In 2019 I…
… slept 214 nights in another location than my home.
… stayed in different 13 Airbnbs and 31 hotels.
… did 39 smaller and bigger journies.
… took 10 flights.
… have been to 14 different countries.
… visited 141 cities (11 of them were capitals).
January
Interrail Austria
Right after the new year, I got another Interrail ticket to travel to Austria. Together with my girlfriend, we travelled to Innsbruck, Graz and Salzburg by train. We discovered nice places within a deep winter atmosphere. In Graz, we visited the city and had a nice Airbnb in Salzburg. We visited the underground, a salt mine (Bergwerk Salzburg). On the way to Salzburg, we wanted to visit Hallstatt, but because of avalanches, we couldn’t reach it. Instead, we made a stop in Traunkirchen and enjoyed a nice scenery.
In Salzburg, I visited the famous RedBull Hanger at the airport (Hangar-7). A museum with aeroplanes and cars owned by RedBull. In the same building, they also have a fancy cafe where I enjoyed a hot chocolate. On the same day, I also went out with two Couchsurfer for dinner.
Ski Worldcup Adelboden
Directly after my Austria winter adventure, I went into the deep Swiss mountains for work. In Adelboden, the ski Worldcup takes place at the beginning of January. Also a lot of snow there and also a great scenery.
Ski weekend with family and photoshoot for uncle
Here we don’t stop with snow. After work, I went home to my family and we went for a skiing retreat with cousins and uncles for a weekend. We enjoyed the beautiful weather and nice slops very close to my hometown.
Since my uncle is a skiing instructor and his website was very outdated, it was my task to create a new one and therefore also new professional pictures were desperately needed. So we also made a photoshoot for the new website.
Real remote work
For a week I went into the Austrian mountains. In the most beautiful valley of the country, the Kaisertal. It’s very crowded in summer but in winter empty and hardly reachable. Nevertheless, I booked a week in an inn called BergKHof and went there for focused and silenced work.
To reach the place I need to hike up the mountain for around 45 minutes. After that time I reached the chalet, a big house in the middle of nowhere with a beautiful view into the valley. I was the only guest there during the week. I enjoyed my time with a great breakfast and authentic Austrian dishes for dinner. To my surprise, the internet connection was one of the best I’ve every experienced and this in the middle of nowhere. They got direct fibre connection into the house the owner told me. I couldn’t ask for more to work focused at this beautiful place.
To be able to talk to some people I was searching for Couchsurfer in the area. Luckily I found some down in the valley, in Kufstein. I walked down to meet Ela and Bartek for bowling and dinner one evening. Afterwards, I hiked all the way up to my lodge in the dark. What a strange experience.
February
Weekend in Stuttgart
At least once a month I wanted to see my girlfriend as she is living 400km away in Stuttgart (Germany). In February it was my turn and I drove to Stuttgart by train.
Finland Interrail (Helsinki, Tampere, Rovaniemi)
Already my next adventure coming up. I got on a plane to Helsinki via Amsterdam. Arrived there, I directly met a friend I knew from my last trip to Spain. We went into a good pizza place and had some talks.
Because I knew that Scandinavia is an expensive place I opted for hostels on this journey. In Helsinki, I met some great people, like Thomas from New Zealand, with whom I explored Helsinki and it’s surroundings. The island “Suomenlinna” was one of these. Since I was in Finnland I needed to try out a Finnish sauna which I also did with Paul and other two Swiss guys, which we met on a city sightseeing tour. It was fun.
The education system is one of the best worldwide in Finnland. A part of the service the government provide to the students are huge libraries which can be used for free. They even provide office spaces for free. First come first serve principle. I also used that opportunity and worked most of the time from the new central library (Oodi) in Helsinki.
The next city was Tampere. There I rented an Airbnb. On the second day, the weather was great and I was able to meet a local and went for a hike on top of the frozen lake.
By train, I went all the way up to Rovaniemi via Oulu. A full day ride into the far north. I enjoyed my train ride since the internet was great at any time on the journey and people were very silent. It’s just a Finish habit which I really like. So I was able to work for 7 straight hours and finish my workday when I arrived in the north. That’s great work/life balance, right.
Rovaniemi is a very touristy place since it’s the official home of Santa Clause. The good part about that is that there’s a hostel, which is not very common in the far north. So I stayed there. In February, the polar night takes action in the northern part of Finnland, which means you can see the northern lights. I already saw them but it’s always magical. So I went for northern light hunting.
