Going Solo

Wednesday, the 8th of April, started with a set schedule, like every day on board. At seven o’clock, the two students who were on watch duty woke everybody up. Half an hour later, we had breakfast, and at nine o’clock, we cleaned the ship. Later on, we had another hour to get our things together and prepare the dinghies that brought us to a small forest near the coastline. That was our place for our solo, where you are on your own without distraction and just an empty piece of paper and a pen for 24 hours.
After everybody had found a place to stay for the next 24 hours, our group leader Tobi announced the time one last time (it was exactly 12 o’clock) and read out a poem to get us in the right mood for being alone. When he was finished, everybody left silently for their place. Five minutes later, I crawled into my sleeping bag on a slope with a beautiful view of the bay.
Later in the afternoon, I woke up again because I was drenched in sweat. I took my sweater off. I did not know the exact time, but I reckoned it was about 3 p.m. because of the angle of the sun.

“Sweet Caroline – Oh Oh Oh. Good times never seem so good.” Suddenly, I woke up again because of the loud music that was being played by a yacht’s crew in the bay.
The sun had begun to set, and it was getting increasingly cold. I took a piece of paper and a pencil out of my backpack and started writing a letter to myself. If we hand in that letter, we will get it back half a year after our return to Kiel. But what should I write about? No idea! I fell asleep again.
When I woke up the next time, the stars had come out, and it was quite cold. I took out all the clothes I had with me and went back to sleep.
The next morning, I woke up because I was hungry. I still had an apple, a banana, and some cookies with me. I decided to eat everything, drink a sip of water, and finish my letter that I had begun the day before.
About an hour later, our group leader appeared next to me, holding a piece of paper in his hands which read: “The solo is over. Pack all your stuff and come back to the base camp. But remain silent until we are all together.”
So, I picked up all my things and went to the camp, where our group leader had slept in his tent. After we had gathered in a circle, Tobi read out another poem. Twenty minutes later, the dinghies took us back to our home, where we ate pizza, starving as we were.