I was treating myself to an entire two week break in Rugen, to spend some quality time sketching and relaxing by the sea. My family had often made the trip up to the island of Rugen on our vacations when I was young, and so this place held a lot of magical childhood memories for me. I had never been here before by myself however and was really looking forward to unwinding by the sea and spending some time sketching this beautiful place. I had been drawing my entire life, it was just something that I had always done, part of my soul. It was only now though in my 30’s that I had decided to try and make it my career, and this was why I have returned to the place of so many childhood memories to try and turn this dream into a reality.

I had driven up here by myself, all the way from Hamburg where I lived and worked running a small art gallery. Most of the journey had been great, meditative even, except for the last section when I had to cross the Rugendamm bridge and was held up for what seemed like forever. I found out later that this was due to the opening up of the Ziegelgrabenbrucke, a second bridge which has to open up three times a day to allow the tall ships to pass underneath. I was unlucky enough to be crossing during one of those three times, but even this was not enough to squash my enthusiasm for this vacation. I had not booked a room before I left, knowing that this was not the busy season and that I would be able to find somewhere easily. I often travelled like this as I seemed to enjoy not knowing exactly where I would end up, it was a romantic way to travel as more possibilities were left open, there was more room for fate to step in and take life by its hand.

I already knew that there were so many Hotels Rügen that finding suitable accommodation would be a breeze. I went to Binz at first, and even though this was probably the largest seaside resort in Rugen, it was the quiet season and was not too overrun with tourists. I was keen to start sketching right away, and as it was mainly the seaside which inspired me, Binz would be the perfect location to spend my first few days. I booked in for three nights, not wanting to commit to more than that at first. The room was fantastic, a little above my normal price range but I was treating myself after all. I was a little tired from driving but could not wait to get out my sketching gear and get started. I had a coffee to wake me up a little and stepped outside into the fresh Rugen air with my backpack and walking boots on.

It was so beautiful here that finding something that I wanted to sketch was easy. For the first two days I walked along the sea and found some great spots to sit and draw for hours, losing myself in the flow of the pencil and the paper. On the third day I left the sea behind and explored the hilly land that lay to the south east of Binz. This was fantastic sketching country as it reached over 100 metres above sea level and the views were fantastic. The next week went by in a blur, I found a Wellness hotel in Sellin and spent two whole days just relaxing and sleeping, something I never normally let myself do. Sketching the beauty of Rugen for my vacation was an amazing and inspiring experience, and I will return with over two sketch books worth of material. During my time there I have decided that I am definitely going to pursue art as a career, it is my true calling and something that I can not ignore any more.