On the next day, I also needed to visit the Santa clause village with a roommate of mine from the hostel.
From the perspective of public transportation, I was at the end of the world. The only way to go even more to the north was to rent a car. I wasn’t that excited at first since the roads are covered in ice (not snow). But in the end, it worked very well and the cars are ready to drive on that surface. So I went all the way up into Luosto Nationalpark. There, I wanted to experience how to sleep in an igloo. I spend two days at a farm (Lucky Ranch) in the middle of nowhere. There the owner, Antti, explained to me a lot of things. He also showed me a very special sport they practise up there in the mountain of Pyhä — called snow surfing.
My last stop in the northern part of Finland was Kemijärvi. I found a nice place to stay in an old fisher house (Hotel Uitonniemi). I was lucky once again. A very small group stayed at the guesthouse and the owner cooked traditional reindeer meat for us and told us local stories. Just an amazing experience.
Next up going all the way to the south. But in the middle, I took a stop in Kemi. There I wanted to go on a tour with an old icebreaker (Sampo). Sadly I arrived exactly on the day off (bad/no planning on my side 🤪). So I stopped there to focus on work for a couple of days and moved on to the south. Into a student city called Vasa. There, I stayed for just one night. Way too short, because I had a very modern and spacious Airbnb which I really liked. On the next day, I took the ferry to Sweden.
Sweden Interrail
I arrived at the port of Umeå by ferry. There I did “self-checking” in a hotel for the first time. I was pretty excited. The hotel was pretty amazing. Had a beautiful view and was located in the city centre. The city was already on my list because I knew that the design school is pretty famous. So I needed to visit the art museum (Bildmuseet) there. Also during my time, the northern lights activity was pretty high. So I headed to a lake and watched them. Thanks to Martijn, which studied there. He got me some good local tips.
After two days I headed south. I ended up in Sundsvall, where I stayed in a ship which is used as a hotel. Since there’s not a lot to see in the city I used the time to work focused. On the next day, I already continued my trip to Stockholm. There I visited the city centre and went into the photography gallery (Fotografiska). I also met a local and enjoyed the evening in a bar talking.
On the next day, I had a flight to Berlin. Arrived in Berlin, I took a train back to Stuttgart, where I visited my girlfriend.
March
Engadin Ski Marathon
Always at the beginning of March, the biggest amateur cross-country skiing race takes part in the beautiful scenery of the Engadin valley in Switzerland. For the 3rd time, I was working there as a cameraman.
Japanese Couchsurfer
When I’m home, I like to invite Couchsurfer to my place and let them stay there and explore places with them. This time I was hosting two Japanese boys. They really wanted to taste Swiss cheese. So we got into the shop and bought different types of cheese. Soft and hard one, old and young one. I was amazed by the first cheese degustation I ever had. One of the two really like it. The other one doesn’t like cheese at all. It was a fun experience.
Company Retreat
Our company got together for two days to talk about the future and do some team building and excursions. We rented a huge house in Interlaken (Switzerland). There we had a couple of workshops. In the evening we went into the town and ate an amazing piece of meat with live music. On the next day, we want up the mountain to learn about a traditional Swiss instrument, the Alphorn. How it’s build and the history.
Geneva CERN and Lausanne
I’m from the eastern part of Switzerland. Geneva, on the absolute western part, is not right around the corner for me. Nevertheless, I got on the train and spend a weekend in the city of Geneva. The weather was beautiful.
In Geneva, a lot of international organisations are headquartered, such as the Red Cross or the UNO. There is also the CERN, a European research organisation, with a lot of impacts. They have a huge particle accelerator for atmos to do groundbreaking research in physics. A lot of people don’t know for example that the World Wide Web was also invented there by Tim Berners-Lee in 1989. I got an appointment there and was very excited to get on a tour by a scientist which told us very interesting facts.
Video shoot for Savognin
Winter was coming to an end. Nevertheless, the conditions up in the mountains are mostly still great before April. We got up the mountain of the ski resort of Savognin. Our mission was to film video clips for a promotion to be used for the next winter. We were expecting great conditions with two actors to get our shoots. Which came true and we were able to finish the day successfully.
