Today was my first day hitchhiking around the island of Gran Canaria without much direction or planning. I ended up in a village called Tejeda. From that area, there’s this view of the Roque Bentayga, a kick-ass rock formation. I snapped it around sunset. Apparently, there are many such roques around here. They held a special meaning for the indigenous people of the Canaries. I asked my driver to not drop me off in town because I wanted to camp. My driver pointed me toward a field to freecamp in. It’s a little rural and difficult to pitch my tent afterContinue reading
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I’m Going to Brazil! By Repositioning Cruise
Visiting family and going to the beach with friends is a rare opportunity nowadays. Sharing a bottle of wine together and watching the amazing sunsets is not so rare. But why am I downing an entire bottle of cheap wine on the beach in The Hague with Jonas? Okay, I can’t hold it any longer… So I’m just gonna tell you that in a week I’m going to the Canary Islands and then I’m boarding a boat to BRAZIL! 😀 This is terribly exciting stuff. Jonas invited me to come aboard this repositioning cruise ship that will leave Las PalmasContinue reading
Gibraltar: Tech Problems and Blind Hitchhiking
I’m back in the UK! Last night I found a last-minute couchsurfing host in the Spanish border town of La Linea. He was so kind to drop me at the border today. So now I can go hitchhiking Gibraltar and explore the monkey rock. The guy who took this photo is a born and raised Gibraltarian. He organizes some of the concerts for the national week here. Many people in the streets dressed in the national colors in anticipation of this week. It culminates on the 10th of September when it’s their national day. The border crossing to Gibraltar wasn’tContinue reading
Yurt-Surfing in Andalucía, Spain
How life gives you awesome people: what began as a spontaneous one-night freecamping invitation after a bad ride, turned into a three-day yurt-surfing adventure with my new friend from Hungary! Turns out she lives at this awesome place hidden in the woods with alternative housing. Housing such as yurts, caravans, and other ‘outdoor furniture’ (Spanish law is strange). The first night I pitched my tent next to her caravan, from where you could even see the Rock of Gibraltar! After that, we crashed at a yurt (i.e. yurt-surfing) at her neighbor’s place, because the winds were too strong. Yurts areContinue reading
The Sierra Nevada from the Road (Spain)
Dramatic skies, flawless tarmac, and mountains everywhere: the Sierra Nevada in Spain! Just some shit-stains on the window, still it’s a pretty good photo taken through the windshield! Here’s the Google Streetview version, much cleaner: This day I finished my speed hitchhiking trip towards Málaga in the south of Spain. It was a pretty rough trip of continuous hitchhiking for four days because Spain is just not that easy to get around. The people at the HitchGathering that told me hitchhiking in Spain was difficult spoke truth to power. My lowest point was when I was stuck at a roundaboutContinue reading
Monaco Adventure Travel
Besides meeting the newbie hitchhikers from Czechia yesterday here in Monaco, I also met these two cyclists from Poland who are doing a big European tour. I met them in the daytime when I felt more optimistic about adventure travel in Monaco and hadn’t downed a beer yet. But I haven’t seen any backpackers or that category of travelers since… Greece..! That was more than one month ago and suddenly I meet two duos in one day! That gives me some hope. These guys also have a Facebook page (that I still need to find) but unless you speak Slavic,Continue reading
Czech Out Monaco
I just arrived in Monaco and met these crazy Czech guys with a SpongeBob-themed ukelele. They’re newbie hitchhikers and we’re about to make things go down for real. Probably at the Monte Carlo casino – a.k.a. the James Bond casino – if we can get in. They were already drunk before I met them and I was in a similar mood. So I knew they’re also working hard to make Monaco a backpacker place despite its unwillingness to cater to the EU’s poor and poetic ones. Prepare for nasty updates. But ooh la la, I haven’t thought about Czechia in a long time.Continue reading
Ultimate Hitchselfie on Gozo! (Malta)
I’ve always wanted to take a hashtag hitchselfie like this! This happened on the outskirts of Victoria on the island of Gozo in Malta. Yep, that red car stopped right when I was taking this picture. That’s why I look so distracted. I was also torn between talking to the driver first and picking up my camera first. I chose my camera and then made a run for the car. The guy made a nice drive around Marsalforn and invited me for some guitar playing at his house before dropping me at Ramla Bay to go swimming. I hope IContinue reading
The Blue Lagoon from Comino
Ain’t it pretty? I took this photo from the super small island of Comino here in Malta. What you see in the picture is the tiny islet of Cominotto (“little Comino”), which features a cool and fairly scary cave. One can swim the 100 meters across the narrow bit to Cominotto (which I did), but a fair warning for potential currents and jellyfish is needed. On my way to Cominotto, I had no problems. Though on the way back, the currents dragged me away quite a bit. Then at one point I could reach the seafloor with my feet, tookContinue reading