Vicky
I have said a few words about myself here and if you read some of my blogposts, you might already know a few things about me. Anyways, find below some frequently asked questions that I will answer happily.
If there is anything you wish to know, don't hesitate but send me a message!
But first: some basics!
I was born not yet 30 years ago in a german city close to the border of Belgium and the Netherlands. After graduating from school I started to study in Cologne and finished in 2014 with a Masters Degree in Linguistics and German Language & Literature.
During my studies I started to work in a museum and as a freelance tour guide - a job I loved right away, that's why I just kept doing it when I later on moved to Switzerland.
In 2016 I got the chance to move to Switzerland - a big step for me because it meant leaving my family and my friends by moving more than 600km south. On the other hand moving also meant, I would be a lot closer to the mountains - so I would be living closer to where I think my heart belongs. You wouldn't believe how happy I am I had the courage to do this step and give my life a new direction!
But it was also a big step as I could grow and develop more than I probably would have done in Germany. I became a freelance tour guide in Switzerland and it's still a job I love .
As it is a lot harder to live from being a tour guide in Switzerland than it was in Germany, I started to work in a marketing and communications agency in Bern by the beginning of 2018. I am working in Online Mrketing and as a text producer for 4 days per week - the rest of the week is reserved for quality time in the mountains (and a guided tour every now and the...).
When did you start hiking?
When I was younger I was not interested in hiking at all! The first real hikes I did were in 2009 when I hiked a long-distance trail in Tyrol, Austria. Afterwards I was kind of infected. Anyways, since I was living in a flat area of Germany, hiking (in the mountains) was limited to holidays. I did a few long-distance hikes during summertime but I really started to become more "serious" about it in 2014.
Me and Felix, who has been my hiking partner ever since took six months off to travel through Europe. I took my first hiking journal and a GPS tracker with me and started to keep record of all the trails we hiked since August 2014.
Moving to Switzerland has turned me into being even more outdoors, so since I started to keep track of my hikes I have already done nearly 180 different trails (still counting...)
Why do you like hiking so much?
I think this is a super difficult question to answer. I love hiking because it's one of the easiest options to be outdoors. Because - let's be honest - what else do you need except for good shoes? (Ok, I have a LOT of gear, but to basically start, you don't need anything super special and I started with really crappy gear...)
I love to breathe the fresh air and the fact that my feet can carry me to awesome places! Hiking is also a wonderful chance to learn about yourself, to learn to stick to your goals and at the same moment, get super fit and have a great time. It's something you can do alone, in a group, with your dog, with your family - hiking is for everybody!
So, why should I not love it?!