August 16, 2011
I feel as if I just awoke from a bad dream only to be greeted by bright sunshine and happiness.
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My room at the Hotel Hamm was my personal
haven for twelve days. |
Surely this is what Dorothy must have felt when going from her black and white life in Kansas to the colorful brilliance of Oz.
I have died and gone to heaven and it’s called Germany.
The Hotel Hamm, my personal retreat for the next twelve days, could not have been a better choice for my holiday had I handpicked it myself.
My room included a canopy bed, mirrored wardrobe Armoire and private roof deck with a breathtaking view of the rolling German countryside. To top it off, the powder room had an old fashioned porcelain tub with a perfect view of the moon when gazing through the window from it during my nightly soaks.
I must tell you the story of how my German riding holiday came to be.
My best riding buddy Katrina told me about a book called The Four Hour Work Week written by Tim Ferriss. I was intrigued so I asked if I could borrow her copy.
Upon rising one morning at 4:30 AM, I cracked the book to read along with my morning coffee. In the first few chapters the author Tim described how you could live the life of your dreams and suggested doing things you had always wanted to do but in other countries where often times it is much more affordable.
So I paused from reading and thought to myself, what is it that I would like to do more than anything? Of course my answer was to ride and even better to train, for a summer or even a year, if at all possible.
Now there was this international conference hosted in Germany that I was considering going to for work in October. Hmmm, I thought, I wonder where the trainer lives from the DVD I bought at the Fidelity Classic Horse Show last summer (you think I would know this as I have watched the video at least 100 times, I kid you not).
I went to my great room and grabbed the DVD case. Well, what do you know, he lives in GERMANY.
A coincidence, I think not.
So I then immediately went to my home office and Googled his name.
From there I got his website.
From there, I apparently I got his youngest son’s cell phone number, and then his youngest son, who then gave me his cell phone number.
Now given that it was around 5:30 AM EST and Germany is six hours ahead, it was a respectable hour to call there.
So I called him.
Literally within an hour or so of reading the first few chapters of Tim’s book, I was on the phone talking to the Elmar Pollmann-Schweckhorst, the trainer!
“Do you take on training clients,” I asked. “Yes,” he said. He then went on to explain his fee, program and availability. I would have two horses that he would train me on every day that I was there. I could ride in the morning then go back to my hotel to rest, as they close between 12-2 for lunch and naps every day, and then come back and train in the afternoon.
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Elmar, my German trainer, shown with his niece
at the 2011 Young Rider’s Competition
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I love this plan.
And to top it off his fee was really reasonable. Come to find out that he had made a mistake in quoting his price, his wife explained later, but they honored it anyway and I promised not to tell anyone what it was. If it had been his full price, I most likely would not have been able to go.
A coincidence, I think not.
Elmar suggested that I meet with one of his former clients who lives in New Hampshire, roughly 50 minutes from me. He gave me her number.
By 11:00 AM, I was on my way to meet her and a girl who worked for her that had stayed with Elmar the previous summer.
When I met with them after exchanging enthusiastic hugs, they proceeded to give me all of the details to help me plan for my trip, including what airlines to fly (Lufthansa), what city to fly into (Frankfurt) and the city to take the train to near his facility (Cologne).
They explained that Elmar’s family of five were lovely, talented and quiet spoken.
I headed home from New Hampshire with no doubt in my mind that I was going to Germany. The only challenge was what to do with my kids during my trip and also I did not want to wait for the conference in October.
First, I thought I would look into airfare. So I Googled flights from Boston to Frankfurt and up popped United Airlines (a partner of Lufthansa). I checked to see how many frequent flyer miles I would need to book a round trip ticket. I would need 100,000 miles. I checked to see what the balance was on my frequent flyer account with United – I had 104,000 miles.
A coincidence, I think not.
I then checked into dates, and the two weeks of flight availability United offered were at the end of August. This aligned perfectly with my kid’s summer vacation and a lull in my normally busy work schedule.
A coincidence, I think not.
I then looked into camps for the kids and ultimately put them into a theater workshop, which they both loved. I coordinated the rest of their schedule with their father and their friend’s parents.
I gave my daughter a Net Book loaded with Skype so I could see and talk to my kids every day while I was there.
Elma’s wife Christiane, arranged for my hotel, a free car to use and offered to pick me up and drop me off from the train station. Now that is service.
So within twenty-four hours of my first reading The Four Hour Work Week , my dream riding vacation was booked and all details resolved. Twelve days of riding under the supervision of a internationally renowned Grand Prix trainer not once but twice a day.
A coincidence, I think not.
Thank you Tim Ferriss, and Katrina.
Foot note: I never did make it to that German conference for work that October. It didn’t end of being the right venue. The purpose for it, it seems, was to start a chain of events that ultimately led to my German riding experience. And while I was only able to go for 12 days, I was really grateful to have been able to go at all.
I am currently planning a year-long training holiday.
Stay tuned for the blogs detailing my riding holiday in Germany.
