The Beginning of My Nomad Journey: A Month in Augsburg Before Scandinavia

As I write this, I have just made my way from southern Germany to northern Denmark and am waiting for my ferry. This is part of a deliberate four-day, slow-travel journey to Bergen, Norway, which will be the first official stop of my 3.5-month adventure through Scandinavia.

My itinerary is intentionally unhurried. After making my way up through Germany, I spent the night here in Denmark. It turned out to be excellent foresight, as the first leg of my connections to Denmark got canceled and I would have missed my ferry otherwise. By now, I have learned that I would much rather spend an extra night somewhere than spend the day fretting over whether I will make a connection.

So here I am, after a wonderful long walk along the water and a delicious lunch, waiting for my ferry, which will bring me into Bergen by Monday afternoon.

But you will have to wait for more details and pictures about my time in Scandinavia until next time! 😊

Today, I want to catch you up on the month I just spent in my hometown of Augsburg. It was a wonderful time visiting with family and lifelong friends, testing my new nomadic rhythms, optimizing my operations, and just slowing down and catching up on much-needed sleep.

Travels and Spontaneity

Just 24 hours after arriving from North Carolina, my son and I started our long birthday weekend trip to Europa-Park, one of Europe's largest theme parks, located near the French and Swiss border.

This was our first trip putting our "Deutschland Tickets" to good use. What is a Deutschland Ticket, you ask? It is a monthly pass that allows you to ride all regional trains and public transportation anywhere in Germany. It is a fantastic way to explore if you have a little extra time, since it is not valid on high-speed IC or ICE trains.

For the birthday weekend, we took the train and bus to Rust, stopping in the charming town of Ulm along the way for an unrushed walk along the Danube (or Donau in German).

Typical German lunch: Maultaschen

We enjoyed a very typical German lunch by a quaint little river.

Cheers! Or Prost, as we say here. 🍻

The Danube separating Bayern and Baden-Württemberg

Fun Fact: The city of Ulm sits on the north bank of the Danube in Baden-Württemberg, while its twin city, Neu-Ulm, sits directly across the river on the south bank in the neighboring state of Bavaria! You can literally walk across the bridge from Bayern to Baden-Württemberg and vice versa.

Our time at Europa-Park was a fun, high-energy weekend of rollercoasters and pizza.

After we spent an evening helping the hotel owner think through some complex internet challenges and offering potential solutions, we were treated to a special birthday breakfast complete with sparklers and chocolates. I like to think it was a sweet thank-you for our tech insights!

I admit I was way too busy enjoying the loops and drops to even think about taking pictures. Thankfully, Daniel is always ready for pictures, so credit goes entirely to him!

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Our next trip taking advantage of the Deutschland Ticket led us to Salzburg. It was a total spur-of-the-moment decision. Mid-trip in Munich, we decided to go to Salzburg instead of Innsbruck simply because both trains were sitting right there and the one to Salzburg was non-stop. That is the beauty of spontaneity, flexibility, and the perks of traveling through smaller European countries.

Connections and Food

But as fun as the travels were, the real heart of my month was the shared meals, fun times and deep connections with family and friends.

A highlight for me every time I am in Augsburg is our Friday night dinners, where my core friend group comes together to cook. To be precise: some cook together, and everyone eats together! 😄 This has been a wonderful tradition for decades.

Anyone who knows me knows I love food, but it is always better when shared. Spending long, slow mornings over breakfast, or really any meal with family and friends is one of my favorite ways to connect, reconnect and keep those deep relationships alive.

Speaking of food, and perfectly timed with Memorial Day in the US, we got to spend a day with dear friends grilling burgers, catching up, and learning a new board game called Flip7. It was so much fun, incredibly easy to learn, and quick to play. For those of you who love board and card games as much as I do!

Typical beer garden food 😋

As the weather got quite toasty in Augsburg, it was also time to sample the various beer gardens. There is so much I have missed over the last 27 years of being away.

Beer gardens in the summer and Christmas markets in the winter are things that simply aren't quite the same anywhere else in the world.

