Every year in Germany we have this crazy holiday season in May with 3 out of 4 weeks (depending on your region) having days off. This year, Chika was off working in Japan so I needed to source a plan. I suggested doing a “glamping” trip to my friend Kunal, and his son Linus signed off (after getting permission to invite a friend).

As Kunal and I are both overly busy with work, traveling, kids, it took us some time to settle down on a final venue. We had finalized on the idea of a houseboat, but at the last minute the one we were looking at around Brandeburg was gone. I found another one in Poland close to the Baltic Sea and we decided to close the deal.

We left on Thursday and met up in Szcechin for some pierogis in an intersting market hall (after fighting through some nasty holiday traffic) and then finally to Kamień Pomorski, the inlet where our houseboat was located. Kunal had arrived early and took care of all the registrations. While compact, the boat had many ammenities. There were 2 sleeping cabins, a living room (with convertible couch), kitchen with gas stove, dining table, refridgerator, bath with shower, roof deck (which we brought up table and chairs to enjoy the early evening) — all while being part of a boat.

We decided to do the mandatory boat driving training to fulfill the insurance requirements the next morning. We wanted to explore the local fish restaurant, but it was closed and then the kitchen in the marina restaurant was closed (because it was after 8pm), so we ended up eating the morning’s breakfast taco plan for dinner (which the boys liked). And since we found a great bakery in town, we had more than enough to eat at breakfast (although the boys asked for more egg tacos).

The boat training was quite the adventure after the engine died (because the gas wasn’t properly connected) and we started drifting into other boats. Kunal and I were thinking how pleasant it was with our 10 ton boat in the harbor (which would demolish any thing we hit), but the boys made us press on — “We came here for advenure” cried Linus.

The boys wanted to eat on the boat, so Kunal and I went out shopping. Since the kitchen gear was very limited, I decided to do a simple pasta meat sauce with some fresh noodles. My clients were quite satisfied. Afterwards, we headed out into the harbor. Kunal did a great job piloting the boat, and we were able to anchor for a while to let the boys go swimming. As we wanted to get back this time for dinner, we returned back home on the earlier side. The local fish restaurant turned out to be great.

All the boys decided to come on the last bakery run. On the way we decided to check if the ice cream place with giant cones was open. It turns out the owner was there! But the soft icecream wasn’t ready 🙁 We asked how long (in our Polish gesture language) and he said 5 minutes. As we needed to go to the bakery and come back, it was on. And yes, at 9am the boys were having ice cream for breakfast. As we needed to check out early at 10, we decided to visit the beach by car. It turned out to be much nicer weather there with clear blue skies and sun. We played a bit of touch football on the beach (I am not sure if I remembered all the rules correctly) and then had a final lunch where Teo had a giagantic burger.

Overall, a great trip. The only question is when we should repeat it again.