I don’t appreciate travel as much as others in the FIRE community. Seeing other parts of the world is fun, but there is a lot of value to being in the same place with the same friends and same routine. But, that doesn’t mean I like to sit around all the time.
Right now, I’m in Germany with Mindy and the girls. Germany has been high on my travel bucket list for a couple of reasons:
- History: World war! A super-villain!! The world’s most famous (and horrific) wall!!!
- Orderly and efficient: Oh yeah, total stereotypical. However, I like a culture with these values.
Regarding the second point, perhaps I’ve watched too many episodes of Sprockets:
Moving on…
Germany has exceeded all expectations. I love it here. I could live here. Everything is awesome! Well, almost everything…
Germany Is Great!
No billboards: I HATE big nasty billboards. In Colorado, the landscape is littered with ones advertising personal injury lawyers, cheap beer, local sports teams, Burger King, and other nonsense. Burn them all down! They are ugly. Germany has no billboards. Just nice trees to look at.
Good drivers (no left lane sloths): Whoah, folks know how to drive here! No one is going under the speed limit in the left lane, oblivious to the world. Everyone uses their turn signal. Drivers don’t look at their phones. Yay Germany!
Autobahn: Oh yes, there are parts of the Autobahn where you can drive as fast as you want. Unfortunately, I rented a Skoda which was not up to the task. The poor Skoda topped out at 160km/hr (100 mph). Pppht! But, it was fun seeing 911s, Audis, and an occasional VW van (?!??) roar past in the left lane.
Rule followers: I prefer to take the stairs, but on one occasion, they were out of order so I was forced to take the escalator. I noticed that everyone got to the right so those who wanted to walk up the stairs could pass. Just like on the autobahn. Good move Germans! There seems to be some basic rules that almost everyone respects and I appreciated it.
Weather is nice: I don’t like heat and Colorado sucks in the summer. As I type this, it’s 100 in Colorado while Berlin is a very pleasant 76. Germany is much more reasonable. Again, I could live here.
Aus fahrt!: The word “fahrt” is everywhere. Since my sense of humor is permanently stuck at age 13, I find this highly amusing.
Trabants (and other automotive obscurities): I love all of the little European cars. It’s the opposite of America where folks are obsessed with land yachts.
Wind turbines/solar panels everywhere: Look no further than Ukraine and you see that the world needs to get off of fossil fuels as soon as possible. German has wind turbines and solar panels everywhere.
Roundabouts: I love roundabouts and they are all over Germany. I could live here for this reason alone.
Berlin bikes: Berliners love their bikes. The city has bike lanes everywhere.
Incredible history: I have incredible autonomy over my life. I don’t even have a job! Sometimes, I take it for granted. Seeing the wall was a great reminder that in some parts of the world, humans can’t even freely move.
Subway: The subway is cheap, always on time, and clean. I love cars, but the older I get, the less I like driving. Trains are great! And the weird thing about Germany is that no one even checks your tickets when you get on. But, if you come here, please buy a ticket. In our case, it was 9 euros for unlimited rides.
Sauerkraut: I LOVE sauerkraut and the German version was the best I’ve ever had.
Conservation: At the hotels we stayed at, lights in hallways would only come on when they detected motion. I also saw escalators that only started moving when they detected someone approaching. I love the elimination of waste!
Eclectic design: There is cool design everywhere! Even in the shower! Look at this awesome minimalist shower drain:
And this building:
I love it all.
Not So Great…
Pay to pee: Yes, that’s right. F***ing pay toilets! Who does this?!?? Germany, that’s who! Remember that no one checks your ticket to get on a train. However, you have to pay to pee. At one rest area on the autobahn, there was even a guard stationed at the toilets to make sure no one snuck through.
Smokers: Lots of people smoke in Germany. Most of the time, I don’t care. Its your body, do whatever you want. But this happened frequently.
- We would find a nice spot to sit in a biergarten where no one else was sitting.