Life in the Basement: Rhythms of Rest and Culinary Lessons

For most of the month, I moved into a friend’s basement guest room. It was a wonderfully prepared space with a desk and a perfect, cold, dark environment that yielded some of the best sleep I have had in a long time.

Thanks to my friend, I established a steady habit of evening yoga, long walks, and bike rides. On a couple of days when the weather turned really warm, we even enjoyed a refreshing swim in the local canal.

This is also the very house where our weekly Friday cooking sessions take place. So it is no surprise that there are some fantastic cooks and bakers in this family, meaning there were often fresh baked goods around.

That made the daily walks and bike rides an absolute necessity! 😄

But beyond just enjoying the food, I am happy to report that I actually learned several new, healthy, and very practical recipes during my stay.

One would think that having grown up in Augsburg, I would know it completely. Yet, I still managed to see things I never knew existed, or rediscovered places from a new perspective.

Part of the Kammgarnspinnerei today

I discovered the location where my grandma used to work, the Kammgarnspinnerei (an old cotton mill). Today, the building is beautifully renovated and houses a museum, among other things.

Thanks to my friends, I also discovered the "Luther Stiege" at St. Anna church. It is a historical hidden gem I had never heard of, where Martin Luther actually hid from the Pope. It is a bit embarrassing that I had no clue about it until now. As a child, I even participated in the Friedensfest (Peace Festival) associated with St. Anna.

Annahof

Fun Fact: The Augsburg Friedensfest on August 8th is a public holiday celebrated exclusively within the city limits of Augsburg. If you work in Augsburg, you get one more paid holiday than anybody else in the entire country of Germany! How about that?

Prayer nook in the Moritzkirche, Augsburg

We also visited the beautifully remodeled Moritzkirche, taking in its striking new minimalist architecture and peaceful prayer nooks.

Exploring so many cool places made me fall in love with my hometown all over again. 🥰

But It’s Not All Play

Of course, it wasn’t all vacation. I kept right on working, balancing client coaching sessions and sharpening my operations throughout the month. It was reassuring to see firsthand that I can work seamlessly while living on the move.

A significant amount of mental energy went into prepping for the next 3.5 months in the North. While Bergen is my first stop and requires prepping for its famously rainy maritime climate, the real planning challenge lay further ahead. My itinerary includes heading north into more remote areas like Stryn and Lom. Going off the beaten path added a lot of complexity, requiring careful transit coordination and creative accommodation planning.

Thanks to the women in the Heja Livet Facebook group, I was able to completely reshape and refine my Scandinavian itinerary. Their support continues even now with members graciously helping me figure out accommodations, sharing essential insider tips on navigating the region, and even making plans to meet up in person along the way.

Prepping for the northern weather meant making a few strategic upgrades. I picked up a cozy warm pants and sweatshirt set from a new friend, scored a great waterproof hand-me-down jacket, and bought some waterproof pants. After a ton of research, I also managed to downsize my daily gear, replacing three separate travel mugs with just one perfect one. At least, I think it’ll be perfect 😜 So far, so good!

Finally, I used this stationary month to set up some systems that will make my nomadic life more manageable.

I spent time learning Google Studio Flows to implement and document a more efficient and automated mail-scanning workflow with my friend back in the US to keep the work minimal.

I also finally figured out a low-maintenance tracking system to document exactly where I am and have been for future tax compliance reasons, while keeping close tabs on my expenses. Time will tell how well it works!

Spaghetti Carbonara ice cream

And last but not least, on my very last day, I spent hours organizing my belongings in my son's basement so that I have a remote chance of finding things later and wouldn't leave his space a mess.

Well, I spent almost the whole day doing that. I couldn't help myself and snuck away to meet up with a friend for some wonderful spaghetti ice cream before heading up north.

I have tremendously enjoyed this month with friends and family. I am so grateful for the many #SoulMoments along the way, and so thankful that my new lifestyle allows me to see my loved ones several times a year while also exploring all the beauty Europe has to offer.

Scandinavia, here I come for the first summer of my new nomadic life. 🇩🇰 🇳🇴 🇸🇪

With gratitude,

Renate

From the journey to Norway ❤️

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