Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Sunday, July 10, 2011
The end
This is it my friends... the last post on the blog.
What an epic journey the last year was. I can't even start to describe how great it was. I have experienced so many things, met so many new friends and just had a blast. If you ask me what my highlights were, I would be hard pressed to give you an answer. I was about to make a list of a few but to be honest there are just too many to list and I would probably forget about half. Many people I met asked me if I had a favourite place, a country I enjoyed most. So far my answer has always been Japan but I think each and every country, every city or town I visited had it's own unique and great experiences. Some places I loved for the people I met, some for the nature, some for the vibe of the cities and some for a million other reasons.
I am so grateful for every day I had and I will cherish each and every one of them until the day I die. I am sure I will bore my grand kids with stories of this trip. I'm sure my relatives don't realize yet but this trip will be all I will talk about for a long time to come... sorry about that folks ;)
It feels like I left Switzerland just yesterday. I am pretty sure this is a good sign. Actually I would love nothing more than to leave Switzerland tomorrow and do it all again.. but then again, there are so many more places I want to visit. I think I caught the travel bug. Will I do something like this again? I don't know, only time will tell. Right now I am focused on finding a job and getting back to earn some money. Once the cash flow is established again, I am sure I will start saving again... maybe for another big trip eh?
You might wonder; "Simon do you feel different now? Do you think you changed?" To be honest, I don't feel like I have. Sure I have more experience than before but I think overall I am the same person. Although, I might not have noticed... I guess my friends and relatives will tell me a few weeks down the line.
I posted 88 times in the last year and had an overall of over 6500 unique hits. I wanted to say thanks to everybody that stopped by on my blog. Without you all stopping by, this would have been a rather pointless endeavour. I am glad you came along for the ride for a little bit.
Just because I discontinue this blog, doesn't mean I will never blog again. I have plans to establish a photography blog but how, when and where are things I still have to think over. I will let you all know once the plans are solid. I still have lots to learn in that department (photography that is). Especially the post processing is something I will have to look deeper into.. sadly my netbook is not good enough for this and I will have to wait till I get a better computer before I can get serious about it. The lines are open, donations are now accepted :-p
One last thing, a big thank you to everybody I met. You all made this journey so great. Without the people I met all over the world this trip would have been rather dull. I hope to meet you all again somewhere, someday. If you ever pass through Switzerland, do let me know, you are always welcome to crash at my place!
I close with the words that inspired me to do this trip at all:
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” -Mark Twain
so long and thanks for all the fish
What an epic journey the last year was. I can't even start to describe how great it was. I have experienced so many things, met so many new friends and just had a blast. If you ask me what my highlights were, I would be hard pressed to give you an answer. I was about to make a list of a few but to be honest there are just too many to list and I would probably forget about half. Many people I met asked me if I had a favourite place, a country I enjoyed most. So far my answer has always been Japan but I think each and every country, every city or town I visited had it's own unique and great experiences. Some places I loved for the people I met, some for the nature, some for the vibe of the cities and some for a million other reasons.
I am so grateful for every day I had and I will cherish each and every one of them until the day I die. I am sure I will bore my grand kids with stories of this trip. I'm sure my relatives don't realize yet but this trip will be all I will talk about for a long time to come... sorry about that folks ;)
It feels like I left Switzerland just yesterday. I am pretty sure this is a good sign. Actually I would love nothing more than to leave Switzerland tomorrow and do it all again.. but then again, there are so many more places I want to visit. I think I caught the travel bug. Will I do something like this again? I don't know, only time will tell. Right now I am focused on finding a job and getting back to earn some money. Once the cash flow is established again, I am sure I will start saving again... maybe for another big trip eh?
You might wonder; "Simon do you feel different now? Do you think you changed?" To be honest, I don't feel like I have. Sure I have more experience than before but I think overall I am the same person. Although, I might not have noticed... I guess my friends and relatives will tell me a few weeks down the line.