April
Couchsurfer
In April I didn’t have international travelling plans. So it made sure travellers are coming to my place. First, there was Jacob from the US. With him, I went into the mountains close by the capital of Switzerland. I’ve never been to those places like Lauterbrunnen or Mürren because they’re very touristy and locals normally don’t go there. Nevertheless, it was a nice day trip and we both enjoyed it very much.
On the last day of Jakob's stay, another Couchsurfer from Russia joined us in the apartment. A very international and crowded apartment of mine during those days.
My third Couchsurfer in this month was a girl from Vietnam. Because the weather wasn’t that great during her stay, we just made a tour in the city of Berne.
West Switzerland Train Tour to Montreux
It’s spring. Everyone wants to go out. The weather is just nice and finally, it’s getting warm. So I took another day trip to the western part of Switzerland. This time to the canton of Valais and Montreux. Montreux is famous for the Jazz Festival they host every year and Freddy Mercury. The location is very nice. Close to the mountains and next to the lake of Geneva.
Meeting cousin with friends
I had special guests. My cousin asked me if I’m able to host her Guestmother from New Zealand during her stay in Bern. I agreed. At the same time also my girlfriend was visiting me here. So my apartment was full once again. We had a great time. In the evening we went to a very special place (Kornhauskeller) for a drink and to my surprise, my uncle was also joining us since he was for business reasons in the city.
On the next day, my guests went into the Swiss Alps by car and my girlfriend was also joining them. They had a blast. I needed to stay home since I was working.
Camping in the canton of Tessin
In March the nights can still be around 0 degree which isn’t very nice to sleep in a tent. But in April the nights are starting to get less cold. I decided with a friend to grab our camping gear and drive into the southern part of Switzerland to explore a little. Sadly there was a lot of rain on the days before, which also meant that the temperature dropped. Our plans to go up the mountain burst. We decided to stay down in the valley and took it easy. We checked in at a camping side and took the weekend very relaxed. It was still fun.
Before we arrived in the canton of Ticino I visited the city of Lucerne. It was a very rainy day and we got soaking wet. Sadly that was not optimal to sleep in a tent during a cold night. So we decided to book a hotel when we arrived in Lugano.
On the next day, we met my friend with his girlfriend. We explored the city of Lugano. Went on a boat and got some nice Italian food.
May
Interrail Croatia with my mother
The second big Interrail tour in this year was coming up. This time I wasn’t alone. My mother joined me. Interrail was big when she was young, so she wanted to do it again and I was happy to travel with her. We agreed to drive in direction east, meaning Croatia and Albania. In the end, we didn’t come that far south but still we had a good time.
The first part, a long ride all the way to the capital of Zagreb (Croatia). It’s a night train going there directly from our hometown. In Zagreb, I worked and my mother was exploring during the day. In the evening we went out to eat.
Next up was Zadar. A beautiful town on the coast. We took a direct bus which brought us within 4 hours there. In Zadar, we just stayed one night and continued in direction south to a very small village. There we booked a bungalow next to the sea. The place was just amazing and we extended our stay for a couple of days. It was very quiet since it was low season and the tourists were not there yet. Closeby there were some nice places to visit such as the island Vrgada, the waterfalls Krka or the nature reservoir around Vrana Lake. A very nice area with a beautiful landscape.
With a lot of joy, we continued our travels south to an old and tiny town called Trogir. The city is built on an island and for this reason limited in size. We booked a hostel in the middle of the city. Right next to the main square to be exact. To our surprise, we were the only guests at the hostel. That was again because of the low season. The friendly owner waited for us to do the check-in and told us about the area. After that, we had a private hostel for us.
The hostel owner told a couple of local dishes such as “Black Risotto” and “Pašticada”. We went out to tried both.
Split was located very closeby of our last stop. In the second biggest city of Croatia, we booked an Airbnb in the old town with an amazing view over the port. Split was way more crowded then we were used to in the last days. From the port, there are a lot of excursions to do, such as a fast boat tour to the Blue Cave and the island Hvar, which we took part on the next day.
Our final stop in Croatia was Dubrovnik. The city is famous for the series “Game of Thrones”. Dubrovnik has also a nice old town such as all the cities we’ve been to, but way more crowded. Actually packed. So we prefered the other cities. Two days later we booked a ferry which brought us to Italy. While waiting for the ferry, which left late in the evening, we went down to the beach where I was working for a full day. To my luck, the mobile data connection was pretty good so I had no issues working there. What a great office.
