By bike & train through the city

It’s a familiar image: the city streets are crowded and the trains are late. The daily commute to work or to friends often turns into a stressful affair. If you are a commuter or a regular short-distance driver, you already have to deal with these problems early in the morning. Whether you live in Berlin, Hamburg, Munich or Cologne, more and more people commute to Germany’s cities and want to travel more independently. On the other hand, only very few people use the bicycle to get from A to B, as it is usually very bulky and doesn’t seem very flexible. However, in order not to have to do without exercise, sport and flexibility, a folding bike would be the optimal solution. You can take it with you almost everywhere on your city trip and store it easily.

Folding bikes: Fast and uncomplicated

Why buy a folding bike when you own a regular bike? If you regularly travel around the city, or perhaps commute, you can not only save a lot of time with the folding bike, but also costs. This is because it can be combined with other means of transport. Folded up, it takes up little space and fits in the trunk of your car or on your hand on the train or bus. Compared to normal bicycles, folding bicycles are free of charge on public transport. The practical bike can now be found in every city. Bicycles and especially folding bikes make everyday life more active and can be found in numerous variations at Decathlon, for example. In addition to football, handball and swimming equipment, the sports and outdoor goods manufacturer and retailer also offers various bicycles and matching accessories. In addition to the classic folding bike, you can also find e-bikes and folding bikes here.

Mobility to go: Transport, weight, advantages

Compared to normal bicycles, folding bicycles are especially convincing due to their packing and folding size. With just a few simple steps, the bike can be halved and easily transported on the back or by hand. In addition, they can be easily stowed away in your own home if you don’t have a bicycle cellar. Besides being easy to transport and flexible in everyday life, anyone can ride a folding bike. This is because they can be adjusted to the necessary size at any time. But how much does a conventional folding bike weigh? The classic folding bikes weigh between 10 and 15 kg and are therefore much lighter than normal bikes.

Advantages at a glance – List

Independent of schedules, no crowded roads and a vital everyday life. There are many advantages of folding bikes. Here we show you the most important ones:

• Pack size
• Weight
• Acceleration
• More mobility
• Easy, free transport on train and bus
• Sizes adjustable

Normal or E-bike? Transport & Costs

As with all bicycles, there are countless variants and designs of folding bikes. What does a good folding bike cost? Depending on the equipment, the popular city companions cost between 180 euros and 900 euros. With all the options, it’s hard to choose the right one. So what kind of folding bike should I buy? For example, for those hoping for more assistance while riding, a folding bike as an e-bike would be just right. For those who want to create an active daily life and take advantage of unlimited mobility, a regular folding bike that can be folded in half will suffice. Only a folding bike that can even be quartered offers even more transport-friendliness.

Assembly and disassembly in 20 seconds

When driving through crowded cities, every second counts. The combination of different means of transport, such as train and bike can save you annoying waiting times. Get out of the train, unfold the folding bike and off you go! With a little practice, the bike can be unfolded and folded in less than 20 seconds. How do you fold a folding bike? The folding mechanism of the bikes is very simple and is usually located in the middle of the frame. Just one movement and you are mobile and can continue to explore the city, go to work or visit friends.

Tour through major German cities

If you are planning a city trip together, the well-known foreign metropolises are always named as destinations. But also in Germany there are many cities worth seeing, which can keep up with destinations abroad. Germany has namely breathtaking and diverse big cities, such as Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Cologne or Frankfurt am Main. Each major city impresses with its own buildings, landmarks and landscapes. The cities often have a diverse art scene and an exciting nightlife. When the weather is good, it is especially worthwhile to explore the cities by bike. This way you are flexible, can stop at any time and experience Germany’s cities from a completely different perspective.

Berlin: Center for Art and Culture

How about a tour through Germany’s capital? Berlin is not only the political capital, but also a center for art and culture with around 160 museums. If you have discovered the Berlin lifestyle for yourself, you will love the city on the Spree. There are beautiful places in many neighborhoods and Berlin districts, all of which are easy to reach by bike. Neighborhoods like Kreuzberg, Neukölln or Friedrichshain are hip, and convince with many cafés and restaurants. The many beach bars on the Spree River also make the city particularly exciting in the summer.

Cologne: Media stronghold on the Rhine

The media metropolis Cologne is not only known for the Cologne Carnival, but also offers numerous cultural offerings, parks and excursion destinations. A visit to the old town of Cologne should not be missed during a city tour, because this impresses with colorful houses and pubs directly on the Rhine. If you are a beer lover, you should definitely go to a brewery and drink a Kölsch beer. But also culture lovers get their money’s worth. Popular and colorful neighborhoods, such as the Belgian Quarter or Ehrenfeld are worth a visit and are perfect for trying your way through the various restaurants. And the best thing about it: everything can be reached by bike!

