The world reopened and things seemed to go back to normal after a very special year in 2020. I was happy to be able to revamp my travel again to it’s fullest and enjoyed even more. This year is packed with highlights and great stories. Keep reading and enjoy.
January
New tech gear
During the deep winter in Switzerland, with a crazy amount of snow, some new deliveries have arrived to improve my work in the future. While my mother shuffled snow nearly the entire day, I was back inside focusing on my work.
Meanwhile, some new tech gear arrived in front of the door. I got a new iPad which I can use as a second monitor in the future. I was looking for a lightweight solution to have at least a second screen. I ended up with not the cheapest solution but figured out that the iPad can be used also for a lot of other things like sketching or even watching movies. From now on I’m fully paperless.
Rigi
On a beautiful day, I decided to leave home and explore some touristy places in Switzerland. Corona is still a thing and we don’t have a lot of tourists in the country, so perfect time to explore our tourist spots without the crowd. I went up the mountain “Rigi” with a friend and we were pleased with the beautiful atmosphere.
Since the tourist spot was close to Lucerne I stopped there and stayed for the night. I went to one of the few capsule hostels in Switzerland which also had a co-working included. This one I used this one the next day to work from. The next stop was my real office in Bern to say hi and continue work.
Country skiing
We got a lot of new snow, which meant in front of our house they started to prepare skiing slopes. I’m used to driving ski or snowboarding but never used those tiny skies used for country skiing. My parents have been into that for a couple of years and I wanted to give it a try in front of our house.
I need to say it worked pretty well as a beginner and I could finish two rounds of the loop. But I felt really tired afterward.
Livestreaming the local orchestra
There were restrictions in place about the capacity of people joining an event, which made it impossible to host a concert. The local orchestra came up with the idea to livestream the event which we produced.
February
Since I’m located within the country I thought it was a good idea to go back to the place I lived in for 2 years — Bern. I went a week into the office to work from. I stayed in a hostel while going to work every day. Besides meeting my co-workers I also went to meet some of my friends here.
Skiing
As you saw before we have a lot of snow. In the mountain area where I grew up, we still have it. So I need to take advantage of the good conditions on the slope. I went with parts of your extended family to Klosters, a closeby skiing town, to ski down the hill and enjoy the day.
Tour the Suisse
Corona is controlling the world. At least in Switzerland, there’s no lockdown anymore, but traveling outside the country isn’t that easy and all restaurants and bars are closed. So I decided to tour Switzerland for a month. It’s not that I don’t know places in my country, but there is always more to see. Even in such a small country like Switzerland.
Geneva
Valentine’s Day was upcoming. I thought let’s take this as an excuse to invite a friend to come for a weekend trip. We ended up going to Geneva for 2 nights exploring and eating some good local food (Fondue).
Martigny
Since I was already all the way in the west of Switzerland I decided to stay on this side of Switzerland. I went into the valley of Valais. There I stopped to mainly work and think of new steps. One evening I went out to go up to the castle and had a beautiful view down to the town and the full valley. A different language and cold temperatures made the experience a bit cold and lonely. I didn’t have an issue. The only reason why I go to McDonald’s is that I just don’t want to go alone into a restaurant. And this happened here.
Crans-Montana
I went through Google Maps and was searching for places in the valley that are worth to go and I’ve never been. I found a famous skiing resort called Crans-Montana which wasn’t far. So I decided to head there for a couple of days and stayed in a hostel again. That’s actually to only payable way to stay within Switzerland.
The weather was just beautiful. Covered in snow but quite warm still. To reach the village up the hill, I needed to take a cable car.
Spiez
My co-worker made jokes about the place I was going next. But I found a very cute hotel in a not-that-popular place. Nevertheless, I headed to Spiez for a night. Walked around the village a bit and worked from my room with a beautiful view over the lake and valley.
Grisons
The week after I headed back home to my home region.
My father was doing the yearly repair of their glider with his friends. So I joined them to watch and talk a bit. Rarely, I’m back home so I take every opportunity to socialize with my known environment.
Solothurn
Still as part of the “Tour de Suisse”, my next stop was Solothurn. There I met a friend whom I went to meet in the evening. During the night I stayed in a cute tiny house at the campsite of the camping.
Close to the city, there’s a mountain top which is famous in the area and gives you a nice view, which I went to the next day. Sadly there was one problem. At that time we had “Sahara dust” in the atmosphere of Switzerland. Which isn’t that common but ends up with a lot of sand particles in the air and creating bad visibility. So when I went up to the mountain peak I couldn’t see a lot. Bad luck, but a nice hike anyway.
Porrentruy
No idea how I ended up at this place. But this place is definitely not touristy at all. I tried my luck to meet locals via Couchsurfing and I had it. Not just a bit, I think I got the jackpot. After checking into my beautiful apartment in the center of the town, I headed out to explore a bit and worked. The next day a Couchsurfer was happy to hang out with me. Her boyfriend joined us and we had great talks. They suggested me to another Couchsurfer who is playing an quite interesting instrument on the street. He invited me to his home and then tried to teach me to play. We had a great evening and that was my experience of this unknown village in the Jurassic mountains of Switzerland (French speaking btw.).
