How I became as slug as biking investigative journalist
Diary of 15–19 May 2020
Country: Northern Italy
Region: Dolomites
Written by freelance reporter Valerie Lux.
On a rainy Monday in May 2020 got on my bike in Bozen, Italy. It has been the start of my 3000 km long journey through Europe as biking reporter. I happily pedaled along the rushing mountain stream Eisack through the Alps. The mountain slopes with green trees fell steeply left and right along my bike path. I am a biking investigative reporter which means that I have chosen a CO²-free lifestyle. Visiting foreign (and your own) country with a bike and a tent to sleep overnights at the forest or at fields brings you much closer to the culture you are reporting about.
Green Work instead of office work
In front of me was the endless expanse of the royal mountains of the Dolomites. I fixed my gaze on the rocky stone peaks in the distance, which were sparsely covered from the clouds. I wanted to be far away. My aim as freelance correspondent is to find enterprises who survived the crisis well with my leading journalistic question “Where has the money gone after Covid-19”. Already two years ago I quitted the contract of my shabby attic flat in my hometown in Northern Germany and moved to Italy where I lived in several villages along the coast in the last two years. Digital Nomading has become a lifestyle for many of my generations defined by working in CoWorking Spaces in cities all around the globe, constantly changing countries. However I use to call myself a Digital Indian, because I crave of living in the nature while working digital. I want to edit my films beneath an old mammoth tree with being barefoot on the ground and not being tight to a neon light office. Coming out after the aftermath of the pandemia after two month as one of the heaviest lockdown restrictions in the world I was eager to follow the path of freedom. All my senses told me to go away from the bustling atmosphere of the Alpine city of Bolzano as the cars started again roaring noisily again through the city.
Valerie Lux in Klausen, Italy (17. Mai 2020, Foto: Valerie Lux)
How to learn from slugs as digital indian
Now there was only the noise of a river of turquoise color flowing beside me and the bike path. The river rustling soon accompanied me day and night on my journey. In the morning when I woke up from the dewy grass and in the evening when I fell asleep again on the bank of a river. My most faithful travel companions as nomads were slugs, which nestled against my tarp in large numbers at night. Instead of a tent I had chosen a tarp for my trip. A tarp is a square plastic wipe that you can just throw over branches for rain protection. For that the wind doesn’t tear it down again, it can be knotted with ropes on protruding rock outcrops or branch forks. You have a tent roof with a green forest floor.
Eisack River Biking Trail (May 19, 2020. Photo: Valerie Lux)
Sleeping outside in the highest mountains of Europe
What I hadn’t expected as alpine nomad was the rising moisture of the river that enveloped the skin of my body in my sleeping bag in the mountains. I became a slug. Even when I slept under the rustling leaves of vines on a mountain high above the river, I woke up shivering in the morning. Overcoming the alpine high mountains has always been a challenge for approaching soldiers in the two world wars and so for me as a digital nomad. The closer to the river you choose your sleeping place in the evening, the wetter, the higher you climb the mountains, the colder the air. Intuitively guessing the correct vertical meters for the night is an real art.The bike path of the river “Eisack” led along the flat river bed through the valleys leaving no space for mountain meadows or alpine pastures. Karst mountains rose steeply on both sides of the gurgling river. After being unable to sleep in the morning cold again, I used a simple trick. I covered myself with my mattress. Instead of lying on my red air mattress, it now served as protection shield over me. I was surprised myself at how much heat my body could store under the red cloth.
