5+1 retreats – escape here if you want peace and quiet

I have written dozens of articles with the above title for a magazine based at Lake Balaton. Such topics always attracted a surprisingly large readership. Nowadays, bloggers and content creators are still writing many new articles about newly discovered retreats. I assume they write with good intentions, just as I did. I am happy to recommend good things to others. But in doing so, I did something wrong. Today, when I visit these retreats, I can hardly find a free spot. Others are crowding in, having just discovered the retreat – which, of course, is no longer the quiet, peaceful place it used to be.

Nowadays, more and more people long for peace and quiet, and there is a noticeable trend of those seeking tranquility moving out of the capital to rural areas. However, they do not consider that the countryside can also be noisy. When you sit comfortably in your garden to clear your head, instead of pleasant birdsong, you often hear your neighbor mowing the lawn, drilling or carving something, or blasting wedding music while the children play and scream, and the dog barking loudly at the screaming kids. Of course, these things don’t necessarily happen all at once, but sometimes they can play out in quite astonishing combinations, singing the song of rural life.

I have reached the point where, in the heyday of communal, open-plan offices, trendy apartment buildings built on top of each other, and cool mass events, I can say without shame that I often need a place where I can be alone. I need a place where no one stares at me with a questioning look, wondering, “Why is this girl sitting here alone?” I need a place where there are no children crying in the background, no shouting, no laughter, no chatter. I long for a place where there is no roar of car engines and the loudest “noise” is the rustling of leaves on the trees. I don’t know where such places are these days.

I’m sorry for misleading you with the title. In this blog post, I’m not going to recommend any quiet places to you, but if you know of any, please don’t tell anyone! Don’t spread the word out of pure good intentions! Keep it to yourself and enjoy being able to return there when you want peace and quiet.

I also feel sorry for those lovers who would like to be together somewhere without prying eyes. Secret places that are said to be super romantic are crowded with couples longing for super romance. So where have the secret places gone? When I know the answer, I won’t write it down. I can promise you that.

People carry their own turmoil with them wherever they go. And they can only find peace in a peaceful place. That’s why I seek out peaceful places, so that my soul can find peace and, like a raging gin, escape from its bottle from time to time, stretch out in the silence, bathe in the sunshine of harmony, and then return, recharged. But my gin doesn’t come out in noisy places. It gets scared when it hears the noise and doesn’t want to go outside. It says: you need the right space for peace. I think it’s right.