2022—unlocking new adventures

This year was packed with many new adventures. Traveling on four different continents and experiencing many new things. Having a proper two-week vacation in Iceland, stepping on South America for the first time and staying in a couple of Co-Livings throughout the year.

January

Malta

Just after New Year’s, I decided spontaneously to head off to the south of Europe, to Malta. It’s a country I’ve visited before, but only during summertime. My best friend and some new friends from the UK, Germany and Poland were already waiting for me there. We had a blast, although the weather was relatively fresh with a cold wind. We had great talks, explored the capital of this island state “Valletta” and some costal places a bit outside. A wonderful country all the way in the South of Europe.

Skiing in Switzerland

Back in winter wonderland Switzerland, it was time to enjoy some snowsports. I rarely do snowboarding, but now it was the time to go on the slope for a day at the skiing area I always went to as a child. Afterwards, a typical Swiss dish called Fondue to sum up the day.

February/March

Santa Marta, Colombia

Next, I wanted to explore a new continent – South America. A coworker of mine has been staying there for quite a while, so I wanted to visit him and explore the area. So, my next destination was Santa Marta on the North coast of Colombia. To reach it, I had to connect via Madrid, Bogota, and Santa Marta. The flights were beautiful and very productive.

Arrived in Santa Marta I almost got a heat shock coming from cold Switzerland. But I prefer warm places and adopted quickly. My co-worker was waiting for me, we went for a walk in the city where he showed me around and finally for food. A great introduction to my new place where I will be staying for quite a while. Not only the temperature was very different, but also the culture. Very few people speaking English and very extroverted people (at least the once I met).

I was introduced to the culture, nature, and food, and I had a great time hanging around the Caribbean coast of Colombia. The schedule was fixed, productive work during the week and exploring during the weekend.

Taganga & Parque Tayrona, Colombia

One weekend trip was to Tayrona National Park. There are multiple hikes with different lengths, with some fantastic beaches and incredible nature.

Another close-by place from Santa Marta is Taganga, a small fisher village with a beautiful sunset view and beaches or also the nice beaches around Palomino which is around 2 hours with a local bus in direction East.

Barranquilla

Another weekend was dedicated to the next bigger city in the West of Santa Marta. It’s famous for the carnival and sports events. Other than that, I didn’t like the city much. I booked a fancy hotel and enjoyed the rooftop pool there a lot. It was a very relaxed weekend after I’ve done quite some activities.

Minca

Another trip was up into the mountains to Cerro Kennedy in the Sierra Nevada of Santa Marta. It has a beautiful view of Santa Marta and a fantastic sunset and sunrise. We stayed in a hostel quite far up and walked to the summit (a military base) in the morning to catch the best view.

My co-worker and I also stayed for a week in a slightly elevated village in the forest, Minca. There’s a lovely hotel with a panoramic pool and great internet. So we decided to stay there for a week and work. The place is a 30 minute offroad ride through the jungle. So very quite and isolated without mobile data. They do have only good internet because they stream wifi point to point from the village further down. Sadly I got sick that week and couldn’t enjoyed much. I ate something bad and I was sick with a food poisoning. Mainly on the toilet for 4 straight days. Since our place was so remote, it was difficult to go down into civilisation, so I just had to hope to get better and get trought the situation.

April

Bogota

After more than 2 months in Santa Marta, it was time to continue. Initially, I wanted to stay for only 2 weeks but kept extending because I enjoyed it that much. After using almost all my tourist visa of 90 days it was time to leave the country very soon, so I flew back to Bogota to get an international flight. But first I stayed in Bogota for 2 weeks to explore and work.

In the capital, I finally faced the issues of South America. Out in Santa Marta, things were pretty safe and local. After using the metro for the first time in Bogota, my phone was already gone. Something I wasn’t prepared for. I knew it was an issue and was careful, but it happened so fast, and I couldn’t get it back anymore. Now, I was facing the issue of recovering my Swiss phone number, getting back my pictures and chats from the cloud and being able to log into my accounts again. I had to learn a couple of things the hard way, but now I’m very prepared. I always bring a spare phone with e-sim support with me, use if possible no 2 way authentication via SMS (phone number) and backup everything into the cloud or on multiple locations.

Lima, Peru

The next destination is Peru. I already have some friends in Lima despite the fact, that I have never been there. After one of my friends invited me to stay at her parent’s home, I couldn’t decline that offer since I love to have the real local experience and live with a family. On arrival at the airport, my friend picked me up, and we drove outside the city into the east. My friends family stays quite outside in a not that safe neighborhood. I would never ever have gone there without locals. So I was following all their tips and tricks especially after getting stolen in Bogota just a couple of days before.

My friend and the whole family were great hosts. In the afternoon or evenings, we went exploring. The mother cooked excellent food and let me try many homemade Peruvian dishes. During the day, I even had a proper workspace at the office of my friend’s father, which has a workshop in the same building.

Ica, Peru

One weekend trip was a couple of hours drive to the South of Lima. First, we did a boat trip to Paracas to see some historical signs on the rocks. Then we continued to a vineyard close by Ica to taste some Pisco. One more stop was at “Cañón de los Perdidos” where I hiked down into a dry valley out in the desert. Finally, we ended the tour in the oasis Huacachina where we did a sandbuggy ride. We also had a walk up the dunes to see the sunset from there. I enjoyed the trip a lot and enjoyed the night at the oasis. A very special place and a great view over the dunes.

Pallasca, Peru

My friend’s family is originally from a small village up in the mountains of Ancash (a state in Peru). Some festivities were going on. So we travelled 12 hours there to attend that tradition. Once again, I was really integrated in the local habits. No tourist will find this place way up there by accident. It was a experience riding up there. A 4 hours drive in the night throught rocky street and small rivers, with very steep roads with deep cliffs. There was no mobile signal on they way. Just when we arrived at the village, there was a cell tower to gain some internet access. Working for me was hard, the internet was so slow.