Sleeping at the banks of the Eisack River (May 20, 2020. Photo: Valerie Lux)
Warming thoughts are the most important thing to stand the alpine freezing, experienced mountaineers tell me. More physical resistance to freezing temperatures can be actually be learned with mental methods. Those who visualize warm rays of light and thus wrap themselves up in their thoughts are more protected against frostbite which is practiced by buddhist teachers as so called tummo yoga. Buddhist monks practising tummo sit outside naked in the snow with only with a wet cloak and heat up their skin only with concentration and focus. Sensitivity to cold can be trained through physical hardening measures, as the soldiers of the Navy Seals of the US military stationed in Alaska show. For my next trip, I decided to try the methods of Navy Seals to ensure my survival as a human species and not to end up as Ötzi’s slug in the archaeological museum in Bolzano. Ötzi the iceman was found as best natural conserved mummy from charcolithic age in one of the glaciers of the Italian Alps. Due to the frozen temperatures his body was conserved in an excellent shape.
Waking up with the morning sun between grapevines on a mountain somewhere between Brixen and Klausen in the Dolomites. (May 21, 2020, Photo: Valerie Lux)
Exhausted but happy
After three days in which I slept only at intervals due to the coldness, I stumbled through the medieval half-timbered houses of the Eisack villages completely exhausted. Only three days after starting out as a cycling reporter biking through Europe, I was literally so exhausted that I wanted nothing more than a hotel suite with a hot tub. A look at the political situation in Italy and at my bank account destroyed this idea again. Due to the corona virus, hotel and campsite operations were still strictly prohibited in mid-May. So I went on cycling. But I was happy. Tired and still satisfied I was finally able to walk barefoot through the grass on the river bank and in the morning the first thing I saw was the sun’s rays that broke out from behind the mountain range and bathed my e-bike in bright light. I breathed deeply and I felt as survivor from worldwide lockdown.
The old town of Klausen (May 17, 2020, photo: Valerie Lux)
If you look closely, you will discover bicycles hanging from roofs and house facades everywhere in the Eisack city Klausen
Klausen — the city of the burned men
The first major city I cycled through about ten kilometers north of Bolzano was the town of Klausen in the Eisack Valley. It has only about 5000 inhabitant and has like all the towns in South Tyrol, generously constructed promenades, the so-called “Passeggiata”. On the promenade between the old town and the riverside, German pensioners and Italian tourists meet the rich and beautiful. Jörg Blaurock was burned in the charming town of Klausen with its colorful houses and smooth cobblestone pavement, a man who wanted to decide for himself when he would be baptized. The Catholic priest advocated for self-determined baptism of adults and was consequently thrown at the stake and set on fire by the central church in the 16th century. Blaurock was a first-class freedom fighter who hoisted the white flag before the first attack. According to the historian Thomas Kaufmann, the Anabaptist movement stood for “free love” and nonviolence and represent thus the first primeval hippies among Catholics in the Middle Ages. He even dared to marry a woman, contrary to the Catholic celibacy law, writes the historical author Anna Ehrlich. After Blaurock’s death, the focus of the Anabaptist movement shifted even deeper into the Tyrolean valleys. 500 years later I gasp through the same valleys with my e-bike. Half a millennium ago the men of the Church still haven’t dared to admit consensual sexuality. Oppressing consensual sexuality has a price. The diocese of Bozen-Brixen counted eleven cases of paedophile violence by church representatives in 2018. In March 2020, the diocese was reported “several suspicious activity reports of abuse, abuse and border violations in the sexual, physical and psychological area”, as stated in their annual report. During Corona lockdown in worldwide from India to the EU the consumption of paedophile child porn spiked to a large amount.
Brixen the majestic city from the eyes of a tired smartphone reporter
When I cycled along the river to the diocesan city of Brixen, my first point of contact became the short-cut lawn in front of the hospital church of the Holy Spirit. Fortunately, the latter had shade trees planted in front of the entrance portal. And here I could take an afternoon nap on my yoga mat. After every coffee break I gathered my countless technical devices together, a task which became more and more challenging with a tired mind. As a “baglady” or “digital Indian” you carry all your belongings with you at all times. Since all your valuables are with you day and night, an alert mind, a sound sleep and a clear overview are the most important prerequisites for surviving in the wild.
Brixen Bridge over the Eisack with Christian Statue. (May 21, 2020. Photo: Valerie Lux).
