Escaping Corona Detention
Hell was going on in our lives during the past few weeks, and we updated some of it "live" on social media, but we felt the urge to write a complete story, also for our own sake, although we think we’ll never forget this chapter in our lives. Leading roles: Kai Elisa Milena - Elisa’s sister Also sta...
Around the world in 120 days
SWAZILAND & PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA The most challenging road I have ever driven: check (Swaziland) Kilometres driven from Durban to Jo'burg: 1412km New food tried: biltong (a type of dried meat) Highest point visited: 2,387m It is time to end our mega journey, with our last stop being Pretoria, nort...
Winelands, penguins and coastal road trip
CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA Penguins seen: &€%#8€& Whales seen from a train: 3 Kilometres driven on Cape: 658km Southernmost point of a continent: check, Africa Cape Town welcomed us with a party. It had been a long time since we were in a western country and everything seemed really bizarre again: we l...
6-day Safari
KENYA Animal species spotted: 32 Days on safari: 6 Photos taken: %&7#&9€ Kilometres in the van: 1444km Food served on each meal of the day, every day: beans Kai’s pulse on the run, getting too close to the wild animals: *similar to amount of photos taken* The animal that made us smile most: pumba (w...
This place is not for me
LAST DAYS OF TASHKENT & THE DUBAI EXPERIENCE Kilometres flown 5,760 km Temperature (Dubai): 38C Gym days: 4 Metro & tram journeys: 15 Malls visited: 4 Returning to Tashkent we still could enjoy four days of this magnificent country, just relaxing and taking in the vibes. One of the days we met up wi...
Historical sights, new friends and train rides
BUKHARA & KHIVA & NUKUS, UZBEKISTAN Kilometres by train: 2,127 km Different methods of transport: 9 Mosques seen: &%3€”9 New friends made: 12 We are nearing the end of our Uzbekistan journey and it has been a memorable one. We have met the most friendly people, both fellow travellers and locals, eve...
The friendliest place on earth
TASHKENT & SAMARKAND, UZBEKISTAN Kilometres by plane: 5,188 km Hours flying: 7,5 h Metro stations visited: 7 Cups of tea drank: &%3€”9 Friendly people met: 15 With absolutely no idea what we would get ourselves into, we boarded the plane in Da Nang for the unknown country of Uzbekistan. Already on t...
Yey, they got beer!
NORTH VIETNAM Beers drank: +54 Temperature: +37C Kilometres by train: 510 (9 hours) Different methods of travel: 8 Nights spent moving: 3 (2 on the boat, 1 in a train) Good morning, Vietnam! Is what we said the morning after we had arrived and gotten Kai some medication for his stomach. We felt bett...
Behind the scenes of Instatravel
THE DOWNSIDE OF TRAVELING Visits to toilet: 14 Pills eaten: 18 Hours slept in one night: 2-4 Hours in the airplane: 6 Not everything goes according to plan every time. Halfway to the trip, we finally reached the low point (so far). Jakarta kicked us out with a mental and physical earthquake and Hano...
Riding the train through Java
JAVA, INDONESIA Kilometres on train: 1365km Different train classes: 3 Pizzas eaten: 5 Selfies with strangers: 16 Cities visited: 5 After the pleasant Bali experience we were off to something more exciting: exploring the island of Java. Now this island is nowhere near as touristy as Bali, hence we g...
Island of thousands of temples and millions of scooters
BALI, INDONESIA Kilometres driven on motorbike: 64km Temples visited: 5 Earthquakes experienced: 1 Rice dishes eaten: €&%#”?4 Bali has been a mixed experience. I really had no expectations of this place, other than I know a lot of tourists come here. I think the level of your experience is up to whi...
Do(n’t) go chasing waterfalls (and animals)
QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA Roadtrip days: 3 Distance driving: 380km Animal species spotted: 7 Waterfalls seen: 3 Hiring a car was a must, without one you cannot see much here. On our first day we drove south of Cairns to a place called Kurrimine Beach. On the way we visited Josephine Falls and Babinda Bo...
Snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef
CAIRNS, AUSTRALIA Distance cycling: 20km Snorkeling sites: 3 Beer drank: 4,8 litres Hours slept: 4&#@3& hours First time ever in a youth hostel of this magnitude. It was great. I was a bit concerned how noisy and vivid it would be, but that turned out to be unnecessary as we had a brilliant time. At...
Falling in love with Auckland!
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND Distance walking: just over a marathon in 4 days Coffees drank: 18 Wines tasted: 23 Ferry rides: 4 Kia ora! That’s hello in maori language. I want to move to Auckland! What a great city, even in winter. We were surprised by how warm it was even in the coldest month. Mornings st...
Culture shock: back in the West!
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND Temperature: 12ºC Distance by plane: 13 320 km Hours sat in an airplane: 17 h Days missed (due to the date line over the Pacific): 1 Socks knitted during flight: 3 Having spent the last 16 months on the South American continent, it surely is a welcome change to step into a Wes...
Whales spotted!
RUTA DEL SOL, ECUADOR Temperature: 24ºC Distance from hammock to ocean: 60 m Beers drank: only on happy hour Kilometres run by Elisa: 5km - not much but first k’s since leaving Uy After Galapagos it was time to explore Ecuador further. We decided to go straight from the airport to a beach town call...
Galapagos - Animal lover's paradise
GALAPAGOS ISLANDS, ECUADOR Temperature: 25ºC Distance biking: 34 km Animal species spotted: 20+ Islands visited: 3 Money spent: 7%19#”4& € Leaving behind the cold but beautiful Peru, we were excited about Ecuador, its nature and warmer climate. Surprisingly we found the country - at least Guayaquil...
The most exciting adventure of my life
CUSCO & MACHU PICCHU EXPERIENCE Altitude: 1800-4500 m Temperature: 12-28ºC Distance biking: 36 km Distance hiking: 28 km Distance rafting: 11 km Speed of zip lining: 100 km /h What an adventure! I think The Inca Jungle Adventure was the most challenging and fun things I have ever done in my life. F...
Cute alpacas and unbelievable lake views
COPACABANA, BOLIVIA Altitude: 3840 m Temperature: 12ºC Distance by boat: 12 nm Distance hiking: 7,4 km Ascent during hike: 312 m Water temperature: +/-3ºC A natural continuation to our trip was to hop on a minibus from El Alto, and ride to Copacabana, by Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake i...
Train ride to train museum
EL ALTO, BOLIVIA Altitude: 4150m Temperature: 9ºC Distance by train: 176km La Paz has been a surprisingly positive experience. Despite having read numerous blogs about travellers wanting to just pass by due to horrible traffic and pollution, I find myself actually liking this place. A little set-ba...
Gondola rides over the mountains
LA PAZ, BOLIVIA Distance flying: 552km Altitude: 3740m Days we plan to stay: 6 Temperature: 8ºC Teleferico rides: 4 Yesterday our trip continued to La Paz, the highest capital city in the world. Learning from experience - I visited here 12 years ago and suffered from pretty bad altitude sickness - w...
Monkeys, tortoises and parrots!
SANTA CRUZ DE LA SIERRA, BOLIVIA Animal species spotted: 12+ Temperature: 22ºC Walking: 16km What a day yesterday! We saw so many animals I stopped counting. After breakfast (coffee, limonada and various cheese balls) we took an Uber to a place called Güembé, a nature park in the forest west of the...
City of coffee, art and architecture
SANTA CRUZ DE LA SIERRA, BOLIVIA Altitude: 400m Temperature: 17ºC Kilometres travelled by plane: 2039 km Coffees drank: 10 Kai's kilometres by running: 6.5 Well, it wasn’t the easiest start of our journey on Saturday. First of all we got only a few hours of sleep, as we had to take a 5am bus for th...
One day to go
The launch approaches! Yesterday we packed up all of our stuff for storing it at a friend's house, and packed our travel bags for the trip. We only have one large duffel bag and two little backpacks. Minimal equipment! By the time we get back in four months the clothes are all worn out... Last night...
Planning the trip
This has been a dream of both of us for a long time: to travel around the world. Now we finally have the chance! We bought our tickets from Airtreks, nice service. Departure is 1st of June, so we still have a few weeks to plan. Excited!