Jörg Hofferbert, one of my most active blog readers, waited at Hamburg airport to greet me with a special made German x-mas “Lebkuchenherz”. Thanks, Jörg!

my mom was another “fan”, waiting at the airport…

my mom’s creative artwork to greet me

my shop manager Ilona Sierks, mom and Ilona’s husband Udo preparing the arrival ceremony

(Thanks to Udo Beier, one of my very first sea kayaking teachers, for the pictures!)

Some other people prefered to hide from the camera… :-)) – thanks anyway for coming to greet me!

NDR TV, some more radio interviews, and eventually I could drive home with my son his father on snowy roads. My boy has grown quite a lot in that year! And – eventually he was able to fight me down in arm wrestling…looks like I didn’t paddle with my arms a whole year!

Another radio interview back home (I reckon I did about 25 since the trip is finished…), and I was ready to settle a bit in my house. Piles of work are waiting…housekeeping, officework, catching up on my shops, blog updates, media work, organizing future trips and talks, simple food and x-mas gifts shopping, preparing a festive meal, and finally decorating the x-mas tree…

Happy Holidays!