Microadventures in Freediving
When I was young I spent time with my friends, climbing on rocks, trees, exploring the neighborhood, catching and finding animals. When the night came, we had to go home because Mother insisted on our presence during the dinner. We had plenty of this short time adventures which are now popular as „Microadventures“.
Due to the Covid 19 pandemic, we haven´t been allowed to travel, therefor we have been spending our time at home or close to our home. This limitation has not only been annoying but some of us recognized the benefit of it.
For me Corona meant four cancelled trips abroad, countless cancelled courses and presentations in Germany and Switzerland. I had the time to relax, spent more time with the family, and have been able to do things, I always wanted to do, but had no time. New book projects, new website, creative work and so on. Of course this was not only fun, as you still have to pay your bills and you have no clue how long this situation might last. But it is also a Freediver Skill to see or search for the positive things you can get out of any situation.
One of the things I always wanted to do was to spend more time in the surrounding lakes and rivers. I was really fascinated by this divesites. In an area of 20 km around my house I can dive with turtles, the great crested grebe, all kind of fish, including big catfishs, pikes and sturgeons. There are some lakes in the black forest, some lakes in the city of Freiburg, some rivers close to Alsace in France and Switzerland.
So instead of meeting in the pool, I spent a great amount of time with my freediving buddies in the lakes. Diving in depths down to a max depth of 50 m as this is the depth of our deepest lake. And after the dive we always sat together and had a beer. In the time before Corona most of the time, nobody had time for something like this.
There is also space for creativity. I spent some days hiking through the black forest and did seatrekking. This is a combination of trekking on the land and the water, which is usually done in Thailand, Croatia or Italy. You carry your waterproof backpack on your Back and as soon as you reach the lake you put in your clothes and get out your Freediving Equipment. When you stored everything in the backpack, you close it and blow some air in the ventile. Now you have a combination of a float and a bag. Fixed with a flexible leash on your angle you keep on traveling, but this time in the water.
For us divers it is a wonderful opportunity to travel on, in and beside the water. And spend a lot of time outdoor.
As a freediver we have the great chance to explore lakes and rivers even when they are in areas where you can´t reach by car, as our equipment is light and we only need a mask, a snorkel, some fins and a single breath and of course – just add water.