Conclusion: On the road with the folding bike

If you are on the road a lot in the city, have to commute to work or just want to visit friends, a folding bike is a great idea. The unlimited mobility, the easy handling and numerous advantages make your everyday life not only more active, but also more flexible. Folding bikes are not necessarily suitable for off-road use, but they certainly score points on a tour through the city.

Tiny House – Invention in the USA & Movement in Germany

What exactly is a Tiny House and why do people decide to live in such a small space? As expected, the trend of Tiny Houses comes from the USA. The USA is not only known for its crazy inventions, but also for great cities like Miami. Their beginnings can be found already 100 years ago, when tinkerers decided to transform domestic comfort into mobility. The so-called “motorhomes” were reminiscent of fully equipped miniature versions of houses with wheels and the front part of the car.

Minihouse Movement in Germany

In Germany and many other parts of Europe the idea is still in its baby shoes. It is rather an exceptionality to see something like that with your own eyes here. Really popular are but rather other types of travel, such as camping and package tours.Inspired by the books of Sarah Susanka arose an incredible hype already at the end of the 70s. The trend came from the USA. It satisfied the great need of many people to get rid of unnecessary luxury and live in a minimalist way in their own four walls without big costs or debts.

One speaks of three kinds of the small houses:

• Mini House
• Tiny House on Wheels
• Modulhouse

All are a maximum of 100 square meters and are limited to the bare necessities. Such a size can be practical, but also bring disadvantages. Here you will find the most important advantages, as well as disadvantages before buying or completing a Tiny House:

Advantages Tiny House

The advantages of Tiny Houses are manifold. On the one hand, you have low construction costs, after all, you have much less material and area to plow. Likewise, your maintenance costs are much lower, after all, you need less to heat, but also less electricity for light.

• Low construction costs
• Low maintenance costs
• Tiny Houses are good for the environment
• Less time spent on cleaning, tidying and maintenance
• Mobility and flexibility
• Possibility to quickly add living space
• Minimalism trend

Disadvantages Tiny House

Even the most beautiful ideas have their quirks and drawbacks. Especially in nature, you have to reckon with the fact that it can get cold very quickly and the comfort is smaller and tighter when it then comes to family planning or guests.

• Tiny Houses are not suitable for families
• Great planning effort
• Elaborate approval procedure & insurance
• Less living comfort
• No room for guests
• Winter cold
• Restrictions on household effects

Young woman builds Tiny House for 5,000 euros

Elisabeth (35) was fed up with her old life in the north of England, was unhappy with her job and wanted to live more simply and sustainably. In Andalusia she fulfilled her childhood dream and built her own little wooden house. By watching a lot of YouTube videos she realized how easy it is to create something so great with enough confidence and the right imagination. And she did it inexpensively with partly recycled furniture and household appliances from flea markets.

Fancy a DIY project? Learn more about the costs and benefits of a van conversion here.

Her way was not completely without complaints, she also made many mistakes, but she had nothing to lose. The end result is definitely something to behold. After a year of working 4 days full time in the beginning and the rest of the time into finishing, this is what her Tiny House on Wheels looks like:

Consumer dropouts: With children in the mini-house

Rewrite – Young families in particular dream of a life without a professional hamster wheel and expensive rent. They want to remain flexible, economize and have time for each other. Alina and Flo have realized their dream and live with their two daughters in a yurt. Katharina and Kolja are also getting out, out of consumption. Together with their daughter Klara, they move into a self-built mobile mini-house.

Even though everything didn’t start out so colourful and there was a lot of astonishment from family and acquaintances, the couple decided to go through with it. While Kolja and Katharina invested 26,000 euros in their Mini House on Wheels, Alina and Flo opted for the cheaper option on the organic farm in the yurt.

For both, however, it was clear that all the savings would go and their lives would change 180 degrees as usual. With only 650-700 euros a month, the families try to get by and work only the bare minimum in mini-jobs (despite having finished their studies) to have more time with the family and less exhaustion in everyday life.

First Tiny House village in Germany

Steffi and Philipp live their dream on 25 m². Both have founded the first Tiny House village in Germany in Mehlmeisel. After graduating from high school, they both started traveling, Phillip first through Australia, then the two of them together through the USA and Canada. On their travels they discovered their first Tiny Houses. At first Steffi was very sceptical, but once she had seen them from the inside, she became friends with the idea. Unlike in the USA, finding a plot of land in Germany is very problematic. When they both bought their perfect property, there was still a lot of space for more residents. This is how the idea for the first Tiny House village in Germany came about!