Interrailing in Italy
We arrived at the port of Bari in the morning. We explored a little and then took a regio train to Gioia del Colle. We got there a hotel upgrade and explored the tiny town and it’s surrounding. We found a hidden restaurant and went inside. To our surprise, it was a Micheline star gourmet restaurant. Absolute fair price and exceptionally good. Another lucky hit. Great food in Italy. Oh, how I love the Italian kitchen.
Closeby the town where had our accommodation, there are two famous tourist places — Alberobello and Matera. We rented a car and explored both places. They are very crowded but special. I felt in love with Matera. A town built into rocks.
Next up, we crossed the country from east to west and arrived in Salerno. Closeby there’s the antic city called Pompei and the volcano Vesuvio. We took the train and dove into the history of that place. On the next day, we took a boat and explored the Amalfi coast. Small villages built in the hills and nice beaches at the bottom. One of the famous place there is Positano, a place very famous because of Instagram.
Salerno was the last place I spend with my mother together. Since I needed to be home around one week before her I needed to head north. She wanted to go south to Sicilia so we divided our path.
I took the train and drove north to Rome. I spend 3 days there. Explored the famous places like the Colosseo, the Vatican state, Pantheon, Piazza del Popolo or the Spanish Steps and also worked there. Since I was travelling alone now I was happy to meet some locals. So I did. I went out into some street restaurants with Couchsurfers.
My last stop in Italy was Milan. It was just a short stopover but I made the best out of it. I booked a hostel next to the main station and went into the city centre by electro scooter. I grabbed a hot chocolate in the only Starbucks of whole Italy — Starbucks Reserve. A very fancy one. Then I continued exploring the city and met a local Couchsurfer to have typical Milanese pizza (thick bottom), a nice chat and some drinks. It’s was a great stay.
June
Fishermans StrongmanRun
As every year at the beginning of June. Fishermans Friends is organising a run for strong men and woman. We’re there to capture the amazing moments and also do a livestream of the event. It’s one of the highlights of the year as a cameraman. Also this year the weather was sunny and clear.
Germany Interrail
I just got back from Italy and Croatia. But in June I had again an Interrail ticket. This time I wanted to go north. I packed my backpack again and took a train to Hamburg. There I stayed for a couple of days and enjoyed the city. I met an interesting guy from Manchester at the hostel I stayed in. With him, I went to my favourite burger place (Burgerlich) in the city. On the next day, we joined a free walking tour and explored the city.
Next up was Kiel and Lübeck. In Kiel, I just stopped and explored a little. Then I headed to Lübeck where I was able to stay with a family. There I met a guy, who was travelling the world with his motorcycle for the last 5 years. The weather wasn’t that great so I stayed inside, had a talk with the guest mother and worked. Since I wasn’t out I needed to have a quick look into the city before I left.
Then I took the train and went to the holiday island named Rugen. The island has nice beaches but is very boring as a lot of old people are there for vacation. No issue for me as I have a lot of work to do. So I got me some food and worked 4 days straight. In the later afternoon to refresh my brain, I got my Amazon Kindle and went down to the beach to relax. The weather was warm and sunny on all days when I was staying there.
WordCamp Europe 2019
The whole reason why I travelled into the north of Germany was because of the WordCamp Europe 2019. This year it took part in Berlin. So I decided to extend my trip and explore more cities in the north. After Rugen, I headed south to Berlin.
The conference is always a highlight since the whole WordPress community is gathering there and I get to meet so many familiar faces. This years conference had 2500 attendees.
After two days of the conference, I changed my accommodation in Berlin but wanted to explore a little more of the city. Luckily I was not the only with that mindset. Another developer and photographer from Switzerland (Claudio Schwarz) also stayed for 2 more days. So I went out with him and took some photographies.
Dresden
Haven’t seen rain for two weeks. To be precise since I was in the far north of Germany in Lübeck. I went more south to Dresden. The temperature was super hot and it was hard to focus and work. Nevertheless, I enjoyed my time in the city. My Airbnb was right in the centre of the city next to the Maria church and closeby a lot of restaurants where I went in the evening to eat.
In one afternoon I met a Couchsurfer to explore the close by Saxon Switzerland. A beautiful landscape with special rocks. A famous place to visit and hike up to is the Bastei bridge. We went by train to the bottom of the hills, then took a ferry to cross the river and hiked up the hill to visit the sunset. It was a warm and peaceful evening. I really enjoyed it.