I posted 88 times in the last year and had an overall of over 6500 unique hits. I wanted to say thanks to everybody that stopped by on my blog. Without you all stopping by, this would have been a rather pointless endeavour. I am glad you came along for the ride for a little bit.
Just because I discontinue this blog, doesn't mean I will never blog again. I have plans to establish a photography blog but how, when and where are things I still have to think over. I will let you all know once the plans are solid. I still have lots to learn in that department (photography that is). Especially the post processing is something I will have to look deeper into.. sadly my netbook is not good enough for this and I will have to wait till I get a better computer before I can get serious about it. The lines are open, donations are now accepted :-p
One last thing, a big thank you to everybody I met. You all made this journey so great. Without the people I met all over the world this trip would have been rather dull. I hope to meet you all again somewhere, someday. If you ever pass through Switzerland, do let me know, you are always welcome to crash at my place!
I close with the words that inspired me to do this trip at all:
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” -Mark Twain
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
This is it....
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| montreal skyline |
.... the end my friends... or nearly. At least I can tell you this, this is my last post from abroad. I am not quite done with my blog just yet. I have a post or two planned when I am back in Switzerland. I want to reflect on my last year and stuff like that.
Right now I am a bit more than 24h away from the end of my trip. It makes me sad to think about it. I thought I would leave Montreal on thursday and not tomorrow.. then I got told that I am wrong and I am leaving tomorrow... I don't know why but that made me really depressed. I know it's silly because it's only a day less. But still it's true. btw, thanks for reminding me that I am flying on the 6th.. you know who you are :D
In the last few days I have been walking around Montreal, went to see the Jazz festival and spent lots n lots of time just sitting in the park, reading and enjoying the sun. You might think I am wasting my last few days but as you might know, I have been here twice before and I really enjoy not doing much at the moment. I enjoy living the easy life in this great city.
so no more time wasting with blogging, time to go out and enjoy the weather. I promise there is a lot of text coming in the next post or two. If you don't intend to stick around for that, thanks for reading my blog over the last year. Whereever I met you, whoever you are, I hope to see you again!
stay fresh
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| Random painted house near rue St.Deniz |
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| the famous tam tam in Parc Mont Royal |
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| another view of the city |
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| big church? |
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| big house? |
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| nice house! |
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Boston or, just a few days to go...
I can't believe it... my year of exploring the world is nearly at an end. I have just 8 days to go before my flight to Switzerland. It makes me sad that this brilliant experience will so very soon come to an end. Enough of the sadness already though, there is enough time for stuff like this in the coming days.
After 10 days in NJ and NYC I have landed in Boston. I am here mainly because I didn't want to head straight up to Montreal from NYC. I am heading there at all because my flight to Switzerland leaves from Montreal. I am really looking forward to get back to Montreal. It's one of my favourite city's in the world!
I have to say I am having a really good time in Boston. I really like this city. The weather is great and I love the feel of this city. On my first day here I did a trail through the city called the freedom trail. It leads past buildings and places important to the independence war. To be honest I didn't care much for the history but the trail leads you through great parts of the city and is an easy way to see a fair bit of Boston.
I really love how the city manages to combine an "old town" feeling with modern city building. The thing I love most about Boston is the fact that there is a park stretching right through downtown. it's like a green belt, an oasis in the middle of the city. Somehow Boston manages not to feel like a super busy big city. Quite a change from my Manhattan experience.
At the moment I am keeping to myself. I do speak a bit with the folks that share the room with me but beside that, I don't think I have spoken to anyone in the hostel. I am doing a lot of reflecting about the past year and think a lot about my future. I guess it is finally time that I think about my future. One thing I am really looking forward to, is, getting my hands on some proper hardware to edit my pictures to a standard that I can approve of. Yes yes my pics are not bad but I can see so much potential in them. They could be so much more with the proper tools at my disposal.