Afterward, I went for a hike in the Jura mountains. The peaks are not very high, but it’s still very nice and quiet. I had a blast. Around a 2–3 hour hike. It was a suggestion by the Coursurferse I met in Porrentruy. The only bad part was that I needed to bring all of my backpack with me, good that I travel light. Because I’m on my way to the next destination in Switzerland.
Creux du Van
Next off another hike, a very spontaneous decision for the lunch break. Well, the part about a lunch break wasn’t the best idea since I figured out it’s an official 2.5-hour hike. Anyway, I didn’t have that much time. So I left my backpack down at the train station and ran up the hill. I’m really impressed by my achievement. I made it in under one hour instead of the estimated 2.5. This was a real workout, puh. Rewarded with a beautiful view from the top.
March
Vevey
I went back onto the train, which was pretty much my office during that trip. My next destination was Vevey at the lake of Geneva in the South West of Switzerland. I love the view of the lake there. So I decided to hang by the lake for sunset and enjoy the view.
The next morning I went for a stroll around the city and went up to a small peak with a church by cable car. On the way there I saw the headquarter of Nestlé which is in Vevey. Up at the Mont-Pèlerin there I had a beautiful view over the mountain of Geneva and the mountains in the background.
Focusing at a tiny house
On Airbnb, I was searching for a special home up in the mountains. Far away from people, and I was successful. I found a tiny house in a small village called “Fenalet-sur-Bex”. It’s reachable by a small bus which was pretty much empty. So I get up there with some food in my backpack for the upcoming days. Because I know there won’t be a shop to buy anything up there. The purpose of going there is to have a productive and quiet time up there. I loved the tiny house, it was prepared so cutely and beautifully. Since the temperatures outside were quite chilly they made it nice warm inside which was perfect to work from.
Wil
Next, I was invited by a friend of mine to come to a town I had never been to. So I accepted the invitation and headed over there. I was greeted by her and the uncle which made me feel very at home. During the day I worked and in the evening we had nice discussions and a walk in and around the town.
Home, sweet home
This marked the end of my Tour the Suisse. After more than a month of traveling around my home country and checking out the not-that-touristy and usual places, I returned home to my official home base. I already knew my home country very well before, but after this trip, I can say that I’ve been to literally every region in Switzerland. That was my purpose for the trip. Go to areas I’ve never made it to before.
Back home I enjoyed it for a bit. I eat my grandmother’s food, use my two big screens (proper office) to work from, and (surprise) pack my bag.
One of my favorite dishes is “Chrutchräpfli”. It’s a very regional dish from my area, which my grandmother has a special recipe for. It’s a bit similar to the “Schlutzkrapfen” famous from Austria (Tirol).
Canary Islands
My next destination is going to be more South. Switzerland had a quite warm winter. Nevertheless, it was time for me to go further South. Because of COVID, there are travel restrictions in place. But within Europe, it’s possible to travel for now after doing PCR tests. It’s quite expensive and needs to be paid alone, but it’s worth it for a 2.5-month trip.
A co-worker of mine and I agreed to stay together in Tenerife for at least a month and share accommodation. We started on the North East coast in a quite luxurious apartment where we stayed for a week and had quite a good work routine. We seldom left the place.
Santa Úrsula
The next weeks were packed with a good work/life balance. Super focused work days and out in the evening or weekend to explore the island with the car. Every 1-2 weeks we switched the apartment and went around the island in this way. 1 week in Santa Úrsula, 2 weeks in Puerto Cruz, and 1 week in Santa Cruz de Tenerife before moving South to Adeje and for a sailing trip.
April
Puerto Cruz
First, let’s see what we did. After this beautiful apartment, we moved together with 2 other digital nomads into a villa. Casa Cucaracha, as we called it. Located not far from the beach a bit up the mountain with a lot of outdoor space and plenty of space inside.
We had a blast hanging out at the apartment and organizing some small parties with standup comedy and drinks, eating out in the local restaurants, going to different beaches, hiking, and just exploring every piece of the island.
Puerto de la Cruz
Then a week in the capital — Puerto de la Cruz. We met a German friend, who will be our skipper in a week and did some more exploring. With the food, I was very happy. So a lot and good food here in the Canary Islands for us.
Teide
Heading up the mountain to the highest peak in Spain (3715 m), the volcano Teide. The landscape up there is incredible. First, you have a stunning view down to the ocean, mostly there are clouds and then you have a nice view to the sea of clouds. Going more up it gets very rocky and looks like Mars and on the other side, it’s very humid. There’s this famous microclimate happening all over the island. Very interesting and diverse.
Adeje
We were heading South for a week to stay in a very touristy place. Not our preference. But we wanted to check it out as well. My chance a friend of mine was down here working in a hostel. So we went out and had fun with her and her friends playing slackline and talking. On another evening we went out for beach volleyball. As I said, it’s touristy, but also means a lot is going on. We continued with our vibe.
Sailing trip
After a bit more than a month we both had a week of holiday, and we organized something special for the holiday. Something without internet. We joined another group of German, Italian, and Belgian people to sail across a couple of islands. A great mix of sport and leisure.
We started our trip in the South and crossed over to La Gomera, then El Hiero. We spent a day and did exploring by car. Then back again to La Gomera and back to Teneriffe.
