Tinkle Hikes

June 17, 2020July 2, 2020

Via Alpina Day 1 – As it begins!

On Monday, the 15th of June I finally started the green Via Alpina! Actually the whole journey started already on Sunday evening. My dad drove me and my friend Elena to the Startpoint in Liechtenstein. In the woods next to the curehouse (idk if that’s translated correctly) we set up our tent. I slept terribly that night!

In the morning we made our way down to Vaduz. Before that, we walked like 15min uphill, because I thought there is an actuall startpoint. But there was nothing to be found. Finally we started, all downhill to Vaduz 🙂 We made there a quick break and got our first stamp in our hiking pass! When you got all the stamps you get a certificate from the Tourism Switzerland. I think it’s a pretty cool idea to make the hike even more special.

On that first day was a lot of road walking and road walking isn’t fun! On that day we also walked by a few castles, that was really cool! No wonder the first stamp was a castle. We made it to Sargans, because there was no good camping spot in sight before. So we ended up to camp behind the shooting club Sargans 😉 Really, I‘m not kidding! It was kinda funny, because in the evening people were having a party and we got „caught“. The owner said it‘s fine and we were also relieved!

The weather was actually better than expected! In the night before it was a little bit raining so at our lunchbreak we layed out our tents to dry. It worked perfect and we were kind of the attraction of the village. Well, that‘s like we felt.

Allover, it was a good first day!

May 26, 2020June 14, 2020

plans are made to change

In German we kinda have a saying, that goes like this “erstens kommt es anders und zweitens als man denkt”. It basically means that plans can be made, but in most cases they will change anyways. I think, it fits 2020 perfectly.

I had this master plan for 2020 in mind – I’d fly to the US and hike the Pacific Northwest Trail (PNT) and then stay there for two more months and visit many trail friends I met on the PCT in 2018! I thought it would be perfect to return to Europe with a container ship (this is one of my dreams of crossing the Atlantic by ship). So I booked everything and I was soo ready for this year.

But then, as we all know, Covid-19 came and the plans were destroyed. I was always very optimistic and thought maybe it could happen. But as time went on and it looked worse. So I decided to say goodbye to my master plan and started figuring out a new one.

I live in such a beautiful country and it is time to explore it! So I was checking out the long-distance hikes in Switzerland and I’ve decided to hike two trails (well, I hope) across the country. I will start with the Via Alpina (the green one), which is marked as number 1. The trail starts actually in Liechtenstein and goes all the way west till Montreux on the Lake Geneva. This trail is approximately 390km/242mi long.

Check out here the Via Alpina

When I’m at the Lake Geneva my intention is to walk home on a different trail, which would be the Alpine Passes Trail (Number 6). This goes more south and is about 610km/379mi long. The elevation profile of both trails is just INSANE! Fingers crossed, I’m fit enough…

Check out here the Alpine Passes Trail

My goal for this summer is to hike a 1000km! That would be half of the PNT and my original plan. I’m sure it will be a great summer with tons of adventure for me and you all!!!

Stay tuned for updates!

camping at “Churer Joch” a couple weeks ago!

January 26, 2020June 14, 2020

January Challenge

I am not the type who likes and makes New Year’s resolutions. I find it kind of stupid to do something just for the New Year. In my opinion, you can change something in your life at any time, whether in January or July. More importantly, you really want the change!

Instead, I wanted to challenge myself a bit in January. The actual plan was to eat vegetarian for a month and then vegan for a month in February. Because I really wanted to try both. I was particularly skeptical about veganism regarding exactly what they can eat. But as so often, plans are made to change! Coincidentally, I saw a sponsored post on Instagram about the campaign called Veganuary. So I clicked on it and was quite amazed! It was something I have been looking for for a long time. They help you try veganism all January. So I joined the Veganuary community and now I receive emails every day with helpful information and tips about a vegan diet. Almost 400.000 people from all over the globe are a part of it! Amazing, isn’t it?

I would describe my criticism of a vegan diet as totally changed. I have to admit that I’m a big fan of it! I was so wrong about everything you can eat as a vegan. You can eat a lot and it doesn’t even have to be healthy. Did you know that Oreos are vegan? Well, I didn’t know it before! But I would say that I eat much healthier than before because now I look closely at what I eat. It gives me awareness of what I let into my body and what I don’t.

I kinda like spinach 🙂 it was very yummi!

I don’t want to judge anyone here by what they eat! It can be an inspiration and / or a little reminder to show that there is often not only one way. It would be nice if people were a little more open and tolerant of new things ,they didn’t know much about. As I use to say:

you shouldn’t judge something until you’ve tried it yourself.

So far I really like the vegan diet. Since the change I like cooking way more than before. I highly recommend trying veganism, even if only for a month. You’re still very welcome to join veganuary, here’s the link to register: https://veganuary.com/register/

Give it a go!

January 5, 2020June 14, 2020

Happy New Decade!

Welcome to my page, I’m very happy that you found a way to my site! This is my very first post on my new own website. I can’t be happier right now!

First of all, I want to thank Husk for surprising me with this! You’re such a great friend, who’s always supporting me no matter what.

Some words for the new decade

I kinda have the feeling that this decade holds up some incredible stuff, if we allow it to. It’s good that we don’t know what will happen the next day, the next month or even in the year. One decision can change your life! I know this sounds very exaggerated, but there is something true in it. Wether it’s a good decision or a bad one, it mostly depends on you.

I wish for all of us that this decade and in the future we will become the person we really are, when we aren’t already are what we like to be. For me, the basis for everything is honesty and trust!

Happy 2020 y’all!

December 8, 2019June 14, 2020

my first quilt

I bought my very first quilt! This item was already a long time on my gear wishlist… Do you have also a gear wishlist?
A quilt, for those who doesn’t know what it is, here a short explanation. It’s a sleeping bag, but not like a normal mummy bag that surrounds you. The Quilt is like a blanket, which you can strap on to your sleeping pad. So you’re saving some weight, because the unnecessary material of the mummy bag, where you’re lying on, doesn’t exist. Sound great, right?

On the market there are tons of quilts. I decided me however for one of the new collection of thermarest, the Vesper 20F. It’s super lightweight (only 550g/19oz) and the temperature rating is also quite nice (comfort temp. 0C/32F).

When it arrived on Wednesday I was so excited to try it out. I came up with the idea to cowboy camp behind my house’s hill. So I set up all on the hill and tried to sleep. But I couldn’t really fall a sleep. It wasn’t the cold (it was very chilly outside), it had been all the noises around me..
Fun fact, I am more scared on the hill in the village than in the remote wilderness. So I failed at 1am and went back into the house. Good thing after all, I saw a shooting star! So far I totally love the new quilt.