What to expect of accommodation in Crete as a digital nomad? We stayed on the Greek island of Crete from the 25th of October till the 24th of November, 2023. These are the places we booked to both work online from, pet a lot of cats, and have fun day trips. Heraklion / Iraklio From the airport in Heraklion, we took the bus to the city and walked the last bit through the old town. We found the apartment and did a self-checkin. There was a small elevator that brought us to our floor. The apartment itself was liveable forContinue reading
Europe
Here you’ll find lots of articles about my hitchhiking and kayaking travels in Europe. As you may know, Europe is my ‘homing’ continent where I’ll – like a stinky pigeon – always return to even if I’m trying to stay away from it. And to be honest, it’s not bad; there’s always more to explore.
I undertook many of my trips around Europe while at university in Maastricht (the Netherlands) and Aarhus (Denmark). That’s why I dropped out. I honed my hitchhiking skills here and set the most personal records and firsts such as:
- First solo hitch: from Kirkenes Airport in Norway to Kirkenes town with a military guy with his son
- Longest distance hitched in 24 hours: ~1200 kilometers from Maastricht (the Netherlands) to somewhere east of Lubljana (Slovenia)
- Most hours in one ride: 3 days with one British driver with a rental car in southern Spain and Portugal (his contract said he couldn’t take the car across the border)
- First plane hitch: over Malta (A to A)
- Longest sailing yacht hitch: from Corfu (Greece) to Malta, which was 340 nautical miles over 2.5 days. Here’s my CrewBay profile
Besides hitchhiking, I also kayaked a long distance in Europe down the Danube river in an inflatable canoe named Zucchini. But before I did that trip with my partner Jonas, I returned to university to finish my degree to erase my student debt. Thesis here.
As you can see, it’s not always a fun continent for me; it’s also the locus of worry about the people and pets I’m close to, of bureaucratic fuckery, and of most of my childhood memories. For most of my life, Europe has tied me down. Now I’m trying to experience it from a place of choice and freedom.
If you are not interested in the Danube trip, you can click this link to not show the Danube posts.
Accommodation in Estonia: Booking Homes in Tartu, Tallinn, and Kärdla
What to expect of accommodation in Estonia as a digital nomad? We stayed in Estonia from the 9th of October till the 25th of October, 2023. These are the places we booked to both work online from and have fun day trips. Cruiseferry from Mariehamn to Tallinn Since this bit already appeared in the accommodation in the Åland Islands article, I tucked this one away. But yes, we arrived in Estonia on a booze cruise. Tartu⭐ From Tallinn Port, we walked to the train station and took the train first class to Tartu. This is a 2.5-hour journey. Jonas reservedContinue reading
Accommodation in the Åland Islands: from Eckerö and Kökar to Mariehamn
What to expect of accommodation in the Åland Islands as a digital nomad? These are the places we booked to both have adventures and get some work done. We were in Åland between the 24th of September and the 9th of October. Åland is part of Finland, so read about accommodation in Finland here. Eckerö (Couchsurfing) We spent our first two nights in Åland couchsurfing with a local in Eckerö. It’s quite unusual for us, but a friend of mine brought me into contact with the guy she couchsurfed with in Åland a few months prior and he invited usContinue reading
Accommodation in Finland: Where We Stayed between Kilpisjärvi and Turku
What to expect of accommodation in Finland as a digital nomad? We stayed in Finland from the 3rd of September till the 9th of October, but from the 24th of September till the 9th of October we were in the Åland Islands part of Finland. Since Åland is quite a special place, accommodation in the Åland Islands is a separate post! Kilpisjärvi, Lapland After Tromsø in Norway, our plan was to travel to Finland through one of the ‘bunny ears’ called Enontekiö. The most obvious place to stay in that area right across the border and into the Eurozone andContinue reading
Hailuoto Day Trip from Oulu: Marjaniemi Lighthouse + Keskiniemi Beacon
We visited Hailuoto on Thursday the 14th of September, 2014. It’s a very beautiful and flat island in the northern Baltic Sea in Finland. Bus 59S from Oulu to Marjaniemi Lighthouse on Hailuoto Planning this trip wasn’t very difficult; the bus is on Google Maps. Jonas figured out it’s possible to pay with a (debit) card on the bus, so all we had to do was pack our bags and be at the bus stop on time. We walked to this bus stop on Saaristonkatu where there was a woman waiting for the bus. There were no signs that thisContinue reading
Four Days in the Aosta Valley (Italy)
Between two catsits in Geneva, Switzerland, and The Hague, the Netherlands, we took the bus from Geneva to Aosta in Italy. Aosta is the capital of the autonomous Aosta Valley region, which is bilingual (Italian and French). From the 30th of May till the 3rd of June, we spent four incredible days in the Aosta Valley. We used the city of Aosta as a base for day trips to the surrounding villages. Plotting Our Trip + Bus Ride from Geneva to Aosta But First, Pizza + Gnocchi I don’t know man, but we got off the bus, saw some stuffContinue reading
One Day in Bern: Bundeshaus, Bridges, and Bears
After hitchhiking from Freiburg im Breisgau to Bern, we had half a day plus one night’s stay in the Swiss capital. The next day, we departed Bern toward Geneva by train for a catsit. Bern Ticket: Free Public Transit in Bern by Staying One Night When we booked our hotel in Bern a week before going, we received an email from our hotel that explained the Bern Ticket. It’s a ticket for free public transportation in the city for the duration of your stay. The email explained to us how to get it. There are two ways: Download the BernContinue reading
Walk + Work Day 1: Vlissingen to Westkapelle
This hiking day happened on the 16th of March. On our first day of traversing the Dutch coastline, we walked from the city of Vlissingen to the village of Westkapelle on the island of Walcheren. This ended up being a 16.2-kilometer hike. Departing Vlissingen: Meeting the Paalhoofden Though we aimed to leave Hotel De Concurrent at 8:30, it was only at 8:50 that we walked across Bellamypark through some small streets to the waterfront. We walked on the seawall past people on their morning routine going to work while walking out of the city. At the restaurant near the windContinue reading
Bonzur, Mahébourg?! Traveling from Istanbul to Mauritius (Semi-Live Blog)
On the 3rd of December 2021, we’re hopefully flying from Istanbul Airport (IST) in Turkey to Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport (MRU aka Port Louis Airport) in Mauritius. I’m updating this post as we go. If you’re here for the documents checklist to enter Mauritius, click here. Booking Mauritius Before we even arrived in Turkey, I already knew I didn’t want to spend the full 90 days here. It would be too cold by the end of our visa. And Jonas wanted to spend at least one month in Istanbul, which would result in too little time toContinue reading