barcelona // Spain
“Traveling…
It leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.”
― Ibn Battuta
I did not realize that two separate trains, each one-minute apart depart from the same platform. One was heading to the airport, the other to a beach town two hours from Barcelona.
I missed my flight that day, but the ocean was nice and warm.
krakow // Poland
st.petersburgh // Russia
riga // Latvia
We walked further into a quieter part of the neighborhood, the bright and cheerful houses turned to dark and run-down derelicts. Ahead of us, in a large empty garden, two men and a woman stood in a circle surrounding a bonfire. As we moved closer, the woman slowly turned around, her face as white as paper. Chills crept through my spine.
Lisa and I glanced quickly at each other, and she said, “Run.”
~ Riga, August 2015
In the borough of Christianshavn, in the city of Copenhagen lies the controversial yet successful social experiment that is Christiania.
copenhagen // Denmark
vilnius // Lithuania
In Vilnius, the bohemian and laissez-faire Republic of Užupis has been likened to Christiania.
Some of the more idiosyncratic Užupis Constitution include:
A cat is not obliged to love its owner, but must help in time of need
and
everyone has the right to die, but this is not an obligation.
A delightful place.
kaunas // Lithuania
tallinn // Estonia
st.petersburgh // Russia
prague // Czech Republic
glen coe // Scotland
Dunnottar Castle // Scotland
positano // Italy
glasgow // Scotland
venice // Italy
warsaw // Poland
“After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.”
― Nelson Mandela
“Let’s hike Ben Lomond,” they said. “It’ll be fun,” they said.
The girls gathered around in Michael’s kitchen to discuss logistics when it suddenly started drizzling outside.
I remember myself saying,
“This is Scotland. If we let a little rain disrupt our plans, we’ll never go anywhere.”
And that is how one climbs Ben Lomond in the shittiest of weather.
ben lomond // Scotland
phnom pehn // Cambodia
An architecture walking tour of a city never disappoints.
google london // UK
kanchanaburi // Thailand
In Kanchanaburi, I completed a 10-day silent meditation retreat. The daily meditations lasted from 4AM until 9PM.
In the religiously conservative Sharia practicing territory of Aceh, I met a group of people who didn’t belong.
banda aceh // Indonesia
Sapa // North Vietnam
In the summer of 2013, I spent two nights on a mud floor of a wooden hut belonging to a family from the Black Hmong tribe in North Vietnam.
I shared a sleeping area with the young family of four, together with the family pets, a black dog and a piglet.
An abundance of kindness, stars and rice wine made up for the lack of proper sanitation.
It was magical.
Sapa // North Vietnam
Gran Canaria // Canary Islands