Leaving has never been harder. Our almost four-year-old little human has developed rough edges and now shows strengths and weaknesses. She couldn’t be better with all of them. As much as she pushed me to my limits again and again last year, I will miss her immensely during my month in Sinai.

I am leaving a country that is falling apart. The economic situation has never been more tense. There has never been less cohesion. I have never identified myself as “German”. But even at the railway station I miss the homeland I had forgotten at home: my Donautaler, the best bread in the world, with butter, chives and fleur du sel. (more…)

I love travelling and people who think differently. They are my home. I respect discussion and even though I may often offend people with my sometimes extreme opinions, I always make an effort to either respect and understand other opinions – or to change them in objective discussions. The latter often also applies to my own.

Corona has finally sealed the demise of any meaningful culture of debate. The brilliant Israeli polymath Yuval Harari predicted back in 2016 in his deeply disturbing book “Homo Deus” that the internet would destroy democracies and ultimately humanity. Unfortunately, I can only agree with him today. (more…)

The only thing I knew about Rostock was the Sonnenblumenhaus. A good quarter of a century later, I knew little about it either. Or maybe never? So I wanted to see Rostock. The greeting in the middle of the KTV district, which is more colourful than Berlin, is “Welcome to the commune!”. A little surprised, I grin invisibly to myself.

Rostock is hard to grasp. Full of contradictions, colourful and still cruel in many areas. Cars drive on the left. That’s how you express your attitude. By parking in the centre of intersections you express your social vein. Every traffic light on main roads is red if you drive correctly. The speed cameras are at close intervals and the parking attendants love foreign licence plates. In the morning everything jams into the centre – in the evening outwards. Fortunately, kiters have the opposite rhythm. (more…)

Ask me about the most beautiful waterfall in Fiji! Ask me where the sea turtles swim in the Dominican Republic! Ask me about the best of 92% of all gyros stands on Rhodes! Ask me about the most beautiful volcano in New Zealand! But when a couchsurfer asks me: “Which city in Germany should I visit?”: I just stand there like an ox in front of a mountain.

For the blog generation, no spot on the map is whiter than their home country. After much deliberation, I have to admit that I only know three cities in Germany well. That has to change. A customer calls me to Saxony. The afternoon and evening belong to Dresden. (more…)

I’m going travelling again. For the first time in many months, the web designer is also feeling the effects of the economic crisis. It’s about time, and it feels good. A friend is having a party for no reason in the foothills of the Alps. After a three-hour drive through the worst holiday traffic jam, I arrive in Kaufbeuren in the early evening. The address says it all: Schönblick.

Celebrating for no reason is good. No destination, no plan, no expectation. Everything that is: just happens. What doesn’t happen is not missed. I know no one and expect nothing. Few old rules apply today. But few in return – and perhaps precisely because of that – all the more so. My favourite: good things only happen when you don’t expect them. (more…)

Kai’s party is great, but I always get tired of scout songs very quickly. After the third beer, I fall into the yurt, which is almost impervious to the rain. At dawn, fog rolls through the forest. I pack my things and leave. Tanja in Stuttgart must have been away a bit too much, I can’t reach her.

The streets of Stuttgart show the true Swabian obsession with order. There are more signs than cars. Some I’ve never seen before (environmental zone?). There are two speed traps for every sign. Nobody drives even one kilometre faster than the speed limit. The streets are empty and clean, the parks large and green. You’re not allowed to lie down on the grass unless there’s a sign. That makes it sound like you have to lie down. (more…)

A tourist in his own country visits the Black Forest: Nagold, a small town surrounded by dark, steep forests. No parking space in the centre is free, so the forest around it is something completely different. A sign in front of the local CDU association with its 70s-style curtains indicates that parking is prohibited. I park my car. Nagold is quiet, dark and empty this evening. My tour of the town takes 15 minutes.

Hobbingen: The houses may not have grass on the roofs, but there is plenty of wood in the walls. The windows are small. The residents hide behind them. The streets are so clean that the village alcoholics look even dirtier. Two auxiliary hip-hoppers in white gangsta outfits waddle to the nearest hotspot with beer bottles. (more…)

I am in Constance. An Australian import in the making could use some help with her architecture thesis. I offered to help her with the modelling in Melbourne. Always doing what you say is very difficult right now. She is finalising the plans while I build the model of her library. 10-12 hours a day. Eating out. A few hours at night doing my job: web design.

My plan was something between six and eight hours a day. Travelling a bit further and getting to know Germany. But even 10 hours a day is nowhere near enough. Seven days before delivery, there’s still nothing from the model, not even materials and tools. I’m doing what I can, but it can’t be enough, and above all it feels like I’m wasting myself. (more…)