Isn’t it strange that the older you get, the more time seems to fly? So odd….
Looking back at 2015 there are so many things to remember, but of course just a few can be mentioned here:

#BiathlonForS4K_2 / 17th – 18th of January 2015
Oh WOW! This was tight! There was hardly any snow to be found in the Black Forest. Fortunately the workshop can always take place, as the Biathlon-arena itself is fitted with snow cannons, but of course there is nothing like working out “in the wild”.

But hey, by the time we arrived at the hotel on Friday night, had settled in and ordered dinner, it started to snow and it did not stop for the next 24 hrs.

So… the first day of the event was spent in a real snow-storm but this was great. And Sunday? On day 2, we felt ourselves being beamed into a truely stunning Winterwonderland… Breathtakingly beautiful! By the time we had finished, we felt completely exhausted, yet happy and sunburned!

Plus: We had already set a date for #BiathlonForS4K_3: January 30th -31st 2016! A huge thank you to Rainer and his team from Nordic Schule Notschrei for having us again!

We had participants from Germany and Switzerland.

The result of #BiathlonFor S4K_2? CAD 700 to support the kids.

#London April 11th – 12th 2015
Meeting many old friends and making some new ones, creating a “Nubbin” – currently living in Bea’s company-car – a more than delicious Indian dinner, a few very eventful visits to the local pub; but my (Bea’s) personal highlight? After swimming in the hotel-pool: Photobombing an Indian wedding in my bathrobe due to a fire alarm at the hotel and the lifts not working… But Patty and I did brilliantly and even managed to congratulate the bride and groom and complimenting them on their beautiful outfits. Pity we forgot to ask for copies of the photos…

#April 2015: Our very first Canadian Invasion here in Stuttgart:

We had such an amazing time together! Stuttgart truly rocked! Kim, we truly can’t wait to see you again 😊

#Easter 2015
Spending the Easter weekend with our Swiss friends Patty and Claudia from #FullChargeForS4K = @s4k_360 in beautiful Graubünden was truly the best short holiday we could wish for: Lots of laughter, shopping, spending time with the horses and goats, a beautiful train journey across Switzerland, a visit to the Papiliorama, great food, great company… Girls, we love you! Thank You for having us!

#HikeNRollForS4K / June 20th 2015
Back in Switzerland to take part in the #HikeNRollForS4K, organized by Patty and Claudia from #FullChargeForS4K.

At the end of June you would expect sunshine, sunglasses, sunburns, and sweating whilst hiking. What we got was rain, wind and even snow when we reached our destination at 2000m.

But hey, these are the Alpes in summer. And still: So much fun!

We had to change the schedule of course, as archery does not make much sense in snow and fog and I think that no one can blame us for not swimming across the mountain-lake at 3°C, but of course Patty and Patrick held our first-aid-course and we had a lovely and delicious dinner instead of the planned barbecue. We even got a coverage in the local newspaper and Sara and Henrik and the full Heuberge – team supported us greatly! Let’s do this again! And a big shout-out and thank you to Patty and Claudia!

The result of #HikeNRollForS4K? CAD 1600 to support the kids.

#Nepal_2015
It took us well over a year to get everything organzied for our big adventure: Nepal. We had booked our flight tickets in late February and of course after the earthquakes we were confronted with the question: Are we still going? After contacting NOH and Volunteer Nepal and learning that we can actually be of help, our decision was YES. We started to collect clothes and underwear, Etihad Airlines sponsored free luggage; and off we took on July 2nd from Frankfurt International… Destination: Kathmandu via Abu Dhabi.

What can we say? Those 17 days in Nepal were mind-blowing, exhausting, but terribly rewarding as well.

We saw destruction, poverty, things you can hardly take in as a “westerner” but most importantly we saw and felt HOPE!

We learned that little money is needed to help and change things if being distributed to and by the right person(s). And we also learned that by supporting Sanctuary for Kids we are backing the right horse!
Please check out our “Nepal 2015” section to read more about our experiences.

Our placement took place at SERC, a school and educational centre for physically and mentally challenged kids in the centre of Kathmandu. This is a privately run venue, with no government backing whatsoever. Those teachers and therapists are real angels. They help the kids with so much love and dedication… WOW!

 

We will be back in Nepal in 2017.

And we want to go back to SERC… And we would like to bring lots of educational material…

So in case you have Lego / Duplo, Memory games, Counting / Spelling games lying around, please contact us. Can you imagine: For 100 kids they do have only 2 Memory-Games…? I am sure we can help that, right?!

Please help us to create more smiles on these kids‘ faces!

#MalteseCrossing / August 26th 2015
For the past few years we had thought about combining one of our annual holidays to our chosen 2nd home country Malta, with doing good. This spring we decided to give it a try and do some research. The first idea was for me (Bea) to take part in an official charity-swim from Gozo to Malta (5,5km), but in the end we decided against that option, as there had been serious swimming accidents due to strong and unpredictable currents; and to be quite honest I got frightened. So, we had to come up with plan B. The year before we did a one day-kayaking tour from Gozo to Comino and back to Gozo; 10km in total including visiting Comino’s beautiful caves and a picknick-lunch. We contacted Gozo Adventures about our idea and within two hours we received an Email and we fixed the details for the #MalteseCrossing straight away. The deal: Bea swim from Gozo to Comino whilst Carmen and the rest kayak. In Comino I hop inside a double kayak and continue the trip. Man, the swim was exhausting but so great and we had so much fun! Kirsty from Gozo Adventures was a wonderful guide and our Maltese friend Rose was the best partner in crime one could wish for. The day ended with a delicious meal in Marsalforn – toasting to Carmen’s birthday – with Kirsty and Rose’s family. Our personal highlight: A call from the boss of Gozo Adventures, inviting us to do a new #MalteseChallenge in 2016 and informing us that he would donate yet another €100 to #S4K. Oh, and of course Rose grabbing the collecting-tin from the table and making a tour from table to table talking to everybody in a mix of Maltese and English and collecting donations…. Priceless! But I guess the #MalteseSparklingWine helped at least a bit! We ended up taking the very last ferry back to Malta shortly before midnight.

The result of the #MalteseCrossing? CAD 1060 to support the kids.

Our personal #ExtraMile / August 28th 2015
After many hours of brainstorming I came up with the idea to give Carmen a voucher for parasailing for her birthday. I got it scheduled for 2 days after the #MalteseCrossing to give us some time to relax and settle down. Little did I know by the time of the booking, that August 28th would mark the start of S4K’s summer campaign #TheExtraMile, but of course we were thrilled and contacted S4K to get the permission to actually fly our personal #TheExtraMile.
Despite of me being terribly frightened before we actually left the ground, this was one of the best experiences ever. Absolutely stunning, breathtaking… you name it. Watching Malta from above and feeling so safe and thrilled at the same time?! Let’s do it again and soon… Well, there is at least one more Maltese Island to discover from this perspective… Gozo, here we come 😉

#www.stoptalkingstartmoving.com
After our return from Nepal we decided to change from blog to website. And after another few months Carmen came up with the idea to move the site to our very own webspace to have more options and being able to add more gadgets. Well, this move was more complicated than expected, but after about a week offline she succeeded and we “returned” with new features and options, please do take the time to surf around and tell us your opinion and ideas. #StopTalkingStartMoving

Resumé: 2015 was demanding, exciting, challenging but totally worth it!

So let’s bring on 2016… with hopefully many more adventures, a few personal and professional changes, some challenges, but most of all: Even more time to spend with our amazing friends, our families and more support for “our” kids!

“Have a great 2016, everybody!”

Thank You and #Namaste,

Carmen and Bea xoxo