- (Three second later) Someone sits down at the table next to us and lights up. Germany, you could at least segregate the smoking area. Bleh!
No ice: Mindy is obsessed with ice. The first thing she does when she gets to a hotel is hunt down the ice machine. Ice isn’t a thing in Germany and Mindy doesn’t like it.
Germany Is Great!
I have a couple of days left in Munich before we head home. I plan on walking around downtown and seeing the BMW museum. Regarding the former, it’s great fun just to walk around aimlessly and take it all in.
I don’t know when, but I’ll be back. Oh yes, I will.
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Cool that you like it.
As a German who lived in booth countries (Northern Virginia and various German places) some adittional comments:
Things I prefer in Germany:
After dinner in a German restaurant you dont have to leave (to give your table to the next customer). You can stay the whole evening with one drink in front of you and nobody says anything. Tipping is apreciated but not generally demanded. 5% tipping is plenty (instead of 25% in the Staates).
Life is more even, independently in which suburb or city you are living. There are still good and bad areas but nowhere like in the US, where you sometimes feel you are in a different country.
This includes public schools that are funded evenly by the german staates instead of the very uneven property tax collection system in the US.
Kids can room much more freely by themselves in Germany and are less driven around by car. 10 year olds are doing bicycle trips miles away from their house. 15 year olds are traveling alone by train to another european country.
Things I prefer in the Staates:
– Free choice of weather and climate zone. German weather is nearly the same everywhere. For me this means its nice for 6 months from April to September and outright horried from October to March (especially in North Germany) with mostly endless grey skies and the Germans are escaping to South Europe (or Florida) whenever possible. Whole month of January for example has about 40 sun hours in total. I need some artificial sunlight in my house to survive this time.
The Germans like to follow rules and you know that basic services are working just like in the Staates but specially the older generation here is following all rules without thinking if they make any sense and you get scolded publicly for having other thoughts.
Friendlyness and general politness in Germany improved a lot in the last two decades (because younger generation travels so much) but is still miles away from american hospitality and that includes any costumer service.
Both countries still offer a very high life quality but the whole european continent is fastly aging and sometimes in Germany I have the feeling to be in a museum and feel stuck.
Have a nice day
Thanks for all of the observations! I LOVED Germany, althought the winters sound less lovely.
Please look me up next time you’re in Colorado!
Paying for the toilet is one my biggest gripes with Europe. So many public services, but they really missed it with this one! For years I’ve been seriously peeved about this aspect, but this year I decided to put aside a little budget to account for it, and I am much happier. This was one thing I just needed to accept in order to be content living here.
If you make it next door to The Netherlands let me know!
I sooo want to go to the Netherlands! It will happen! Please look us up should you make it back to the ‘states too!
Thank you for an insight to Germany. Though I have lived (Belgium) and been to Europe few times, never got a chance to go to Germany. Your list for Likes and Not likes are great.
Do you tip in Germany? In Belgium, it was kind of rude to leave a tip. They don’t accept tip (circa 2008, things might have changed). Switzerland on the other hand, you don’t have to worry about tipping. The restaurants are expensive and I think they add gratuity by default , haha ?.
Iced water is not common in Europe or even Asia. I remember asking for ice in hotel or restaurant. Either there were none or they served ice in a spoon. Haha ?. Feeling bad for Mindy.
What about German Beer? I have always heard great things about German beer from colleagues who were from there. Though I have quit 5 years back, I still want to know how did you like it?
Always awesome to read your posts. Keep being awesome.
Oh dang, this is a fun update! We’ve spent a little bit of time in Germany and loved every minute. The weather in the summer is magnificent; sometimes when we have a perfect low-humidity day here it reminds me of crisp summer mornings in Germany. And as a DC native, that photo of the escalator just makes me smile; there aren’t too many unwritten rules in this town but (HEAR ME, TOURISTS!) staying to the right on the escalator is sacrosanct.
