Route to the blog:
After our motivation had taken a hit in the Spanish wilderness, we finally had another highlight on the horizon: the semi-desert of Bardenas Reales. Spanning some 42,000 hectares in southern Navarre, the landscape—with its bizarre rock formations, deep gorges, and barren plains—looks almost like a backdrop from the Wild West. The area was formed over millions of years by erosion and, due to its unique landscape, was even designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.
But before we could immerse ourselves in this Wild West setting, we still had a good stretch of the Via Verde bike path ahead of us. As usual, the former railway line was superbly maintained, but the weather left a lot to be desired. Temperatures hovered around just 11 degrees, and it rained almost every day. Just a few days earlier, we’d been riding in temperatures over 30 degrees!
Because of the heavy rain and frequent thunderstorms, we ended up spending three nights in a row in dilapidated huts. There were more of these in the region than we had expected. Many were former train station buildings along the abandoned railway line. However, the huts were not always in good enough condition: often the roof had already collapsed or the floor was littered with trash.
Fortunately, the day we reached the Bardenas Reales was sunny, so the dirt roads had almost completely dried out. We took a small side road into the semi-desert on our bikes and were able to enjoy the landscape at first with no other visitors in sight. After a little over an hour, we reached the “main road” through the park. However, traffic was still light.
Several times we felt the curious stares of tourists who whizzed past us in their RVs. Many of them parked somewhere in the park and then explored the area on their electric bikes 😅.
We had already been traveling through the challenging terrain for several hours, and our energy was slowly waning. Beni was determined to take a short detour onto a small side road so we could enjoy the special atmosphere one last time without any other visitors around. Nicole wasn’t at all keen on the idea, since the wet mud there might make things difficult for us.
Beni managed to convince Nicole anyway—by promising to face the consequences if she turned out to be right 😂. What can I say: When, after five minutes of pushing through mud that was inches deep, a dry road finally came into view, Beni wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with a sigh of relief.
Things are slowly but surely starting to feel surreal for us. A few days ago, we decided that after crossing the Pyrenees, we would take the train from the French city of Pau to Geneva.
There are several reasons for this. The most important one is probably our homesickness. For the past few weeks, our thoughts have been turning more and more to Switzerland. We’re already looking at apartment listings and are really looking forward to being back home soon.
On top of that, Beni is going back to work in mid-June, and there’s still a lot to take care of before then. For example, there’s our beloved car, which we’ve de-registered and that needs to pass its inspection first before we can re-register it. Then there’s the big question of where we’ll be living in the future. On top of that, we’ve had our belongings in storage for five years now. During that time, we’ve repeatedly taken things out of the boxes and later stowed them away again in a different place. So, a huge mess awaits us.
Nicole also has to figure out where and what she wants to work on in the future. And just catching up with all our friends will make time fly by.
But when the route up into the Pyrenees becomes indescribably beautiful once again, we start wondering all over again. Should we have spent a little more time in the mountains? If only, if only… As they say, hindsight is always 20/20 😅. But one thing we already know for sure: we definitely want to return to the Pyrenees.
We therefore take in the route leading south from Pamplona up to the Port de Larrau Pass with all our senses. The unspoiled nature captivates us and is something we haven’t experienced anywhere else in Spain like this before. We’ve found a small mountain road with almost no traffic, and as the crowning highlight, a kind of shelter awaits us just 100 meters below the pass. There, we’re protected from the wind and weather and enjoy a view that could hardly be more beautiful.
The next day, crossing the mountain pass—and with it, the national border—proves to be a truly emotional experience once again. At the same time, our impression that people in Spain were uninterested and reserved toward us is confirmed. As soon as we enter France, however, we are once again greeted with warm smiles and waves.
We also suddenly see significantly more active people on the streets again: cyclists, hikers, and runners. Everything seems a little livelier to us.
After an exhilarating descent, we treat ourselves to one last night’s stay in the city of Pau. Before the long, two-day train ride, we recharge our batteries, do our laundry, and slowly prepare for the end of this adventure.
