Well that was a long day… I really had a lot planned for this trip but got hit with bad luck. Starting in Greußen I wanted to visit an abandoned factory, which, as it turned out, was already demolished. Then I headed over to Schlotheim to another factory, but the place was so overrun by people I couldn’t find a good chance to get inside without being seen. The third was a random building in the woods of the Fahnersche Höhe which turned out to be completely destroyed and not worth any photos. On top of that, I broke through the floorboards of this one and fell in the crawlspace, hurting my knee. Being really fed up at this point, I wanted to stop. The sun was also only one hour away from setting. However, I remembered that one place near Eisenach I drove by some years ago, a random factory hall beside a road and train line. So I hurried and arrived there before the daylight was gone. Luckily this was finally not a total miss. With the first foot in, bad luck struck again, or more likely my inattentiveness caused me to step in some random really smelly chemical foam puddle on the floor which had a very bad stench. Overall the whole place smelled like shit, hard to describe how exactly. The whole time I felt stalked inside this building. The outside yard didn’t really seem abandoned since fresh wood was stored there, making the whole thing really sketchy. Stairs to the upper floor were removed, and I definitely didn’t plan on climbing the wet railing completely alone this day. I took some pictures and headed out there as fast as possible.
Since I was caught by police and started doing this alone, I got really nervous while exploring. It’s still fun, but a lot more exhausting. I know I wanted to step down, I sure did when I compare it to some things I did a couple of years ago. So I guess that’s some sort of progress. But if you think of it, the fact that I am alone cancels out all the other risks I don’t take, making normal explorations just as dangerous as in the past when we were two doing sketchy stuff. Sadly I don’t have anyone around me who really wants to accompany me on these ventures, which I understand. Sometimes I really wish for a new partner in crime, but I guess as of now I need to stay on my own. Well, got to keep going. And I will. As the year comes to an end, I look back on a tumultuous one with a lot of changes and challenges but also great adventures. I could really use a more stable year in 2025, I really wish for that. And of course, I wish for more time for doing the things I love.
I have to say a very big thank you to all of you! Thanks for sticking around and giving me a reason to share my pictures and run this website. Eastern Exploration will be 9 years old next spring; a lot of you have been there since the beginning; thank you really much! Wishing you all a merry Christmas and a happy new year! See you in 2025!