Up in Pallasca on 3131 meters above sea level, I was living in a very local place. Very basic everything and no heating, which meant it was quite cold. Especially when the sun wasn’t around. Good, we had very thick blankets. My friend and I were exploring some places around the village. We enjoyed nature and a waterfall which was quite a hike from the village, but very beautiful and peaceful. We also went to a viewpoint with an amazing view down into the valley or were able to go up the the church on the main square, which is usually close, but the priest gave us the key to go up.

The following days, the local traditions started with the bulls. There are bizarre habits for civilised people, so I’m not going further into that. It was interesting to experience it, although I didn’t attend all the celebrations. It’s always combined with music and dances. The last day was the peak with more processions and music. In the night, there was a big firework and much alcohol. The locals were so friendly and welcoming during all my stay, although my Spanish isn’t enough to have a conversation and their English isn’t good enough to have a conversation either. I was happy my friend could translate the most important pieces.

Chimbote & Trujillo, Peru

Next up, we went down the coast again. Our bus brought us to the next city called Chimbote 4 hours away. It is a town famous for its fish factory, and that’s also why it smells like fish everywhere. We stayed in the town for 2 nights, visited some more family and explored. Afterwards, it was time to split. While my friend returned to Lima, I drove north to Trujillo to fly to another city a few days later.

In Trujillo, I met some locals who showed me around and joined me for food. The weekend went over very fast, and I was already on the plane to a new city.

May

Huancayo, Peru

In Peru, it’s crazy how high the places are. My next stop was a city on 3256 m MSL with almost half a million inhabitants. You can feel it when you have to walk just a little bit. It’s exhausting, and you have to breathe a lot just by walking a few steps.

I rented a small Airbnb with a lovely view. I loved working from there, and the internet was very smooth, so that was all I needed. In the evenings, I went out to see a friend I met in Barcelona the year before.

In the evening or during the weekend, we explored a bit. My friend and me went to a viewpoint called “Cochas” to do a little photo shoot since my friend is into modelling, and I’m always happy to practice with a model a bit. So we took some simple outdoor pictures, nothing crazy.

Another weekend, we went to a lake on the other side of the city. Beautiful nature as well and after walking up a small hell, we got a nice scenery down the the city of Huancayo.

La Merced, Peru

Peru is split into three landscapes (coast, mountains and jungle). After visiting Lima, Trujillo and Ica (which is on the coast), Pallasca and Huancayo (which is in the mountains), there was one region left – the jungle. Huancayo is located not too far from the jungle area, which spreads far up into the Amazonas. A 4 hours car drive ahead of us. It was very interesting for me how this works. There’s a parking in Huancayo you can go and they fill normal cars (like taxis) which leaves to La Merced once it’s full. My friend and me were lucky and could leave very quickly. In La Merced the grandmother of my friend has a small shop, so we could leave our luggage there and I could even work a bit from there a bit.

The next day, we went on a guided tour into the jungle to some waterfalls and visited an indigenous tribe. While being with the Indigenous, I spotted an interesting animal I saw for the first time in my life – a “Capybara“.

Back to Lima with the bus on a 10-hour drive. The seats are vast and comfortable on long-distance buses in Peru. But still, not something I’m looking forward to usually. The roads are overall very bad, and it goes through villages. For a distance of 300km, the bus needs 10 hours, which is ridiculous when comparing travel times in Europe for such a distance.

Lima, Peru (Photoshooting + Roatrip)

After I arrived in Lima, I decided to stay in Miraflores, a touristy area in the centre of Lima. From there I could even walk to the most places. I was busy working and one evening had an appointment with a photographer friend, which wanted me as a model to do some studio portraits. I was happily accepting that offer and went for the shooting. We did different black/white portraits and I loved the results. Really professional portraits I’m able to use for profile pictures, my website or the CV. Credits to Pi, check out her Instagram.

Some more days, I spent in Lima enjoying some food in the centre or going to a playground for adults in a mall, which was an enjoyable experience. The kid in me came to life again.

My time was about to end, and the family of my friend decided to make one more weekend trip with me. The full family joined (father, mother, 2 brothers and my friend), so we filled a car altogether. We drove up into the mountains of the district of Lima which is a huge part in size. They have hot springs up there. After a couple of hours driving up into the mountains and the temperature dropping, we arrived in a small village called “Churin”, it’s famous for those hot springs, we took a family hotel room and spend some time in the swimming pool and eating. We continued exploring with a ride to a even smaller village up of the valley. The road was quite sketchy, but we made it and had a walk.

The next day we left early in the morning to get a nice view of the mountain scenery. We followed the national road which was just a dirt road. It lead all the way up to the highest point I’ve every been in my life. The ground was still frozen and reflected the sun very nicely. Just after the crossing to a new province called “Pasco”, we reached the peak of the road. A sign stated 4780 m above sea level. This is higher than the highest mountain of Switzerland, to give you some context of altitudes in the Andes. In addition we just drove up there from sea level by car.

We continued the road to a mining village up on the highland. On the way, Lamas crossed the road, adding to the real Peruvian experience. While driving on this high plateau of around 4000m height, we arrived at a stone forest called “Bosque de Piedras de Huayllay” and later “Laguna de los 7 colores”.

This trip marked the end of my South American adventure this year. It was time to say goodbye to the family and other friends I met in Lima. My flight left for Spain. I had quite a turbulent flight and a crazy little child at the front of my seat, making it almost impossible to work. So I decided to sleep instead – always make the best of the situation.

Madrid, Spain

The flight went by quickly, and I arrived with a bit of jetlag in Madrid by the end of the day. Luckily, Spanish people are always late out for dinner, this was just perfect for me. A friend from Madrid joined me for a later dinner in the centre – tapas time.

When I’m in the capital of Spain, I always find charming apartments. Also, this time, I found a small and modern apartment. I spent some days there, mainly focused on work and going out for dinner and drinks with my local friend.

Toledo, Spain

Toledo is a very famous city close to Madrid. It’s a middle-aged city on the hill built as a ford. It’s adorable and beautiful. I was using the co-working space company Regus at this time and had a membership. I saw that they also have a location in Toledo, which I was able to go for some workdays.

