The pre-Christmas season in particular is often characterized by a certain hectic. Every year, the same considerations are made. To whom do we want to give what exactly, what do we need in the house to get through the holidays well and to be able to entertain the visitors at the same time? If so, who is coming at all? Oh yes, the Christmas tree still has to be made and where are the Christmas decorations from last year? To put it mildly, one or the other of us can be seen in a certain tension in the run-up to Christmas.

What is the obvious thing to do something completely different and simply spend the Christmas days abroad with your loved one?

Admittedly, especially in times of the pandemic , such an undertaking is not quite as easy to implement as usual. But they still exist, the opportunities to enjoy a few days abroad without any worries.

Spontaneity is required

So now you only have to pack the bare essentials in the Samsonite suitcase , don’t forget the Canada Goose jacket and off you go.

Which destination is suitable for a short trip for two?

Well, especially this year, Christmas is not at all ideal for employees. So if you really only want to travel over the holidays and can’t add any more bridge days, long-distance travel is more or less out of the way, unless you don’t want to be on the road for an excessively long time. A city tour in one of the Scandinavian countries, such as Sweden or Denmark , for example, would be a suitable way to take a little time out with your partner. A short journey, depending on the type of travel, of course, is given. At least they are ideal to reach by plane, train or car, without the need for weeks of planning in advance.

Christmas ambience

If you like it particularly romantic and think that the Christmas season also includes the correspondingly cool temperatures, you are in good hands in countries like Denmark, Sweden or Norway . And the Nordic countries in particular celebrate the Christmas season in an extraordinarily heartfelt way. There are always interesting spots to look at in the Christmas-decorated cities and for a city tour, the clothes you bring from the Samsonite suitcase are definitely enough. And with the Canada Goose jacket you are always suitable and warmly dressed anyway.

Let yourself drift

What could be nicer than, for example, exploring a city on foot without much preparation and planning and taking in the Christmas spirit? There is always something to discover when you go through the world with your eyes open. This is also the case on a spontaneous city tour with your partner. Suddenly you are a visitor who can simply enjoy, without the duties and responsibilities. All the stress of everyday life is forgotten, for a short time there are no obligations and you can surrender completely to the moment.

Shared experiences are valuable

It is a very special experience when you can look at the richly decorated houses as a couple or enjoy the beautifully decorated Christmas trees. These are very personal moments that you experience together, that no one can take away from you and that you remember very fondly even years later.

Experience has shown that the physical recreational value after such a short trip is not necessarily given, but the value of the many new impressions is always impressive and quite beneficial. With new inspiration, you can then go back to everyday life and tackle New Year’s Eve very elated. And who knows where to celebrate the turn of the year…

Sport on holiday? For some an absolute must and for others a no-go. You can easily combine exercise on holiday with lots of fun!

Whether on a beach holiday or on a city trip, you can stay fit everywhere. A healthy mix of lazing around and sporting activities makes you even more relaxed and balanced, because sport makes you happy and keeps the body healthy. If you want to continue your hobby on holiday, you often have the opportunity to play football or tennis in other places in the world. In addition, you can of course jog on every island, every mainland or in every city. Many hotels and accommodations also offer a wide range of activities and often have their own gym. It is important not to forget to pack the right sportswear. Especially at seasonal highlights or around Black Week, there are great offers, for example a 5% extra discount from DeinSportsfreund.

Fun sports on a beach holiday – surfing, jet skiing & Co.

Those who like to travel to the south to enjoy the sun and the sea have the opportunity to practice new or already familiar sports directly in the water or on the beach. Beach volleyball, speed badminton and beach soccer, for example, are particularly popular. These team sports are not only fun, they are also suitable for meeting new people and building friendships on holiday. Action fans can also look forward to water skiing, kitesurfing or windsurfing. A great change from lounging on the beach!

Those who prefer something a little quieter can swim, snorkel, book a yoga class directly on the beach or try stand up paddling. Other ways to be active on a beach holiday are.

