Antwerpen

Let it go
In the nearly 12 years that I lived in Brussels, somehow I never got my sister Sabine to discover Antwerp. Even though it is possibly one of my favorite places in Belgium. So we were set for a day trip to the city which is only some 40 kilometers from Brussels, due north, just before […] Read More

Eating out & getting drunk

Let it go
I have no idea to how many restaurants, bars, cafes and clubs I have been in those 18 months… After a few months I started checking in on Foursquare & Swarm, to record it all, but I lack the first three months in South America. Still, Swarm hast recorded nearly 1450 check-ins, and most of those […] Read More

542 days

Let it go
This is a somewhat simplified graphic representation of my journey. It took 542 days, between leaving Brussels by train, to head to my parents, and landing in the European capital again, 18 months later. According to Google maps, I travelled roughly 165.850 kilometers, however the actual figure is higher due to to longer actual flight paths, […] Read More

Ultimos días

Let it go
I am melancholic. I just feel like I am saying good-bye all the time now. Earlier throughout this trip, every good-bye to a friend or a city also implied a new beginning in the next place, new friends to be made, new places to be explored. But with just over two weeks left, there is […] Read More

Cerro San Cristóbal

Let it go
I always pushed it back to ‘tomorrow’, and in the end, I didn’t see it at all: Cerro San Cristóbal, the hill that dominates the city of Santiago. On a good day, you can see much of Santiago lying to its feet, and the Andes Mountain range in the back of the city. On a […] Read More

Melbourne street art

Let it go
My friend Artur walked me through a number of Melbourne’s lanes in the CBD in the past weeks. Those lanes, often still surrounded by old, low brick buildings, tell about Melbourne’s past, but they are also the spots of its most vibrant life. Small back-alley bars, roof tops, cafés, etc… I’m glad they haven’t (yet) […] Read More

CBD night lane walk

Let it go
Something that defines Melbourne are its lanes. Those are tiny alleys that cut across the city blocks, often full of dumpsters, sometimes just empty, but some just full of hidden gems like bars, take-aways or art! I met up with my new Polish friend Artur, with whom I share a certain passion for dumplings. After stuffing […] Read More

Adelaide

Let it go
I arrived in Adelaide… in the early morning, in a grey, not too cold but rainy weather. My hotel was not too far from the train station, so I rolled over my one single suitcase in 20 minutes and checked into my room, that, luckily, at 8 am, was ready. I wasn’t too thrilled, the area […] Read More

Teotihuacán

Let it go
Renato and I got up shortly past 6 o’clock in the morning, to get to Avis when they opened, rent a car and drive to the airport. We collected Lisa and Dennis who arrived on the night flight from San Francisco, and drove off to Teotihuacán. Teotihuacán was a pre-Columbian, Meso-american city located in the Valley of Mexico, some 50 […] Read More

Good-bye Seattle

Let it go
The past two days I had my usual round of good-bye’s in Seattle, to the city, the places I visited, and the people I met. I am getting nostalgic as usual a few days before, when I try to juggle all possible meetings, maximizing the time and trying to see everyone. It mostly works out, […] Read More

West Seattle

Let it go
I wanted to take a bike ride over to West Seattle and Alki beach for the whole month, but it was one of these places that got postponed and postponed… until the moment you realize it’s today or never. The weather though was rainy and grey, so it would not be a big bike ride. […] Read More

MTL from above

Let it go
After over three weeks, I finally made it to the place that gave Montréal its name: Mont Royal, the mountain and park in the middle of the city. It is more a forest than a park, and a real mountain, rising quite steep. Lazy me took a bus halfway up, and then walked over to […] Read More