Word to the wise, though — we once boarded a Berlin tram and the moment the doors shut, a random guy turned out to be a plainclothes enforcement officer. He whipped out a badge and a clipboard and started checking everyone’s transit passes. This guy was a NINJA. I don’t doubt we’d have faced a pretty hefty fine if we hadn’t had validated tickets.
After my husband and I traveled through Denmark and Germany, we decided Americans are definitely underusing their vehicles. We got passed on the Autobahn by an old VW something pulling a horse trailer. And then navigating a roundabout, we saw some kind of Cruella DeVil-Bughatti-esque vehicle pulling a giant yacht. Not to mention anyone doing home improvements who just hooked up a trailer to their Opal or whatever to haul lumber. No pickup truck necessary!
And if you haven’t tried Spezi yet, it’s tasty.
Ha, the Cruella DeVille comment is hilarious!
We noticed the same thing! Tiny cars pulling stuff. Pretty awesome. Who needs a big-ass pickup truck?!??
I love everything about Germany except the weather and the price of property (relative to incomes). I used to dislike that it was all in German (duh), but nowadays I could get my fix of reading due to online. Otherwise, its mostly great, and would love to move there sometime in the future.
Local german FIRE couple here! Glad to hear that you like it in Germany. We’re in our 30s and strongly working towards our FIRE number. We live 1.5h west of Munich and since we both really enjoy your 1500days blog, we figured it could be fun to seize the unexpected opportunity of a meetup. So maybe we can share a stroll through Munich or even take a hike at the coast of the beautiful Ammersee.
A little bit more about us:
In 2021, we worked two full-time-jobs and a side business. We created a garden and a garage with our own hands, got married and hosted a big great wedding party in said garden and garage for 60 people – all while getting more rich, more physically fit and more grateful than ever!
I started giving free community college courses about ETF-investing to help others lose their fear from the stock market.
We’re looking forward to having more time for our truly loved photography side business and hopefully raising children that will contribute to, rather than consume our shared planet.
When you got time, send me an email 🙂
Whoah, this is all awesome! And perhaps there is time to meet up? I’m sending you an email now!
Hey Patrick, where are you at?
Cheers from Gilching.. Sounds like we are close.. 🙂
Hi Nico!
We’re right in the middle between Ulm and Memmingen – you can let us know when you’re in the area! I’ll ask Carl to provide my email adress to you 🙂
If you’re laughing about fahrt, you should go check out Middlefart in Denmark.
In terms of smoking, does Germany still allow smoking indoors? Years ago when I used to live in Germany, it sucked after a night out at bars you have to remember to take a shower or I’d have to wash everything (bedsheets and all) the next morning.
Hey Tawcan,
indoor smoking has been forbidden years ago! So the only area where you can smoke is the outside…
Hi Carl, great to see that you like your trip to Germany. Its fun to see what you highlight in your post as “typical german” 🙂
When you already like to Biergarten in Berlin, make sure to visit some in Munich.
And as you like hiking, maybe there is time to do a trip in the Alps, which are very close to Munich as well.
And if you happen to visit Cologne, send me an email. My invitation for a beer stands
Greatings,
Martin
Thanks so much Martin! I’m sorry that we didn’t have time to meet this time around. We will be back though, Oh yes, we will!
Come to PORTUGAL (but don’t fly to Lisbon! Choose the Porto airport cause LX its pretty chaotic)!!!
Oh yes, we will! And we’ve even been thinking about moving to Portugal! Stay tuned…
We were in Munich and Berlin in May and loved it. We missed out on the 9 euro transit pass — that is such a great deal. Dragon Gal hates that you have to pay to use the restroom. It was like that in Spain, but even worse as there seemed to be fewer places to go. And in Iceland, they have a machine that will take your credit card before entering the rest room! I did read that by law if a place in Munich serves beer, any customer can come inside to use the facilities.
It reminds me a lot of Japan! Enjoy your travels in Germany!