June

Porto, Portugal (WordCamp Europe)

Since I’m still doing quite some work with WordPress, I usually attend the European Conference of WordPress called WordCamp Europe. It switches locations every year, this time, it took place in Portugal. Resuming after a break because of COVID. It’s the biggest WordCamp and increases in size every year. So it’s a great event to meet some friends from the community or get inspired about certain solutions.

A person I didn’t expect to cross paths with here was Piotrek, a guy I had exchanged contacts with once in Teneriffe since we both were sailing. Eventually, we never managed to meet since our boats had different schedules. So when I was checking the attendee list of the WordCamp, I recognised many familiar faces, one of them being his.

The conference was fun. It was great to see all those faces in real again after a more extended break because of the pandemic. After the conference, I spent more days in Porto and had Piotrek as my food buddy. He’s into vegetarian food and always found some local vegan restaurants. So, I just followed his suggestions. It was never wrong.

Bern, Switzerland

My flight back to my home country and the office took me via Geneva. I arrived there later in the afternoon and decided to stay close to the airport for a night. The next day, I took a train and travelled to the capital, Bern. I barely had time to rest. I arrived in Bern already a friend from Germany had arrived there as well. I took an extended weekend off so we could do some hikes and explore. We went into the mountains of the region of Bern. Very touristy places, but because it was not summer break yet, it was not too crowded. We went to Grindelwald and took the cable car to First halfway. From there we continued to hike up. At the end of the cable car there’s a walkway called “First Cliff Walk” – pretty impressive. Another 30-45min hike from that location, there’s a very nice small lake (Bachsee) in the mountains with a beautiful view. Definitely to recommend if you’re ever close by.

After stopping by the office, I went home and saw my family. Also, a couple of packages were waiting for me. My mother was joking that she knew when I was coming if more and more packages were arriving. I ordered a new phone since mine was stolen in Colombia and also a new drone since I wasn’t happy with my DJI Mini, which is a bit too amateur for me, so I replaced it with the DJI Mini Pro.

Italy

Only a few days at home and I had already continued somewhere else. My best friend from Germany arrived, and we took my parents’ camper van to make a little weekend trip to closeby Italy. We stopped at a location we wanted to hike up for a while but never managed. This time we hike up to the ridge to see the “Jöriseen”.

We continued with our camper and stopped somewhere at a lake to cook and sleep. The next day we crossed the border to Italy and strolled in the city of Como. A beautiful and warm summer day.

After one night at a campsite, our extended weekend was over, we had to drive back home. As we planned, we returned back home via another way. We left Switzerland via the Davos and Moloja and came back from Como via Lugano and San Bernardino. In Lugano we left the highway and drove away from the city a bit to reach a viewpoint (Sasso Delle Parole). On the same time we wanted some food and found a pizzeria on the way. We ordered takeaway and hiked up to the viewpoint to enjoy our pizza with a beautiful view.

Homebuilt airplane

My father had a project in the “garage” for decades – a self-built aeroplane. Now they finalised it, and it’s flying. So I went to the local airport to have a look. It looks pretty, even with the text “homebuilt”. The proud constructor.

July

Iceland Roadtrip

Next up is an actual holiday. Seems so strange to me. I usually don’t go somewhere for a holiday. I’m already there and only take some extra days off. This time it’s different. Having 2 weeks off and flying to Iceland. We planned this trip a while in advance since we knew it would not be cheap. We reserved a simple camper van to go around there. Having a home and a way to get around is key in Iceland.

We hopped on the 4-hour flight to Reykjavik operated by Icelandair. Arrived there, and we really felt the temperature difference. Almost July, but only 10 degrees Celsius. Another difference is that it never gets completely dark during that time of the season. So already a very interesting atmosphere just after arriving. After renting the camper, we were searching for a place for dinner and found a nice burger place. We got confirmed with our apprehension that food might be expensive. The burgers and drinks costed us 50 Euro – Swiss prices, which I’m not used to.

The following days were packed with driving a lot, hiking and seeing waterfalls, beaches or hot springs. We circulated the island anti-clockwise on the Ring Road. This is the main road which is possible to drive all year round and can be done without special tiers like ours. People who want to go more into the centre need better cars. We were only allowed to drive on the main road with our rental car. Speaking about our camper. It was very basic, a Dacia with a bed on the bad. Above was a wooden construction for storage with some boxes for food and cooling box.

Sadly, the weather wasn’t that great. Wet and cold, we had trouble staying warm and drying our clothes. Showering was also an issue. So sometimes we just booked a hotel to warm up and shower, which didn’t help us keep the budget low. In the end, we spend almost 8000 Euro together on everything. Gasoline and the camper rental were for sure a big part, but everything together adds up.

One morning, we were a bit in trouble. I forgot to turn off the light during the night, so our motor couldn’t start anymore. There was no one around who could help bridge our battery. We saw only a very friendly New Zealander, who helped us push the car up a hill to kickstart it manually. After trying it 2 times and almost being able to start it, we found someone who had cable in the car to bridge it. That made everything simple and we could continue our journey again.

My birthday was in the middle of the holiday. So I searched for a local Airbnb somewhere a bit away from the mainstream and found the oldest house in a small fisher village. That was a sign and I booked it for 2 nights without plans and knowing that my birthday will be an amazing days I will remember for long. The day started very slow, a local picked us up to drive a bit into the mountains. They brought a small cake with a birthday candle and wished me happy birthday. Then we continued up a small road – untouched nature. We stopped at some point and walked down the field and saw some horses running in the wild. So peaceful everything, exactly my taste. After returning to the car we continued next to the coast until we arrived at a hot tub with an amazing view into the fjord. We enjoyed some time in the hot water while talking. At the end we drove back to the apartment and spotted some wales in the sea while making a break. Arrived home my friend prepared my favourite Swiss dish – Tatsch. What a day! And the day hasn’t ended yet, it’s still bright. So we took the car and drove to the coast to watch the midnight sun. At 1.11 AM the sun hit the horizon.

After 2 weeks, we ended our trip back to Reykjavik. Driving for many many hours and seeing amazing nature, it was impressive. We have one more week before our flight back to the South. I’m back to work again that’s why we decided to finish the trip in 2 weeks and stay/rest one more week in the capital. Reykjavik is a nice and vibrant city too with just 140’000 people.

