season, I hope for the best.
Long hours of waiting in queues in front of immigration and health checks are ahead of us before finally leaving the airport building. Because of issues with the car, we stay over the night in Windhoek, the capital of Namibia, and do not drive through to our home on the coast.
A hot night is lying behind us. That means not much sleep. Again. For the third night in a row. I am exhausted. Coming from a country covered in frost, we got hit hard when landing at 27 degrees Celsius at 8 in the morning.
Putting the fixed part back in the car we eventually get on with our drive. Driving home for Christmas one could sing. Just that I’m not much of a Christmas person. I just don’t like the whole materialism of the event.
I much rather look forward to some adventures. Stand-up paddling, crayfish diving, rock climbing, sandboarding, skydiving, and whatever else we decide to do.
But for now, all I want to do is sleep. Unpacking our luggage is the maximum work I am going to do today. Apologizing to my in-laws I disappear quite early and fall into a lovely 12-hour sleep.
Finally.
After catching up on the lack of sleep we face back reality and laid down stacks of paperwork on the floor to prepare for the next appointment at the embassy.
Planning to go back to Germany next year we need to start applying for the visa for my partner right now. It will take months for them to process the application.
But I don’t let the day pass without going for a quick walk to the beach. Only a few meters away from it, we can hear the ocean when lying in bed. It’s lovely to be back.
The gardens on the oceanfront are blooming in full force. Blossoms in various colors remind me of spring and the upcoming summer. It’s gonna be a lovely one.
Leaving the coast again after only one day back in town, we head back to the capital. That’s what you gotta do over here. Any official or government paperwork can only be done around 400 kilometers from home.
Leaving at 4 am to reach the appointment in time we get surprised by this lovely sunrise. The first sign of African magic is greeting me. A wonderful one.
Since none of the offices work in cooperation with another one, we will have to spend some days in the capital to get everything done. Something I rarely ever do. I’m just not a city person.
Renting a small self-catering unit in the city, we make ourselves home switching on the air-con to prevent us from melting. Still haven’t climatized fully yet, traveled a lot back and forth in different climates.
This is my partner and I. Spending three hours in a shopping mall in the city. Walking out of there without buying anything. Guess we both don’t like shopping.
We had to kill some time while waiting for the government officials to process our paperwork. And it seemed like window shopping was the best we could do in a city we hate. It has nothing to do with the city.
We are just not city people.
So here we are. Standing on the terrace, enjoying the view and ordering a fish platter for lunch. That will be our expenses for now. Definitely worth the money. I simply love seafood.
Today we were lucky for once. Being told we had to wait three working days for the government officials to process our papers we went back there after one day and they were finished. What a suprise!
Therefore we could go to the appointment in the embassy today, hand in the stack of documents, and be done in the city. Time to drive home. Leave all the stress behind and start catching up on some sleep now.
This picture was taken on our drive back to the coast. Passing drylands and mountains without any greenery on them. That’s what most of Namibia looks like at the moment. Waiting for the rainy season to begin!
This has been my week of traveling. It has been a long journey. It has been exhausting. It has been tiring. But now everything that stays is excitement. Excitement for the upcoming months in this country I call home too.
“The magic thing about home is that it feels good to leave, and it feels even better to come back.” — Wendy Wunder
