Igis, Switzerland (New tech gear)
During the deep winter in Switzerland, with a crazy amount of snow, some new deliveries have arrived to improve my work in the future. While my mother shuffled snow nearly the entire day, I was back inside focusing on my work.
Meanwhile, some new tech gear arrived in front of the door. I got a new iPad which I can use as a second monitor in the future. I was looking for a lightweight solution to have at least a second screen. I ended up with not the cheapest solution but figured out that the iPad can be used also for a lot of other things like sketching or even watching movies. From now on I’m fully paperless.
Rigi, Switzerland
On a beautiful day, I decided to leave home and explore some touristy places in Switzerland. Corona is still a thing and we don’t have a lot of tourists in the country, so perfect time to explore our tourist spots without the crowd. I went up the mountain “Rigi” with a friend and we were pleased with the beautiful atmosphere.
Since the tourist spot was close to Lucerne I stopped there and stayed for the night. I went to one of the few capsule hostels in Switzerland which also had a co-working included. This one I used this one the next day to work from. The next stop was my real office in Bern to say hi and continue work.
Igis, Switzerland (Country skiing)
We got a lot of new snow, which meant in front of our house they started to prepare skiing slopes. I’m used to driving ski or snowboarding but never used those tiny skies used for country skiing. My parents have been into that for a couple of years and I wanted to give it a try in front of our house.
I need to say it worked pretty well as a beginner and I could finish two rounds of the loop. But I felt really tired afterward.
Chur, Switzerland (Livestreaming the local orchestra)
There were restrictions in place about the capacity of people joining an event, which made it impossible to host a concert. The local orchestra came up with the idea to livestream the event which we produced.
Bern, Switzerland
Since I’m located within the country I thought it was a good idea to go back to the place I lived in for 2 years — Bern. I went a week into the office to work from. I stayed in a hostel while going to work every day. Besides meeting my co-workers I also went to meet some of my friends here.
Davos, Switzerland (Skiing)
As you saw before we have a lot of snow. In the mountain area where I grew up, we still have it. So I need to take advantage of the good conditions on the slope. I went with parts of your extended family to Klosters, a closeby skiing town, to ski down the hill and enjoy the day.
Tour the Suisse
Corona is controlling the world. At least in Switzerland, there’s no lockdown anymore, but traveling outside the country isn’t that easy and all restaurants and bars are closed. So I decided to tour Switzerland for a month. It’s not that I don’t know places in my country, but there is always more to see. Even in such a small country like Switzerland.
Geneva, Switzerland
Valentine’s Day was upcoming. I thought let’s take this as an excuse to invite a friend to come for a weekend trip. We ended up going to Geneva for 2 nights exploring and eating some good local food (Fondue).
Martigny, Switzerland
Since I was already all the way in the west of Switzerland I decided to stay on this side of Switzerland. I went into the valley of Valais. There I stopped to mainly work and think of new steps. One evening I went out to go up to the castle and had a beautiful view down to the town and the full valley. A different language and cold temperatures made the experience a bit cold and lonely. I didn’t have an issue. The only reason why I go to McDonald’s is that I just don’t want to go alone into a restaurant. And this happened here.
Crans-Montana, Switzerland
I went through Google Maps and was searching for places in the valley that are worth to go and I’ve never been. I found a famous skiing resort called Crans-Montana which wasn’t far. So I decided to head there for a couple of days and stayed in a hostel again. That’s actually to only payable way to stay within Switzerland.
The weather was just beautiful. Covered in snow but quite warm still. To reach the village up the hill, I needed to take a cable car.
Spiez, Switzerland
My co-worker made jokes about the place I was going next. But I found a very cute hotel in a not-that-popular place. Nevertheless, I headed to Spiez for a night. Walked around the village a bit and worked from my room with a beautiful view over the lake and valley.
Landquart, Switzerland
The week after I headed back home to my home region.
My father was doing the yearly repair of their glider with his friends. So I joined them to watch and talk a bit. Rarely, I’m back home so I take every opportunity to socialize with my known environment.
Solothurn, Switzerland
Still as part of the “Tour de Suisse”, my next stop was Solothurn. There I met a friend whom I went to meet in the evening. During the night I stayed in a cute tiny house at the campsite of the camping.
Close to the city, there’s a mountain top which is famous in the area and gives you a nice view, which I went to the next day. Sadly there was one problem. At that time we had “Sahara dust” in the atmosphere of Switzerland. Which isn’t that common but ends up with a lot of sand particles in the air and creating bad visibility. So when I went up to the mountain peak I couldn’t see a lot. Bad luck, but a nice hike anyway.
Porrentruy, Switzerland
No idea how I ended up at this place. But this place is definitely not touristy at all. I tried my luck to meet locals via Couchsurfing and I had it. Not just a bit, I think I got the jackpot. After checking into my beautiful apartment in the center of the town, I headed out to explore a bit and worked. The next day a Couchsurfer was happy to hang out with me. Her boyfriend joined us and we had great talks. They suggested me to another Couchsurfer who is playing an quite interesting instrument on the street. He invited me to his home and then tried to teach me to play. We had a great evening and that was my experience of this unknown village in the Jurassic mountains of Switzerland (French speaking btw.).
Afterward, I went for a hike in the Jura mountains. The peaks are not very high, but it’s still very nice and quiet. I had a blast. Around a 2–3 hour hike. It was a suggestion by the Coursurferse I met in Porrentruy. The only bad part was that I needed to bring all of my backpack with me, good that I travel light. Because I’m on my way to the next destination in Switzerland.
Creux du Van, Switzerland
Next off another hike, a very spontaneous decision for the lunch break. Well, the part about a lunch break wasn’t the best idea since I figured out it’s an official 2.5-hour hike. Anyway, I didn’t have that much time. So I left my backpack down at the train station and ran up the hill. I’m really impressed by my achievement. I made it in under one hour instead of the estimated 2.5. This was a real workout, puh. Rewarded with a beautiful view from the top.
Vevey, Switzerland
I went back onto the train, which was pretty much my office during that trip. My next destination was Vevey at the lake of Geneva in the South West of Switzerland. I love the view of the lake there. So I decided to hang by the lake for sunset and enjoy the view.
The next morning I went for a stroll around the city and went up to a small peak with a church by cable car. On the way there I saw the headquarter of Nestlé which is in Vevey. Up at the Mont-Pèlerin there I had a beautiful view over the mountain of Geneva and the mountains in the background.
Fenalet-sur-Bex, Switzerland (Focusing at a tiny house)
On Airbnb, I was searching for a special home up in the mountains. Far away from people, and I was successful. I found a tiny house in a small village called “Fenalet-sur-Bex”. It’s reachable by a small bus which was pretty much empty. So I get up there with some food in my backpack for the upcoming days. Because I know there won’t be a shop to buy anything up there. The purpose of going there is to have a productive and quiet time up there. I loved the tiny house, it was prepared so cutely and beautifully. Since the temperatures outside were quite chilly they made it nice warm inside which was perfect to work from.
Wil, Switzerland
Next, I was invited by a friend of mine to come to a town I had never been to. So I accepted the invitation and headed over there. I was greeted by her and the uncle which made me feel very at home. During the day I worked and in the evening we had nice discussions and a walk in and around the town.
Igis, Switzerland (Home sweet home)
This marked the end of my Tour the Suisse. After more than a month of traveling around my home country and checking out the not-that-touristy and usual places, I returned home to my official home base. I already knew my home country very well before, but after this trip, I can say that I’ve been to literally every region in Switzerland. That was my purpose for the trip. Go to areas I’ve never made it to before.
Back home I enjoyed it for a bit. I eat my grandmother’s food, use my two big screens (proper office) to work from, and (surprise) pack my bag.
One of my favorite dishes is “Chrutchräpfli”. It’s a very regional dish from my area, which my grandmother has a special recipe for. It’s a bit similar to the “Schlutzkrapfen” famous from Austria (Tirol).