I also have a little project in mind that I will tackle with a dear friend of mine. More about this when I get closer to finishing it.
just a few more posts my friends and this blog is history. Enjoy it while you can.
hugs to you all
After 10 days in NJ and NYC I have landed in Boston. I am here mainly because I didn't want to head straight up to Montreal from NYC. I am heading there at all because my flight to Switzerland leaves from Montreal. I am really looking forward to get back to Montreal. It's one of my favourite city's in the world!
I have to say I am having a really good time in Boston. I really like this city. The weather is great and I love the feel of this city. On my first day here I did a trail through the city called the freedom trail. It leads past buildings and places important to the independence war. To be honest I didn't care much for the history but the trail leads you through great parts of the city and is an easy way to see a fair bit of Boston.
I really love how the city manages to combine an "old town" feeling with modern city building. The thing I love most about Boston is the fact that there is a park stretching right through downtown. it's like a green belt, an oasis in the middle of the city. Somehow Boston manages not to feel like a super busy big city. Quite a change from my Manhattan experience.
At the moment I am keeping to myself. I do speak a bit with the folks that share the room with me but beside that, I don't think I have spoken to anyone in the hostel. I am doing a lot of reflecting about the past year and think a lot about my future. I guess it is finally time that I think about my future. One thing I am really looking forward to, is, getting my hands on some proper hardware to edit my pictures to a standard that I can approve of. Yes yes my pics are not bad but I can see so much potential in them. They could be so much more with the proper tools at my disposal.
I also have a little project in mind that I will tackle with a dear friend of mine. More about this when I get closer to finishing it.
just a few more posts my friends and this blog is history. Enjoy it while you can.
hugs to you all
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| some old building |
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| you really can't get lost following the trail |
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| old and new |
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| old and new again |
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| just old this time |
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| old and new |
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| bunker hill |
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| jamestown |
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| the skyline is not very flashy but I like it. |
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
NYC
Greetings from NYC
The last few days have been amazing. That is if you ignore the fact that I have been nursing the worst cold in the history of mankind. Whenever I think it's about to go away, it comes back to kick me in the nuts. And it keeps showing new moves. Fever, then running nose, then sore throat, then cough, then back to fever and running nose again, etc, etc. Still, my time here is precious and there is no time for lying around in bed.
The more I see of NYC the more I like it. Especially today was a very revealing day. I walked from Battery Park to Ground Zero, on to and over the Brooklyn bridge, through Chinatown, by little Italy and ended the day in SOHO. It was a truly epic walk and I enjoyed every moment of it.. although my feet tend to disagree.
I am starting to think that this will be a trip to see Manhattan and not NYC. I highly doubt I have enough time to see Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx.. what a shame.. guess I will have to come back!
I am staying just outside of NYC though and getting to and back from NYC is always a bit of an adventure. Public transport to NJ is not really that easy to understand. There are multiple buses from multiple companies that seem to go to the same place but not the same stops at the same place. Add irregular departure times and grumpy drivers to that and you got a really confusing situation... well at least for me. So whenever I get back from NYC, I just hop on a bus that I think will take me where I need to go and see what happens. Usually I end up walking for at least 30min cause I got off to early, too late or completely in the wrong place. I kinda enjoy it though, lets me explore the area around the hotel ;).
ah I have so much more to tell.. being shown around NJ and NYC by a great guide. Seeing NYC from the window of a premium apartment on the 35th floor, tasting all kinds of different foods and more but I'd never get done with this post. So for now.. enjoy the pics.
stay cool .... and if you happen to have a job in IT in NY for me.. let me know ;)
The last few days have been amazing. That is if you ignore the fact that I have been nursing the worst cold in the history of mankind. Whenever I think it's about to go away, it comes back to kick me in the nuts. And it keeps showing new moves. Fever, then running nose, then sore throat, then cough, then back to fever and running nose again, etc, etc. Still, my time here is precious and there is no time for lying around in bed.