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The Trabants kind of remind me of the old Datsun 1500 Deluxe. Wouldn’t mind driving around in one of those. Cool trip. It’s definitely on my bucket list to travel to Germany. And I love my ice too. I can definitely commiserate with Mindy on the lack of ice.
Yeah, they do look like the Datsun! Hopefully, the Datsun smells less. When a Trabant drives be, it leaves a trail of stink from the exhaust. Oof!
You have shared really detailed information. I like the Trabants, the design is not as sophisticated as American cars but there is something very attractive.
For a German it is very interesting to read this article.
The Trabants were manufactured during the GDR period (until 1989). The vehicles you have seen are old vehicles that have been cared for with love. The design dates from the 1960s.
Yeah, I think they’re cool. I’d love to see a modern, electric version.
Glad you guys are enjoying it! I’m trying to get an Oktoberfest trip booked. Looks like great times.
Also, looks like you missed your ausfahrt…..
Oktoberfest would be freaking awesome!
I had the privilege of visiting Hamburg and Bremen on a business trip in June 2005. The weather was perfect, the windmills were plentiful, the countryside was beautiful, food was excellent, and the autobahn was a safe but startling experience (first time on it was in the pouring rain, after a long flight from the U.S. I kept falling asleep and jolting awake because, oh my goodness, we were going over 100 mph in the rain in a Volkswagen Jetta!).
The locals obeyed every road rule, and everyone stopped at yellow lights. In 7 days we only saw one driver continue through yellow, and everyone else honked their horns at him when he did.
In comparison, slowing down and stopping on yellow in Florida results in road rage.
I would love to visit Germany again.
No one is looking at their phones when driving either which is pretty cool.
Yes, they take their driving seriously, and are respectful of others on the road. When I was there they didn’t allow retreads, so no debris on the road to dodge! And commercial trucks could only travel in the right lane, so no randomly pulling into the left lane at high speed.
Come on! My first job was to clean the bathrooms at a rest stop on the NJ Turnpike. I can tell you that folks could certainly be more respectful. Disgusting stuff!
I’ve lived now in Germany for 30 years. Yes, it is ‘expensive’ to pay to go to the bathroom on the highway, but you get a clean toilet and there is more respect for cleanliness. You pay EUR 0.70, get a ticket and redeem it for EUR 0.50 when you buy something.
Oh and ice! No problem! I can sort you out! There’s more ice that people think. Just order a bowl of ice. It works for my red wine if I think it’s not cellar temperature!!!
OK, now that I understand the bathroom situation a little better, I think I’m on Team Pay Toilet. You are correct that all of the bathrooms were top-notch. Here in Colorado, sometimes vagrants attempt to live in public bathrooms. Germany clearly doesn’t have that issue.
Oh, and love your blog! Keep up the good work, love the renovations, all the best!
Thanks so much!
Good to hear that you liked it in Germany.
It’s always interesting to hear other people’s perspective on your country/state/city etc.
And I also love to get inspired by seeing other places and how things are done there.
As a German (living abroad at the moment) I have the opinion that Germany still needs to improve on a few things you mentioned in the great section. I think e.g. that the transition to renewable energy is still to slow and should be speeded up and I also see a lot of things were efficiency should be improved.
But of course its always a matter of perspective.
Keep up the good work!
“I think e.g. that the transition to renewable energy is still too slow…”
Absolutely! I wish we did more in America too.
So entertained by your take on Germany experience. (As a Brit living on the edge of London, who lived in Germany).
After recently spending a week in Tampa In June and reading an old MMM ‘clown car’ blog. I stood on the sidewalks humming the “big top” circus theme tune as they (choose your truck/SUV brand) sat at one of the dozen red lights, probably trying to find parking. And you highlighted the billboard thing to me. Love Europe.
Just consumed all the MMM backlog and look forward to the 1500 from here on in.
Oggy! Yeah, Europe is awesome! We love it so much that we’re trying to get an EU passport. Not easy!
The States are fun too (except for the massive clown cars). Look me up next time you make it to Colorado!