Even from the capital, there are quite some places reachable within a weekend trip, those places we spared and could check out now. In the South, for example, there are active volcanos. Sadly, they were just on a break while we were there. Nevertheless, we could visit the cold magma stream.

Another place is a small island in the South with a unique bird species that looks cute and has heads like penguins. Or we also visited this Insta famous airplane which crash on a beach. As a goodbye to Iceland, we went to a fancy hot spring, which just recently opened.

Munich, Germany

Back in my friend’s home city, my maybe 6th time visiting the city. I like Munich in summer. There are so many lovely parks and great food. Same as this time. Summer is here, even more so after returning from the far North.

In Munich, I was back to work at a co-working space. I also met some old friends living there and went for food and drinks. It’s always a blast being there.

Antwerp, Belgium

Before COVID hit, I had a ticket for the EDM festival in Belgium called Tomorrowland. Then, the festival got cancelled and postponed multiple times. I almost forgot I had them. Luckily, a friend reminded me. I wasn’t motivated to attend alone, but when my best friend from Germany also got interested in it and was lucky enough to get a one day pass on the same weekend as my weekend pass ticket, we decided to do a weekend trip up to Belgium. Since we already travelled for a month together in Iceland and arrived together in Munich, we needed to find a car to get up Antwerp.

We were able to rent a car for the extended weekend and left on a 6-hour drive up to Belgium. A Polish friend my friend and I met at the beginning of the year in Malta also joined us. He was also in Munich and had tickets, so it was a perfect fit. In that case, we also could switch drivers and arrive faster. We made it before it got dark. We checked into the hotel and left for dinner in the centre of Antwerp.

Tomorrowland EDM Festival

The following day, we had some time to explore the city by light. Quite a nice city. I’ve never been here. I explored some other parts of Belgium, but never in the city with the famous and big port.

In the afternoon, it was time to leave for the electric music festival we all came for. Tomorrowland is one of the best-known music festivals in the world, with more than half a million visitors. The stages and shows are stunning. Personally, I come more for that than the music itself. While I listen to EDM, I’m not crazy about it. All the well-known DJs are playing here on 14 different stages.

August

National Holiday in Switzerland

The 1st of August is the National Holiday in Switzerland. So, I made sure to be back in Switzerland to celebrate with my family. Usually, we do something outdoors, have a barbecue in the evening and enjoy fireworks at night. This year, my grandmother came over for dinner.

In the days afterwards, I worked from my “real” office. I still have my proper setup at home with my two screens and a proper desk. Fun fact: those 24″ screens are the first ones I got, and they’re still working after 15 years.

Open Air Malans

Open-air festivals during summertime are a big thing in Switzerland. There are many local ones, one also close to my hometown. I got asked to create an after-movie for them. I usually don’t do video clips like that, but I accepted since I know the organisers and wanted a new challenge. The event was 2 evenings, and the goal was to release the after movie already the next week. So I was recording on Friday and Saturday and edited on Sunday. I was very happy with the result and we could post the impressions on social media already a couple of days later.

By camper to Turin, Italy

A friend from Peru was travelling in Europe and visited me in Switzerland. We explored some local places. Then we continued to Italy where I dropped her off so she could explore more. On the way South we stopped in Lugano , a Swiss city with Italian vibes and also the Italian speaking part. While I was working in the camper van, my Peruvian friend was exploring the town and lakeside a bit. The day afterwards we continued to Milano, where I dropped her off and continued to Turin. I parked the camper closeby the city centre and went to explore a bit after I finished my work.

Cinque Terre & Pisa, Italy

The next day, I left to go south along the coast. After driving on the highways and through many tunnels, I arrived at Cinque Terre. It was packed, and all the campsites were full, so I went a bit more out to the coast and found a spot on the side of the street to stay for a night. Since it was so packed, I left the next day immediately (I don’t like crowded and touristy places).

In the afternoon, I arrived in Pisa, famous for it’s leaning tower. Before I started to explore the city, I had to finish some work since I had been driving a lot for the past few days. So, I had some focused hours of work and then headed out. I met a Couchsurfer in the city centre and explored with him a bit, including the leaning tower. After it got dark, we went for food. Some really nice Italian food – love it.

Florenz, Italy

Next on the route was Florenz, a city I skipped the last time I was in Italy. So it was time to visit this city as well. My mother was there once and loved it. The architecture and vibe there are charming indeed. The weather was so hot I decided to rest a bit from the camper van life, and I needed a shower. So I booked myself a hotel room and parked the camper outside on the street. I went out for some walks in the city to see all the buildings and for sure had some Italian ice cream. Despite exploring, I also did a lot of work on my laptop.

Padua, Italy

After some days in the big city and away from the camper, I returned to my tiny home and drove outside into the countryside. Upcoming was a meeting with a good friend in the Northern part of Italy and a weekend away. To really be able to enjoy that trip without having to check my laptop, I really needed to finish some work. So the next days was really focused on my laptop. First outside on a campsite, then in a Co-Working in Padua. I had my private office in the Regus office in Padua. Sometimes during my workday, suddenly the fire alarm went off and the full building had to be evacuated, only to find out that it was a false alarm and wait for the Building supervisor to return from his lunch break. Italian style I guess. Good that I grabbed my laptop before leaving the office so I could continue my work down in the lobby before we got released into the office.

Cividale del Friuli, Italy

The day came to meet my Italian friend I met in Fuerteventura a year before and shared a villa to co-working. We connected and had the same perspective of the world and work ethic. So I was looking forward to seeing his village where he grew up close to the Slovenian border and also talking about a lot of things. I knew the time fill be amazing and so it was.

On my first day of arrival, he picked me up with his so Italian vintage car, a FIAT 500. He brought me to a parking spot where I could leave my camper van and had a great view down to the village. Then we continued to a vinery since this is very typical in the area. Next up, it was my turn to drive the car. I had never driven such an old car, and it was quite challenging with the clutch at first. We drove back into the centre and saw bridge which divides the centre. At the same day there was a historical (knight) festival happening in the village. So very crowded. We went to get some traditional local food and continued talking.