May
Buenavista
After the sailing trip, the time with my co-worker ended. He went back home since he arrived a bit before me in the Canaries. I took the car and headed back to the North West. First I had a couple of days off and went to explore. There’s so much to see. Even after one month on the island, I’m not bored yet. I went to watch some viewpoints and also some hikes around smaller vulcanos.
Puerto de la Cruz
I went back to the North coast. The place I enjoyed the most so far. Mostly also because of the people. But this time I came alone. I rented an apartment in the center of the town. It was a focused work week with some exploring in the evening. Again I went to some viewpoints in the area and found an abundant hotel with a great view directly on top of a cliff (called El Esqueleto). I found it pretty random while scrolling through Google Maps in satellite view. So I wanted to head there to check it out.
Last road trip in Tenerife
Also, my time in Tenerife has come to an end. I’m having a blast going around by car by myself. So I circled the island again by going to the mountains in the North, staying in a hostel in Santa Cruz, and heading all the way to the South to explore a bit more.
Co-living in Gran Canaria
I took the ferry and headed over to Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. A new island, new memories, and new experiences. There I booked a Co-Living for a month. I was lucky enough to arrive at the perfect time and meet incredible people. Besides productive work during the weeks and casual dining out. We explored the island together as well.
The co-living was part of a bigger concept. Our house was a former boutique hotel that had a hard time during COVID. So it got converted into a place for digital nomads like me. The place was amazing. Casa Mozart was our place. Downstairs a big living room and kitchen. The private rooms and at the top a quite beautiful and big rooftop. All this was connected with access to a co-working in the city center.
The weekend is always a time for a lot of exploring. We went to the South to watch the touristy place Masspaloms. There they built a huge artificial desert. Pretty impressive. Then in the center, there are quite nice mountain peaks with a beautiful view, and at the coast, there are natural pools and great sunset spots. We went there to check all of them out.
As I told you before. We had a group of very nice people I enjoyed talking and exploring a lot. Very international again. American, Italian, German, Spanish, and Swiss. And the dog we only rented for the picture. Doesn’t he look like he’s part of our group 😉
One day the Swiss national TV came by to my surprise. So they wanted to ask me some questions and record me working and working out. So we did.
One weekend we were thinking about renting a convertible car and going around the island once more. It was a great idea, the weather was perfect and we had a blast.
June
Fuerteventura
Another ferry away. Off to the next island close by — Fuerteventura.
The first thing I did there was rent a car. Since it’s the most convenient way to explore the island. And especially after Corona, they were also really cheap. So I went back to my solo road trip mode. Turning the music on and driving by the nice scenery the new island has to offer.
I found a room in a villa up in the North in Corralejo. Suprise, with a couple of Italians. I’m saying that because it’s a hotspot for Italians. The villa was quite big and had plenty of space to work from. We all worked very focused.
The next weekend a friend I met in Gran Canaria came over to Fuerteventura for a weekend trip. I was looking for a special accommodation for the night and found a very nice place in the middle of nowhere. One of the best hosts I ever experienced. She even prepared us an amazing Italian dinner just after we arrived back from our day trip on the island. How romantic. Food and view. Perfect.
Madrid
After a long time on the Canaries, 2.5 months to be exact, it was time to leave. I headed back to the mainland — to Madrid for a week stopover.
There I had a couple of friends. So I worked there and enjoyed my evenings after work with them. Exploring the city and experiencing new food is always the key for me.
My parents’ house
Time to head back to Switzerland. It’s summertime and quite warm. Back to my office and as always when I arrived there, a lot of packages were waiting for me. This time I got a new drone. An FPV drone, a new skill level I wanted to give it a try.
Birthday hike
It’s almost tradition. My best friend comes every year for her birthday to Switzerland to hike and celebrate her birthday at a mountain peak. This time we tried something challenging. The weather wasn’t that certain. Very foggy and also some thunderstorms around. Nevertheless, I decided to leave and hike up to the 2343m high Alvier. On the way up we saw nothing. It was so foggy. Better actually, because it was very steep. At the peak, we still saw nothing, but crazy winds. I decided to risk it and hike up despite thunderstorms, which can be very dangerous because I knew there was a cottage at the top. It was closed since it was too early in the season. But in the worst cases, we could hide somewhere next to it.
In the evening it started to lighten up a bit and we finally had a view over the mountain peaks close by. But still, the wind was quite strong and we saw a lot of thunderstorms around. But they never came closer to us which I liked a lot. After that, we went back into our tent and tried to sleep.
The next morning was a perfect one. No clouds and a perfect sunrise. The risk was worth it. All went well and had an adventurous hike/night at the top of the mountain top.
Since my friend stayed a lot longer in Switzerland we went to some more places close by to enjoy the view. For sure we also stopped at my grandmother’s place and enjoyed the very delicious local food.
July
Back to normal life for two weeks. Since I’m back home I can finally work as a cameraman freelancer again. I’m always missing this a lot. It’s a big passion of mine and I’m happy I can do it on a freelance basis.
For sure I was also happy to catch up with friends from school or former work. The European Football Championship was going on. So no better way than meeting up with them for a drink, watching the game, and talking.
Zurich
I did a weekend trip to Zurich, the biggest city in Switzerland. It’s not that I’ve never been there. Most trains reach their end destination via Zurich since it’s very central. But this time I really felt like a tourist. I and my friend went around sightseeing and doing all the touristy things. That was quite cool and I learned a couple of new places.
