When we landed in Basel before Christmas, we were thinking of a short travel break in Switzerland. Spending the holidays with the family, sleeping in the same bed for a few weeks, feeling at home in one place for a while. And after this time-out, set off for new goals with new curiosity and eager to live the life on the road again. Finishing the Iditarod Trail in Alaska for example, or heading back to Africa, but this time on dirt roads and singletrack, or a return to the Andes, to Peru or Colombia. As far was the plan. And this plan was right, because we needed a break. Being on the road had become a daily routine. We felt bored by the mostly superficial encounters with ever-changing people, who always asked the same questions and always expected the same answers. We were sick of packing up the tent for the thousandth time, checking in in a shabby hostel room for the thousandth time, saying goodbye for the thousandth time, riding off for the thousandth time. We felt a travel tiredness, the curiosity for a new day on the road had left us. A break was needed. Four and a half years of travel without interruption - it has been a long time.

Hardly at home we got a job offer. Switzerland is expensive. Earning a bit of money would fund our next travels and we would also appreciate the freedom of the road much more after some work, we argued. Why not extend the break until summer? And so we agreed. But with this decision, it really got going. Yes, we somehow forgot about how life in Switzerland works...

Next, we needed a place to live. While the guest room at the parent‘s house was a perfect base for a short-term stay, same as on the road we did not want to live at the expense of others at home. If we decided to rent our own apartment, that also meant that we had to commit to at least one year, because that was what the lease contract said. Now we were suddenly talking about a one-year trip interruption and at the latest we realized that it was getting serious. Did we really want that? Did we really know what we were giving up? The last few years we have been living from one day to another. Our plans have been laid out for a maximum of four weeks and when our mood changed, have been thrown over spontaneously. But now we were suddenly forced to make decisions that spanned at least a year and could not be changed as easily again. We were entering into commitments that gave us back a piece of home but at the same time stole us a huge piece of freedom.

In the first weeks, we were moving as if on black ice. Unsure of getting on the right bus, unsure of getting lost on supposedly known tracks. Sometimes we looked for shops and then realized that they no longer exist, or we were suddenly facing grown-up former students. Moving around at home had become as strange to us as it would be to an inexperienced traveler leaving for his first trip around the world and leaving his familiar culture for the first time. And yet there were always those moments when we felt like we've never been away.

On our first day at work we were fifteen minutes too early at the bus stop, so stressed that we could be late. When we walked to the school and got the first glimpse of the snow-covered Jungfrau mountain we felt really weird. The former work colleagues had hardly changed and in the staff room the conversation revolved around the same topics as ever. And suddenly four and a half years were not a long time anymore. We slipped back into the old life like in a well-worn pair of slippers.

And yet: There were those memories. Special moments with strong emotions that caused a tingling longing that was getting stronger when we were following the trips of bikepacking friends on Instagram, when we saw pictures of places where we have been ourselves recently. And then we wanted to set off right now. We were used to walk barefooted, the well-worn slippers rubbed.

Meanwhile, we have said yes not only to the job, but also to the apartment. Slowly we are taking root in a place that feels like home, but in many ways is stranger to us than the wide world. We feel that it is good for us to do something different again than only cycling. That we appreciate it having a home and dealing with issues that are not just about ourselves. But we also realize that we can not simply connect seamlessly to the old life. The numerous encounters have changed our perspective on the world, but also on ourselves. We are grateful for all the experiences that sometimes have made us happy and sometimes sad. Four and a half years - they were intense and shaping.
Just as unspectacular as we set off in summer 2013, we have now returned. That suits us and our lifestyle. No fixed plans, but embracing opportunities and following the inner voice. With the knowledge that decisions are never set in stone and we still have the freedom to live our lives as we want. And it also means that we will do it again. Just ride off, with curiosity and an open heart. When we do not know yet, because now it is time to be home.