July
Mountain hut in the Swiss Alps
After the stressful travelling, I wanted to relax a couple of days. Since I own a mountain hut in a tiny village up in the mountains of the Swiss Alps, I wanted to spend time there. My girlfriend joined me there and we enjoyed the silence away from the people and the next bigger town.
We went for a hike to the Schlüechtli (2283 meter above sea level), the closest and higher peak from the house. For my girlfriend, which was growing up in Indonesia, it was her first bigger hike ever and also her first sunburn. The second one is maybe a little strange since she’s got way darker skin than me. The sun in the mountains is different and can be pretty strong and also that day it was foggy in the morning which reflects the sun even more.
Putri wrote an article about her days with me up in the Swiss mountains. Check it out.
We also went to some other places closeby. To the Caumasee, a very famous and special lake in the mountain or Ill Spir, a viewing platform.
In the evening we went down to the city where I used to work for my former company. We organize every second month a Meetup for local developers. This time we tried a new format. We called this edition it “WebDev Fiirobigsbier”. Having a beer and talking instead of listening to prepared talks.
Right after the meetup, I went for a date night with my girlfriend. Going to my favourite Lebanese restaurant in the city and order shawarma. Since she is Asian I wanted to test here how much spices she can handle. I was really surprised — a lot, way too much for me to imagine.
On the next day, there was my birthday. In the evening I needed to work as a cameraman at an open-air festival. Mostly I’m the cameraman on stage trying to get some awesome shots of the artists. This time I was on stage with Roger Hodgson, the songwriter of the famous band Supertramp. This evening was one of my personal best live productions I ever made. Great camera gear, good atmosphere, good lightning situations and an awesome crew. So I was very happy at the end of the day. My birthday present ;-)
Civil service, the 3rd time
My yearly routine in summer is working for one month at a farmer. This year was already my 3rd time there. But this time it was a little special since the farmer was extending the stable. This meant that there’s a lot of other work to do then I was used to. For me, this was pretty interesting and a good change to the normal work. I enjoyed most parts of the work in the stable and could use and learn some other skills.
Eiger Ultra Trail — video production
The summer is normally pretty packed with productions for marathon races. Since I’m mostly just doing live productions I don’t get picked for production for social media, which is good. But this time the customer also wanted some live footage from the top of the mountain. So I was in. The Eiger Ultra Trail is a hard one. The distances are up to 101 kilometre which takes 26 hours for some people.
The scenery at this run is just stunning around Grindelwald (Switzerland). This made it also special for me to work at such a race and capture nice videos. The day was also long for us as the crew. Since we needed to be up at the start and follow the runners all the way to the top and back down again. Luckily we could use quadbikes, helicopters and gondola to reach all our locations.
August
Aareböötle
If you’re not from Switzerland you probably have no idea what that means. A lot of a strange letter in there, right. It means a boot ride down the river Aare. This river flows through Bern, the capital of Switzerland. This is a very famous activity during the weekends in summer. The river is packed with boats, air matrasses or SUPs by then. I haven’t done that before, which is pretty bad since I lived in Bern for almost a year. So I finally did. It was a 4-hour ride floating down the stream. Very relaxing.
The friends I was enjoying the afternoon with were able to sleep in another shared apartment at a friends place. In the evening they threw a home party there and my friends invited me over. Fun fact was that the boyfriend of my cousin was also living there. So when I arrived I already knew a lot of people there. How small the world sometimes is.
Mountainbike WorldCup Lenzerheide
Another dream weekend was coming up. We had pretty good weather and a mountain bike race was planned to take place in the area of Lenzerheide. Switzerland is a mountain bike nation so a lot of people were travelling there to cheer up the racers. I was there to work for television as I did one year before when the world championship took place at the exact same location.
Photoshooting in Muri
I’m a professional cameraman (video), but I never did photography professionally. This is a good part in general since it’s not the same and I wanna focus on just one topic. But I had the opportunity to do a photo shooting in a hotel close to where I live. So I wanted to give it a try. Everything went pretty well and I was happy with the results. The client also was. I learned a lot during that full day shooting of the rooms inside the hotel.
After the shooting, I invited a friend over to the hotel and had a relaxed evening with ice and a great dinner. On the next day, we explored Bern for a little.
Festival cameraman
This year I attended a lot of open air. “Sound of Glarus” was also one I remember pretty well. As there were some famous local and international acts playing there.