Munich
Next stop, Munich. Since it’s a city I go to often, I know many people there. So it’s always nice to return. Especially in summer with all these parks to hang out and play games. Also this time. I spend a week in Munich working and hanging out with friends.
I came to Munich by camper van. The goal was to move up to the North coast of France and Belgium. My best friend from Munich joined me spontaneously for a 2-week trip. So let the adventure start…
France — Normandy
On the way North we stopped in Ulm (Germany) to have lunch with friends and their baby, whom we never saw. Then we continued crossing the border to France and stayed a night in Strasbourg. We did a quick stroll in the old town and had some dinner. Just a nice city. I’ve worked there before for around a week, so I showed my friend some nice spots.
The next day was filled with a lot of driving. My friend just completed her driving license, so I let her drive on the highway so she could practice.
In the evening we arrived in Paris after a lot of hours of driving. We didn’t want to enter the city center so decided to stop a bit outside in Versailles. Yeah, exactly where this huge and famous palace is located. We actually parked just in front of a silent street and stayed for the night.
In the evening and for breakfast we enjoyed the French kitchen and pastry. The next day we had a walk in the park but didn’t enter the palace itself.
We continued our drive to the North Coast. A couple of more hours to drive. Arrived there I managed to meet up with my cousin and friends to hang out for a nice breakfast in the park. They’re traveling around with exactly the same camper van as we did.
The next week is packed with going around the coastline in the North of France. Working and exploring combined to its finest. Life is pretty stressful like that, but also very rewarding.
The Normandy has amazing landscapes and coasts. We stopped by places like Carnac, Plage de Pentrez, Pointe de Pen Hir, Site de Meneham, Ploumanac’h, Le Mont-Saint-Michel, and Étretat.
We had some great food on our trip and also the worst in my life. Personally, I’m not the greatest friend of the French kitchen, but the pastry and crepes are just amazing.
Belgium road trip
I haven’t discovered Belgium that much and since it isn’t that far from the Northern coast of France, I decided to finally check out some cities there.
The first stop was Brugge. A quite touristy, but cute place. It’s called “Venice of the North”. So we needed to do a round trip by boat in the channels. Something we can’t miss out on, are waffles and fries.
The next city was Gent. Another very nice city. Less touristy, but as nice.
My friend and I always do some funny things. We use Tinder to meet new people wherever we go. Then we find a “date” for each of us. Hang out with them first and then meet together. Mostly this is ending in a great local experience, very casual. This time we had a walk during sunset in the old town and then we went over to a pretty hip pizza place with pretty outstanding tastes of pizza to share across the table. A very good experience.
The next day I had to work a lot. So I was working in the camper van on the campsite. In the evening we went to the cinema. I rarely go to the cinema, but I heard that Fast & Furious was running. So I needed to see it.
August
A car nightmare is upcoming. You can’t believe it. Keep reading.
Camper Breakdown
In spring I was on a sailing trip with a group of international people. One girl was from Belgium. So I texted her to ask if she was free for a weekend getaway with us in the camper van. She could manage, so we headed to her home to pick her up. All good so far. We were planning to drive a bit South to check out some older villages in the countryside. While having great talks driving on the highway, at some point I just couldn’t accelerate anymore. I was shocked and drove to the side of the highway. The motor shut down. On the side, I tried to restart the motor a couple of times. Without success. I called my father, a car mechanic. But helping via the phone with such a problem isn’t that easy. It didn’t look good. And we’re on the highway, so we need to somehow move away and visit a garage.
We needed to call a towing service to bring us to the next certificated Volkswagen garage. The thing is, the car is not even a year old. So we called the police and they organized a guy to pick us up. The good part is that we had our new friend on board. Where in the French-speaking part of Belgium people rarely speak English. So good to have a local with French skills on board. We had to wait for around 30 minutes to get picked up. What can we do? Good, that we’re in a camper van with a kitchen, so time for lunch 😉 No bad mood. When we just finished, the tow truck came to pick us up. What an experience, we all never have been in such a situation. Stressful, but we took it with humor.
Arrived at the garage they had already started to take apart the motor to see what could be the problem. Underneath we found a lot of drips of gasoline. After a lot of discussion with the manager of the garage and language difficulties, we figured out that new cars are insured by Volkswagen for such things by default. But since we’re registered in Switzerland, I needed to call the Swiss support service. Big companies, slow support, complicated structures. But after a couple of hours, we managed. The guy on the support was very friendly and could even speak French to talk to the Belgium garage manager directly. So by the end of the day, they managed to get us a replacement car for a week. Our camping trip was already at the end before it started. We needed to adjust all of our plans, but my friend and I are experienced travelers, so we’re used to that.
So we got a taxi, which drove us to the next car rental service at the airport. One hour away actually, from there we took our rental car and drove back to our friend’s house. There they were just celebrating the birthday of her sister. So we just joined the party.
Staying with our friend’s family
The family was so welcoming and friendly. They invited us to stay at the place as long as we wanted. Instead of going to the countryside by camper van, we’re now staying in the center of Belgium with our friends and family. I could have asked for worse things. And our guest room was an amazing one, it was actually a full studio. We felt at home immediately.
