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countries

glimpses of elsewhere

(words & photos)

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countries

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   Strap into your chair, destination elsewhere. This journey will take you places and leave you with stories, for a place is only ever as one thing or another as your experience there. Well, my experience in this case. The little coincidences and grand people I met along the way ultimately wrote these plots and memories while I coauthored. That’s why I can’t claim to paint any accurate, exhaustive or conclusive portraits of countries and cultures. Just my subjective, impressionist bits and pieces, exploring places and people, traversing narratives and notions and traveling trains of thought inside one strolling mind. Come with, won’t you?

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latest places / stories

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countries | Europe | Montenegro

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Kotor / Cruise out of Control: Consumerism on Vacation,
Ethics Left at Home

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the ugly dynamics of a journey sold as destination

Of course, like with all needless and senseless consumption, the cheap cruise tickets came at a price. I had met those who pay it. explore

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countries | South America | Bolivia

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Uyuni / Traversing the Zig-Zag Road between Pain and Pleasure

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why well-being is underrated – putting happiness and suffering in perspective

With all the pain I had ever felt in the past for now, all the pleasure was ahead. explore

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countries | North America | USA

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New York / Dream Arrival: Jamming Untamed Imagination into Tight Realities

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a story of a dream coming truer and a city that was smaller the second time around

...there was certainly something endearing in that city coming down to earth from its pedestal... explore

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countries | South(east) Asia | Nepal

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Himalayas / Hiking Alone, Astray & Everestless

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when you set out to see Everest, but Everest doesn’t care

And after a while, seeing or not seeing Everest became a mere matter of perspective. explore

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countries | Europe | Greece

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Athens / The Rise and Fall of Empires

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Who’s next?

Former empires might have traded their swords for pencils, yet the battlefields remain and the war for growth and power goes on. explore

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countries | Central & West Asia | Kazakhstan

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Astana (Nur-Sultan) / The Surreal Deal

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arbitrary travel moments you never could have imagined

In a way, I’m sleeping the dreamy sleep of extraordinary travel routine. But every now and then, I wake to the almost absurd reality of a situation I never could have imagined and the vastly arbitrary nature of these instances bestows a surreal feel upon me. explore

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countries | Europe | Albania

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Tirana / How Little Can You Learn About a Country in One Day?

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passing through Albania in 24h

...this is pretty much where the flying visit reaches its maximum altitude of inflight insights, falling short of the point where travel peaks in my opinion: when it opens up a more intimate angle on a foreign culture and the people who live it through their habits, everyday rituals, and mannerisms. explore

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countries | Central America | Cuba

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Havana / On the Cusp between Eras

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sung patriotism & whispered criticism: torn in a changing nation

Transformation is a blurry wave, unlike the crisp ripple of a sudden revolutionary fist. explore

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countries | Africa | Rwanda

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Kibuye / Living with Explosive Likelihoods

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the gamble with odds that aren’t all that disastrous – living near dangerous potentials

They are accustomed to the normality of any given day that isn’t the one when calamity strikes. explore

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countries | North America | Canada

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Port Rexton / Only Passing Through: Unsung Towns of Unknown Dreams

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the delusive beauty of scratching a place's surface instead of digging deep

...the unknown leaves space for imagination and in the foreigner's head any town can tell any story... explore

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countries | South(east) Asia | Indonesia

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Jakarta / Beautifully Ugly

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inner beauty & authentic travel - less pretty cities well worth the visit 

Why pretend that you are easy on the eyes of strangers who are just checking you out, soon off to generic liaisons on Bali? You aren’t Kuta, you don’t wear makeup. You look run down. Your old town has seen much better days. And you don’t smell so nice either. But you have character. And soul. And true Javanese street scenes. explore

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countries | South America | Colombia

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Cartagena / Police Negotiations

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haggling over fines for non-existent crimes & how to break the corruption cycle

But one needed to keep in mind that these were still cops, no matter how corrupt. It felt like our bargaining power matched theirs, but at the end of the day they were in charge and would decide over our fate that night: jail or no jail. explore

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regions

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South America

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Central America

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North America

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South(east) Asia

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North(east) Asia

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Central & West Asia

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Africa

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Middle East

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Europe

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Oceania