FrontConf Zurich
Another conference I attended this year was the FrontConf in Zurich (Switzerland). The conference was about the web in general and not specific to WordPress. I wanted to attend already a couple of years ago but never had the chance to do so. Finally, I made it.
September
Fistball
I’ve been doing this production for the third time now. My boss handed over all the planning to me. It’s like my baby. I enjoy it, but at the same time, it’s a lot of pressure since the livestreams are watched worldwide on the official European Fistball website. Whenever possible I try to support some young people and invite them to come over and be part of a production. I know they enjoy getting to know how stuff works and be able to help out. After the first day, we stayed in a hotel in the city centre of Rapperswil. Explored the city a little and got us a nice pizza. We really deserved it.
This time we weren't super lucky with the weather. The days before it was raining a lot so the surface was pretty bad. Then the weather was getting better, but on the second days it started to get worse again and it was raining a lot which made it challenging for us.
WordCamp Zurich
At the beginning of September, the 3rd WordCamp in Zurich took part. I was one of the organizers there and responsible for the video as almost every year. This time we wanted to take it a step further and also livestream the event. We had some technical issues at the beginning, but we found solutions to all problems and were able to create a great event which attendees and speakers liked.
As every WordCamp we started with a contributor day at Liip and then followed with the conference itself on the next day. To wrap up the event there’s always an afterparty which took place in a club in Zurich (Kanzlei).
Indonesia backpack trip
The excitement was high. My first long-distance flight ever. Visiting Asia for the first time. And lucky me has a local travel companion. How grateful I was for that.
Bangkok
We arrived in Bangkok. As we didn’t note before we landed. There was rainy season. The humidity level there was crazy. I never experienced anything like that before. It’s like in an indoor swimming pool, but outside. So we were looking forward to 5 days of rain, rain and rain. For me, this wasn’t an issue once more since I was able to work. So we booked a good hotel with a decent internet connection. A great breakfast, work during the day and food in the city in the evening. That was the plan for the week. Not too exciting actually. One day the weather didn’t seem to be too bad, we headed out on foot and explored certain parts of the city. There wasn’t a lot of traffic and people out. I was surprised since everyone tells me Bangkok is super crowded.
Bandung
We continued our extended layover in Bangkok to Jakarta and then via train to Bandung, a city not too far from the biggest city of Indonesia. Luckily in Indonesia, the climate was completely different because it’s on the other side of the equator. Dry and sunny weather.
In Bandung, my friend, which grew up in Indonesia, felt at home and wanted me to join streetfood. I was very sceptical since I’m western and not used to the bacteria in those countries. So we found a place which looked decent. There we tried some chicken and I needed to eat it with my fingers. That was an experience. I wouldn’t have imagined how incapable I could be trying to do finger food. My friend had real fun with me. Not only that because of that, but also because everyone was staring at me since I’m white (“Bule”).
The next day we got to explore a little bit of the city with fellow Couchsurfer. The city to me is pretty ugly and dirty, typical Asian I guess. But we also got into some hidden foodcourts which were pretty nice.
Batukaras Beach
After a couple of workdays in Bandung, my real holidays were starting. We booked a bus and took a ride all the way to the south coast. To a place, my cousin suggested me before we left Switzerland. Someone from Europe can’t imagine how long a 100-kilometre long ride can take by bus on these bad roads. Besides the time, it was also really uncomfortable. The trip took us in the end about 8 hours. You can do the math. I would have been faster with a bicycle without a motor.
We finally arrived at a tiny village with a beautiful beach. Not a lot of tourists are there since it’s very remote. Exactly what we were looking for. A couple of white people surfing there and that’s it.
We enjoyed the beach and the small restaurants there. On one occasion we went to the Green Canyon and did a rafting tour with a guide there. This was a nice experience. Floating down a small stream in the middle of the jungle with a life vest on.
Oktober
Yogyakarta
We continued our journey towards the east of Java, one of the biggest island in Indonesia. There we met a local friend we know from Germany. She showed us around her home city and afterwards, we went for ice with her brother. A truly native experience since all of my friends could speak the language and they mostly know the places very well.