The next day we already got the notification that our camper van was ready to pick up. Very unexpected since we were shifting our plans for at least 4 to 5 days.
Abbaye de Villers
We went out to visit a monastery called Abbaye de Villers close to the village we’re staying at (Louvain-la-Neuve). It’s from the year 1200. We enjoyed visiting and had a great time as always. No time for negativity.
Breakdown Nr. 2
Then we continued our trip to the garage to pick up our camper. Everything was fine, but we have one issue now. We have 2 cars and 3 people (2 of them are inexperienced drivers). As you know my friend just got her driving license and I was supervising her while driving up to the North of France. Mostly countryside and highways, but now we’re in a smaller city. In addition, the rental car is registered with me, so based on insurance rules, only I can drive the rental car. So we were forced to split to bring home our vehicles. My gut feeling wasn’t great at all, but what will be our option? On a roundabout, my friend hit the curb with the tier of the camper van and we ended up with a big hole in the tier. Unbelievable. 15 minutes after we left the garage. To top it all off it was Friday evening 6 pm. All places are closed. We tried to call some tier replacement services nearby, no chance. They’re opening tomorrow morning at 8 AM. So we abandoned our camper at a bus stop (very illegal) with a friendly letter under the windshield.
We went home very sad (this time) and still couldn’t believe what happened. The next day our mission continued. Get the camper van back on the road. We stopped by the tier shop and explained our situation and issue. We didn’t want to pay for another towing service. So the guy told us we could drive very slowly to his place. The tier will manage, and then they can replace it here. So we did that. We went to the camper and started driving slowly through the middle of the city. Everyone was watching us since we were driving a maximum of 10km/h hours and the noise wasn’t that nice. We produced quite a bit of traffic jam behind us and it didn’t take long until the police stopped us. Again, I explained our situation and they were very supportive and escorted us to the tire service. Yeah, we got escorted by two police officers through the city of Namur. “Police, your friend and helper” as we say in German.
Arrived at the tire shop they replaced our tire and we were ready to go after 30 minutes. Finally, that was unbelievable. Looking back it’s a crazy experience, at the moment it happened just unbelievable and stressful, especially after the second breakdown.
But everything got fixed quickly, we had our new spare tire in the front and were ready to go back to the friend’s house. I decided to stay more time in Belgium since I calculated a longer repair time for the camper. So I moved around some in-person appointments back in Switzerland. My German friend booked a flight back home from Brussels in a couple of days for work. We went there together to drop her off and say goodbye.
Waterloo
Since I still have two cars (a rental replacement car and the camper), I took advantage of it and toured around the area. It’s around 1 hour South of the capital and a quiet area. So I went to visit the famous battlefield of Waterloo (1815 with Napoleon Bonapartes). There’s a big monumental hill and a museum next to which I checked out.
Driving back to Switzerland
Time went by quickly with exploring, working, and talking to my Belgium friend. It was time to grab the camper and drive South to Switzerland. It’s approximately a 7-hour trip. But I don’t really like to drive too much time so since I have my house on the back I do multiple stops whenever I feel tired. I was able to make it to Strasbourg where I slept. The next day I went a bit more South to check out a cute village I’ve never visited — Colmar. It also has these rivers between the houses like Strasbourg, but more cute.
Meeting with a client in Zurich
Arrived in Zurich, I directly headed to a client for a yearly meeting and a nice dinner afterward. We went for a boat trip around the lake with a nice dinner on it. I got a very typical Swiss dish (Älplermagronen), which I always enjoy a lot when back home.
Civil service—the yearly duty
Same as every year, I’m heading up into the mountains to help a farmer during a period of 4 weeks. I know the area and especially work well. It’s physically hard work, but I’m enjoying it mostly and it’s a great option to be more active (which I’m not that much).
September
Hometown
On the weekend I had now some time to spend with my family and some projects at home.
On Saturday I went to a park with my mother to watch an art gallery by the Grand Hotel of Bad Ragaz (Bad RagARTz) and played some mini golf. It was a fun day and quality time.
New gaming computer
Another project that I thought was quite fun is my new gaming PC. I’ve been an enthusiastic flight simulator player since I was very little. Fascinated by the airspace industry. It’s been years since Microsoft released their Flight Simulator version X which they stopped supporting and discontinued the development at all. Which left most with an old, inperformant version of the flight simulator. Even with modern computers, it was very hard to have it run smoothly since the game couldn’t access all resources. But lately, there have been some rumors about a new version of Flight Simulator. And definitely, it happened, Flight Simulator 2020 was released and I certainly wanted to play it. For that, I needed a new computer. So I bought one. A gaming computer with the newest standards. It’s been a while since I used Windows again. But I thought it would be fun to try it again.
A little fun home automation project
But what to do with it when I’m traveling? There’s no use to it and for you, it sounds strange to buy a new computer just to play a game on it for a bit. That’s right, but I really wanted to do it. So I needed another purpose for it. Since I’m never home, I can’t access it. But we do have solar panels on the roof of our house, so I had an idea for some kind of home automation project with my father. It’s not that hard but is a nice idea to make use of my gaming computer.
