Up and Away – a new beginning

Series Up and Away, Episode 1:

How will three Swiss families who are leaving Switzerland for Canada, Uruguay and northern Germany cope in their new lives?

Auf und davon (Up and Away), a documentary series made by the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, SWI swissinfo.ch’s parent company, will follow the Almeidas, the Althauses and the Kunzes over seven episodes during the first months of their new lives in a new country.

In each episode, published every Friday, viewers will learn about the latest challenges and surprises facing the three sets of emigrants: the Almeida family, who are giving up running a B&B in canton Zurich to take over an old motel in eastern Canada; Ruedi and Susanne Althaus, who are heading from Emmental to Uruguay to build a holiday lodge; and the Kunz family from Basel, who are opening a fast-food truck on the coast in northern Germany.

“What’s nice is that we’re going as a whole family. I think this is something beautiful,” says father Sacha Kunz in the first episode, Everything New. “This isn’t going to work. Don’t do it. It sucks,” were the first thoughts of son Kevin, who now says he has changed his mind. Given that the family have hardly any catering experience and are organising the move themselves to save money, what could possibly go wrong?

What started as a holiday destination for fifty-something retirees Ruedi and Susanne Althaus developed into a project for the second half of their lives. How easy will it be turning a plot of land bought on a whim in South America into a posada, a sort of holiday lodge with five houses, a restaurant and a swimming pool?

The Almeida family visited Canada for the first time two years ago. “I’m insanely happy,” says father Josef. “But I haven’t yet realised that I’m leaving a lot of things behind.” How will he and his wife – and their three young children – adapt to life running an old motel in Canada instead of a B&B in Switzerland?

(Subtitles translated from German to English by SWISS TXT)

Series Up and Away

• Episode 1: 1. Up and Away – a new beginning
• Episode 2: 2. Up and Away – surprises
• Episode 3: 3. Up and Away – the pitfalls of everyday life
• Episode 4: 4. Up and Away – 100 pieces of furniture
• Episode 5: 5. Up and Away – testing times
• Episode 6: 6. Up and Away – homesickness and other hurdles
• Episode 7: 7. Up and Away – new projects