Right now, I am sitting in my van Flipper. And my van is parked on a cliff by the atlantic ocean about 1h north of Lisbon. The sun just set and left an absolutely gorgeous pink and orange sky that slowly but surely makes space for the dark of night.

I love falling asleep here. The sound of waves crashing on the shore, the stars and the small lighthouse and abandoned structures that connect this wild place to civilisation. It´s peaceful and just right to reset my mind.

The nearest town, Cascais, has become like a (second) home over the last years. About three years ago, the first year of the pandemic, I spent two months here. My original plans for that year were much bigger, but due to global travel restrictions, I ended up volunteering at a small hostel in a small town in Portugal to get out of Germany, experience at least some kind of travel. Cleaning rooms, cooking, playing music on the porch, taking guests on hikes… it was an absolutely wonderful and peaceful time. I met and worked with people that I am still close friends with so this place has a very special place in my heart. I went back the year after and when time and space and money allowed for a trip this year, I decided to go back again. Spring starts a lot sooner here than in Germany and I´ve been wanting to travel the north of Spain for a while now too. So I decided to drive 2.5k km through France and Spain to Cascais, Portugal, taking it slow and seeing beautiful places along the way.

I live for this kind of travel. Long drives with good music (and sometimes good company), the solitude of being alone in nature, seeing new things, working remotely, writing music with just the basics gives my mind the space to work through challenges, set my priorities straight and plan next steps. Some people told me I was “running away from my problems” but that could not be further from the truth.

First of all, I am driving.

And I am doing it to have the time and space to face my struggles and make decisions from a place of calm and peace. Without being caught up in projects, work and daily madness. To reflect and process and stimulate my brain in a different way. I strongly believe that it brings me closer to the best version of myself.

Portugal has always been good to me. And this time around is no different. It´s a privilege to be able to travel like this and see my friends accomplish the goals they set for themselves years ago. I am forever grateful to the people that take me in, show me around, listen to my songs, for endless deep conversations, hikes, breakfast picnics by the ocean. 

I love you Kat, Lena, Nath, Alex, Paulo, Luna and the team at Luna house.

I will head towards Germany again soon. I have some fun projects there in the summer.