Waterproofing my backpack before the next trip. This is important maintenance work! I’m doing a lot of preparation works from my mom’s home before I head out again. I’ve been at my mom’s place for a few days since hitchhiking home for Christmas from Istanbul. Though I love catching up with my family here, I can’t stay for new years because I don’t like to be in this country during that time. The reason? They’ve got this insane fireworks culture in the Netherlands. Everyone can buy fireworks and light them up themselves, which wouldn’t be a problem if there weren’tContinue reading
Berliner Beers: I Have Arrived in Germany
Quick shoutout to my mom via Tumblr: I have arrived safely in Berlin in three magical hitches! There’s no need to pretend I’m not drinking delicious Berliner beers with my spontaneous couchsurfing host in this city. We all know I love to conclude a victorious hitchhiking day with a cold one. The thing in my other hand is my hitchhiking sign for tomorrow when I’ll try to hitchhike out of Berlin and to Poznań in Poland. Yes, this is just a transient stop in Germany. I used the empty slot on my old cardboard hitchhiking sign for today to write it down.Continue reading
Ashley the Sleeping Dog (My Mom’s)
My dog falling asleep in my coat near the cheese. It’s so cute it hurts. Her name is Ashley and she’s been with my mom’s side of the family since I was ten or elevenish. I grew up with her and taught her tricks. I still remember the stink on my fingers of the dog treats I gave to her when she did a good roll or jump. There are loads of memories here. I kind of realized that I never write much about what life looks like when I’m at my family’s. When I’m at my mom’s my daysContinue reading
Istanbul – Maastricht in 60 Hours: I Hitchhiked Home for Christmas!
I made it home in time for Christmas! Remember my post when I announced I’d try to #HitchhikeHomeForChristmas from Istanbul to the Netherlands in 48 hours? Well, it took me 60 hours to arrive in Maastricht. Not great, not terrible. And definitely on time for family visits and admiring my mom’s tree. So… what happened? Well, I had a flying start on the 19th of December. My buddy from Istanbul paid for a taxi ride to a public transport stop so I could get further out of the city. I started hitchhiking to the Bulgarian border at Erdine. Through BulgariaContinue reading
ANWB: Geographical Knowledge and Hiking Socks
As a preparation for the next big hitchhiking trip through Europe, I visited the shop of this organization mostly known for towing your car named ANWB. It’s kind of like the Dutch version of Triple-A or another roadside assistance organization. According to these maps from the ANWB, Poland and the Baltic States are just North and East Germany. Ahem, should we tell them? Anyway, it’s nice that I received these free paper maps from them. I intend to use them mostly as a way to track my route with the pen I received from a young student of architecture in Zanjan,Continue reading
Hometown Sunset, (Loosdrecht, the Netherlands)
I’ve arrived back in my hometown and will need to sleep for a month after that journey. Wow! But during my waking hours, I can sometimes appreciate the beautiful sunset skies during this windy and cold time of the year in Loosdrecht. For the rest, my days here before and during Christmas are filled with family visits. There’s quite some catching up to do, especially with my grandparents. I have two grandmas and one grandpa that live in this town, all within cycling distance within my hometown. It’s so Dutch, yes. It’s always a little frightening to ride a bikeContinue reading
Hitchhiking Home for Christmas: Istanbul to the Netherlands in 48 hours?
This is my attempt at hitchhiking home for Christmas. I’m currently staying with friends in Istanbul, Turkey. From here, I’ll need to go to my mom’s place in the Netherlands before December 24th (I think? When is Christmas?). I’m going to try to hitchhike first to Maastricht in the Netherlands. That’s where I started studying and then dropped out in November 2013. It feels a little weird that my hitchhiking adventure through Iran and Turkey, and Georgia and Armenia before that, is ending. Somehow, I can’t really do anything without making it a bit of a challenge. So I’ll tryContinue reading
Beer O’Clock: Hitchhiking from Eskişehir to Istanbul (Turkey)
A magical day of hitchhiking from Eskişehir to the European side of Istanbul! It was very easy to arrive here by hitchhiking, so I’m concluding the day with a celebratory beer. Or two. I’m making a stop in this city before continuing my #HitchhikingHomeForChristmas adventure. The drive from Eskişehir to Istanbul is only 300 kilometers. But the next stretch will be thousands. Istanbul is full of friends, old ones and new, so I’m happy to hang around here for a little while, catching my breath for the way home. Before leaving Eskişehir, I asked around on Facebook if someone could host me. TheContinue reading
Eskişehir, Turkey: Şelale Mesire Yeri Waterfalls and Earthquake!
Let’s talk about Turkey’s underrated gem: Eskişehir. Someone who followed my adventures invited me to his city Eskişehir—a city I’d never have thought of visiting between Ankara and İstanbul. He said it’s a laidback university town with lots of young students and a cool vibe. Sounds good! So on December 8th, I hitchhiked there to say hi to him and his friends. His name is Ali and he’s very outdoorsy and likes to travel by bicycle. I must say that the Turkish traveler community CouchRail on Facebook really works better than any official CouchSurfing stuff. His family was incredibly kind and we exchangedContinue reading