Remember three years ago? When I made a hitchhiking videogame with Jonas in South America? Well, we got a new version out with slightly better graphics and more adventures! Take me to the Hitchhiking Videogame! Version 2.0 Since the first version, Jonas took a Udemy course on game development with Unity. After he finished, we started to rebuild the basic JavaScript game in the Unity engine with C#. In other words: we used a different programming language to recreate the game. I brushed up on my Microsoft Paint skills and redid a lot of the graphics. I also asked inContinue reading
9 Important Apps to Download Before Your Trip to China
These are the applications we downloaded before we traveled to Shanghai, China. We were in Shanghai on China’s 144-hour visa-free policy. We downloaded these apps and maps in advance of our 5-day Shanghai itinerary. I’m using a Xiaomi phone working on Android and Jonas uses an iPhone with iOS. All apps mentioned in this article are available for free. 2020 update: If you manage to enter China during/after the coronavirus outbreak, it’s likely that you’ll need to download the government-approved COVID-19 tracking app called ‘Health Code’ by Alipay (支付宝健康码). If you have any experiences with this app I’d love itContinue reading
144 Hours in Shanghai: My 5-Day China Itinerary
This is about October/November 2019 when I visited Shanghai for a five-day stopover. This happened from Thursday the 31st of October till Tuesday the 5th of November, 2019. That’s when we flew on to Chiang Mai, Thailand. We traveled to China visa-free with the 144-hour on arrival visa. Though it’s our personal itinerary, this article also contains a wealth of information on things to do and see in Shanghai on your 144-hour visa. Here you can find a handy map of our itinerary and the sights. Here’s a list of must-download apps for your trip to Shanghai or elsewhere in China.Continue reading
Hitchhiking the Donghai Bridge from Zhejiang to Shanghai
These events happened on Sunday the 3rd of November, 2019. We’d taken the bus from Dishui Lake (Dīshuǐ hú: 滴水湖) in Shanghai Municipality (Shànghǎi shì: 上海市) to Yangshan Island (Yáng shān: 洋山) in Zhejiang province (Zhèjiāng shěng: 浙江省) via the Donghai Bridge (Dōnghǎi Dàqiáo: 東海大橋). After sightseeing at one of the scenic areas, we wanted to hitchhike back the same way to Shanghai. Click here to read about our full 144-hour Shanghai itinerary. Here are all the apps you need before you travel to China. Contemplating Hitchhiking in Yangshan We’d spent a little over an hour hiking around the beautiful rocky area at Xiaoyang Mountain (Xiǎo yángContinue reading
Hiking and Urban Exploring at Devínska Kobyla, Bratislava – with Pirate Kitty!
During our stay in Bratislava, Jonas and I planned a day trip to Devínska Kobyla – the highest point of Bratislava. The peak is at 514 masl and there’s an abandoned missile base there. We planned to go hiking in the forest and see if we could enter the abandoned buildings by means of urban exploration. This happened on Friday, October 11th, 2019. To skip to the map and route of the hike, click here. Background After the kayak trip, Jonas and I traveled back to Bratislava because we loved it so much. We wanted to stay in the cityContinue reading
Paddling the Morava River – A Day Trip from Bratislava
We finished our kayak trip down the Danube in Mohács. After that, we traveled back to Bratislava – our favorite city on the Danube – to work for one month. One day, we wanted to do a day trip with our kayak named Zucchini. We chose the tributary to the Danube named the Morava. Here’s the story of how we paddled part of the Morava River on Friday, October 4th (2019). Want to do it yourself? Here you can find the route details and the interactive map. Plotting and Planning a Kayak Trip around Bratislava The Idea The idea to paddle a stretchContinue reading
Danube Kayak Trip Interactive Map
This is the fully-operative map of our Danube trip so far! You can use the left-side panel to summon or dismiss the information you’re looking for. I included information about the route, the distance, the obstacles in between, the places we’ve stayed at, which stretches require a permit, and which parts we (had to) skip on the Danube. Each paddle day has its own related blog post you can read. I’ll update this map the more we travel this majestic river with our inflatable canoe. Click in the upper right corner of the embedded map to open the map in GoogleContinue reading
Kayak Trip Day 49: Baja to Mohács – Farewell Paddling the Danube
The events in this story happened on Friday the 13th of September, 2019. We paddled our inflatable canoe Zucchini from Baja to Mohács on the Hungarian Danube. This was our 49th day paddling down the Danube and our final destination for 2019. In 2021 we intend to paddle from Mohács to the Black Sea. Our Stay in Baja Baja was indeed a very pleasant and stunning town. We cooked wholesome food for ourselves again, ate out, and walked around the center. We liked it so much that we’re considering going back to Baja when we continue our kayak trip. Continue reading
Kayak Trip Day 48: Érsekcsanád Dunapart to Baja
On the 10th of September 2019, we had our second-last day of paddling the Danube. We started in Érsekcsanád Dunapart and traveled to Baja – a distance of only 11 kilometers. Both towns are in Hungary. Baja is the last town before Mohács, which is the end of our kayak trip for 2019. We plan on paddling the rest of the Danube in 2021. Until then, enjoy the story of our final days in Hungary. Due to another camera failure, all pictures in this article come from my phone. Our Stay in Érsekcsanád Dunapart We only stayed in Érsekcsanád Dunapart for one night.Continue reading