Brixen, the second city on the banks of the Eisack river, presented itself to me as a sophisticated lady on the edge of the Dolomites. Bit by bit the rigidity of the corona quarantine is shaken off by the residents and shop owners. Cafès are having longer opening times, children are allowed to play in playgrounds again. But there are warning signs everywhere, which announce precautionary measures with large letters. White walls characterize the city center, in the middle of which is located the majestic Brixner Dom. The cathedral is a magnificent building with two large eggshell-colored church towers. Both towers each have two clocks with Roman numerals, and remind the citizens of Brixen to appear twice to be on time for work.
Cathedral of Brixen (Photo: Valerie Lux May 22, 2020)
The power of herbal witches and traditional healing methods
While looking for a bitter stomach, I noticed the “Alchemilla” shop in the old town. I always wanted to get to know a real herbal witch so I opened the front door beneath the ornate golden sign.
It smells of hay. Countless ampoules and vials with plant extracts are on long shelves. Sparkling Glass drops hanging from the ceiling, dream catchers dangle gently from the middle of the room and glittering rock crystals are ready for sale in the basket at the counter. The entire wall behind the counter consists of countless green tea cans lined up, inside herbal infusions of which promise healing soon. Behind the counter the managing director of petite stature, Mathilde Mitterrutzner greets me, her big glasses cover almost her whole face. She radiates the charisma of a wise old woman. In not more than five minutes she explained to me the entire health effects of Alpine herbs, from arnica to St. John’s wort.
Surviving a new wave of Corona without money: Eat the right herbs
This is the first time that I come across a self-sufficient way of survival during Corona. Herbs are available for free in nature. Their healing powers are available on the doorstep for everyone, regardless of your wallet. If each of us had a basic knowledge of which herb in your surrounding cures which disease we would not be dependent on buying pharmacies. The subscribers to my stories on patreon will find out which herbs in the Alps best help against which ailments and how hikers and cyclists can best survive their trips with regional grown herbs.
Valerie Lux (left) with Mathilde Mitterrutzner (right), managing director of the “Alchemilla” store in Brixen, South Tyrol / Italy (photo from video recording by Valerie Lux on May 21, 2020)
Appreciating nature, we can learn from healers and old wise women. Knowledge of medicinal herbs has been lost in the early modern period, since herbalists were burned and tortured as “witches” like the Anabaptist Jörg Blaurock. Their species was considered extinct for a long time. This was not a work of Catholicism. The public inquisition found its willing helpers in simple villagers and townspeople who denounced unpopular women and men as “witches or magicians”. The witch burnings in German-speaking countries were ordered by state courts and judges. As “doctors of the people” the midwives knew the connection between psyche and body. “Witches” had frequently the knowledge of folk medicine, they knew how to use the herbs, helping premature births, alleviate the pain or even prevent conception. But having magical features by a daemon could be also assigned to a male citizen whose neighbours wanted to get rid of him. In Catholic areas, up to a third of men fell victim to unresolved conflicts between village communities. “It could affect anyone,” writes the museum director Kai Lehmann. He names a number of places where so many people died that there were hardly any workers left. “The waves of persecution often went as far as physical exhaustion,” says Lehmann, who manages a European database for burning witches.
Today all alpine states encompass modern democratic constitutional state. But the know-how from the past has burned. Very few alpine residents including me now how to live independently with nature and very few catholic priests nowadays know how to practice consensual sexuality. Gaining general knowledge from healers about how different herbs work is an invaluable benefit if bankruptcy is at your doorstep and you don’t know how to feed your children next month due to the loss of your job. And there are also slugs. I recommend cooking in salted water for an hour.
Like to listen more from my adventures? Starting from 5 Euro you can follow me on Patreon.
The author is 29 year old Valerie Lux, founder at Einhornconsulting, is an investigative journalist and feminist business consultant. The award-winning journalist and digital nomad since 2018, is the founder of the management consultancy “Einhornconsulting” for social entrepreneurship.