Italy Roadtrip

Upcoming a weekend trip in the Italian mountains where we could join up in a mountain cottage for a night. It’s in a skiing area closeby “Tarvis”. It was a nice getaway to relax. But the next day, we already felt bored at the top and decided to walk down and drive around with the camper van. We went to some lakes and into Slovenia. They have great nature there. We for example stopped at a bridge called “Brv čez Sočo”. My friend did some FPV drone shots for the local tourism region there and it looked pretty amazing.

After this mountain trip, we headed back South to the sea. It’s crazy how quickly the environment can change. From these blue waters, skiing areas go directly to the beaches and the Mediterranean Sea. Trieste is the last city on the sea which belongs to Italy. Afterwards, there’s the border to Slovenia, which has a small sea access there, and directly after, Croatia.

Slovenia Roadtrip

From Trieste, I continued to Slovenia. Crossing through the countryside and stopping at the caves of Postojna, a 25km long cave system and a top tourist site. I went into them. It was a perfect refreshment inside since the temperature is the same all year round the same and out, it was crazy hot that summer.

My goal was to reach Ljubljana the next day. I had already driven in that direction but stopped somewhere in a big parking lot in the middle of nowhere to cook, work, and sleep. Early in the morning the next day, I continued to the capital. After I arrived there, I directly parked in the centre and went to a co-working to have a proper working day.

In the evening, I met up with a friend from Ljubljana I know from my last visit. It’s my second time in the city, and I have already explored most touristy places, so I was keen on just walking around, chilling and talking with locals.

Bled & Kranjska Gora, Slovenia

Next up North into the Alps of Slovenia. Some famous places are there, like this lake with an island in the middle, with a church, or Kranjska Gora, famous for all the people who follow the Ski World Cup. The area is a lovely one. There is a lot of nature and for sure mountains. I spend some time driving around with the camper van. Going through the curvy mountain roads and passing by river and lakes.

On the way home, my friend from Germany came close to the Slovenian/Austrian border by train, and I picked her up. We continued our drive towards Switzerland and stopped in the Italian mountains – the Dolomites. It is also a very special region with stunning views. We drove trought the small Italian villages with a lot of carme and stopped by for “gelato”. Then we continued to a special parking spot. A place high up in the mountains, just beneath a very famous constellation of mountains peaks, the so called “Tre Cime di Lavaredo”. After arriving there we had a walk around to see it before it got dark. Later we went down into the village to have some Italian pizza. Next to a small lake (Lago di Misurina) with some hotels/restaurant besides it. Stunning view as well and a bit touristy.

The next day, we did a little hike and saw some stone formations. It was a hot day and we were happy to be able to walk a lot in the forest. We only had half a day and needed to continue driving to reach home by night. We left Italy and continued in Austria until we reached Innsbruck. There we researched a nice restaurant we stopped and had late lunch. It’s a horse farm which runs a restaurant as well. So you sit and eat while watching the horses. I love the Austrian kitchen and was happy to get a very traditional dish as well as a local soft drink. “Schlutzkrapfen” is a very similiar dish I know from my region as well. Grandmothers best dish – my favourite. And this Tyrolean comes very close. With this “Almdudler”, a Austrian lemonade from herbs. I was in heaven, great food. New strength for another 2.5 hours of driving until we arrive home.

September

Mallorca, Spain

After returning home for a moment, cleaning the camper and meeting friends and family again, I left for the South again. But another part of Europe, this time, was Spain. I went to the biggest airport in Switzerland (Zurich) and boarded a plane to Palma de Mallorca. There a friend of mine just parked his sailing boat in the Port of d’Andratx and did some maintenance work. There I joined him to help and do some “boat office” (remote work from the boat), how I call it.

It was a great mix of working my regular job and helping him with certain things. For example, we installed solar panels on the back of the boat so he could charge his battery or run devices without using the generator.

A new crew came on the boat on the weekend, preparing to sail to Gibraltar. So there was no more space in the boat for me to sleep. This was already planned that way, and I had booked a very nice Airbnb in the less touristy parts in the North of the island. An absolute hidden gem and a fantastic host. I stayed there and worked focused for a week. Didn’t see any human being other then my host who sometimes came by to see if I’m doing alright. The cottage I stayed in was a old horse stable which got renovated into a cozy and stylish house. It’s about a 10 minute drive away from the next town in “No Man’s Land” off the grid, just some small houses around. I had many animals in my graden like chickens, cats and sheeps.

To my surprise the internet was very fast and I was wondering how. They seem to have a very good LTE coverage over the area. The house isn’t plugged into national wide power grid, there’s a small solar plantage in the backyard which generates enough electricity during the day to keep everything running, the water is coming from a deep well also just behind the house and the internet from a LTE repeater. To my surprise my host even added an automatic watering system which goes off just at dawn to keep the flowers green and healthy.

On the weekend, I made a road trip to some towns around the island’s Northern part. For example, a touristy town on the North East coast called “Port de Sóller”. Close to it, there’s an interesting road I wanted to check out (Nus de Sa Corbata).

Probably the closest bigger town to my place was Pollença. Next to it, they have a mountain with a church on it. That one I wanted to visit and hike up on an evening. The view was lovely, and just some people were doing their workouts while running up or walking their dogs. Very peaceful.

I have a good friend from Switzerland I spend a lot of my school time with. He lived for quite a while in Mallorca and sometimes comes there to visit. Same as his parents. To my surprise, the dates were matching, and we all were on the island at the same time. So we for sure had to meet and talk. We agreed to meet for lunch on the North Coast, in their favourite seafood restaurant in Cala Sant Vicenç. They were really happy to meet me again after so many years, so was I. It’s hard to catch me somewhere on the planet. But the more excited I was. The father said something which sticked to me: “You’re the person with the most interesting life I know, you should write a book”. That was fascinating to hear, since he came around a lot in his career as a general manager of multiple big hotels. Sometimes you don’t really value your privileges and freedom if you don’t get reminded about it, live seems so normal, but maybe it’s not. The thing about writing a book is on my todo list, and part of the execution plan for that is this blog.