A little more in the north of Yogyakarta is a famous temple called Borobudur. It’s the largest Buddhist temple complex in the world. So we went there the next day. We also got a great tip by a local for a hidden viewpoint. We rented a motorbike and drove up the mountain very early in the morning to catch the sunrise, sadly there was heavy fog. Nevertheless, it was still a nice experience. Actually one of the best. We drove so far into the countryside. No one was around, just some old locals in their small houses up in the mountains. We meet a very old man my friend was talking with.
Lombok
We finished exploring Java. So we took a plane to Lombok, an island closeby. There we got ourselves a couple of days of rest from backpacking. We enjoyed the time in a resort. Our own bungalow with balcony and private pool in the middle with the restaurant at the end of it. It was almost empty which made the stay even more pleasant.
On an evening we went out into the city (Mataram) to meet Couchsurfer for dinner. It ended up with a small gathering of 6 people.
At the end of our stay, we figured out that we actually haven’t explored a lot of the island itself which was a pity. The volcano, the islands and beaches. Personally, I think Lombok is one of the nicest islands. It’s not super touristy, the Indonesian mentality is still very present and it’s pretty religious. On the last day we decided to get a private driver which took us on a tour to the south of the island. There are a lot of very pretty and empty beaches. Pantai Mawi was one of these. I particularly liked the name because it’s the abbreviation of my own name — Marc Wieland. We continued to some other beaches and ended up at Merese Hills, a small peak to watch the sunset.
Nusa Lembongan
We left Lombok by speedboat off to Nusa Penida and then Nusa Lembongan. Our destination is a small island which belongs to Bali. By bike, you can circumnavigate the island in around 1 hour, which we did and found some nice spots to make some breaks. In the middle of the island, there’s the “Yellow Bridge”, which connects another small island. It’s quite an experience to go through bridges like that by bike as non-Asian ;-)
On the island, there are some pointed cliffs, which are very nice to watch during sunrise and sunset. The waves were hitting the rocks and splash over them. Pretty romantic. “Devil’s Tear” is one of these places.
Bali
Finally, we ended up in the most touristy island in the country. We always wanted to avoid this place but in the end, we still ended up in Bali. But we stayed away from the big crowd and went up more north to Ubud. In the middle of the famous ricefields, we found a place to stay.
Closeby our accommodation there are a couple of places to visit by bike. Such as Tegenungan waterfall, monkey forest or the famous Tegallalang Rice Terrace. We were really disappointed when we went into this place since it was just too crowded. So we headed out to find some more authentic rice fields and ended up at a small restaurant (Warung), which made my day and had a beautiful view into a small ricefield. The owner was pretty funny and told us about different things.
My 2 weeks of holiday came to an end and we haven’t come as far as I wished we could have been. I wanted to end my holiday back on Java in Surabaya. Sadly we didn’t make it all the way there and I needed to skip those place and also the vulcanos. Noted for the next time.
My friend took a flight to Surabaya the other day to visit her parents and I booked a place in a guest house and went back to work in a co-working space in the hipster town of Bali (Canggu). To be honest I really enjoyed my time there. To work it’s really nice. The infrastructure is pretty nice and everything is in western standards. Also the food and prices ;-) Not authentic at all, but for work it’s great. I lived my life like in the movie. Working by the pool with fancy drinks next to me — that’s work.
I met a guy via Couchsurfing which toured me around the island with his red motorbike (I call him Valentino Rossi). We went to the most southern part of Bali, to Uluwatu. He also showed me that you can have a meal with drinks for 1 euro, which amazed me. Since we’re in Bali. But you need to follow the locals, right.
In one day I wanted to give surfing a try. So I got me a surf instructor and a surfboard. The conditions were pretty okay for a beginner like me and I was able to learn it pretty fast. I probably had some advantages since I’m able to windsurf and snowboard.
With Ash, eg. Valentino Rossi, I also meet to have dinner and experience the nightlife in Bali. It’s was fun and we built a friendship during that week. I’m really look back to times like that.
Jakarta
Capsule hotels are a thing also in Europe. But I never slept in one. That changed in Jakarta. My first capsule hotel experience there.
Back in the big city, I started to meet a couple of Couchsurfer since it’s very easy to find people to hang out and tour the city as a western. I also went to one of the few, but famous sightseeings in Jakarta called Monas (National Monument). In Jakarta, my friend joined me again after she stayed for a week with her family.
Singapore
Our trip almost came to an end. We had booked a super cheap flight a couple of months back with long layovers. This was very intentional since we wanted to explore more cities. On the way to Indonesia, we had a 4 days long stop in Bangkok and on the way back we stopped in Singapore for 5 days. Arrived there we figured out pretty fast the differences to what we have been used to. A lot more business-oriented and wealthy.
