Link to the Article published in German – Online Magazine Sein-Brandenburg
South India
Today’s story begins at 3pm, on Oct. 8th, 2025, when Svenja and Dan get into Veeramani’s taxi that will conduct them to the airport. Away from their beloved place in Auroville, that they had called home for 9 long years. Years that speak of happiness and bliss, but also of challenging times, hardship and tears, leading to a profound inner development in each of them. That day their heart is heavy as they do not know if they will ever return to this amazing “City the Earth needs”, as “the Mother” as she is lovingly called by all Aurovilians, once put it.
France
24 hours later and some 8,000 km away, their next life begins. Welcomed by a true and longtime friend in Brittany, they spent 3 weeks of preparing the next part of their journey. In 2024 the InnerBeing Project was born, where people were interviewed on their connection with their inner guidance.
It was precisely this inner guidance, that led Svenja and Dan to leave Auroville and travel through Europe, visiting communities and looking for people that foster this deep heart connection. What better way to travel then by Camping Car? An idea that was whispered to their ears and that resonated strongly with both of them.
The Pilgrim Team
They rapidly found the vehicle that was needed for this adventure, for what they thought was going to be a 2 year journey through Europe. The Camper, an almost 20 year old Ford, got baptised “Pilgrim” and was ready to take the road, but something or someone was missing.
The two of them were guided to Valya, a 18-month old Australian Shepherd. She was destined to join this little family and adapted amazingly well to her new life with them. Thus, the Pilgrim Team was complete and ready to take off.
Portugal & Spain
They say it was the coldest winter since long and quite rough on the couple that was used to tropical conditions. Passing through the typhoon Claudia that badly hit the coastline of Portugal, they met all sorts of people along the way:
Intentional communities with true and inspiring connections, as well as those that were more surfing the wave of pseudo-spirituality. It was an eye opening journey for Svenja and Dan. Coming from the intentional community of Auroville themselves, they had hoped to find, document and interview like-minded communities in this part of the world, but to their surprise, they were more touched by real and generous Individuals they met along the way and experienced true abundance, feeling blessed and rich indeed!
The Crossing
On the 28th of December the Pilgrim Team boarded a ferry to cross over from Barcelona, Spain to Civitavecchia, Italy. A 24-hour journey, during which Pilgrim was parked in the belly of the ship and Svenja, Dan and Valya had booked a tiny, windowless and overheated cabin. Needless to say, they spent most of their time on deck, but the atmosphere and ambiance was somehow off. It felt almost like being in a passage way, between two worlds.
Pompei
They were expected in Sicily by a couple of friends and took the road down south, deciding to spent New Year in the region of Naples. Without any prior reservation, they were lucky when an overbooked camping in Pompeii took them in. Pilgrim sat there, surrounded by Campers of Italian families that came to celebrate the beginning of 2026. Fireworks and barbecues were prepared for the night’s party…the Pilgrim Team quickly fled the ground to explore the region.
They were drawn to the archeological site of Pompeii and all 3 of them were overwhelmed with the emotions felt on this land. It was almost as if some repair was done deep inside of them as ancient memory resurfaced and did its work of release. As if time was inexistant and everything happens at once. Impossible to describe what really transpired but retrospectively it felt as if the visit to the ruins of Pompeii was yet another integral part of their journey that was meant to happen.
Sicily
Once again they witnessed a warm and loving welcome from a small community in the south of Sicily. Strangers that felt immediately close, as if they had known each other forever, one could call it soul recognitions.
The Pilgrim Team loved this part of Italy, even though they were again struck by the not so clement winter weather… this time typhoon Harry hit the shores, but Valya enjoyed nevertheless the nature, the long walks along the small river and the wind carved stone roads.