The week after, I stayed in Manacor on the east side of the island. I rented a car during my full stay to be able to explore and go around as much and easily as possible.

One thing my grandmother recommended me to do is to see the caves close by (Hams’ Caves). I was surprised that my grandmother even made it to this island, so I followed her advice and went there one afternoon. Over the next couple of days, I made some more trips during my off time after work to places like Cales de Mallorca, the beach “Es Trenc” or Canyamel. All interesting spots at the sea to check out. Sandy beaches or/and coastal cliffs.

Barcelona & Tarragona, Spain

By the week’s end, I returned to the island’s capital city, Palma de Mallorca. I explored some more there, returned my car and took the ferry to Barcelona. When I arrived in Barcelona, I met a good friend directly. I usually hang out when I’m there. We went for some good local food and explored a bit.

After just a quick stopover for the weekend, since I’ve already been to Barcelona a couple of times, I decided to head to a city an hour South, Tarragona. They had a festival there, and I booked a cosy Airbnb for two weeks in the old town. So I was at the epicentre of the festivities.

The Catalan people have exciting festivities, it doesn’t matter if it’s in Barcelona, the Southern parts like Tarragona or the North, they’re very similar. Sure, in Barcelona, they’re more touristy and less authentic. Overall, they seem to love human towers, marches with big creatures and a lot of loud fireworks.

I had a good time in Tarragona, my place had a nice rooftop, I worked a lot, and overall, it was very spacious. If I wanted to have some people around me, I just headed into the centre, if I wanted to work focused, I just locked myself in the Airbnb. After my time was over in Tarragona, I headed to Madrid, the capital of Spain, where I met a friend from Poland to go on a road trip in Morocco.

October

Morocco Roadtrip

Tanger

The road trip started in Tanger, in the north of Morocco. Flights to Morocco are very, very, very cheap. I think it cost me 12$ and was the cheapest flight I have ever taken in my life so far. It took 1.5 hours, and we arrived safely in sunny Morocco. We checked into the hotel and got a warm welcoming from the locals with traditional tea. What an arrival. Then we continued to explore around the city a bit and got some more food just to adjust and get into the North African vibes. Without a car it’s not really a roadtrip, so we rented one. Starting in Tangier, returning it in Marrakech.

Chefchaouen

The next day, we headed South to a famous town. Chefchaouen, the blue city. It’s famous for its blue houses. It is very touristy, and because of that, the locals are very annoying and money-centric. That’s something I didn’t enjoy on the whole trip. As soon as you arrive in some tourist places, locals aren’t as friendly and trying to trick tourists. Moroccans usually are not like that, very welcoming and open towards foreigners, not at touristy place.

We wanted to take part in a free walking tour to learn more about the touristy town. As we arrived at the time and place the guide agreed on, the guide wasn’t there to be found, only some other participants. After waiting a while and trying to reach the guide, we decided to do our own tour. A Dutch couple was with us, with which we understand each other very well. We walked and had meals together. There was spontaneously also a friend in town from Morocco, but another city who coined us for lunch. The waiter thought he’s our tourist guide and he could eat for free (in exchange that he brought us). My Moroccan friend went to explain the issue, he got the meal for free anyways – this was so funny.

Fès

Next, we headed down to the next big city, Fès. There, I met a friend and another local from Couchsurfing. We walked around the old town together, and he introduced me to some interesting places and stories. I loved the city primarily because of the local introduction and the people I was with. Nothing was planned, and we came spontaneously together.

On the way, we got stopped by the police and got a ticket for speeding. I was driving 75 since the usual speed limit on country roads is 80. The police took us out, saying it’s only 60 here. I didn’t believe them, but what should I do? I stayed polite and told them I didn’t know that since usually it’s 80. The officer was very friendly and explained things to me. In the end, he gave me a 50% discount because I’m so “friendly”. Typical Moroccan police story in the end, super corrupt and I’m pretty sure they came up with the 60 km/h speed limit and just stop out innocent tourists to get extra money. Most locals they tried to stop at the meantime just continued driving and ignored them.

Rabat & El Jadida

Next off the capital of Morocco, Rabat. There wasn’t much to see. We could already see most sites after half a day of exploring and walking around. So, after arriving late at night, we decided to leave the next day in the late afternoon for a quiet place a bit further south on the coast, El Jadida. There we stayed for a night and enjoyed a great breakfast in a very cosy restaurant which was part of the accommodation.

Ouzoud Falls

Quite a drive away was the village of Ouzoud. It’s a tourist attraction because of the big waterfall there. This was a good last stop before heading into the capital and returning the car, although it meant more hours of driving a car. I was already exhausted from moving so much. It was a 5 hours (300km) ride. Arrived there it was already dark. We drove through interesting landscape in the Atlas mountains. Took a couple of hitchhiker here and there, one of which impressed us a lot. A 12 year old school child who had to walk back home from school a long distance. No issue jumping into the back of a stranger car. He couldn’t speak with us, but with some basic hand-signs we could understand some basics. It was an experience.

The next day, visiting the waterfalls, I had no expectations after visiting Iceland this summer. But I was surprised. They were bigger than I thought. There’s not just one waterfall, there are multiple collapsing down a total of 110m. I had a walk down into the valley and took a boat tour closer to the waterfall.

Marrakech

The one-week road trip is coming to an end, and so is my holiday. In Marrakech, I’m returning the car to the airport, but I’m not leaving Morocco. I’m staying in the capital to work for a week and then going to the coast for a month.

I enjoyed the last 2.5 hours of the road trip a lot. I had great vibes driving the car with music going through the landscape. Coming closer and closer to the city became a little less fun since there was chaotic traffic, and I was not used to driving in the city. So I was happy to arrive at the airport without a scratch and return it.

The next day, my Dutch friends from Chefchaouen texted me that they were in the city as well and wanted to meet up. Sure, we did it in the evening for dinner. It was. It was nice to sync and talk about what happened in each other’s holidays. That summed up my holiday in Morocco. Overall, it was a great but exhausting road trip.

