During his very extensive research, Achim came across the “Overlander’s Manifesto,” and we’ve been re-reading that – and adapting it to our values and needs. There’s some good stuff in there, and we’re finding it extremely helpful to have these documented sets of “rules” to refer to as we journey. Much like the leadership development programs that I facilitate for work: having clearly defined values renders decision making much more straight-forward, easy, and quick. It’s the same with our Overlander’s Manifesto.
The first test of this happened while in Slovenia. I was bent on visiting castles (there are many of them scattered around the countryside of Slovenia and Croatia), and I had selected 4 near our route that seemed interesting. What we somewhat underestimated was the driving time and effort to visit them. Curving around small country lanes, through little villages that were not built with giant vehicles in mind, tree-lined tracks up hills: it was a bit exhausting. It was already afternoon, having driven into the hills for hiking in the morning and then following a tiny road up to a lonely winery that was recommended (and closed due to illness). So we were already tired. And I hadn’t done my homework very well. I pinned the castles on the map and could easily navigate us there…but the first one we arrived at required a 10-minute hike up a steep hill, and was under renovation, completely closed off and provided nothing to see. SIGH.
So before heading off to the next one, Achim wisely suggested we consult their opening hours. And that we agree not to visit all four. We examine the list, and one castle stood out as being very close to our route (the others required at least 30 min extra driving time) AND – here’s the clincher – it also offers wine-tasting. So we thought: perfect! It’s a few km off the main road and surrounded by countryside, so maybe we can visit the castle, taste some wine and then just stay there for the night. It can’t get any better than that, can it?
But the official opening hours were only until 15:30 – we would only make it there around 16:00. So Achim called and the guy said, “No problem, I’m at home, you can come by.” Jackpot! So we zoomed past castle options 2 and 3, short-cutting the plan to castle option 4 for wine-tasting and hopefully a quiet, peaceful parking place for the night.
When we got there, we were in high spirits. There were plenty of great options for overnight parking just at the bottom of the final walkway up to the castle. And the round towers jutting out about the trees looked promising.
We began our short hike from the Giraffe up to the castle gate…noticing as we walked and approached the building that it was in quite some disrepair. Ever the optimist, I’m convinced it’s just the façade and things will look different inside. And as much as optimism is a good thing – it’s not always closely linked to reality.
We entered the courtyard, which was flooded with late afternoon sunlight, dotted with brightly colored flowers, crammed with rusted out stuff (pots, bits of machinery, and idk what all), inhabited by a friendly cat and a very eccentric middle-aged guy. Gray pony-tail in the back, black leather vest over a white T-shirt, dusty jeans and black pointy boots, he welcomed us and asked where we are from. His second question, “Who did you vote for? Trump or Biden?” Living in Europe, very few people are surprised by my answer to this question, most considering it the only possible choice. Not so for this guy, who to my answer of “Biden,” rejoined with, “Okay, you can leave.” He then went on to explain that Trump is married to their ‘sister Melania’ (who is of Slovenian descent) and therefore, he should receive my vote. And things got weirder from there.
He took us on a small tour – each and every room literally falling apart, piles of rubble on the floors from the plaster ceilings collapsing. I was wishing I had a hard hat to wear. Showing us his two-room living quarters which housed a gigantic, turning round table suitable for probably 20 people. And then escorting us into the cellar and the wine room – an underground cave that felt like a haunted house. Proudly decorated by creepy hologram-effect photographs that he insisted we inspect in detail – as we walked around the wine vat, the celebrities pictured changing with our position and the light reflection, becoming demons, zombies, devils, and skeletons.
The wine bottles up for tasting were adorned with labels that looked to have been designed and printed back in the days of the Habsburg empire, or at the very least, not within this century.
And the wine? Um. We’d hoped to buy some as gifts and for dinner that night, but tbh, I wouldn’t gift this wine even to people I dislike. During this very odd tasting (peppered with very inappropriate humour and suggestive comments from our host), he inquired as to where we plan to spend the night with our big vehicle. We said we hadn’t yet quite decided, and he invited us to stay on the grounds. Completing that with, “you can’t stay where you’re parked now, but you can put it on the other side of the street.” Which left us wondering how he knew where we had parked, and that we were there with a big vehicle – the area we’d stopped in was not visible from the castle proper. So there must be cameras (although we hadn’t recognized any).
We finally bought a bottle of Eiswine (the only truly drinkable option in our opinion), included a tip on the bottle as a thank you for the tour, and tried to high-tail it out of there. He suggested again we park for the night, and I said there’s one more castle we still hoped to visit.
Back in the Giraffe, we discussed it again – it really was a beautiful environment to spend a night: a nice, flat space to park, surrounded by trees and very quiet and private…aside from the strange guy up in the castle. Which was enough to make me feel a magnified sense of unease. It seemed a bit silly to not stay in a great place just because the guy was a bit weird – and after all, we have some means of self-defense with us. But still. And Achim said, “Okay! Then we look for something else. It’s very clear in the manifesto: 'Listen to your instinct. If a place doesn’t feel safe, then keep moving and find a different place to stay'.” And that’s what we did.
BTW: the alternative place we found was perfect! Moral of the story: stick to your values and trust your instincts! :)
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