Tragedy Strikes – Kitten Rescue in Portugal, Part IV

Part IV: Downfall & Death This series of posts is mostly a way for me to process the trauma of going through this tragedy. If you’re expecting happy travel content, this ain’t it. This story is number 4 in a series of 5. To read it chronologically, start at Part I, Part II, or Part III. Here you can find the subsequent stories about rescuing a kitten in Porto, Portugal: Part V. Back to Normal (July 16, Continued) We say goodbye to Jan, who is leaving for Germany or something like that. It’s still morning, and Jonas and I are about to haveContinue reading

Using My Content

Hey there! This page is about the things you can do if you found something cool on my website. I work incredibly hard to make Mind of a Hitchhiker a blog full of entertaining, unique, and high-quality content. Here are some tips on how to link to my articles from your website and how to reference or quote text that's on my blog. If you see a cool and unique photo on this blog, I also wrote something for you. Linking to Content on Mind of a Hitchhiker Awesome! I'd love a link from your website. If you're recommending my blog to people, you can add a URL in your post to my website so people can come and visit. Just copy https://mindofahitchhiker.com and paste it in your link editor. Alternatively, use HTML: <a href="https://mindofahitchhiker.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mind of a Hitchhiker</a> If you're recommending a particular blog post, it's also nice to put a link directly to that article. For example,… Read more >

Istanbul City Trip 2013 with Mom (Turkey)

Here are some photos and treasured memories from my 5-day trip to Istanbul, Turkey, with my mother back in 2013. I didn’t have a blog back then, so you figure I added all this much later. Dates of the trip: 28th of March till 2nd of April, 2013. The camera I had during this Istanbul city trip was still my first compact camera, so excuse the quality of the pictures. I returned to Istanbul in 2014 solo and in 2021 together with Jonas. Istanbul City Trip Background My mother used to take my sister or me on a city tripContinue reading

Ayasofya Mosque Visit in 2021: from Museum to Mosque—Foggy vs Sunny Day

These events happened on the 5th and 21st of November 2021. Jonas and I visited the Ayasofya (aka Hagia Sophia) on a rather spontaneous basis. This was my second visit to the Ayasofya and my first visit since it became a mosque in July 2020. Click here to read about my Istanbul and Hagia Sophia experiences from March/April 2013. There’s also a breakdown of Hagia Sophia as a ‘wonder’ in the videogame Age of Empires II down below. A Change of Plans We arrived at the İDO pier at the indicated time of 9:30. During the downhill walk from ourContinue reading

Hitchhiking from Lake Van to Batman, Turkey

When hitchhiking out of Van, I had to thumb my way around Lake Van (Van Gölu). I’m on my way to Batman. Why? I don’t know, it sounds like a funny place. I don’t want to study ever again, but Batman University does pique my curiosity. Hitchhiking around such a huge body of water is also a good time. It’s incredibly beautiful here, though it’s cold. I’m very happy with my spanking new leggings from Iran. They’re really thick and have an inner layer that’s made of fleece. Fashionable and warm! While waiting for a ride nearby the ferry toContinue reading

Kayak Trip Day 44: Ercsi to Dunaújváros

Events in this story happened on Monday the 2nd of September, 2019. We paddled our buoyant Zucchini from Ercsi to Dunaújváros in Hungary. This was a total distance of 36.3 kilometers. Our Stay in Ercsi We stayed in an Airbnb owned by a Dutch family. It’s their summer holiday home, but they’d already gone back to the Netherlands. It’s a very cute house with two bedrooms and a generous garden. The interior details were surprisingly clichéd for Dutch people: blue Delftware tiles depicting windmills, wooden clogs and ancient wooden skates on a wall, some sign in the garden about showeringContinue reading

Strolling up Mont Limon, the Highest Peak of Rodrigues

We hiked up the peak of Mont Limon on Friday the 15th of April and the 7th of June, 2022. It’s not an impressive feat, but I thought I’d share some pictures anyway. Rodrigues Island Highest Point I already knew for a long time that I wanted to travel to Rodrigues in Mauritius and visit the highest peak. On the only usable map of Rodrigues – OpenStreetMaps – it showed that there’s a big road next to the peak called ‘Mont Limon’ and some stairs up that later become a trail. No big deal. Close to the peak is aContinue reading

Hello, Dubai?! Leaving Malaysia for the UAE After 339 Days (Semi-Live Blog)

You know I’ve been ruminating on it. But after 339 days, it’s finally time to leave Malaysia. We’re traveling to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This is a semi-live blog that I’ll update throughout the journey. I’ll edit in photos once I’m back on my laptop. The Weeks Before Departure to Dubai On the evening of the start of ‘MCO 2.0’, Jonas and I were smoking shisha at Chimney Hookah Café in Johor Bahru (JB). We’d just made the most of our last day without stay-inside-order and we finished it off with a banger. One thing had beenContinue reading

Samaipata and Bolivia’s other “Death Roads”

When hitchhiking through this amazing valley to get to Samaipata, Bolivia, football-sized rocks fell down a cliff. It’s such a strange thing to witness. They barely missed the car in front of ours. My driver told his daughter who was sitting in the roof-window of the car to come down and sit inside between Jonas and me. “We have to do this quick”, he says in Spanish. He slows down the car and waits for the dangerous stretch to clear. This doesn’t worry me at all; I grew up with the assumption that if there’s any danger, other people willContinue reading