We started to mine some bitcoin on it while the sun was shining. It’s 2021 and the goldrush of Bitcoin is definitely over in terms of mining. Only big mining farms on scale and with low energy costs you can operate profitably. I quickly did the maths and it’s just unprofitable to let my PC tower run for that. But since we do have solar on the roof and actually free energy, that could be a nice use case. Most of our devices at home can be controlled via ethernet. This means that my computer can be started and shut down remotely and automatically. After building some scripts to make this happen and working together with my father to set it up with the home automation server, we got it running. The computer now runs autonomously for around 8 hours per day during a sunny summer day and generates a couple of bucks a day. If the Bitcoin value is above a certain level, that’s more than what we get from the local electricity company when delivering the energy back to the electricity grid.
DJI FPV drone
Lately, there’s been a big trend in FPV drones. I started using normal drones years ago. Around 10 years ago. So I followed the new developments in that space as well. DJI, the biggest manufacturer of drones, just released its first FPV drone. After doing some training in the simulator, I thought it would be fun to finally get a real one. So I bought the first version of the DJI FPV drone. It’s very heavy and can’t do all the crazy maneuvers. But for that stable and pretty okay to learn I would say.
Freelance cameraman work
In September there are a lot of events happening. So I’m ready back behind the cameras. Sports events, concerts/festivals, and conferences. I like this time because I can walk in a very different job than usual when I travel and get to be outside and at events.
Lisbon (Portugal)
The weather already changed quite a bit at the end of September. Normally it’s beautiful longer. This already made me want to leave. After finishing my civil service I planned to travel more South. First stop Portugal, then Morocco. I booked a flight very spontaneously and left for the airport. Because of an accident on the highway, I missed my flight and had to reschedule for the next morning. Luckily I knew a friend in Zurich (who is my lifesaver in such occurrences), who let me crash at her place.
Finally, I made it to Lisbon, Portugal. A very popular city for tourists and digital nomads like me. After a friend recommended me a Co-Living space, I decided to stay there for a week. It was a great time and I was able to work focused on my projects.
Lukas, a Co-Worker I was traveling half a year before in the Canaries with also stayed in Lisbon at this time. So we were hanging out together and went to the beach not far out of the city.
Morocco — boarding declined
I am continuing from Portugal to Morocco. But things took a different turn. We’re at the end of 2021, COVID is still a thing. Vaccines are around now, but still quite some restrictions in place. So it happened that Morocco is a country that needs an antigen test despite a fully vaccinated status. I haven’t checked for that well enough. It happens that I only checked from my original departure destination — Switzerland and not Portugal. There are different rules in place for those two countries. So I was declined to board the plane. Very frustrated and sad I was forced to extend my stay in Portugal. Well, not that bad since the weather was also really nice, but I had other plans.
For my first week in Morocco, I had planned a holiday for a road trip. This holiday I now happening in Lisbon. So I decided to book a couple of days in a hostel. I normally don’t stay in hostels since I can’t work and especially sleep that well (I prefer my own space). But this was a great opportunity now to have a complete vibe change. An amazing time in the hostel with a lot of new friends, experiences and away from work.
October
Vila Nova de Milfontes, Portugal
After a couple of weeks in Lisbon, it was time to move. I decided to go to the coast, more South. I found a famous hostel which is Co-Working friendly (Selina). Apparently, it’s very recommended in South America, but struggling a bit in Europe. So I was almost the only one working there, else it had the usual hostel vibes. It was fine but not what I was looking for. The location and view are brilliant. The coast is also amazing and will only get better the further South I go. But first a week in the remote fisher village of Vila Nova de Milfontes.
I was taking some surfing classes since that’s one of the few things to do. It’s actually pretty beginner-friendly. I tried surfing once in Bali for a lesson, but that was some time ago. So I started with the beginners as a refresher but was able to join the more advanced with the bigger waves.
At the end of my second lesson. One moment not super focused and tired already I fell and the board hit me on my shoulder. Since I already had a bad accident with my shoulder years ago this was enough to dislocate my shoulder again. In huge pain, I swam back to the beach and was able to put it back by myself very quickly. This wasn’t the first time, so I knew how to move and tried it. But this meant no sports for around a month and no movement for a week with quite some pain.
Burgau, Portugal (Algarve)
I moved all the way to the South Coast of Portugal. The region is called the Algarve. It’s very famous for its steep coast, beaches, and surfing as well. So no wonder it was hard to find a place that didn’t offer surfing classes. But I couldn’t join them. I was searching again for a more social place. Like a hostel with a private room. It was super quiet during the day for work and in the evening I had great company.
We were an amazing group of people. Going out for food or walks to the beach in the evening. We had a great conversation and just a good time.
On one of my days off, there was a special class doing “wakeboarding”. I’ve never done it and wanted to try but remember my arm. It’s been around 10 days since my accident. Still some pain, but it’s going very well. Not the best movement of the arm, but enough of what I needed for wakeboarding. So I wanted to give it a try (don’t tell my mom) and since I can do snowboarding I thought it’s doable. And yes it did. All went fine. I had 2x 5-minute sessions with the tow and was able to surf quite a bit. Turns and water start without problems to the surprise of everyone.
Albufeira
My time in Portugal is going to an end. I stopped in some places on the South Coast. Some cute towns are located there. So I found a nice and cheap Airbnb in Albufeira and stayed for 3 nights before crossing the border to Spain. It had an amazing rooftop which I always appreciate a lot. After a lot of socializing, I was really happy to have my piece. I didn’t want to meet anybody and just go out for a walk in town, get some food, or work at the apartment.
