Day No. 91 - Self is the man ...

This morning, we are once again woken by the rising sun. As we push up the blinds, we look out over the azure blue sea and the Praia de Loulé Velho. We are standing about three meters above the sea on an ochre-coloured dune in a cosy pine forest. Only at night should you take a closer look, because there are cacti everywhere among the pine trees. We enjoy our view of the sea a little longer, wrapped up in our blankets. - When it's time to get up, I decide to take a quick dip in the sea.

Kurz war die richtige Entscheidung. – Angeblich hat der Atlantik um diese Jahreszeit 18°. Gefühlt maximal 14°. – Das passt zur Aussen-temperatur, denn auch diese liegt heute bei circa 14°. – Also schnell unter die Außendusche, diese macht zwar auch nicht wärmer, doch dann kann ich zumindest sauber zurück in den Bus. Hier gibt es lecker Kaffee. – Vor allem ist unsere morgendliche Kaffeezeremonie, seit unserem Besuch zu Hause, deutlich entspannter. – Wir haben uns einen größeren Espressokocher von Bialetti zugelegt. Es heißt immer noch „möchtest du noch ein Schluck Kaffee“ doch die Betonung hat diesen gewissen Unterton verloren.

Afterwards, I play a little with our neighbor's dog, a Malinois. He doesn't just seem powerful and balanced, he is. After half an hour, it's not him who is exhausted, but I could go straight back to sleep.

Torgit macht währenddessen einen ihrer Strandspaziergänge und bringt einige Muscheln mit. – Das Thema Hund bringt uns wieder mal zum Thema eigener Hund. Über das ob, die Rasse und so weiter sind wir uns seit langem einig, doch über das wie, sprich die Hundeerziehung, diskutieren wir noch. Einig sind wir uns aber, dass wir mit einer Stimme klang sprechen wollen. – Sicherlich liegt der richtige Ansatz mal wieder in der Mitte. Noch gilt es die Mitte zu finden. (Anm. von Torgit: Während meine Seele beim Strandspaziergang baumelt, fallen mir immer wieder besonders große und schöne Muscheln ins Auge. Warum fallen immer die besonders schönen Dinge auf? Muss denn alles immer perfekt sein? Haben nicht gerade unperfekte Dinge ihren besonderen Reiz, Dinge mit Ecken und Macken? So wie wir? Das hatten wir doch schon mal in der Zitadelle von Bleye, das Ultra IPA von PIP, „Das Bier des unperfekten Perfekten.

Conclusion of the day: Long live the perfect imperfection! Vive Imparfaitement Parfaite!

Afterwards, I take a stroll along the beach. There are some wild vans between the pine trees. I set off to look for Elisabeth, the French girl from Alsace who I met on the plane. She is also said to have set up camp here for the night. - I ask around and an Austrian gives me the decisive tip. Elisabeth and her friend are sitting behind his caravan. An exciting group, including the Austrian.

I always find it exciting to meet new travelers almost every day. Today, for example, the Austrian Engelbert Fleischhacker. He is on tour with his dog Willi. Engelbert writes about their experience on the road from the perspective of his dog Willy.

What was originally intended as a kind of diary now fills three books. These report on Willy's trips to the North Cape, to Gibraltar in a camper van and their tour through England, Scotland and Ireland. - Engelbert tells me about his previous life as a cab driver. About an abusive customer and why he was fed up with his old life. But above all, he tells me about a journey to happiness. His golden retriever Willy has been with him for four and a half years and has recently become a wild promenade mix. As you can see from his feather, he's a little hippie.

There are lots of exciting people on the road. But few seem to have set off for fun. Often, strokes of fate seem to be the impetus for leaving. Few seem to have left simply for the fun of it. Should that give us pause for thought?

At some point I prefer to make my way back to the Torgit and Hector. As a sunny day is forecast for tomorrow, I want to see if we can get the battery connection cable for our new solar bag connected to the camping battery. If I had known what I was getting myself into, I would probably have put it off until tomorrow. Because to get to the battery connections, you first have to remove the driver's seat.

But said is said. So I get out the tools, put a 13 mm socket on the ratchet and off I go. When the seat is removed, I realize that the clamps cannot be fitted directly. So I borrow some side cutters from the neighborhood and open the clamps. Then screw everything together, refit the seat and check the app. Apparently everything went well. We didn't trigger an airbag and there was no error message on the display. But does it work? Tomorrow, when the sun shines, we'll be smarter.