Wow. What a pretentious title. I haven’t updated my blog in a long time because I’ve returned to university. I always knew I had to finish my Bachelor’s Degree in A Whole Lotta Crap one day, and that day has come. Back in December, I flew out of Bogotá to Madrid. Venezuela, Guyana, Surinam, and French Guiana never happened for me. After a few days in Madrid, adjusting back to Europe after more than two years in South America, took yet another plane to go to Frankfurt . I attended Christmas dinners in Germany and the Netherlands, celebrated New Year’sContinue reading
Miscellaneous
Yeah, you did it! You found the least-findable category page: miscellaneous!
Miscellaneous (adjective)
mɪsəˈleɪnɪəs
consisting of a mixture of various things that are not usually connected with each other
On this page, you’ll find all sorts of things. Anything I’ve written that doesn’t belong elsewhere belongs here.
Some posts don’t belong in a very specific category, such as ‘Danube’ or ‘Africa.’ Of course, some posts can belong to multiple categories, and ‘miscellaneous’ can be one of them. Some posts are deeply personal, some of them are goofy. And I guess I tried to make some of them useful and generic. The pattern is that there is no pattern. Categorizing stuff is hard for people like me: an agent of chaos.
Who knows, I might one day find that I have no use for the category of miscellaneous anymore. Perhaps I’ll change it. But I think you deserve a badge for finding this page at all. Kudos!
The Return to Uni: Going Back, or Moving Forward?
There is this thing I’ve known for the last few years: one of these days, I’ll have to return to Maastricht to finish my studies. I started university in the summer of 2010 and dropped out in November 2013. This had consequences. Today, I arrived back in that city that gave me so much pain. For those of you that have followed my journey for many years, you’ll know that my blogging journey started under the nom de guerre ‘Escapist’. Because that’s how I really felt. I was escaping the horror of my student life in Maastricht that had left meContinue reading
Kitesurfing South America: 3 Obscure Spots
Ever considered going kitesurfing in South America? If not, it’s time to reconsider! Many South American countries are full of river dams. Where there’s a dam, there’s an artificial lake. Where there’s an artificial lake, there’s oftentimes real strong winds. Many of these kitesurfing lakes are rather obscure for the kite community, yet are famous locally for their reliable, strong winds and tiny waves. Watch out, some of these locations aren’t for beginners. All of them do have schools that offer classes but ask yourself if you want to tackle these beasts when just starting out. Perhaps you’ll be sittingContinue reading
Ecuador’s National Font: Hobo
Perhaps you think I’m imagining things, but I swear by it: Ecuador has a national font! And that font is Hobo. It all started when I entered Ecuador from Perú. My first place of visiting was Nuevo Rocafuerte at the Napo river. While I hadn’t noticed the presence of this particular font yet, I did notice some other odd typeface choices; ‘Hostal Chimborazo‘ written in the Harry Potter font. Next up I went to El Coca, where Hobo had fully penetrated society and replaced all competition. Everything came in the form of Hobo. Whether it was a menu on theContinue reading
How Many People Can Visit All Countries on Earth?
You might have heard of some people who have visited all 195 countries on earth. Whoa! How do they do that? Isn’t this hugely expensive? Could a person like you or me visit all countries? Possibly, yeah, but if you think money is the greatest obstacle to visiting all of the world’s countries, you’re wrong. It’s actually the passport you hold – if you can afford one, to begin with. Out of curiosity, I tried to calculate how many people cannot visit one or more of the world’s 195 countries. If one country doesn’t let you in based on your nationality,Continue reading
Iquitos, Perú to El Coca, Ecuador by Riverboat!
If you came to this article from YouTube and just want to know the price to travel this route by riverboat, scroll down or elegantly click here. The “downside” of traveling to a jungle city only reachable by riverboat, is that you know you’ll also have to leave it by riverboat! Last week I had to leave Perú. My 90 days stamp would expire on the 17th of May and I don’t like the idea of overstaying my welcome in a foreign country. I had spent about 10 days in the Peruvian capital of the jungle called Iquitos. From thisContinue reading
Should You Flush the Toilet Paper? A Flowchart
I made a little something after encountering a clogged-up toilet and a hostel cleaner who looked frustrated. Perhaps you never even considered your toilet paper’s destiny… but should you flush the toilet paper? I made a cool flowchart to help you determine whether to bin it or flush it! Follow these easy steps: But really. Clogged toilets and sewage systems are a huge problem in many parts of the world – and the traveler isn’t helping the cause. I’ve met a few travelers who were proud to announce they would straight up refuse to bin their used toilet paper whenContinue reading
71 Reasons to Visit South America in 2017
Whether you’re a hitchhiker, a digital nomad, or a holidaymaker, South America is absolutely phenomenal. Let’s not hold off on that long-desired trip to the southern hemisphere any longer! Without further ado, here’s your randomly ordered justification to go ahead and get south the coming year: 1. Firstly, pick up fifty shades of Spanish! As a result of colonialism, South America is quite homogeneous language-wise, with Spanish and Portuguese being the most spoken. Or mix ’em up and you get “Portuñol“. Learn just enough Portuguese to make your trip to Brazil easy-peasy with Duolingo or Memrise. So instead you want toContinue reading
Mind of a Hitchhiker: The Game!
Introducing a new feature on my travel blog: Mind of a Hitchhiker: The Game! Take me to MOAH: The Game! The Idea to Make a Game If you’ve never hitchhiked, this is your chance to enjoy a soft introduction into the art of stopping cars. The current version needs a keyboard (i.e. proper computer, no phone/tablet) to play. Together with my co-author for the Buenos Aires Guide Jonas, I’ve put together this videogame in which you play this pixelated character that hitchhikes and fends off mosquitoes. The conception of the idea went pretty much like this: Jonas: I’ve always wanted to programContinue reading