Whoop! There goes gravity.

Maypoles against a backdrop of blue, witches whizzing around bonfires beneath a full moon,….at last, spring has sprung! Both in the air and in My Driver’s step. We have our engine running again.

Many a moon ago, we justified our obsession with far-off shores and distant horizons by assuring our nearest and dearest that we’d happily cavort closer to home once the years began piling up. Now that the years are spilling over, here we are: Balkan-bound. It’s Europe, and it feels like it’s just around the corner. Easy-peasy. Right? Wrong.

Muttering and swearing, My grumpy Driver, once a spoiled ocean captain, accustomed only to wide-open waters, had to fight his way through terrifying traffic jams and long lines of stationary cars. On the way, Belgian friends took pity on us and offered relief in the form of good food and even better company. With our stamina and spirits restored, we rolled into the German countryside, which felt like one long, warm embrace. Cycling through vineyards , hiking through woods, we reached our first serious stopover : the German playground in Biberach an der Riss, also known as MI-MOBILE Rock ’n’ Roll 2026.

MI-MOBILE Rock ’n’ Roll 2026 is an off-road training course for four-wheel-drive camper vans and their eager humans. Over 60 motorhomes had gathered on the “illustrious Unimog test site grounds around the quarry pond“. The playground was huge and had over 12 km of driving paths with various slopes, water crossings, and inclines.

As I a was chickening out by the side of the dirt road, phone in hand to capture the moment for eternity, My Driver Luc clicked his left hip into position, climbed into the driver’s seat, took a firm grip on the steering wheel in spite of his somewhat sweaty palms and flicked the van into drive mode. And there went gravity! Vinnie lunged onto the track in a whirling cloud of dust and dirt as My Driver finally merged with his beast of a van in an Iron Man–like fashion. He owned the moment like a pro. Uphill, downhill, slalom forward, slalom in reverse, “Schrägfahrt”, and emergency brakes in gravel. The most fun exercise was the ascent of a slope …but in reverse, and with the side mirrors deactivated. I had to position myself right in front of Vinnie to signal My Driver how to proceed, without bumping into trees or getting stuck in potholed curves. There I stood, arms raised, as if guiding a Boeing 737 to its docking spot. We absolutely nailed it, without even uttering a word. From now on, we know we are ready for whatever comes our way.

Next stop: Ljubljana airport – pick-up and drop off of a young couple on the move. Let the Balkan Games begin!