From China to Germany – and finally on the water

Our year between a new start, chaos and happiness

When we moved back to Germany from China at the end of March, I was mentally prepared for anything – paperwork or lost moving boxes. But surprisingly, everything went incredibly smoothly. Our container was picked up at Christmas, and when we finally arrived in Germany in the spring, it wasn't quite at our doorstep yet, but almost. A stress-free move – who would have thought it?

What threw me off balance much more was something completely different: German news. After years of radio being nothing more than background chatter in a language I didn't really understand, German radio programmes and people's conversations on buses and trains hit me like a blow. Suddenly understanding every word again – and then almost exclusively bad news. That completely overwhelmed me in the first few weeks. I knew that reintegration wouldn't be easy, but I hadn't expected that of all things to throw me off track.

And right at the beginning of April, I started my new position: new job, new colleagues, new routines. And at the same time: so much excitement. But in a good way. I liked my team from day one, and I think I've really settled in now. That feeling of coming into the office in the morning or opening up my laptop and feeling happy – that's priceless. At least, that's how it is most days ;)

Our summer was then dominated by the search for a suitable boat. We had already chartered two catamarans last year, and since then it had been clear that only two hulls would be suitable for us. And so our personal boat casting began.

We travelled together to Greece, on long weekends to Denmark, the Netherlands, France – and Denny went to Spain twice on his own. We met incredibly friendly boat owners (we almost gave in, just because of the owners!), we saw boats with charm, boats with potential and boats with... let's say... ‘maintenance backlog’, which is still putting it nicely.

But none of them felt like *our* boat.

And then, when we found this one boat, we were more than happy. Finally, everything seemed to fit – price, condition, gut feeling. Maybe that's exactly why we were so careless. We thought we were clever, careful and hard to fool. And then, completely unexpectedly, we were almost ripped off:

Someone had hacked into our email correspondence with the French boat broker and tried to deduct the 10% deposit from us. When we found out, it hit us like a blow. We were really shocked. And in hindsight, we thought: we could have noticed it. A small typo in the sender's address, a tiny discrepancy in tone – there were clues, but we were too caught up in the heat of the moment, too excited about finding what we thought was our dream boat, to pay attention to such minor details.

Fortunately, the attempted fraud was discovered during the on-site appointment before any money changed hands. We got away unscathed – physically and financially, but with a few scratches to our trust in people.

After that, we'd had enough. Enough of searching for a boat, of estate agents, of communication and of everything else. We needed a break.

So, in September, we decided to buy a camper van. If we couldn't find a boat, we would just drive to the sea on four wheels. And to be honest, we hadn't even screwed on our new number plates when it happened.

A boat appeared in our search results. And it was **the** boat. Love at first sight. Perfect for us – except for one small, minor detail: it was way over budget.

But Denny wouldn't be Denny if he couldn't wrap the owners around his little finger. So he started negotiating – tough, consistent and charming as ever. And we had an advantage: the owners wanted to sell *asap*, and we wanted to buy *asap*.

We each packed one bag. With the hope in our hearts that it would sbe our boat, we headed to the airport.

What followed were few days filled with expert reports, crane lifts, discussions and minor renegotiations. It was intense, nerve-wracking, exhausting – and in the end, we were able to move into our new floating home.

We are now at the beginning of a new adventure. After a year full of upheaval, surprises and uncertainties, we finally found what we had been searching for so long.

And somehow it all feels as if it was meant to be.

We will have a lot to do in the near future: one engine needs attention, as does the dinghy engine, the solar system needs to be upgraded so that we are as self-sufficient as possible, and although we haven't sent a container this time, we have sent two Euro pallets. And they first have to arrive here and be unloaded.

We are full of anticipation – and at the same time we know that things rarely go smoothly. The next blog post is already in the works and will tell of (boat) failures, bad luck and mishaps.

Best regards,

Anja