The following week, I returned to work. I was working from my apartment in Marrakech. Business as usual. Working during the day and meeting some Couchsurfers in the evening for dinner. That worked very well in Marrakech. Locals are very open and there are also many tourists – so many options.

Co-Living Taghazout

From the capital, I boarded a bus and drove 4 hours over mountains into the coastal area to another big city called Agadir. There, I met a Couchsurfer for a coffee and talked a bit. Then I hopped into a taxi and drove to a famous surfer village called Taghazout. This small village with basically nothing other than a few restaurants, coffees and obviously beaches to surf. But it’s a good thing that there are two lovely co-working/surf camps and a vibrant digital nomad community. Very unexpected for such a place. My Polish nomad friend, Piotrek, was there as well. While he stayed for 2 months, I decided to stay for one entire month.

The co-working was beautiful, with a great view over the village into the sea. The best spots to watch sunsets were from the workplace. The co-living is a mix between hostel/surf camp. Half of the people go there for at least a month to work, and the others go there for a holiday to learn how to surf. They stay less long (1-2 weeks usually). The community is amazing, people gather for breakfast and dinner since this is included in most packages, especially for the monthly subscriptions. We can also just grab surfboards and go surfing before or after work. What a lot of nomads are usually doing.

I’m not super into surfing, but I was more interested to see Piotrek, my Nomad friend, again. Hang out and have some focused work. Sometimes, I went down to the beach and surfed (my level is elementary, and sometimes the waves were too big) or did body boarding, which was a lot of fun. One evening I went for a surf skating lesson, which is a special type of skateboard, perfect for training the technics on the surfboard. It was a lot of fun and we were able to enjoy the sunset while practicing. At the end something unfortunate happened to me. While slipping out, I fell down on the concrete floor, while trying to catch myself my shoulder jumped out and we had difficulties to bit it back inside. Luckily I managed after around 15 painful minutes. It’s not my first time and I know there’s no more surfing or any kind of sports in Morocco for me. This happening means now that I shouldn’t move my shoulder for a week, let the pain calm down, then slowly start doing some specific exercise get back the motion and strengthen the muscles. To stabilize my shoulder, it would be great to have a bandage. Here the sad fun facts comes in. Two days before a friend from Italy joined us in Taghazout which just had an accident with his shoulder, which went out as well. So he arrived well prepared with cooling cream and bandage. When I came back in the evening and told him, that the same happened to me, he couldn’t believe it first. But since he’s doing way better, he removed his bandage and handed over everything to me.

We usually chilled or went on trips to other areas on the weekends. Mostly, people were excited about surfing. In the North, there is another, even smaller, surf village called Imsouane. On the way there, we also stopped at sandy dunes (Timlalin Dunes), which directly go into the ocean and have quite a spectacular view.

Since I couldn’t do many activities with my shoulder, I used my drone more often. So I joined the surf guys in the early morning for their sunset surf sessions and tried to catch them surfing some nice waves. It wasn’t that easy, actually, and it involved a lot of waiting. It’s good that I brought many batteries with me. The guys were stocked about the footages, it’s not happening every day that they could have a birdeye perspective from their personal surfing.

November

Morocco Sahara

At the end of my stay at the surf camp in Taghazout, my best friend flew there spontaneously. After she spent some days at the beach and enjoyed the weekend, it was coming up, which meant I had days off as well, and we could explore. We decided to book a trip to the big desert, the Sahara. It was a long way, but we joined a proper tour were able to sleep in the bus. On the way we stopped at many places and were able to interact with locals. We learned about the Barber history, how the life, build houses and for sure the food, everything very interesting.

After two days of driving (with stops and sleepover), we arrived at the desert. All the way in the East almost at the Algerian border. The place by the desert is called Merzouga. What I didn’t know is, that Morocco doesn’t have big batches of sandy desert how we know it. The Eastern part is very dry, but mostly filled with rocks, which counts as a desert, but isn’t what we imagine as the Sahara desert. In Merzouga they have a small batch of sand with camels and everything. That’s what we did. Went for a camel ride for the sunset and stopped at the top of the dunes to watch the sunset. Then we went down into the campsite in the middle of the desert for the night and enjoy some barbecue. The next morning we woke up very early to see the sunset and head back to the bus.

On the trip, something hilarious happened. One guy in the group was Swiss too, and when we asked each other where exactly from, we figured out that we grew up in one village next to each other. What are the odds for that? Two unknown guys from the same place meet randomly in the Sahara.

Marrakech, Morocco

After the big desert trip, we drove straight back to Marrakech. It’s an 8-hour drive. When we arrived in the capital, we had 2 nights to relax and explore more of the city. For my friend, it was the first time in the city. We had a very relaxed schedule and no expectations. That’s why I like to travel with her. Everything is so easy-going, and no rush. We went for food, had some drinks and just walked around.

Casablanca, Morocco

My friend left back to Germany from Marrakech and I took the bus back to the coast to the co-living after this extended weekend trip. I stayed 8 more days before I also headed to the airport in Agadir. There, something very unpleasant awaited me. Since drones are not allowed in Morocco at all, they confiscated everything (especially in Agadir since it’s a bit of touristy there). I tried to explain the officer that I always travel with my drone and on my way to Thailand, but he didn’t care, he just wanted money. I don’t know how things normally work, people probably bribe them and good is. But I’m Swiss, I don’t know how this works and so they took my drone and for the end of my trip there are no more drone pictures coming. Especially sad, that the drone is a very expensive and new one. I bought it for the Iceland trip this summer to capture some stunning areal photography.

I was flying to Casablanca with a small aeroplane, just a domestic flight to catch a bigger plane to Dubai. But first, I had a full day in Casablanca, and since I skipped this city during my road trip the month before, it was the perfect time to explore. The amazing part was that I knew two people who were available to hang out with me. So I get a packed schedule and local impressions – my favourite. The good part about my connecting flight was that they handled my luggage directly. So no need for me to pick it up and carrying around during my day.

First off, I was meeting Youness in the centre of Casablanca. He picked me up at the central station with his motorbike. From there we went to the coast and had a walk. Closeby is the impressive mosque named after their former president “Hassan II”. It’s one of the biggest mosques in the world and has the second-highest minaret, with around 200m.

