The events in this story happened on Wednesday, the 3rd of April, 2024. We paddled our inflatable canoe Zucchini from Erdut to Vukovar in Croatia. This was our third kayaking day down the Danube in 2024 and the 52nd in total. Though we had slept in Croatia the night before, we hadn’t properly entered Croatia on paper yet until Vukovar. Contents1 Paddling Two Days in a Row + Zucchini Leaks2 Stress About Sinking Before Vukovar3 Paddling Past Dalj + Our First 100 Kilometers4 Borovska Ada + Borovo5 Arriving in Vukovar + Bad Information6 Croatian Police, Customs, and Immigration in Vukovar7 ThreeContinue 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.
Kayak Trip Day 51: Apatin in Serbia to Erdut in Croatia – Straddling Schengen
The events in this story happened on Tuesday, the 2nd of April, 2024. We paddled our inflatable canoe Zucchini from Apatin in Serbia to Erdut in Croatia. This was our second kayaking day down the Danube of 2024 and the 51st in total. Since Croatia is in the EU and Schengen and Serbia isn’t, we had to deal with immigration—on one side of the river… Contents1 Preparing to Cross Back to Schengen2 Starting to Erdut from Apatin3 A Beachy Break in Croatia4 The Confluence with the Drava5 Aljmaš + Kayak Sailing Around the Bend6 Croatian Police Boat + Arriving inContinue reading
Kayak Trip Day 50: Mohács in Hungary to Apatin in Serbia – We Meet Again, Danube
The events in this story happened on Thursday the 28th of March, 2024. We paddled our inflatable canoe Zucchini from Mohács in Hungary to Apatin in Serbia. This was our first kayaking day down the Danube of 2024 and a continuation of this trip in 2019. We intend to paddle to the Black Sea in 2024 this year. Since we’re crossing from a Schengen country to outside of the EU, this required some paperwork at the police. Contents1 Our (Second) Stay in Mohács2 Hungarian Immigration + A Call with a TID Participant3 Leaving Mohács for Apatin: Day 50 or DayContinue reading
Zagreb by Kayak: Paddling the Sava River from Brežice in Slovenia to Croatia’s Capital
We kayaked down the mighty Sava River from Slovenia to Croatia on Friday the 15th of March, 2024. This was the first time since 2019 that we loaded Zucchini with full luggage—including our laptops in a dry bag. We started at the reaction ferry in Mostec near Brežice in Slovenia. The Sava is fast, so we arrived in Croatia’s capital city Zagreb in no time after 32.5 kilometers. Contents1 One Day in Brežice: Sava Rapids, Research, Pizza and Beer2 A Terrible Taxi Driver + A Terrible Entry Spot3 A Fast Flow on the Sava4 Crossing the Border from Slovenia toContinue reading
Ljubljanica Kayaking: Vrhnika to the Ljubljana Marsh and the Capital’s Iconic Bridges
We did this kayaking trip down the Ljubljanica River on the 7th of March, 2024. Starting in Vrhnika, we paddled down through the largest marsh in Slovenia to the capital city Ljubljana. In Ljubljana we paddled through the center a bit before returning upstream to go home and deflate our boat. This trip is in preparation for paddling the Danube again. Contents1 Ljubljana, Slovenia: the Long Way to the Danube2 Taxi to Vrhnika + Inflating Zucchini Under Pressure3 Down the Ljubljanica to Podpeč4 Kayaking the Ljubljana Marshes + Lunch Break5 Entering Ljubljana + Ljubljana Kayak and Canoe Club6 Padding UnderContinue reading
Kayaking the Agger, Sieg, and Rhine – Zucchini’s Recertification River Trials for the Danube
We kayaked the Agger, Sieg, and a bit of the Rhine rivers on Thursday, the 29th of February, 2024. Besides having fun, this was also an important test for our inflatable kayak Zucchini, which had been in storage for over 4 years since paddling the Morava River. Will she float? If she passes her shakedown cruise on these three rapid rivers, we shall take her to Mohács to kayak the rest of the Danube River this year. Contents1 Four Years, Four Months, and Twenty-Nine Days of Slumber2 Inflating Zucchini + Testing for Leaks3 Planning the Agger Trip4 Zucchini’s Shakedown Cruise5Continue reading
Vlieland: 5 Days of Quietude, Craft Beers, and a Lighthouse (Walk + Work)
We stayed on the carfree island of Vlieland from the 21st till the 26th of January, 2024. As part of the Walk + Work Dutch Coastline Hike, we stayed here and walked a section of the coast every day. Since this is a continuation of the original Walk + Work trip, the hiking days count up, starting at 21. Contents1 1. Arriving in Vlieland (Day 21)1.1 Ferry ride to Vlieland1.2 Checking in to our Airbnb in Oost-Vlieland1.3 Hiking the Dutch Coastline Day 21: the Easternmost point of Vlieland2 2. Walking the North Coast (Day 22)2.1 Vlieland Tourist Information, Bus toContinue reading
Drouseia to Neo Chorio, Revisiting Akamas – E4 Cyprus Hiking Day 9
We hiked this section of the E4 on Monday the 8th of January, 2024. Since we based ourselves in Polis, we took the bus from there to the start in Drouseia and hitchhiked back from the end in Neo Chorio. We’ve tried to do as much of the E4 in Cyprus as possible without a car. Planning + Bus 648 to Drouseia Two days before the hike, we plotted a route via a section of the E4 with overlapping bus lines. My OSM map showed a route of bus 648 going to Drouseia, which is on the E4, and oneContinue reading
Avakas Gorge Nature Trail: A Popular Canyon Hike near Paphos
We did this touristy hike on the 30th of December, 2023. Despite traveling to the Avakas Gorge in the low season, it was rather busy Driving to and Parking at the Avakas Gorge The day before, Jonas and I did some shallow research into doing the Avakas Gorge hike. As we were doing a catsit in the mountains near Paphos, we had access to the pet parents’ car. Normally, we would do such a trip with public transport, hitchhiking, or not at all when the internet says it’s too touristy. If we’d done it by bus, we would have gottenContinue reading