Seville, Spain
After a month in Portugal, I took a bus to Sevilla. Another touristy place in the South of Spain. It’s not my first time here and I like the city. So this time I decided to spend my time very central in the old town. I found a very nice and modern studio right in the center.
The first weekend on arrival I toured the city a bit and hung out with other travelers from the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Poland and also with 2 locals. For sure food can’t be left out. I tried a lot of delicious tapas. I enjoyed my time. During the week I fully went back to work in my studio apartment and was just happy overall.
November
Madrid, Spain
I have another upcoming holiday. I was planning to stay in Morocco with a friend of mine from Germany. But things changed as you probably know if you read through it before. The funny coincidence is that my friend’s flight to Morocco got canceled too since Germany was suddenly on the dangerous list of countries and Morocco closed the border for those arrivals completely. So we adjusted our travel plans and decided to explore another country — it was Andorra. But to reach that country, we decided to meet in Madrid and make our way up.
So I took a high-speed train from Sevilla to Madrid. It’s around 4 hours and I love the journey. It’s very comfortable, has internet, and is great to work with. My favorite place to work actually. I recommend everyone to travel by train in Spain instead of taking airplanes to domestic destinations. As a personal side note, I think it should be forbidden by the government. Even sad is that the flight prices are sometimes lower than the train and that’s not because the trains are expensive (30–60 Euros). Flights are just way too low.
Arrived in Madrid I didn’t have time to explore a lot. But I also already know the city well enough. Later in the evening, my friend arrived as well and we went out for some fancy food and a quick walk in the city.
Andorra
Andorra is one of the few countries I never visited in Europe. So it was time. The tiny country is famous for its mountains and shopping. Tourism is a very big part and their facility is stunning. You’ll see it in a bit.
But first we have to arrive. So we took another high-speed train to Barcelona. From there we rented a car for a week to head to Andorra and other parts of Catalunya.
On picking up our car for the week, we actually got a free upgrade (travel tip: always book the cheapest automatic car and you mostly get an upgrade because they don’t have it on-site). So we got a very nice and automatic Audi. We headed up North to visit some small towns on the way. In Camprodon and Ripoll we stopped and also stayed for a night.
The next day our goal was to reach the capital of Andorra. The road through the mountains was gorgeous. Fall colors and curvy roads. We sometimes stopped to take pictures and flew the drone. A very relaxed and fun ride with music and nice conversations. I like such road trips a lot.
Arrived in Andorra la Vella, the capital, we went for a walk around the main street to find some food. We got 2 nights in a big hotel just up the mountain with a beautiful view down to the city.
The next day was dedicated to do another road trip within Andorra. Doing a round trip up the mountains and the skiing area of the country (if there’s snow). The landscape is very nice and I can imagine how pretty it is with snow. They have all the modern facilities for a great skiing holiday. The houses are built out of stone and look very fitting within the landscape. And inside mostly super modern hotels. I was surprised.
Barcelona, Spain
We returned to Barcelona to spend some vacation days there to explore. The weather was quite fresh and windy. But understandable, it’s November. The usual touristy things of Barcelona were on our roadmap. Park Güell, Sagrada Família, Parc de la Ciutadella, Arc de Triomf, Old Town, Squares, Casa Batlló and food.
At the end of the holiday, my friend left for Germany and I decided to stay longer in Barcelona. A month to be exact. So I got myself an Airbnb (super expensive and outside the center) to work and enjoy the vibes. My daily routine was work, explore, food, sleep. Sometimes it’s great to go back to an easy and usual routine.
I have a couple of friends in Barcelona with whom I was exploring. Especially during the weekend. Great times and the city has so much to offer.
December
Spain Coast Roadtriop
After spending a month in Barcelona I already had a couple of more holidays. This time again a road trip, but along the coast towards the South. Without plans just one direction. A friend from the Canaries joined me for that week. So we started in Barcelona and headed South to Valencia by train to grab our car for the week there which I will return 2 weeks later in Malaga.
One night in Valencia to explore was very view. So much to see and a beautiful city. But we made the best out of it.
After we got our car, the road trip could start. Leaving the cities and stopping at places we feel like is nice and go with the flow. We only had to manage to be in the South by the end of the week.
The first stop is a small village called Villajoyosa. There is not much going on, but some nice hidden paths with paintings and colorful houses. Overall also a very nice beach, but too cold to use.
Then we went a bit into the mountains to visit an old village built in the mountains and on the way had some good tapas. Guadalest and Alcoy were places we stopped.
Then we had some cities in front of us again. Alicante with a beautiful view down to the city. Sadly it took us way longer to reach than expected so we didn’t have time to explore Alicante. We arrived after the sunset. So we decided to continue driving in the dark to reach Cartagena to not lose another day of driving.
After we left Cartagena we came across a fortress. Actually super not touristy but I was really happy we somehow found that location. It will end up as one of my favorite locations on this trip. I like untouched and raw places. Nobody was around here, so we could explore the tunnels and see the location in quietness. I took my drone and was flying it. As an addition, we watched the sunset from a viewing platform. Just amazing.
Via Almeria, we made it to Malaga the next day. Things got definitely more Arabic on the way. Big castles called Alcazaba.
