Very last day
I spent the last day on this trip all by myself. Not that I had planned it that way. Maybe I should have. But on Saturday, instead of seeing old and new friends, one thing after the other fell through. Same thing Sunday morning. Everyone either did not respond at all, or hours too late, […] Read More
Timing issues
The time rhythm here in South America is different. Everything has its own pace and its own hours, and being late is not necessarily late… I noticed this on my first visit, and I have written about the frustrations that sometimes come with this, when German punctuality and commitment meet a different way of life. […] Read More
Longitude
I realized: I have actually completed my second round of circling the globe. Even though I am not back in Europe, I am more or less on the same longitude. Here are the coordinates: Cape Town, South Africa: 33°55′ S, 18°22′ E Tel Aviv, Israel: 32°5′ N, 34°48′ E I am some 16° west of Tel Aviv […] Read More
The cost of Non-China
So, Will has cancelled all the bookings. He will go up north to inspect a factory they work with, but basically only a day trip. We came out of this non-Visa situation relatively ok. We only had to pay: – 240 RMB to cancel the train tickets – 82 USD for my room (first night plus […] Read More
Polar route
And I am off to my longest flight ever, on this trip, and beyond, beating my previous 14h record for the Frankfurt-Buenos Aires route in 2011. I’ll board a United Airlines Boeing 777 today, to fly 15h35 to Hong Kong, on a polar route that will bring me within some 70 miles of the North […] Read More
The Heisenberg principle
In quantum physics, the Heisenberg principle describes the impossibility to measure both the speed and the place of any particle precisely. The more precise you are on its speed, the less precise you can say where the particle actually is. And vice versa. I discovered today that this also applies to me. My own private […] Read More
Out of time
After one final, ultra hot day – spent at the pool, but in the shade – with temperatures reaching an amazing 44 degrees, the evening has brought the long awaited cooling down. Within an hour, temperatures dropped by 15 degrees as predicted. I was expecting something more drastic, it sounded so dramatic – but temperatures […] Read More
No time in São Paulo
One of the biggest differences I feel since I have arrived in São Paulo is the notion of time. In Rio I was all relaxed, and slow, and had my dreamy rhythm of beach and books, cinema and city, sleep and drinks… Suddenly, in São Paulo, I feel like I have no time. Days feel like 8 […] Read More
Switching to summer time
And while Europe preps itself to win an hour of sleep, but loose an hour of daylight in the process, and is heading into the dark ages… I just switched my clock to daylight savings time!! Beat that 😉 I figured out that I will be doing this all along this trip, as I […] Read More