Afterwards, we grabbed some drinks and sweets, and then I was about to meet my second friend which invited me for a traditional dinner at her families house. She and her sister picked me up in the centre by car and we drove in the suburbs, not far from the airport. There the mother and father were welcoming me. We had nice talks and to my surprise the father could speak decent English. So communication wasn’t a problem at all and I enjoyed and felt welcome even more. We eat Tagine, a Moroccan dish you’ll find everywhere when visiting.

They delivered me to the airport just before midnight because I had a night flight to Dubai. Everything went smoothly, and I was happy after my anger with the drone. So, overall, it was still a perfect day. While the police/government is a mess and corrupted, the locals are so kind and welcoming. It’s sad to see those significant differences within such a beautiful country.

Dubai, United Arabic Emirates

Dubai is one of my famous extended layovers on the way to Thailand. I don’t like to take long flights, so I prefer to split them up into max. 5-6 hours each. I also don’t like to rush from one plane to the next at the airport. To solve this, I stay at the layover destination for at least 5 days. This time in Dubai, it was 3 weeks. Stopping on the way also eliminates problems with time zone differences since it’s only 2-3 hours and that I don’t even feel. In general I don’t have big problems with time differences yet, but it’s a nice addition the my other issues anyways.

A good friend of mine I was spending some COVID time with while in Tunesia migrated to Dubai a couple of months ago, and I was curious to see how she’s doing there and her environment there. She is not living in Dubai itself but in a city connected to Dubai in the North called Sharjah. Which is way less touristy, more religious and cheaper. I came to this part as well, not to reduce unnecessary commuting.

My Airbnb host was an Indian developer. A super friendly guy who worked in Abu Dhabi. He came by to say hello and even brought me an external screen so I would work better. We started to talk a little, and he ended up touring me around with his car in the area at 1 AM in the morning. I’m not a big car fan, but his car was very nice.

Shortly after I arrived, there was rain in Dubai. Yes, rain, you heard it right. It happens a couple of days per year that it rains, not much. But because the ground is so dry and there are no sewers in place, things are underwater for days just after 30 minutes of rainfall. That happened while I was having a quick meeting, and when I looked out, things looked quite different. I went for a walk to capture those strange pictures in the Dubai area.

The following days, my friend and I worked regular working hours and after work, we met for dinner and hung out. December/January is the best time to visit Dubai, with mild temperatures around 30 degrees celsius. During my time in Dubai, there was also the Football World Championship in Qatar. So many public viewings and overall a nice atmosphere. We first were thinking about going there for a game, but even being just an hour flight time away, it was still way too expensive talking everything into account. So we just followed the games in the screen as everyone else.

On my first weekend, there was the Dubai Marathon. An initiative for people to do sports. We wanted to take part in it. Not to run a full marathon but a smaller distance. The nice part is that they closed the big streets in Dubai, and you were running towards the highest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa, where the finish line was. Just that by itself was a fantastic experience.

During my last weekend in Dubai, we wanted to do a little getaway from the city and took a bus north to Ra’s al-Chaima, a 1.5-hour drive away. There, we booked a hotel and intended to do a bit of hiking. Sadly, I didn’t manage to organise a proper tour that could take us. Arriving there, I didn’t have much motivation to do something, just too much travelling lately. So the getaway wasn’t as spectacular as we wanted it to be and my friend was a bit disappointed, understandable. I just didn’t had the energy to do the organisation. One good thing that there was the national holiday during this weekend and some shows where taking place in the close by mall, which we could enjoy. We also went to the beach to enjoy the water and sun for a short while.

December

Phuket, Thailand

I wanted to continue being in a warm country for Xmas and New Year. Thailand was on the list for a long but couldn’t be done because of COVID. In summer, they finally reopened for everyone and welcomed tourists again without limitations. The stopover in Dubai was planned a long time ago, and part of its journey was another stop in Mumbai with a connecting flight to Phuket.

When I arrived in Phuket, I had to figure out how things worked and adjust to the humidity. I also didn’t know anybody here and had to invest time to meet some people. I tried to get into a routine. I got up early, drove to a co-working place, and ate regular and proper food. That worked well, and I was quite motivated. The Thai food is amazing and I tried many dishes, only problem sometimes it the spaciness, but in Phuket they’re used to tourists and adjust their dishes accordingly.

During my leisure time, I also went around by scooter and explored beaches and temples. I met some locals who could show me around or recommend me things. Also, sometimes, meet them up for dinner at a night market or just hang out for a coffee. Those things made me really happy and I felt very comfortable. My first plan was to spend a couple of days in Phuket and decide where to heat next, in the end I spend 3 weeks on the peninsula.

For Christmas, I stayed in Phuket and went around with a friend to go canoeing and have a nice dinner. It’s an extraordinary Xmas time. I’m used to cold and snowy Christmas back home in Switzerland. It was the first time I wasn’t at home during that time. But it was a good experience. I enjoyed the day still, to was just different.

Koh Lanta, Thailand

After Xmas, I was heading to a nearby island called Koh Lanta. There’s a famous co-working with a great community a friend recommended to me, and I wanted to check it out. It was pretty empty between Xmas and New Year, and few people were around. So, the community aspect wasn’t thrilling. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the space a lot. Excellent facilities and a fantastic outdoor space to work in. In addition I also fell in love with the island. There’s many restaurant and bars, so no issue to get food or enjoy a drink by the beach for sunset. There’s also some nature to visit and not that touristy. I love such places without big crowds, but still decent infrastructure. Koh Lanta is one of these places.

For New Year, I went with my Russian Airbnb host to the South to grab dinner and watch the fireshow at the beach. Xmas and also New Year isn’t a thing for Thai people. It’s just for tourists. They don’t have Xmas at all and the New Year is later in the year since they have a different calendar. They’re also in a different year than us. They made a nice show by the beach and the vibes were good, I enjoyed it with great company.

This summed up another year of exploration. Visiting three different continents and 14 countries. Many new memories and new land were discovered.