Merch

I had a great idea for a bumper sticker, so I decided to make one for my car/bicycle owning readers. Then I got a little lost in creating more merch and tadaaa! I have an online shop for my spurs of creativity! If you *buy any of the products, you're supporting my travels. If you don't buy them but just like them, feel free to share it with your friends! There are some share buttons on the left side of every page. [zStoreBasic] * Also, could you send me a photo of the bumper sticker/playing cards/t-shirt in action? That would be awesome. You can send me an e-mail via my contact form here. Read more >

Hitchhiking Gear

Here are some of the things I use to make hitchhiking in all seasons and weather conditions possible. Some items are hitchhiking-specific, while others are good to carry around whether you’re hitchhiking, traveling by bus/train/plane. I enjoy preparing very well for all kinds of situations, which makes my hitchhiking gear not as light as other people’s travel pack. The items listed here are specifically for solo travel, which is how I started back in 2013. Since buying new stuff is harmful to your wallet and the environment, I always advise people to ask around if someone they know has free travelContinue reading

Paranal Observatory, Chile: Tour Group Crashing

“Paranal Observatory, Chile: Tour Group Crashing” has a Russian 🇷🇺 translation: «Паранальская Обсерватория, Чили: Незваные Туристы» Today cannot be described as anything else than plain epic. Together with Jonas, I hitchhiked from Antofagasta to the Paranal Observatory. Our drivers were kind enough to drive us up the mountain out of their way. They drove back downhill and we anticipated hitchhiking another car down within the hour. I definitely didn’t expect to come closer to the Very Large Telescope than the security guys at the gate. But it is a Saturday today and the tour group was just about to leave.Continue reading

Beach Camping in Northern Chile (Iquique – Tocopilla)

It’s tough to give a summary of the things I’ve done in northern Chile in the past weeks. But it involved a lot of freecamping at this beach or that beach, and the ruins of ghost mining towns in the Atacama desert region. This beach between Tocopilla and Iquique, found on the amazing app discovery called iOverlander (there’s an android version too! And of course it’s free), was one of those memorable places. The morning light was sheer perfection, with the Chilean Coastal Range mountains rising up from the sea and only giving a little space for putting up myContinue reading

Freecamping at the Termas de Polloquere, Chile

Sunrise over the Termas de Polloquere in northern Chile. Free hot springs! The sulphuric steam was a little smelly but all in all, it made a pretty good bath. I usually don’t take baths twice a day, for obvious reasons… I’m not sure if freecamping was actually allowed, but nobody really seems to care about what you do here, which is always awesome. The water temperature was something between bearable and skin-scalding hot. I managed to make noodles in the evening and coffee in the morning au-bain-marie style by putting my improvised cooking gear in the hot water. I wasContinue reading

Bombeiro-Surfing in Beja, Portugal (Sleeping at a Fire Station)

So I walked by the fire fighting station in Beja, Portugal, and decided that was the place I was going to sleep at. I’m coining this ‘bombeiro-surfing’ and it results in instant new friends! I don’t speak Portuguese – yet – but I know that ‘bombeiro’ translates to ‘firefighter’. And as you know, ‘surfing’ is short for couchsurfing—but without the help of the CS platform, of course. (See mosque-surfing, yurt-surfing, and café-surfing) But all joking aside, I’d read or heard somewhere that bombeiro-surfing is actually a legit thing to do when traveling in Portugal. I’d link to where I saw it beforeContinue reading

Hitchhiking Bucket List: #1 The Top Gear Crew

This one might be difficult, but it would be the absolute dream to hitch along with (one of the) Top Gear guys, wherever they might be and whatever car they are driving at that time. Whether it’s a crazy fast car on one of Europe’s good highways or a Lada Niva somewhere in the taiga. Doesn’t matter if it’s Jeremy, James, or Richard. I don’t care. They probably all live inside the United Kingdom, so that’s probably where chances are highest. I have no idea when I’ll be back in the UK. A hitchhiker can dream… But perhaps they always driveContinue reading

Iran to Turkey by Hitchhiking: A World Apart

Though I’ve already been back in Turkey for two days, I’m still getting used to things once again. Just across the border from Iran to Turkey in Van, the mosques look different and the mountain peaks are snowier! The crossing from Persian to Ottoman architecture is actually much starker than expected. Especially considering there’s Ottoman architecture in tons of places outside of Turkey. Pictured is the Sobacı Hamit Yörük Mosque in Van. I arrived in Van at night, so all I could see were the elaborate neon lights upon entering the city. Seeing Van in daylight is a much better experience,Continue reading

Puppy Savior Complex (Hatay, Turkey)

Here in Hatay, my host asked me to move to the office of a friend’s construction site to go (sort of?) couchsurfing. The old place I was staying at wasn’t suitable, or something like that. I was there all alone sleeping in the darkness of night on said couch when I heard the cries of a puppy outside. I waited for half an hour until I couldn’t take it anymore. Like a night watch, I ventured out and into the cold to approach the call for help. I searched and searched by torchlight for the source of the squeaks untilContinue reading