Here are my personal travel stories from a lifetime of nomadic living and exploring the world. Some are more informative, typical-blog-style; others are meant to be more entertaining with an emphasis on creative writing. You can browse them by country or subject via the secondary menu above. Or you can check out the most popular or recent ones below.
Kurile Lake, Kamchatka: 30 Humans & 300 Bears at the End of the World
Downhearted, I regarded the scenery behind the drawn-aside curtain. The Orwellian, drab, concrete human containers the Soviets named Khrushchyovkas seemed even drearier behind the veil of the haze. The dense mass of black clouds that covered them did not allow ...
Mosul: An Iraqi City Recovering after 4 Years of Islamic-State Rule
Mosul has never been your typical travel bucket-list inclusion. More recently, it may have rather topped the list of your most sure-to-get-killed places on the planet—by murder, or suicide if by any chance you are a jihadi. But since it ...
A Solar Eclipse, a Rave Party, and a Bunch of Terrorists on Sulawesi
It was winter in the Northern Hemisphere. But as always, it was summer near the Equator. I was overwintering in the tropical latitudes of Southeast Asia. A good German friend had told me that he was about to head that ...
That Hippo Who Almost Killed Me in the Okavango Delta of Botswana
I don’t usually partake in contests of any kind. Never had that habit. But when I saw the latest writing prompt from the Globetrotters traveling publication on Medium, I couldn’t resist it. Wild: that’s exactly how I’d intuitively describe most ...
Two Lone Tourists In Baghdad
We were very lucky it was overcast over the city of Erbil. That’s not a common occurrence. And it happened on the perfect day: the day we had to spend in its entirety dawdling outside. Erbil isn’t a city with ...
When I Climbed that Pyramid in Giza
Under no circumstances could I let this opportunity pass without paying a visit to Giza and its pyramids. So, very early one morning, having started at dawn to avoid the traffic, I was passing beside the welcoming Sphinx and I ...
Ruta De Las Flores Road Trip
Ruta de las Flores (literally the flower route) is famed as one of El Salvador's most scenic traveling itineraries. It runs for about 50 km between the town of Sonsonate and Ahuachapan, going through a diversity of lush landscapes and ...
An Independent, 3-day Island-Hopping Kayaking Tour in Port Barton Bay
Port Barton on Palawan Island, Philippines, is famous for one thing: island-hopping tours. There is a multitude of pristine, heavenly little islands popping out from Port Barton Bay’s clear, blue waters. There are literally hundreds of boats stationed at Port ...
Sailing Evia Island, Greece: Marmari, Almyropotamos
Late summer 2020, Sophie and I were sojourning in my hometown, Chalkida, capital city of Evia, Greece’s second-largest island. On a mellow evening, I received an unexpected call from my old pal, Dimosthenis. To my excitement, he let me know ...
Getting Visited by a Brown Bear, that Night in the Carpathian Mountains
It was an exceptionally hot summer afternoon. Many hours had withered away since I had left my last night's refuge in that cornfield somewhere near Bacau, by dawn that day. Through many towns and villages, and immense extents of fields, I ...
Attending a Senegalese Wrestling (Njom) Contest in Joal
It was that other night. Quite an advanced night it was. Deep darkness had befallen over the west African coast since a few hours ago. And me with a friend we were striding along the lonely road from the town of Joal towards ...
Pompei, an Ancient City Preserved in its Entirety
The advent of this new day found me at a hostel in the town of Pompei, Campania, South Italy. The reason I had ended up there; plus the reason that pretty much anyone ever ends up over there; plus the ...
The Gem Scam in India – How I Scammed those Indian Scammers
It all began that late afternoon. I sat alone at that Sikh-family-owned restaurant I used to go to during my sojourn in Pushkar, one of India's holiest cities, sipping a cup of coffee and waiting for my dinner. Then I ...
Camel Safari in Thar Desert: the Great Indian Desert
Notwithstanding the subtle mantle of high-hovering cirrus clouds that webbed the east, it was a brilliant morning. A soft quietude and a caressing breeze prevailed in the air. A fat grey ox with erected horns was walking lazily along the ...
Tambacounda and Niokolo-Koba National Park – A Travel Story from Senegal
It was a long and uncomfortable journey. Me, a friend of mine, and six more locals together with the driver, squashed inside that wrecked old car, we drove throughout an entire day amidst great portions of flat, arid land till ...
What to see in Moscow in 2 days
Moscow, home to well over 10 million people, is the largest city in Europe. The city is so vast that one would always have the potential to discover new things in it, even after having lived there for an entire ...
Giri Giri: The Magical West African Talisman that Protects against Bullets and Demons
I remember the first time I got introduced to that object known as Giri Giri... It was in that seaside Senegalese town named Joal. By some random circumstances, I and a friend had ended up there, attending a big event ...
A Road Trip in Primorsky Krai
Day #1: Tokarevsky Lighthouse & Land of the Leopard National Park After some really epic adventuring in Kamchatka for a month and a half, we met again the Russian mainland in Vladivostok. We had to get back to Europe soon, ...
