episode I | Fuerteventura | April 2025
If it hadn’t been for Meike, one of my closest friends, telling me back in 2019 that she wanted to go on a surf trip to the Canary Islands and asking me to join her, I probably would have never started surfing. Five years later, we found ourselves standing on the beach together again. By then, we had both completed our surf instructor training and were teaching a friend how to surf. We talked about the moments in life that shaped who we became. I told her that it was probably that trip to the Canary Islands. At that time, I was living on the islands and surfing every day, which had naturally become a big part of my routine.
That’s why hosting the first episode of tshau in Fuerteventura felt completely natural. Here are impressions from that first episode. A little glimpse into how it all began.
episode II | Hossegor | September 2025
Hossegor is a place I discovered in 2021. I had just finished my last university exams, and for the first time in what felt like forever, I suddenly had two full months of holidays ahead of me. I loaded up my Mini Cooper with two surfboards and a bike, please don’t ask how everything fit inside, because I genuinely still don’t know, and started driving. Looking back, it was one of the biggest adventures I had taken on up to that point. I had always looked up to people who spent their summers chasing waves and suddenly, I was one of them.
Hours on the road turned into days (do not mind my driving skills), and the route stretched into hundreds of kilometers all the way down to the French coast. I always look forward to the moment I cross into the southwest of France: the air gets warmer, and everything starts to smell like pine trees. A dry, resinous scent that somehow always feels like coming home.
My first stop was Hossegor. I checked into a small hostel, dropped my bags, and walked straight into town. Within minutes, I knew I had stumbled into a place I will return to. Croissants in the morning and the constant sound of waves breaking just beyond the dunes. I was in. It was one of those rare places that make you feel at home before you even understand why.
So of course, it had to become one of the places I wanted to show you. One of my favorite places and the setting for episode II. Here are impressions filled with lots of love:
episode III | Hossegor | August 2026
After the first two episodes, we were bursting with energy and ideas for the year to come. We had found the most beautiful villa in the heart of Hossegor, only a five-minute walk from the beach. Anna’s cooking skills had reached a new level, and I had become more confident teaching surfing, yoga and workshops. At this point, all we wanted was to keep bringing people together and showing them the beautiful surroundings, the tranquility of surfing and yoga, and the southwestern French way of life. But winter came. I set off on a mission to explore Australia and learn from its surf and yoga culture. Since I didn’t know when I would be back, we planned to continue the episodes in late summer.
After what felt like forever, we came back with not just one, but two back-to-back episodes of our signature retreat. When Anna and I arrived at the villa, both tanned from spending the whole summer at the beach, we looked each other in the eyes and shook our heads, unable to believe it was really happening again and that people wanted to spend late summer with us in southwest France.
Strangers became friends, literally. As I write this, I’m waiting for Nadja, who didn’t know us before but still trusted us enough to join both episodes III and IV. Now she’s joining me on a trip to Cold Hawaii. But have a look for yourself:
episode IV | Hossegor | September 2026
We had barely said goodbye to episode III when the next group was already on its way. The villa was still full of memories from the week before, and at the same time, there were new suitcases in the hallway and new faces at the door.
Well, not all the faces were new: Mara and Mathis joined us again! Both of them were there back in April 2025, on the very first episode in Fuerteventura. Mathis has even visited us twice already! Seeing them again felt like coming full circle. We went from a small idea in a café in Tenerife to a villa in southwest France, and some of the people who had believed in it from the start were still right there with us.
Episode IV was the last one of 2026, and honestly, I couldn’t have wished for a better ending. Late summer light, still-warm water, long evenings and a group that made it really hard to leave summer behind. And now, Anna and I are heading into a new season of retreats, this time officially as co-founders!
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