The more I see of NYC the more I like it. Especially today was a very revealing day. I walked from Battery Park to Ground Zero, on to and over the Brooklyn bridge, through Chinatown, by little Italy and ended the day in SOHO. It was a truly epic walk and I enjoyed every moment of it.. although my feet tend to disagree.
I am starting to think that this will be a trip to see Manhattan and not NYC. I highly doubt I have enough time to see Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx.. what a shame.. guess I will have to come back!
I am staying just outside of NYC though and getting to and back from NYC is always a bit of an adventure. Public transport to NJ is not really that easy to understand. There are multiple buses from multiple companies that seem to go to the same place but not the same stops at the same place. Add irregular departure times and grumpy drivers to that and you got a really confusing situation... well at least for me. So whenever I get back from NYC, I just hop on a bus that I think will take me where I need to go and see what happens. Usually I end up walking for at least 30min cause I got off to early, too late or completely in the wrong place. I kinda enjoy it though, lets me explore the area around the hotel ;).
ah I have so much more to tell.. being shown around NJ and NYC by a great guide. Seeing NYC from the window of a premium apartment on the 35th floor, tasting all kinds of different foods and more but I'd never get done with this post. So for now.. enjoy the pics.
stay cool .... and if you happen to have a job in IT in NY for me.. let me know ;)
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| tried to go for timless look...yay or nay? |
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| View from Brooklyn Bridge |
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| St.Paul Chapel, much more impressive than ground zero |
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| no idea :D |
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| more timelessness |
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| id give a lot to have an appartement with a few like this |
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| Appartement 1 Block from times squar? yes please! |
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| View of Manhatten from Jersey City |
Friday, June 17, 2011
Toronto
Hello from Clifton NJ... that is just 15min outside of NYC for all of those not so able when it comes to geography.
The last few days have seen me leave Vancouver, moving on to Toronto and eventually ending up here in Clifton. This post is about Toronto though. I wish I had lots to tell about Toronto but truth be told, I spent most of my time there in Bed. A cold put me there.. damn you evil cold! there is no time for such nonsense when I only have 3 full days in a city!
I did feel a bit better after a while though and did some exploring. Essentially I walked all over town..twice.. and spent two evenings watching hockey. Watching the Hockey sure was wasted time! Damn you Bruins! The second game I watched at Lorne's place though. I met him back in 2004 when I was in Montreal for 4 months. Was cool seeing him again! Thanks for the BBQ mate and if you are ever in the area... let me know!
Then yesterday I spent 12 hours in the bus to get to NYC. The ride was quite acceptable. If you ignore the fact that they cut every break from 30 to 15min. Something nice though was the fact that they had wireless Internet and power sockets. Really helps killing time with your gadgets and avoids them running out of power ;). I have to say, bus travel is a lot comfier than flying!
About the pictures, yes they should be cleaned up (too dark clouds, dirty skies etc.) but once again I am too lazy ;)
I hope you enjoy them anyway. NYC madness in the next few days my friends, prepare yourself!
stay cool
The last few days have seen me leave Vancouver, moving on to Toronto and eventually ending up here in Clifton. This post is about Toronto though. I wish I had lots to tell about Toronto but truth be told, I spent most of my time there in Bed. A cold put me there.. damn you evil cold! there is no time for such nonsense when I only have 3 full days in a city!
I did feel a bit better after a while though and did some exploring. Essentially I walked all over town..twice.. and spent two evenings watching hockey. Watching the Hockey sure was wasted time! Damn you Bruins! The second game I watched at Lorne's place though. I met him back in 2004 when I was in Montreal for 4 months. Was cool seeing him again! Thanks for the BBQ mate and if you are ever in the area... let me know!
Then yesterday I spent 12 hours in the bus to get to NYC. The ride was quite acceptable. If you ignore the fact that they cut every break from 30 to 15min. Something nice though was the fact that they had wireless Internet and power sockets. Really helps killing time with your gadgets and avoids them running out of power ;). I have to say, bus travel is a lot comfier than flying!