Kayaking to Koh Libong Island
Day #8 (27/6/2020) Distance travelled: 0 km (but 32 km kayaked!) More on YouTube Conditions overnight were uneventful; no storm, no heat, not even a barking dog. No sooner than we blinked our eyes open, we made our way down ...
3 Winter Days in Gjirokaster: Travel Guide
Overwhelmed with awe we regarded our new surroundings as we ambled through the timeworn city of Gjirokaster. We had just arrived there after a 2-day hike from Delvina over Mount Gjere. It was one of the last days of 2020 ...
Tham Krasae Bridge Railway Station: Day Trip from Kanchanaburi
After a motorbike trip to Erawan Waterfalls, as a second destination for a day trip from Kanchanaburi, we chose Tham Krasae Bridge Railway Station. That is part of the Siam-Burma historic railway built by the Japanese army during the WW2 ...
Cycling in Malta – Guide & 2-day Trip Report
Upon arriving on the island of Malta, one of the first things I noted was its tiny size. Of course, I knew from before that it is a very small country, but I expected it somewhat bigger. Peering at the ...
Things to see and do in Minsk, Belarus
Belarus recently changed its visa policy, allowing for the first time EU citizens to enter the country without a visa. Given this opportunity to remove one more of the very few remaining European countries from my bucket list, a chilly autumn ...
From Kandy to Sigiriya day trip by scooter
While traveling in Sri Lanka with a friend, we eventually wound up in Kandy. We had a few days to spare there, before moving onwards to Ella, and there wasn't much to do in such a bustling and rowdy city ...
Saxon Switzerland Trip day #2 – Bastei Bridge, Zschirnstein, Königstein
One who's been used to be sleeping in no other place than a soft bed would probably not describe a car as an ideal, cozy night shelter. As I though, have been used to be resting my body in pretty ...
The Unarmed Guard of a Ugandan Guesthouse
...Finally, the time had come to get going and head towards new places. The sun had set for some time already. The electricity was back on, and in about half an hour, I needed to be at the station whence ...
The Story of an Ethiopian Refugee
People often ask me how my relationships are with other humans while I travel all the time; whether I experience any emotional deprivation, being compelled to only develop strictly superficial ties, since limited time does not allow for a connection ...
An Amputated Old Man at Lusaka’s Bus Station
...By early afternoon, I was finally roused by the squealing blares of some vendors who had invaded the bus. All of them, cardboard boxes on shoulders, were striving to sell their wares, consisting of water bottles, soft drinks, cookies, fruit, ...
Saxon Switzerland Trip day #2 – Bastei Bridge, Zschirnstein, Königstein
One who's been used to be sleeping in no other place than a soft bed would probably not describe a car as an ideal, cozy night shelter. As I though, have been used to be resting my body in pretty ...
Saxon Switzerland Trip day #1 – Pirna, Himmelsleiter
This story starts on a warm and sunny, autumn Saturday morning in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany. Having been stationed in this city for a couple of weeks already, the chance, finally, arose to take a short trip out of it and ...
Climbing Mount Artemision in Peloponnese
This is a post about hiking Mount Artemision in Peloponnese, Greece. If you are looking for information and inspiration for planning out your hiking adventures throughout Greece, check out this resources page. Sunday was about to dawn in Syntagma Square, ...
Trekking the Picentini Mountains day #3 & #4 – From the Sabato River Valley to Serino, Solofra, and back to Pompei
'Peaceful' is the adjective which duly describes that morning on the western bank of Sabato River in the Picentini Mountain Range. The little patches of sky discernible above the hazelnut forest canopy were faintly illuminated by the horizontal beaming of ...
Trekking the Picentini Mountains day #2 – Climbing Pizzo San Michele and Monte Mai
As it was instructed, the alarm broke the prevailing silence at 6 am. Darkness was still deep, and the air piercing-cold. So I decided to rather hit the snooze button and enjoy my sleeping bag's warmth for a while longer ...
Trekking the Picentini Mountains day #1 – From Pompei to Fisciano and to Pizzo San Michele
The weather had readopted its usual, sunny and warm mood, I witnessed as I got up this morning. The previous day, I had to delay my scheduled departure because of storms wandering over the Italian region of Campagna. But today ...
A Hike up to Mount Vesuvius off-trail without paying the ticket
After having walked 20 km in an unsuccessful attempt to climb Mount Vesuvius starting from Pompei, throughout the previous night; and another 10 km, at least, wandering around the extensive site of ancient Pompei, for the greatest part of the ...
Pompei, an Ancient City Preserved in its Entirety
The advent of this new day found me at a hostel in the town of Pompei, Campania, South Italy. The reason I had ended up there; plus the reason that pretty much anyone ever ends up over there; plus the ...
Hiking Mount Vesuvius from Pompei overnight
Half an hour past midnight, carrying water, snacks, a footer, and a torch in a small bag, I was leaving my lodging in downtown Pompei. I set out striding along the streets of the still rather lively town's centre. The ...
