About

"On the Silk Road" is not a travel blog and not a guide. It is the journey of Frankie and me — from Berlin Friedrichshain, my chosen home city, out of Germany and Europe, following the ancient Silk Road, towards the Japanese and South China Sea. There are currently many ideas for countries and stops that are also present and "calling" along the way and beyond. Currently I am in Bosnia, followed by Bulgaria, Greece, Crete, Turkey, Georgia and everything that comes up in between.

It began with a letter to the people who are or were close to me: "I am leaving Germany — and don't want to simply disappear, but want to have you with me." First a long farewell through my own country — my "farewell tour" with stops in Vogtland, in Brandenburg on the old Oder, in Mecklenburg, in the Uckermark, in the Prignitz and in the Harz opens the journey. On 14.03.2026 the time has come and the final departure from "my" courtyard in Berlin-F'Hain really takes place! First stop is Wischershausen, followed by Suckow in the Prignitz and directly my birth city Zerbst, the grave of my grandparents in Warmsdorf, follows. From there it goes south. In Altlindenau the farewell from D takes place! And via Czech Republic I land in Carinthia, to continue from there to Croatia.

After 2 stops on the Croatian coast it continues into the interior of the continent, to currently linger in Visoko...until it will then continue to Sofia....which then turned out veeeeery differently. After the visit to the "Blue Gate Camp" it went via Velika to Maslarevo, to now be spending my time in Shkopilovtsi. My journey will go along the Black Sea coast to the Kalamata region, to immerse there in the world of the "humus ambassadors". End of October, when the ferry prices become affordable for me again, it goes to Crete, to overwinter there....

Guiding principle

Peace and Love, live, harmony. In all sincerity, honesty, openness, trust and tolerance. Granting more SPACE to my courage and my intuition...to HEAL, as well as to inspire myself and YOU...LIVING in the MOMENT

This journey doesn't begin in March and doesn't end at the sea. It runs, as Iven writes, "forever already — prenatal, almost". Being on the road is not a means to arrival, but a state: an ongoing process of letting go and being open.

Letting go is meant literally here — apartment, work, country, the familiar. What remains is connection: to the people who read along, listen along, feel along, and to what life sends along the way. "Because life is beautiful — also and despite adversities, or precisely because of them."

Gratitude is the basic attitude, change the common thread, mindfulness the tempo. Not high gloss, but truthfulness. Authenticity over perfection.

Six words that carry

Curiosity · Adventure · Peace · Love · Openness · Courage

Frankie is Iven's companion on this journey — the rolling home where cooking, sleeping, working, and living happen, to accomplish the trip on which they both have embarked...

Hence the name of this journal: Frankie and I. Two, heading east, to see what comes. Frankie is a special vehicle motorhome based on a Mercedes-Benz 207D with a Hymer body. She owes the inspiration for her name to the magnificent actress Lily Tomlin, who in "Grace and Frankie" so wonderfully embodied a marvelous role as an aging "hippie bride." Frankie officially saw the "light of the world" in December 1981 with her first registration in Germany. The engine is the engine that gave Mercedes such significant prestige worldwide over so many years, yes, even to this day. With 2,400cc and 63hp from a diesel unit, the journey naturally proceeds at modest speeds, compared to the general "quickness" with which "one" intends to move about today. This naturally also leads to the continuous buildup of "followers" when she puffs her way up a pass at walking pace. Endowed with a moving history, she landed with me and my love at the time in 2021 through my friend Heiko, from Radebeul. After many investments of time, money, and with the support of friends, she has reached her current condition, which hopefully will carry us both together through the intended route.

Frankie is as unique as her driver and "inhabitant," as the route and the things they both experience together. And this refers not only to the fantastic landscapes, cities, regions, and countries to be traversed, but also, or especially, to the people who repeatedly gather to "pay homage" to her with full enthusiasm. The countless "thumbs up" from people at the roadside are just as diverse as the nationalities they each represent. When the two of us linger somewhere a bit longer, it almost always happens that people gather and ask for a photo together with Frankie...which is naturally granted with a grateful SMILE.

It's not about arriving. It's about not disappearing along the way.

— FRANKIE & ME, on the road....in real LIFE in the MOMENT....