From Switzerland to the Canary Islands and back

On October 10, 2025, after three years of Long COVID, we set off again—deeply grateful just to be able to get back on our bikes. The plan was to cycle from Switzerland to Cádiz, take the ferry to the Canary Islands, spend Christmas and New Year’s on La Palma, and return home via Portugal in the spring or summer of 2026.

At the beginning, it wasn’t yet clear to us whether our health would allow us to make it. We hardly dared to let ourselves feel any great joy—the trauma of our last, cut-short trip ran too deep. But with every kilometer, our confidence in our bodies grew. And when we arrived on La Palma in December, healthy and well, we knew: We had fought our way back to life. For us, that is the greatest gift.

Our journey took us through France, Spain, six Canary Islands, and Portugal, finally leading us over the Pyrenees back to Birr, where we arrived after seven months—healthy, free, and infinitely grateful.