Starting now I was back to work after my two weeks of holiday. So internet connection and a good place to work was important for me. My friend also wanted to experience an infinite pool. So we decided to get ourselves a very nice apartment in downtown of Singapore for that week.
I was able to focus very well on my work while my friend did some excursions by herself during the day. In the evening we headed out into the city to explore and eat. I also knew a friend which I met in Austria a year back. So we met at Clarke Quay, a pretty nice spot next to the river to have something to drink and talk.
That was all about Singapore. A pretty decent week with a lot of progress at work and also a good work/life balance. So we headed to the famous Singapore Changi airport to see this spectacular indoor waterfall. In the so-called “Jewel”, the newest building at the airport, there’s an indoor forest with the tallest indoor waterfall in the world, a huge shopping centre and free cinema. It’s really fascinating and only cost 1.3 billion USD. We had a burger at the upper level and enjoyed our last minutes in Asia before we fly back to Zurich.
Camping exhibition in Bern
Arrived in Switzerland I went back with to my apartment in Bern. On the next day, my parents came to the city because there was a camping exhibition. They were looking for a van for a couple of years and were interested in the newest trends and products. So I joined them and also was able to see them after my 2 months of travelling.
November
Lissabon
In Lissabon, the biggest tech conference in the web branch takes place every year. 70'000 marketers, investors and developers travel to the capital of Portugal to attend the WebSummit. This year I and a co-worker (Jonas Mosimann) of mine also left for that conference. What an experience. We also combined that event with a couple of days of focused work since we just kickstarted a project together. This was a really good idea. Our schedule looked like the following: work, conference and food in the evening. My co-worker also added a run session in the morning since he’s a triathlete and will train on a daily basis.
We got us a nice and spacious Airbnb closeby the city centre in the hilly landscape of Lissabon. The weather was not too bad but also pretty windy. At least it was way warmer than in Switzerland.
After 4 conference days, we headed out of the city and explored a little. In the north of the capital, there’s a pretty famous town called Sintra. There are a couple of castles to visit and also enough space to hike.
Athens
Next up was another capital. This time Greece. For another 2 weeks, I headed with a former co-worker (Carl) to Athens for work. Carl was just able to attend for 1 week since the policy of his company just allowed 1 week per month of remote work. So in the second week, I stayed by myself for work.
Same as in Lissabon I booked a spacious Airbnb closeby the city centre. I was lucky again. We got an amazing place with a decent view of the Acropolis with a huge terrace. Closeby our place we had different options for food and enjoyed that pretty much. I personally love Greece food. Our schedule looked like that this time: work, a walk during lunch, work, explore and eat.
In the late afternoon, we always went out to explore certain parts of the city. Once we went south to the port, then we did a walking tour, went on top of the Acropolis or into a museum. Athens has a lot to offer.
December
Cameraman — Cross-country skiing & Spengler Cup
December is coming up and this means a lot of snow sports in the Swiss mountains. This month pretty intense for me. But I really enjoy that season. First up there was the Tour the Ski (cross-country skiing) in Davos. There we produced some a live stream. In the evening we got a very nice hotel closeby. I’m used to staying in hotels but this time we had a really nice one. Downstairs we had a wellness area which I really needed to try out and enjoyed. It was pretty empty.
Then at the end of the month, my favourite ice hockey tournament was taking place also in Davos. The same as every year. But I always enjoy it, since the atmosphere is very special and it’s always was a childhood dream of mine to be there. Not to imagine that I would work as a cameraman behind the scenes there and work with all the sportspeople and celebrities who are attending the event.
Winter wonderland in Lenzerheide
It started to snow and turned the country into a beautiful, white landscape. My Indonesian friend came from Munich to enjoy that scenery. We booked a hotel at Lenzerheide, a winter sports area not too far from my homeplace. There we enjoyed the wellness area. The hotel was not very crowded and we had a lot of space.
Closeby our accommodation there an outdoor art installation called “Zauberwald”. It’s really nice to go there in the evening. The installations include light, music and sometimes also add interactions (camera and sensors). It’s a really special experience combined with the snow in the forest.
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Marc Wieland
WordPress. Front-End Development. UX. Cinematography. Landscape Photography. Time-Lapse Video.
