Destroyed data and the happiness of life

We don’t struggle out of bed until 11:00 am. The six-hour time difference takes its toll again. Slowly, I tap my way into the bathroom. “All flown out!” I shout. “How? Are we alone?” asks Tanja. “It looks like that. The parents are at their dacha with Alosha and Anja and Jenya are probably at work. Now we have the whole apartment to ourselves,” I explain. “It’s crazy how much trust these nice people have in us. They hardly know us,” says Tanja.

Shortly afterwards, we are sitting at the kitchen table in a good mood, eating Sascha’s delicious pastries, toasting fresh bread and drinking tea. Suddenly the phone rings. “Should I answer it?” I ask. “Could be for us,” says Tanja. “Yes, this is the German guest Denis,” I announce in English. “Denis, ah, good of you to answer the phone,” Katja replies. “Do you agree to be filmed and interviewed by a TV crew at 2 p.m. today?” “Why not? We’d be happy to do that.” “Oh nice. Because I think people should know what you’re up to. See you later then. I’ll be there to translate. Jenya will also come by briefly. He’s interrupting his work,” Katja explains and hangs up.

At 2 p.m., the doorbell actually rings. A cameraman, the editor, Katja and Jenya enter the apartment. Everything is quickly set up and we talk about our travel life, our philosophy of living Mother Earth, how worthy she is of protection for our descendants alone, Russian hospitality and how much we like it in Russia. “Do you have pictures on your computer?” the editor wants to know. “Sure.” “Can we have a couple?” “Of course,” I reply and plug in my new 500 gigabyte hard drive. Suddenly a pop-up window appears with the message “Overvoltage at USB port“. I immediately switch off the computer and we connect the external hard disk to Jenya’s computer. “Do you even have any data on the hard disk?” Jenya’s question sticks in my craw. “Of course, I’ve played everything I need for the trip on it. Above all, the thing is brand new. Surely it won’t have suffered any damage during transportation?” “I don’t know, but as far as I can see there’s nothing on it. Why don’t you try it again on your laptop,” says Jenya. The warning appears again this time; overvoltage. “Maybe the data was deleted when the equipment was x-rayed?” the cameraman says. I get hot and cold. This shockproof hard disk really has everything I need. Much of it for live reporting on our website. In the rush of the final preparations, I didn’t back up the data again on the laptop. “What a load of crap!” I curse. Then I realize with horror that in the rush of the battle I have connected the 12 volt power supply unit to the hard drive instead of a 6 volt one. “I think I’ve just killed the hard disk permanently,” I explain, hardly believing my own statement. “I’m sure we can fix that. A friend is a software specialist. We can certainly save your data,” Jenya reassures me while the cameraman films a few pictures from our new book “Land of the Wind”. (The book “Land of the Wind”, the third stage of the Trans-East expedition, will not be published until shortly before Christmas due to printing delays) “That will be enough for our program. I’m sorry about your data,” says the cameraman consolingly. Only a short time later, everyone has left the apartment again. I’m sitting on the sofa in our room as if beaten about the head and still can’t believe I’ve just destroyed my data. For a traveler who reports on his experiences, this is actually a super disaster. “Don’t worry too much. You didn’t have an external hard disk with you before. You’ll be fine without one this time,” Tanja reassures me. “Probably,” I reply and try to focus my thoughts on the positive stay here. What sense does it make to spoil the beautiful moments in life just because I’m missing data from a stupid hard disk?

Pushing the negative thoughts to one side, we leave the apartment to explore the area a little. We discover a large shopping center on the edge of the settlement. Although we don’t necessarily like such huge shopping centers, we go there. If we didn’t know which country we were in, this shopping oasis could also be in America, Australia or Europe. In a gigantic auditorium, we settle down in a café and enjoy the moment of not having to answer the phone, check emails, write letters, answer post, check bills, arrange show dates, solve computer problems, archive pictures or whatever else there is to do in our lives every day. Once again, we realize how privileged we are to be able to make such leaps into the world. What a fantastic luxury it is to simply sit down in a shopping center and philosophize for hours about God and the world. Simply being an observer again. To study the people here in Siberia as they rush from appointment to appointment, rush to work, stand behind the counter or at the checkout and serve their customers. Once again, we realize what a poor idea it is to waste a large part of your life with too much work for a few luxury goods. Which of course does not mean that working is harmful for us humans. No, certainly not that. But in the world we live in, we often don’t realize how the mostly negative news has a negative impact on our lives. How advertising in magazines, newspapers, brochures, radio and television fills our minds with suggestions of what we need to live. The bad thing about the whole thing is that it works and we humans are ultimately nothing more than stupid sheep running straight towards a precipice in a large, confusing mass without realizing it. A real nightmare. “For this alone, I am grateful to my Lord God that I can sit here and make us all aware of this again,” I say thoughtfully. “Yes, that’s right. And the amazing thing is how quickly it works,” Tanja replies. “What do you mean?” “Well, now we usually only stay in Germany for a few months and it only takes a few weeks for the consumer machine to suck us in.” “That’s true, but on the other hand it’s a good thing, because that way we remain part of the system. It’s the only way we can understand it and the only way we can recognize its weaknesses,” I mused. “You’re right about that.” “Life is an up and down, a back and forth. The main thing is that, on the whole, it brings joy. The main thing is that people can say on their deathbed: “I’ve lived a fantastic life and haven’t missed anything,” I reply. “And I haven’t missed anything yet. I’m happy,” replies Tanja. “Yes, I’m happy with you and our life too. I would want to live it like this again any time,” I conclude, and we leave the auditorium to buy something for our dinner in the mega supermarket.

“There you are. We were already thinking about it when the apartment was empty!” Anja shouts with a laugh when she spots us at the supermarket checkout. “Did you go to the shopping center just to look for us?” I ask. “Yes, Jenya told me I might find you here,” she confirms and helps us put the shopping in our rucksacks.

A little later, we cook our evening meal together in Mama Sascha’s kitchen. It is a carefree time of cultural exchange in which we enjoy each other’s company.

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