It's been a long way to the actual start of our project as a whole. What kept us going as we faced challenge after challenge and Corona messed up our travel plans?
I am often asked for my most important tip for an e-bike journey. I think it is this one:
To really DO it! There are always a thousand reasons against it. But a clear "yes" helps to overcome the hurdles along the way.
We had many such hurdles, since we left our Corona-Camp in the Swabian Alb.
A bureaucratic mess in Switzerland, a death within the family, a surgery and another medical incident, just to mention a few. Plus all the paperwork, health arrangements and shopping that’s needed before a big trip.
In between, we spent several days at the HNF Nicolai factory in Bitterfeld near Berlin, where we were lucky enough to watch quite a conversion of our bikes and learn a whole lot. Our truck Elefantino needed some construction work, too, and our IT devices required updates.
And, oh yes, Corona completely changed our travel plans over and over again––as it did for most of us. We’ve been maing plan A, B, C, D … just to switch between plans or drop them, depending on what’s happening out there in the world.
What kept us motivated?
While facing challenges, these things helped us to keep going:
Appreciate each station and regard it as an intermediate goal that had been achieved.
Seeing all the small achievements helped us to also see all the rewards: The handover of the finished bikes was such a moment. We stayed with good friends in various places and enjoyed the time together. Spending two nights with our familiy kids in the truck was a highlight for me. Every time, we got a package with equipment for the trip, it felt like Christmas!
Look beyond the difficulties and always see the big picture.
For us, it was the goal of living and working mobile and travelling by e-bike. In other words: to put E-Traction – The Trip into reality.
Always know where and why you invest time, energy and resources.
Two years, uncountable (Watt)hours and quite a monetary investment – we better know what for!
Regularly check if the path taken still feels right and if the outside happenings are still compatible with our own plan.
This sometimes was very uncomfortable as the outside happenings, especially the Corona development, did not reflect what we where hoping to see.
I've always believed in E-Traction – The Trip!
Apart from what is mind-controlled, maybe this was the most important driver, as it comes from inside …
Now, we are in France on the way to the starting point of the actual journey!