And just like that, we’re off. We take the regional local trains (no bike reservations required) and, after three transfers, arrive in Avignon. There, we pitch our tent in the garden of a WarmShowers host before catching the next train to Lyon early the following morning. From Lyon, we transfer one last time, heading toward Geneva.
The closer we get to our destination, the more nervous we become. In Geneva, we’ll come full circle. Or as the younger generation would say: We’re experiencing our “full-circle moment.”
Because on that very same day, we’ll meet up with Lucia at Lake Geneva. She was our Lightning Process coach, and without her, we probably wouldn’t have even dared to dream of another bike trip a little over a year ago. Back then, that goal seemed infinitely far away. Nevertheless, just a few months after the seminar, with a lot of courage, confidence, and thanks to her professional support, we took the leap into adventure.
At first, we weren’t sure ourselves whether everything would turn out well. Whether we had made the right decision. But for us, there was only one option back then: all or nothing.
Today we can say that it was the best decision we could have made. Although it took a few more months before we achieved the full health and confidence in our bodies that we enjoy today, we made enormous progress. And that’s exactly why this moment feels so special.
After three years of illness, our journey began here in Geneva. Now it ends here as well—over a cup of coffee, a beer, a slice of cake, and with a sense of health, freedom, and gratitude that’s hard to put into words. 🤩
Meeting Lucia means the world to us. Finally, we can thank her in person and show her where our journey has taken us. At the same time, we talk about all the wonderful news from other people who, thanks to us, also found their way to the seminar and, in some cases, have made progress just as impressive as ours.
As we sit by Lake Geneva later, we realize just how much has changed in recent months.
From Geneva, we drive along the eastern shore of the lake, briefly through France again, and then back across the Swiss border to Vevey. Once there, we can’t resist popping into the first grocery store we see to stock up on our favorite chocolate and a Rivella 😍.
From Vevey, we head up toward Bulle. The plan is to take a short detour through the Engelberg region. We want to check out a few towns there, since we’ll most likely want to settle down somewhere in that area after our trip.
But first, after a steep climb, we called it a day and pitched our tent right by the road, well hidden behind an earthen embankment.
Once we had everything set up and our pasta was simmering away, we suddenly heard the roar of an engine—just like on a racetrack. A few seconds later came the screech of tires, followed by an extremely loud crash, and then another crash right after.
We jumped up immediately and ran to the street to see if anyone was hurt. It was so loud that we feared the worst! Fortunately, two very young BMW M3 drivers (straight out of a picture book) were already standing next to their completely wrecked car and said they were unharmed. Unfortunately, four exhaust pipes don’t exactly grant you any extra driving skills. The guardrail probably saved these two speeders’ lives that evening, because right behind it was a drop of at least 20 meters. The force of the impact catapulted them back across the road. Fortunately, no one was traveling in the opposite lane at that moment. We don’t even want to imagine what else could have happened.
When the tow truck and the police arrived, we were relieved that such speeders had their driver’s licenses and cars revoked indefinitely.
Having recovered from the scare we’d had that evening, we continued our climb back toward home. But we’d completely underestimated the weather, and, to be honest, the forecast had been far too optimistic. So we struggled our way through the beautiful “La Gruyère” region all day long in heavy rain and occasional sleet, with temperatures hovering around 4 degrees.
Since we’d known for a few hours that we could move back into our old apartment on the farm in Birr until we found a new place, we decided—after checking the weather forecast again (which didn’t look any better for the next few days)—to take the train in Switzerland as well, traveling directly home from Bulle.
Now that we’ve arrived in Birr, we’re wrapping up our 7-month journey—filled with pride and carrying countless wonderful memories with us. We’re eagerly looking forward to planning how our life here in Switzerland will unfold. Our goal is to stay in our home country for an extended period and find a lovely new home in the mountains.
A heartfelt thank you to everyone who has joined us on our journey and left such kind words! Our next adventure is sure to come, and it will likely take us down even more adventurous paths.
Until then, all the best! ❤️
For even more insight into our everyday cycling life, check out our latest video: