The daily routine is planned down to the last minute. There is scarcely any time left for spontaneity, dreaming and “losing oneself in one’s thoughts”. To think something through to the end without any time pressure has become a real luxury. It is delivered, optimised to produce more in the same amount of time.  In the language of economics it’s called productivity increase.

During the vacation all of that should be absent.

The best vacations are when there is no “must” and one can do only what one feels like doing. Do away with all optimisation and live in the present.

So we set out for Grindelwald with my youngest. A journey of about 2 hours, perhaps 2 ½ hours. But now on vacation we wanted to do everything differently. We had decided to stop in all the places, where we had always wanted to stop.

The journey to Grindelwald had become a day trip. We stopped in Meiringen and admired the incredible blue of the lake, which fills up with water in spring and becomes a paradise for anglers. In winter, when the water level sinks by several meters, I find it bleak. In summer it is idyllic.

We stopped at the top of the Brünnig pass and rummaged through the second-hand shop, as I had intended for almost 30 years. We discovered some astonishing things, but nothing of any use.

We stopped in Iseltwald and went for a swim in the Brienzersee by light rain.

When we arrived in Grindelwald there was not much left of the day. That didn’t matter. Nothing had been planned and everything was beautiful. That’s how a vacation should be.