Silence Between Journeys: A Nine-Month Life Update (Part Two)

Finding Home: What Happened After We Arrived in India

Arrival in India

The very first thing we did after landing in Goa was call a taxi and head straight to the nearest hospital. During security check in Phuket, Thailand, Yuma suddenly started screaming and crying. He kept saying that his arm hurt. Nothing had happened beforehand and there was nothing visible on the outside, but he was clearly in a lot of pain.

As long as I held him and didn’t move his arm, he seemed okay and even managed to sleep. But the moment there was any movement — the screaming and crying returned.

After two flights and a toddler who still couldn’t move his arm because of the pain, we knew we had to go to the hospital. It was our first hospital visit with our child — and in a completely unknown country and culture. We didn’t know what to expect.

The hospital visit turned out to be incredibly positive. We were surprised by how quickly he was treated, diagnosed, and helped. Yuma received a cast, and the moment his arm was stabilized, our happy, wild toddler was back. No more screaming. No more tears.

After two hours — and about 50 euros for multiple doctors, two X-Ray's, and the cast — we finally made it to our hotel and went to bed.

Finding a Home in Goa

Through the family we mentioned in Part One, we found a “house” we liked and booked it for three months.

One of our biggest learnings from two years of traveling is that you either save money or you pay for comfort. Ideally, we would arrive somewhere for a short time and then search locally for something more affordable. But after our Thailand experience, neither of us had the energy for that anymore.

We didn’t want to arrive, move, search, move again, and repeat.

We were done.

We wanted a home — and we wanted to stay.

So we chose the clearly overpriced house.

Looking back now, I can hardly believe that we lived in India for three months. What a gift that was. We arrived with no expectations — only hope. And India treated us very kindly.

We met wonderful people, and through those same friends, Noah was able to reconnect with dance. They run an intensive dance program that we would wholeheartedly recommend. If we were living a different life right now and didn’t have children, this would definitely be the place where we’d be staying.

Slow Life, Growing Life

We lived a very laid-back life in Goa. Our house was within walking distance of the beach, so that’s where most of our days were spent. Noah surfed (nothing compared to the Atlantic, but sometimes you get lucky), we sweated a lot, enjoyed cooking and eating homemade food again, and slowly let everything settle. Meanwhile, my belly was growing, and we began planning our future — and the arrival of our next baby.

I had heard many intense stories about traveling in India, but for us, Goa with a toddler was wonderful. Yes, Goa is quite westernized due to tourism and expats, but Indian culture is deeply rooted underneath it all. For us, it was the perfect balance: new, rich, and expansive — without being overwhelming.

The Heat & The Exit Plan

We decided that this baby should be born in Portugal (due September 2025), so we started planning and preparing. Our visa made us leave India at the end of March — which, honestly, we were relieved about.

When we arrived, it was already hot. By the end of March, it was almost unbearable.

When we were looking for a house, our friend told us that the one thing it must have was air conditioning. It gets insanely hot, she said. The house we loved had no AC… and we chose it anyway. Our friends were right. We knew they were right. And still, we had to make that mistake ourselves.

I remember eating dinner at 10pm, all of us covered in sweat, hours after the sun had set and it still hadn’t cooled down. Afternoons outside were impossible. With a high-energy toddler and a pregnant body, this was one of the most challenging parts of our stay.

By March, Goa’s season ends. People leave, places close, and the heat increases day by day.

Almost Istanbul

Flight connections back to Europe were miserable. Prices were high and routes were exhausting. I was not ready to fly again — but we had to get back.

After endless searching, Noah found a route with a stop in Istanbul. We decided to stay there for a month before returning to Switzerland. A little city adventure sounded perfect.

Four days before our flight, my mother mentioned earthquakes in Istanbul. We checked the news. Some said it was over. Others warned more could follow. One building had collapsed — in the exact neighborhood where we had booked our apartment.

We didn’t want to be irresponsible. Even if the risk was small, it didn’t feel right. So we canceled the entire Istanbul plan — losing quite a bit of money — and flew straight to Switzerland one month early. We arrived in Switzerland and spent a beautiful summer with family in 30-degree weather. It felt like pure relief after the heat we’d just survived.

Preparing for Portugal

We decided to rent a house in Portugal for six months — giving ourselves time to settle as a family of four before continuing our travels.

Two weeks before leaving, things got complicated: we realized we couldn’t take our old car and suddenly needed to buy a new one and register it outside of Switzerland, even though we’re no longer residents anywhere.

Bless Noah. Together with my brother, he drove to Germany, found the best car we could afford, and somehow managed to register it under extremely complicated circumstances. It cost far more than we planned — but in the end, they made it to Portugal. Yuma and I flew one week later. We arrived at the house where our baby would be born.

A New Beginning

We were deeply grateful for this place and for this pause in our journey.

Our baby girl was born at home in mid-September — strong and healthy.

As I’m writing this, she’s sleeping in the carrier, Noah is playing with Yuma in the living room, and I can hardly believe how much has happened in this past year. We have one month left here in Portugal.

After that, we begin our first journey as a family of four.

And of course — we’ll keep you updated 🤍