• Beach Rugby
• Beach tennis
• Frisbee
• Cliff jumping
• Surfing
• Water aerobics
• Ride
• Jogging directly on the beach or on the promenade

Depending on where you are, there are of course other sports. Some hotels also have their own tennis court or even offer sports lessons with a trainer.

Holidays in the mountains – hiking, skiing & alpine running

During a relaxing holiday in the mountains, there is the possibility to go hiking in addition to wellness treatments, for example, because the mountains offer fantastic scenery and panoramic views that will be remembered for a long time and give you a feeling of freedom. Experienced hikers usually choose their own hiking route, although newcomers can often book guided hikes directly at the accommodation. With a qualified mountain guide, you will then go high up to the summit. Once at the top, you will be rewarded with a breathtaking view down into the valley.

As an alternative to normal jogging, experienced runners can do so-called Alpine Running in the mountains. Long distances, steep vertical routes and alpine paths are traversed. In addition, hobby climbers will also get their money’s worth, because in the mountains there are many different via ferratas of different levels of difficulty or well-equipped climbing halls. Passionate cyclists enjoy a turbulent mountain bike tour while exploring the beautiful landscape.

For all holidaymakers who travel in winter, skiing is clearly on the list of activities. With a lot of speed and fun, you can descend into the valley on a few kilometres of slopes and steep slopes. In addition to the classic winter sport, snowboarding, tobogganing or a snowshoe hike are also on the programme. If you can’t ski yet, there are ski schools where you can learn the first basics before you hit the slopes.

Sports on a city or round trip

All travelers who like to explore new cities or book a round trip to see as much as possible do not have to do without sports. Here you should be a little more flexible, but the sport can be easily integrated depending on the location. You can always pack your jogging shoes in your suitcase anyway. This sport can really be practiced anywhere in the world. In addition, there is a bike rental service in almost every city to explore the new place by bike to the smallest corners. Depending on the location of the place, both mountains or the sea can be nearby, so that hikes or surfing lessons can take place. Often there are also one-off sports lessons, in which you can usually participate flexibly. If there is no gym in sight, you can also train with your own body weight. The so-called bodyweight training is very effective and keeps you fit.

Active travel – yoga retreat, tennis camp or fitness trip

An active holiday focuses on sporting activities from the outset, so that the focus is either on one sport or a mix of different sports brings exercise to the holiday. Among other things, a yoga retreat is suitable for this, in which active relaxation, recreation and soothing physical exercises are on the daily program. Here, for example, the diet is optimally adapted to the sport. Furthermore, tennis camps or a surf camp are extremely popular. Fitness trips with qualified trainers also offer an active and healthy holiday in addition to a structured daily routine and appropriate nutrition plans.

Increasing motivation – Consciously train & enjoy

If you find the balance between relaxation and training on holiday, you will return home particularly fit and relaxed. Conscious eating plays a role in particular, because a plate of delicacies does not always have to be filled randomly, but can be served in a targeted manner. In addition, you should always reward yourself with a special feature from your vacation to keep your motivation up. Tip: When sightseeing, walk as many distances as possible and climb stairs from time to time. So you often discover secret places anyway that you can’t reach by car or bus. And don’t forget: Enjoy the landscape while exercising!

Everyone knows it: car trips can often be long and breaks are necessary to stretch your legs, refuel and get some fresh air. Of course, a small snack, lunch together or a good coffee should not be missing during the breaks. The problem: Many rest stops and truck stops on the German motorways usually provide little relaxation from the journey and the selection of meals is also moderate. Finding the perfect restaurant for a break on the highway is often difficult. The drive & dine app now wants to make this search easier: The application, which was launched in the summer, takes drivers to one of over 1,500 selected restaurants along the planned route.

