Oh my, this mountain vista from the stupa of the Karma Guen Buddhist center in Vélez-Málaga is stunning! Yes, I didn’t spontaneously leave Spain for Nepal or Tibet, although I’m hoping to visit in the future. I visited this Buddhist retreat center in Andalucía with my sort of spontaneous Couchsurfing guest from Russia. Lots of the people at Karma Guen are actually Russian, so we received a tour of the place in Russian and English from one of the people that’s involved there. The whole demographics of this center was very international. We got our blessing at the main hallContinue reading
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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
Inspirational Quote: Not All Those Who Wander Were Told to “Get Lost!”
Time for an inspirational quote about travel: Not all those who wander were told to “Get Lost!” ~ Iris the Hitchhiker I’m really on a creative roll for the whole inspirational quotes kind of thing after finding peace, love, and tranquillity in the south of Spain 🙂 first of all, you should know that I find a lot of ‘inspirational’ quotes very uninspiring. They’re often vague, promote airplane travel, or sound like the ramblings of someone who just rage-quit their job. Secondly, I like to mock shit occasionally. When scrolling through my Facebook feed, it’s literally full of stuff likeContinue reading
They Told Me I Could Be Anything…
I think it’s time to hop on the bandwagon of inspirational quotes on pictures. My first attempt is the “they told me I could be anything” meme-format. It’s to expand the blog and do silly shit to go viral on the internet. I’m not sure if it’s working. I took this photo when I was hitchhiking in Iran from Lar to the great city of Shiraz. The Farsi hitchhiking sign says ‘Shiraz’. No thumb. Because anyone who’s read Iran’s HitchWiki knows that a thumb means something similar to a middle finger in the west. Now let’s post this picture toContinue reading
Check, I Hitchhiked the Millau Viaduct (France)
A couple of days ago I was still in France completing one of my “Hitch Bucketlist Masterpieces of Human Engineering”: the Millau viaduct! One of these pillars that keeps it all standing is taller than the Eiffel Tower and it spans the entire valley. My French driver spoke good English as he had just been back from a five-month backpacking trip himself. He told me more stories of the bridge as there were loads of protests against it. A one-way voyage over the bridge costs a whopping €9.40, so I offered to contribute. My driver rejected the offer. This bridgeContinue reading
Hosted by my French Friend in Frontignan, France
Remember this guy from the hitchhiker’s picnic in Tirana? We just reunited in France, where Yohan’s family lives in Frontignan. Thanks to this French friend and his family, I have a comfortable bed for one more night before I have to go speed-hitchhiking to the south of Spain. Together, we made a little calculation yesterday and it’s more than 1500 kilometers I have to do if I want to avoid Barcelona and Madrid (yes please)! I have about five days to make it to meet the other side of my family there. At the HitchGathering, some women told me theContinue reading