Time stood still and before they knew it, the month of January had passed. Filled with beautiful encounters, meaningful discussions and joyful organised meetings, where Svenja and Dan shared Auroville and InnerBeing stories. Video recordings were made and published on the travel blog. Life went on and it was very tempting for the couple to stay longer as they felt right at home, but they instinctively knew that their journey was not over and that there were other horizons to explore before they could even imagine to settle again somewhere… at least so they thought at this moment in time…
From Bari to Umbria
Off they went through various regions and communities in Italy. It was beginning of February and life in the Camper started to feel heavy and small. They told themselves that it was the weather and with warmer days, it would be easier for the 3 of them, as nature would expand their 14m2 of living space. In the meantime more beautiful encounters were made and stories told and shared. It was amazing to meet such passionate humans, following their path of inner guidance, each of them in their very own and intimate way. Each had their own colour, their own destiny to follow, but all had one thing in common, an absolute faith in something larger than them.
Of course there were also downfalls, as not every community was welcoming them with open arms. Positioning was often needed to decide which road to take, or not to follow and it always came down to listening to what the body had to say, the present feelings, an outside sign or synchronicity observed before making up their mind. It became more and more obvious that when a decision was made, Svenja and Dan had arrived individually at the same conclusion before sharing it with one another; Almost as if they drew their information from a space exterior but accessible to both of them.
Lunigiana – Land of the Moon people
As they progressed, heading north towards the French border with another 2 or 3 possible communities on their way to visit in Italy, it appeared that a couple of fellow Aurovilians had made their home in an area called Lunigiana. Svenja and Dan felt that they needed to visit them for a couple of days, even though they did not have much contact with them back in India. To reach their house, the camper needed to climb up winded mountain roads across beautiful landscapes. After a warm welcome, immediate deep discussions and the amazing revelation of the complementarity of their respective life projects, the Italian couple left for a 4-day trip and our Pilgrims stayed back to housesit for them.
A small car was rented to explore the region and when the couple returned from their trip, Svenja and Dan announced their decision to stay on for a bit, visit some available houses to eventually settle in Lunigiana by end of 2027, after completion of their European community tour.
How did they reach this decision so fast?
Again the couple followed their intuition during the 4-day visit. A real estate website had let them to a particular house-for-sale, that both had discovered individually and flashed upon. They only had a picture of the house and the approximate location of the village. Taking a long winded road of several km up the mountain on the other side of the Magra River, they reached the village and Svenja was drawn to the main parking area, displaying a memorial signboard. It said:
Platz des Auswanderers
Zu Ehren derer, die gegangen sind, derer, die zurückgekehrt sind und derer, obwohl sie das Land ihrer Eltern nie kennengelernt haben, die Erinnerung und Liebe zu ihren Ursprüngen in ihrem Herzen tragen.
Möge dieser Ort die Heimat derer sein, die zurückkehren und der Zufluchtsort für diejenigen sein, die sich einfach als Teil dieses Landes fühlen wollen und die Erinnerung an eine Vergangenheit und die Hoffnung auf eine Zukunft mit sich tragen.
Svenja and Dan were not able to locate the house on that day. The agent was located some 100km away and could not give an immediate appointment. So, some other houses were viewed but none really corresponded to the vision and budget of their future home. A few times their departure from Lunigiana was postponed until finally the viewing day came.
Upon arrival at the house Dan, Svenja and Valya were immediately caught by the beauty of the site, the little hamlet, nature and surrounding mountains. Still, they were not able to visit the inside, as the agent had lost the keys…
However, there was this intimate conviction that this was indeed their new home. So when they left the next day to pursue their travels, it was decided that their new friends were going to visit the house on their behalf.
Ker Pellegrino
From here everything went extremely fast. The Pilgrim team headed for France and once again without prior consultation they came to the conclusion that their exploration by camping car was ending and that it was important to return as soon as possible to Lunigiana to continue the InnerBeing Project on a different level.
It took exactly 6 weeks in Brittany to put the Camping Car on sale, buy a second hand car and trailer for the little belongings they had left.
In the meantime their new Italian friends managed to send over a video of the house visit and as Svenja and Dan trusted in their inner guidance, they made an offer on the house that got accepted.
Today the Pilgrim Team lives happily in their new house in Lunigiana which they called:
Ker Pellegrino
(“Ker” – House in Brittany language, “Pellegrino” is Italian for Pilgrim)
From Brittany to Italy in 6 months – a true Journey of the Soul