Malaga is the capital of the South. It’s a very important business city (a lot of companies are moving there) and what I recently found out is that it’s very popular among digital nomads like me. It was actually ranked as the second-best nomad city in the world for remote work after Dubai.
Reaching the South meant the end of the holiday. So I dropped off my friend at the airport in Malaga and continued my journey. I had a weekend ahead of me to explore alone. I kept the car for another two weeks to get around.
Marbella, Spain
My new base was 30 minutes South of Malaga. A town which to be was famous because of a guy I was following on YouTube. Marbella seems like a rich place with a lot of crazy villas. The location is really nice, with great temperatures in December (around 25°). So I totally understand why people want to move here for winter time.
My apartment in Marbella was very cute and well-decorated. The hosts were super friendly. It was out of town behind some golf fields. So I was happy that I came by car.
The week was filled with “me time”. Productive work, preparing food for myself (mostly pasta), and in the evening heading out with the car to explore some closeby places.
Ronda especially is a place around one hour up the hill from Marbella. The place was recommended by my mother. It definitely is worth a visit. The city is located at the top of a mountain and their bridge is huge and fascinating. A bit further there’s another interesting town called “Olvera”, which is also built on top of a hill and with a stunning church.
Gibraltar
On this trip, I always booked apartments for a full week to get focused work done and then move and explore on the weekend. So this is exactly what happened now again. After one week in Marbella, I packed my things again and drove to Gibraltar which was around an hour by car. I spent two nights there before finding a new place for the next week.
Gibraltar is another tiny country/territory I haven’t had the chance to visit so far. It was a place for the British to control the Mediterranean Sea and still is a British Overseas Territories. It’s not hard to tell. Traffic is driving on the right-hand side, the currency is the British pound and people speak English. It’s such a crazy difference in the middle of the South of Spain.
Since Gibraltar is very small and the prices are quite high, I found a cute houseboat just at the port in front of the peninsula. So the border was within walking distance or bicycle distance because I got a bike with the accommodation. So my first time crossing a border by bike. Just after the border, there’s the airport. All cars or pedestrians have to cross the runways to reach the country. How strange is that? But there are only a few aircraft departing to mostly the UK.
One of the most famous and most noticeable places in the city is its mountain peak which was used to defend and control the strait. Huge bunkers and cannons are placed on top and around it and can be visited nowadays. Also right there, there’s a cave hidden (St. Michael’s Cave)
Cadiz, Spain
Next up is the city of Cadiz, where I’m spending another couple of days. Nothing spectacular there. Well, I also wasn’t that much interested in exploring. I checked out the downtown and the coast in the evening to refresh my mind.
Granda, Spain
The last destination of my trip in the South of Spain will be Granda. I’ve checked out all the bigger cities in the South now and Granda can’t be missed. I actually liked the vibes up there. It’s very close to the mountains (Sierra Nevada — which can be used for skiing) and has a very different climate. Other than that it has a very strong Arabic culture. Architecture and Arabic districts. Alhambra is for example one of the most famous monuments in Islamic architecture which is located right in the heart of Granada.
On of my favorite locations in Granda is up the hill. I don’t know who recommended that, to me because it’s actually one of the poorest areas but located with a great sunset view.
After 5 days in Granada that short and beautiful detour is also over. Time to go to Malaga and grab an airplane back to Switzerland. Flying over the beautiful mountains into the airport of Basel-Mullhousen
Bern, Switzerland
The capital of Switzerland and also the base of the company I work for. So once in a while, I have to show up there. Since I don’t have a place there I have to stay with friends or in a hotel. This time I choose to stay in a hotel. a self-check-in hotel. That was fun and very modern all the building and especially creative were the rooms. Note the wardrobe in the middle. It has wheels and can be moved. Space can be added on the left or right. So enhance the kitchen or the living room. Also below the wardrobe, there’s an extension of the bed. So if you need a double bed, just extend it. Crazy, never saw something like that.
Back in the office. Interestingly enough I still have my workplace, which isn’t dedicated to me anymore. But still with my special setup (portrait screen on the left). I’ve been using this for many many years (around 8 years, I think)
Xmas/New Year with family
After a quick visit to the office, I went back to my hometown to see my family for Xmas and New Year.
Since Corona was still a thing our family gatherings were in a reduced size. My family isn’t big, but we limited the amount to one table (6 people). My mother is always hard at work during the month of December to bake Xmas cookies and I came at the right time to taste them (always delicious).
Spengler Cup
As every year, hmmm, not really. Last year the famous ice hockey tournament was cancelled. So this year things were relaxed and we were happy to get back into live production for TV. There’s always a lot of preparation before the tournament. Preparing the scenes, and setting up the camera. So we did that. But to the big surprise of everybody. 24 hours before the start of the tournament it was canceled because of COVID cases in the local team and a hotspot in the village it’s taking place. So all we could do instead of production was to dismantle the full unused setup again.
This meant I finally had some holidays between Xmas and New Year which is very rare. I used it to enjoy myself with my family and do some private projects.
For New Year’s Eve, I was also totally free. This hasn’t happened in pre-COVID times. So as my parents always do, we went up to a mountain village with the sleds, got some food, and drove down again through the winter wonderland paradise.