“Goodbye Switzerland!” As the bus rolled across the border into Austria, we bid farewell to the country we had called home for the past 10 weeks. We were en route to Munich, Germany, to spend a few days visiting Julia’s relatives before our 90 days in the Schengen countries were up.
Julia was eager to reconnect with her dad’s second cousin Martin, his wife Emilia, and their kids Cedric and Marie. Although Julia’s great-great grandparents emigrated to the United States way back in 1903, the two branches of the family have kept in touch over the decades. In fact, since Martin has no first cousins and his branch lost contact with the rest of the German family during the post-WWII division of East and West Germany, our connection is one of the most direct he has remaining. Julia’s family spent a few days with Martin and company back on a family trip to Germany in 2009, so it was a delight to reconnect with them. The 3-year-old Marie in a stroller was now an 11-year-old having great fun at her birthday party in the back yard. Cute 6-year-old Cedric was now a high schooler going on his first date and laughing along with us as he shared his favorite YouTube videos about Trump. 
Throughout our stay, Martin and Emilia drenched us in their warm hospitality. On our first day, Martin introduced us to the area with a driving tour of the Bavarian countryside. We wound our way down curvy forest roads, through little villages each with their traditional blue-and-white striped maypole, and past farm fields much bigger than those we had gotten used to in Switzerland. We made a stop at Waldfest (pronounced Valdfest), a summer biergarten festival nestled in the forested hills. Although the physical distance between Munich and our last Swiss WWOOF farm is less than the distance between our two houses in Minnesota, we were now in a place with a distinctly different character than Switzerland. It was fun to get a taste of this new culture at Waldfest, which felt like a classic German event. People were decked out in traditional lederhosen and dresses and a Bavarian band played for a dance troupe. Mostly, though, the event was centered around hanging out together at long tables full of beer and food. Martin got some of the local specialties for us to try: a thick pretzel with a cheesy onion dipping sauce and a fantastically large sliced daikon radish to sprinkle with salt and pepper. Welcome to Bavaria!
Despite the almost constant rain during our stay in Munich, we managed to get out and do some sightseeing. We took the train into the city center and joined the other tourists to gaze up at the Glockenspiel, figurines that move in a circle like a carousel as the 11:00 am bells ring. We walked around the city and poked our heads into its innumerable historic churches, finding the interiors impressive but floridly over-the-top. At Asam Church, we were hard-pressed to find a single straight line or flat plane. In addition to all the expected things like churches, ornate buildings, markets, and monuments, the most unique thing we saw in central Munich was surfing. Yes, you heard right! The river that runs through the city park is channeled into a wave. A dozen surfers in their wetsuits were lined up on each side, taking their turn trying to master the tumultuous swells. In the light drizzle, we stood on the bridge and marveled at the mesmerizing athleticism of the surfers. Again, we had repeated our pattern of coming to the city only to be drawn into the most enjoyable part of it – the park. Julia’s other favorite part of Munich was the art museum, where she spent a day gazing at their incredible collection of 19th century paintings. In a way, the paintings were similar to traveling in that they were an all-absorbing window into all sorts of other realities and experiences.
For our last night in Munich, we all piled into the car for a final driving tour of the city. After twisting through Munich’s heavy traffic, we finally got out and meandered over to Lady Bavaria, the region’s own mini Statue of Liberty. Standing majestically with a lion by her side, she overlooks the sprawling Oktoberfest grounds. Although it was only July, the setup for Oktoberfest was already well underway. The “tents” were actually elaborately decorated warehouses each seeming to rival the size of an American football field. To cap off our stay, Martin took us next to the Augustiner-Keller beer hall, which serves his favorite beer and is the last big independent brewery in Munich (going strong since 1328!). Down in the cozy chambers of its labyrinthine basement, we shared our final dinner together with mugs of traditional Munich beer. Finally, we couldn’t leave Germany without the classic thrill of a ride on the Autobahn, at night. Martin loves driving fast. He vroomed the engine of his Mercedes station wagon and we sailed along at 180 km/hr… “Wheeee!” mixed with “Let’s not die!” 
Our stay in Munich also gave us plenty of time to hole up in our room with the Wifi and try to figure out what we were going to do in Scotland. So far, we knew that we were flying to Edinburgh on July 28… and that was it. As we counted down the days to departure on one hand, we figured it was time to get busy planning the next 5 weeks between us and our first WWOOF commitment. At the same time, Colby had gotten sick and needed down time, so we spent many cozy quiet hours engulfed in the world of the Internet.
Looking Back
Nestled between the end of the Switzerland phase and the beginning of the UK phase, Munich was a perfect transition zone to reflect on the trip so far. In Switzerland, we had gotten an eye-opening glimpse into the life of a different society. By spending so many weeks there and by connecting with many different hosts, we were able to see not just one window but many nuanced angles into the country. Despite some variations in perspective, a common refrain seemed to emerge over and over again. On the one hand, Switzerland is stuck in its ways, overregulated, and micromanaged. At the same time, these very qualities have helped maintain all the things we and our hosts love about the country – its beautiful landscape, high quality of life, good organization, and peace. As our peer Valentine put it at our last WWOOF farm, “In the United States you have freedom but no peace, and in Switzerland we have peace but no freedom.” Of course, striking a perfect balance between the two is much easier said than done. Still, it was richly thought-provoking to experience life in a country that has chosen to lean towards the other side of the balance than the United States.
On a more personal scale, traveling has also lifted us out of our old routines and habits and tossed us repeatedly into the rhythms of new households. Constantly having to adapt and observe (and learn where everything is kept in the kitchen) has made us look inward about our own ingrained patterns, assumptions, and ways of doing things. We’ve reaffirmed some of our old values and rethought others.
Finally, our Swiss WWOOF farms had given us lots of ideas, both big and small, about activities we might like to pursue in our own lives. It could be helping to preserve heritage animal breeds, installing a solar hot water system, setting up our own ConProBio local food cooperative, making our own wine and cheese… the list goes on and on. It was neat to see how each WWOOF farm was a unique manifestation of our hosts’ personalities, passions, and situation in life. Although the farms were all very different, the common thread running through all of them was that our hosts were living their values, doing their part for a better world, and enjoying life. This gave us lots of hope towards finding our own path that integrates our values with action in the world. No matter where we end up or what situation we are in, we are eager to discover and dive into the endless variety of opportunities to live a life we feel good about.
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