(1)Day One: The Adventure of Departure and the Journey into the Unknown

As expected, we packed everything the night before (or even earlier). However, leaving on time is not exactly our strong suit. Originally, we planned to set off at 6 AM, but by the evening, we pushed it back to 7 or 8. Eventually, the big moment came at 10 AM, because why not? Worst case, we’d arrive later at our accommodation in Germany.

The day before, I stocked up on a batch of blueberries to keep us fresh on the road. We also brought a ton of apples, our favorite, as we weren't sure if we’d find them in stores over there. (Yes, they had Pink Lady apples everywhere since they’re one of the tastiest in the world, and up north, they know what’s good!

) Of course, we also equipped ourselves with energy bars from a sports store – especially the little fruit jelly cubes turned out to be lifesavers. Oh, and the blueberries helped a lot too. :)

We survived the first day relatively smoothly, which involved about 1,200 km of driving. That’s about 12 hours straight, but obviously, you can’t drive it all in one go. Even if we alternated driving, the car also needs to rest sometimes. From part of Slovakia onwards, the roads were almost perfect, and the car surely enjoyed the pothole-free ride. Seriously, during the 7,500 km we traveled, we encountered as many potholes as we do in just 10 meters in Hungary. Finally, we arrived around 10 PM at our destination in Dätgen, Germany, with two major and a few minor stops. This little village is above Hamburg, not far from the highway. The accommodation was the cheapest of the whole trip, but all we really needed was a shower and a bed. Luckily, the bed turned out to be very comfortable.