About the pictures, yes they should be cleaned up (too dark clouds, dirty skies etc.) but once again I am too lazy ;)
I hope you enjoy them anyway. NYC madness in the next few days my friends, prepare yourself!
stay cool
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| one of my all time favourit night shots. Moon is just in the perfect spot. |
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| Love this building |
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| what goes as times square in Toronto.. lets see the real deal! |
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| the end of all days? |
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| I don't even know what is in there |
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| random shot but I liked the composition |
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| wicked cool museum entrance |
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| sunset as seen from Lorne's balcony |
Sunday, June 12, 2011
last few days on the west coast
BLOG TIME!
I have made my way back to Vancouver and will depart early tomorrow morning to Toronto. I spent the last few days in Banff, Vancouver and on the road in between. To be honest I don't have that much to tell because I didn't do that much.
When I did do something it usually involved hockey and alcohol. I drank A LOT in the last few days, well for my standards that is. So much actually that I had to take a break from it a few days back just because I didn't want to spend another night drinking. I had some really good times though! I spent most of the time hanging out with Australians, Germans, English and everything in between. I met some truly great people while travelling around the Canadian west coast.
Cause I have to get up early tomorrow to catch my plane to Toronto I am not going out tonight. So instead I went to the watch a movie. I watched "Super 8". The movie was alright and I'd like to tell you a bit more about it but I think I can't really do that without spoiling the movie for people that want to go watch it. So it's not going to happen. Just this... it reminded me a lot of another movie done by Steven Spielberg... just with a slightly different twist.. anyone know which one I am talking about?
In the last few days I didn't take as much pictures as I could have and the ones I took are not on my laptop yet. So instead of posting a bunch of landscape pictures, this week I am posting pictures of people I met and me.I think they show very well how much fun I had these last few days.
yeah not really much more to say this time around.. hope to have more once I spent some time in Toronto. If not there, then for sure in the days following. I am heading out to NJ and NYC. Jep, this was not planned but I am very much looking forward to it!
oh I should also mention: HAPPY BIRTHDAY BROTHER! Hope your having a great day! see you soon dude!
I have made my way back to Vancouver and will depart early tomorrow morning to Toronto. I spent the last few days in Banff, Vancouver and on the road in between. To be honest I don't have that much to tell because I didn't do that much.
When I did do something it usually involved hockey and alcohol. I drank A LOT in the last few days, well for my standards that is. So much actually that I had to take a break from it a few days back just because I didn't want to spend another night drinking. I had some really good times though! I spent most of the time hanging out with Australians, Germans, English and everything in between. I met some truly great people while travelling around the Canadian west coast.
Cause I have to get up early tomorrow to catch my plane to Toronto I am not going out tonight. So instead I went to the watch a movie. I watched "Super 8". The movie was alright and I'd like to tell you a bit more about it but I think I can't really do that without spoiling the movie for people that want to go watch it. So it's not going to happen. Just this... it reminded me a lot of another movie done by Steven Spielberg... just with a slightly different twist.. anyone know which one I am talking about?
In the last few days I didn't take as much pictures as I could have and the ones I took are not on my laptop yet. So instead of posting a bunch of landscape pictures, this week I am posting pictures of people I met and me.I think they show very well how much fun I had these last few days.
yeah not really much more to say this time around.. hope to have more once I spent some time in Toronto. If not there, then for sure in the days following. I am heading out to NJ and NYC. Jep, this was not planned but I am very much looking forward to it!
oh I should also mention: HAPPY BIRTHDAY BROTHER! Hope your having a great day! see you soon dude!
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| as promised, a bear pic. Thanks for sending it to me James! |
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| just chillin |
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| fuuuuuuuuuun |
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| ummm no comment |
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| germans and swiss |
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| more germans |
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| even more germans and an australian too! |
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| somtimes people just want to murder me... |
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