Wide range of choices: there is something for everyone

Restaurant search made easy: In the app, everyone can find the restaurant for their taste with the help of different filters. Users can choose between various cuisines, such as Thai or Italian, and filter the restaurants according to special characteristics. Among other things, breaks can be planned with a gas station or e-charging stations near the restaurants. In addition, it is possible to filter by the price range. The refreshment stops are easy to reach from the motorway, as they are usually a maximum of five kilometres away from the exits.

All restaurants at a glance depending on the route

The route from Cologne to Dortmund is one of the most stressful sections on the German motorways, with an average of 19 construction sites on the outward journey and 18 construction sites on the return, as a comparison of the app shows. Especially on such routes, a relaxed break is important in order to be able to continue riding full of energy afterwards. This is exactly what the app makes possible.

Unlike other online applications, drive & dine suggests restaurants while driving, so users don’t have to focus on a static location, but have an overview of nearby restaurants depending on the route. The app is currently available in German and English for iOS and Android devices.

The founder of the app is the Liebrecht-Frey family from Frankfurt am Main: Victoria Liebrecht has many years of international gastronomy experience, Werner Frey is an experienced manager in the automotive industry and the 17-year-old daughter and student Friederike Liebrecht takes care of the social media presence of drive & dine.

“The idea for drive & dine came to us in 2018 on the way back from our vacation in France . We wanted to eat something away from the busy motorway service areas, but the search with the smartphone turned out to be difficult and took a lot of time due to the dynamics. This gave rise to the idea of an app that can be used to easily direct you to a suitable restaurant near the motorway exit,” says Victoria Liebrecht, co-founder of drive & dine.

“Not far from the motorway there are real restaurant pearls. We want to put them in the spotlight, give them a stage and make them attractive for new guests. We have experienced for ourselves that it is worthwhile to just go off: This is the only way to get to know new corners and take a relaxed break,” comments co-founder Friederike Liebrecht.

Do you have a restaurant that fits drive & dine, but is not yet listed? Then feel free to send your suggestions by email to info@drivedineapp.com.

Many people like to hike, whether it’s a day trip, a weekend trip, a few weeks or just for an hour to get some fresh air, hiking connects, makes you happy and provides an inner balance. However, it is very rare to decide to start a journey that has no end to it for the time being. But they do exist, people who care so much about the most natural and healing locomotion that they want to grow a steady rhythm of life from it. As if that wasn’t enough, there are two adventurers whose mission is to wander around the world without money. How this can work and from what the idea of leading a life without money was born is told here.

Who are the two adventurers in freedom?

On 01.01.2014 the time had come, Heiko Gärtner and Franz Bujor wanted to find out whether a life without money is possible. The urge to escape from society and the regulations was so loud that they could hardly ignore it. Because the previous sedentary and unfree life was absolutely no longer an option for both of them, so the idea was born to hang up the old life and start a new one in freedom and enjoyment of life armed with two pilgrims’ chariots. Until then, Heiko did an apprenticeship at Allianz and took over his father’s insurance agency. And Franz studied pedagogy and led class trips and youth programs. Afterwards, they wanted to help students and participants in their joint wilderness school to re-establish their connection to nature, which they were happy to pass on for quite some time. Finally, the wilderness school was handed over to a successor in order to be able to work on the preparations for her world trip without money at the same time.

It is without a doubt the greatest adventure of her life, which took a year of preparation, but it was worth it. Since the beginning of their adventure, they have been living as nomads, wanderers, researchers, healers and writers without money in order to learn as much as possible about natural healing methods and the healing art of different cultures.

The trip became the longest charity walk in the world without money

Since Heiko and Franz wanted to contribute something to the well-being of the world and its inhabitants, they also opened the longest charity walk in the world. The aid projects of the charity run were joyfully supported by private individuals and companies in order to ensure a more peaceful, healthy and happier life together. By running without money, projects such as for the protection of indigenous peoples but also for environmental protection are supported, but above all and this is particularly important to Heiko and Franz, that those who can no longer walk should also be supported. This is how the mission “Walk for people, who cannot walk” was born.

