{"id":5219,"date":"2024-03-03T12:58:08","date_gmt":"2024-03-03T10:58:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kommt-zeit-kommt-rad.ch\/?p=5219"},"modified":"2025-08-03T14:03:31","modified_gmt":"2025-08-03T12:03:31","slug":"step-by-step-up-the-mountain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kommt-zeit-kommt-rad.ch\/en\/step-by-step-up-the-mountain\/","title":{"rendered":"Step by step, up the mountain"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We wrote our last blog post 15 months ago with tears in our eyes and completely out of energy when we decided to temporarily end our dream of cycling around the world. In this blog, we try to summarize what happened during this incredibly emotional, mentally and physically difficult time, how we are doing today and what our “plans” are for the future. <\/p>\n\n

Life with Long Covid – short version<\/h2>\n\n

A book could be written about our time with Long Covid and what it has taught us and continues to teach us. But we want to keep this very brief and concentrate on the good things afterwards. <\/p>\n\n

When we came back to Switzerland at the end of September 2022, we were lucky enough to move into the house on Nicole’s late grandfather’s old farm. As the farm was going to be demolished in the near future, we actually wanted to find something of our own pretty quickly. However, we soon realized that we simply didn’t have the energy or the financial means.Sure, we could have used up the money we had saved for the trip around the world on an expensive apartment, but neither of us knew when we would be fit enough to work again.We spent the first few months almost exclusively in bed and were still living out of our bike bags, as we had stored all our belongings, including our clothes. <\/p>\n\n

As the weeks and months went by, we started to feel a little better and, with the help of family and friends, we were able to move a few boxes of clothes and our own bed into the house.Beni made better physical progress in his recovery than Nicole and was able to start working 50% again for his old employer on January 1, 2023. It was a big risk, Beni didn’t know how his body would react. He was simply very grateful for the opportunity to have a secure income again. At this point, a huge thank you once again to Cropmark AG, with two incredibly empathetic bosses. It was a risk for them too, because they hired him sick, with the risk that Beni would suffer a relapse (called a “crash” at Long Covid) and they would then have to bear additional costs. <\/p>\n\n

Crashes\/relapses always occur with Long Covid when you overdo it. In the beginning, even a long conversation could trigger a crash. It takes a long time to accept and understand your new physical limits, especially if you used to cycle 60 km a day.As there is still no therapy, the only way to improve your condition is to stick to your limits. You have to find out for yourself how to keep to these limits and where they are. They can’t even help you in the Long Covid consultation. <\/p>\n\n

Fortunately, Beni has made steady progress. With our simple lifestyle and affordable housing situation, we were also able to keep our heads above water financially, which helped us heal psychologically.We could never have imagined how quickly and through no fault of your own you can end up in a situation where you become dependent on social welfare in one of the richest countries in the world. After all, if Beni hadn’t been able to start working again so “early”, we wouldn’t have been far away from it sooner or later. As we didn’t have a permanent job at the time of the illness, there is no daily allowance insurance. In addition, all “therapies” and “medication” are not yet recognized by the health insurance company, which means that in the end we paid for everything ourselves. Even with an IV application, it takes several years before a payment is made. Of the applications submitted so far, only 4% have been recognized after 3 years. Here is a recent article from Kassensturz: <\/p>\n\n

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