A dream became reality

They not only want to be web nomads, healers, researchers and globetrotters themselves, but also pass on their knowledge and the many possibilities to all people who are interested and also feel the call of freedom within themselves. Every person can become a light or kindle his light and they want to encourage everyone to become a seeker of truth in their own life.

From childhood dream to task in adult life

Even as children, Heiko and Franz carried large and adventurous travel plans independently of each other at the age of about four or five. But above all, as a researcher and explorer, to travel the world without money. Nevertheless, like many others, they started as adults with a completely normal job and put the world travel plans of their childhood on hold for the time being.

When they both set out as adults to visit an American medicine man, they already suspected that a big task was waiting for them. They were allowed to take part in a healers’ meeting, where the old Indian healing knowledge was to be reactivated. As you can quickly imagine at this point, it didn’t take long for the childhood dream to flare up again like an unmistakable fire. There was no longer any doubt for both of them, they felt that it was time to break down the tents and go.

Why walk around the world?

Our feet have more nerve cells than our hands, so they are a lot more sensitive. This enables us to establish a connection to the earth while hiking, in order to create a healing for the earth but also for us, as long as the steps are carried out consciously. Therefore, a hiking trip is also a healing journey at the same time, where you experience first-hand who you are, what needs to be healed and how you can heal your contact with the earth.

How can you imagine a life without money?

Since both pull a pilgrim’s chariot behind them by means of an attached hip belt, they can stow their belongings in it and are thus flexible and without travel costs. Each of them carries around 60 kilos of luggage and equipment, as this weight would have been impossible with a backpack on their backs.

If you travel with a higher goal that people find supportive, such as supporting the aid organizations during Heiko and Franz’s trip around the world without money, you will also meet people with a big heart. This made it possible for them to find out in which region which methods and systems work to get food, sleep and equipment. Churches, museums, castles, yurts, caravans, cafes, community rooms or host families are suitable for accommodation, as long as there is a positive intention and a feeling of confidence.

Due to the abstract system of society, there is a lot of waste and overproduction, which on the other hand has developed a dense social network to catch people who fall through it. Nobody uses food that is available in surplus anyway, considering how much is thrown away. 70% of what is grown in the fields is thrown away before it reaches the end consumer. Actually, you can go anywhere, both report, where food is sold, to ask with a friendly request and a short explanation why you need the things. Of course, not everyone says yes, even if they could, but usually you always find enough to get full.

A lot has changed for Heiko and Franz since they left

The time spent hiking has become a kind of ritual in their journey. Especially in regions like Extremadura, where the landscape does not change for many weeks, you have the opportunity to look into your own soul cellar and get out everything that is slumbering there and wants to enter into harmony. Both were able to gain many small and large insights about themselves in the course of their travels. But the most important and central insight that both were able to gain for themselves is the sentence: “Everything is one!” A sentence that can be found in any religion or philosophy of life and sounds totally simple at first.

What this sentence means, however, can throw the entire world view overboard, because the meaning of our lives is suddenly completely different. The explanation that there will always be joy and sorrow in life and why we are confronted with certain situations or topics that we perceive as negative is also becoming more and more conclusive. Both now see and feel the world with different feelings, they feel how strongly omniscient love surrounds us and that everything and every encounter has a meaning. They are incredibly grateful for everything that has happened in these 7 years of being on the road without money.

About the authors: Heiko Gärtner and Franz Bujor are survival experts and extreme journalists who have been wandering around the world on foot and without money for a good cause since 2014. All information about her journey, the ideas behind it and her experiences so far can be found at www.lebensabenteurer.de

Interview with Heiko Gärtner from 28 November 2021

What were your biggest concerns about embarking on such a travel adventure without money?

The biggest concerns were that we would get involved in a very hard and uncomfortable life. Before we left, we weren’t sure if we could even rely on any form of support from other people. So what if no one wanted to help us with food, places to sleep, or other things? We had already trained often enough on how to survive purely with what nature offers. So we knew that we would definitely get through, but we also knew that this would be very hard and deprivation. Fortunately, however, these concerns proved to be completely unfounded. In the seven years we have been on the road so far, we have not had to go hungry for a single day and only on about 10 or 15 nights we did not get a place to sleep. But even that wasn’t bad, since we had our tent with us.

How do you have to imagine the daily routine on such a trip?

As a rule, we got up every morning around 8:00 a.m., packed our camp for the night and then left around 9:00 a.m. Most of the time we had fresh fruit for breakfast on the way. Sometimes we also ate together with our hosts before leaving or took a short breakfast break along the way if we found a nice place for it. The hike then took an average of about 6 hours before we looked for a new place. Depending on the location, we then went on sightseeing tours without luggage or simply worked on our projects. Wrote articles for the world travel blog, edited pictures and the like. Or we have had long and intensive conversations with our hosts or with other people we have met. In the evening we had a proper dinner and then we ended the day with a series or a movie on the computer. That’s more or less how our “everyday life” went. Of course, there were completely different days, because nothing could really be planned. It could be that we passed a thermal spa and were invited to test it. Then we spent the afternoon in the sauna. Or we hiked until late at night because the next place where we could find a place to sleep was 80km away from the last one. A lot of things could be planned or at least assessed in advance, but things often went completely differently than expected.

Which countries did you like best on your way? Both from nature and from the hospitality of the people?

As far as nature is concerned, our favorite is clearly Montenegro. In no other country have we been able to get to know so many different natural beauties in such a small area and with almost no traffic. There were gorges, mountains, forests, endless meadows, steppes, beautiful lakes and much more. As far as hospitality is concerned, Slovenia is our number 1. Here we sometimes had problems making any progress at all in one day because we were invited so often. But Kosovo, Romania and Bulgaria were also very hospitable. Here it was enough to show a crumpled piece of paper on which it was written in poor translation what we needed and the people helped us without us knowing a word of their language. However, we were also positively surprised by the Germans, who were much more open and helpful towards us than they are usually credited with. However, we have had the best experience in Central and Western Europe in France . Here the people were not only very hospitable, but also real connoisseurs. We were able to taste hundreds of cheeses and many other specialties.

Were there any considerations during the trip to cancel the project?

A few times. There were always situations in which you were fed up because nothing just wanted to work out as planned. There were areas that were so ugly, loud and unfriendly that you just wanted to leave. But those were always only short moments in which you didn’t see a way out. Most of the time, it only took minutes for the mood to improve again and then we made new plans or adapted our previous strategies to the situation. The good thing was that it would have been impossible to give up immediately anyway. In any case, you would have had to go to the next city to book a plane or a train there and just thinking about how to do that already led to the fact that we preferred to look for a solution on how to proceed instead.

What are your plans for the future?

We are currently taking advantage of the situation with the Corona crisis, in which it is no longer so easy to travel without money, to prepare for our next stages. From the very beginning, the goal of our journey was to walk through every country and continent on earth. The plan is still in place and in order for it to be feasible, we need an escort vehicle as a mobile base station. In Europe, you could easily wander from one place to the next and get a new place to stay and new food. In Africa, Australia, Russia and also in the USA and Canada, this will no longer be possible so easily. There are regions where you have to overcome hundreds or even thousands of kilometers to get back to a populated place. You can’t take enough water and food with you on foot. In some regions it doesn’t matter, because you will find enough on the way, but if you have to go through deserts or steppes, that would be our death. Therefore, we take our expedition vehicle with us, in which we can transport food and water and which also serves as a living and working place in the afternoon and evening. After all, we want to continue our documentary and it would be a shame if we couldn’t report on the particularly exciting corners of this earth.