Abolish the fixed school holidays!

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What comes after a lifetime of travelling? Short journeys? Travelling home? Not travelling at all? An ice age? Or just keep travelling? On a short trip to visit a good old kiteboarding friend behind the Swabian Alb, I realise that I’ve only been kitesurfing for 1:40 hours all year. That’s the lowest figure for a quarter of a century – and clearly too little for a good life and healthy body tension.

But my father urges me to take responsibility. So we go on a four-day short family holiday with a tent in Baden-Württemberg instead of a solo flight with the kites. The little one rejoices with the three children of our friends. Together with our friends, we spend short yet far too long nights finding out what family-friendly kitesurfing destinations are still affordable during the holiday season. (more…)

Your Kite Holiday Planner

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#766

2107

2025

Mon

7:05

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Are you looking for your dream kitesurfing holiday, tailored to your individual wishes? But don’t want to spend several days planning it? I am your kite holiday planner! With over 25 years of worldwide kite experience, a good 60,000 kilometres travelled by land, over 250 kite spots visited and good contacts in all corners of the globe, I offer you my extensive knowledge.

Let me know your wishes for your perfect kite holiday in the form below. Within a maximum of 48 hours, you will receive free initial information about the destinations that first come to mind for your wishes – and whether your budget and desired dates are compatible. Do you like my suggestions? Then I will plan your perfect kite holiday for a small fee, which you will usually recoup in full through cheaper travel options! (more…)

Guns’n’Roses @ Rock for people 2025

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#765

1806

2025

Wed

10:40

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6585

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I still had a bone to pick with Axl Rose for 33 years. Shortly before leaving school, we travelled to Würzburg in the midsummer of 1992 for the “Use Your Illusion” tour of our childhood heroes. I had the ticket long before the plaster cast on my leg.

We survived Faith No More way out in front. Then it would have been Guns’n’Roses’ turn. Would have been. But Axl Rosette was a real diva back then. In Würzburg too. He kept us waiting for more than two hours in bright sunshine at over 30°. The girls were keeling over en masse long before he appeared. Paramedics whistled “Civil War” at the top of their voices. Stewards cooled us down with water hoses. (more…)

Update on kitesurfing holidays

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#764

1605

2025

Fri

10:22

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6552

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After the near-total loss of the blog, I have invested several hours in a massive update over the last few days. New features:

All of the blog’s 750 reports will be completely translated into English over the next few weeks.
Navigation is now also possible via regions / countries. Here you can find ALL reports.
The old travel reports (travelling) and kitepots (kitesurfing) will remain, just like the world trip.
Each post is clearly labelled:
R
are travelogues
K
are reports about kitesurfing and kitespots
The mobile menu now also includes maps of all trips and contact.

Warp Sard To Cagliari

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#763

1305

2025

Tue

22:36

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6549

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You can’t understand Sardinian speed limits. You can only ignore them. On the long drive back south to the last stop on our two-week, 1,850 kilometre journey, this becomes almost painfully clear once again.

Sardinian speed limits are Dadaism in its purest form: completely devoid of meaning. A higher power has shat them directly into the brains of the legislature from a great height. There was a storm cell in between. The poo froze in it. Unfortunately, its now harder consistency caused irreparable damage to the danger centre of the Sardinian legislature’s brain on impact. (more…)

The lords of Galtelli Castle & good old friends in La Caletta

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#762

1105

2025

Sun

22:25

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6547

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Relief from the loss of all 18 years of travel stories only comes the next morning. After a night with almost no sleep, I am infinitely groggy. But also full of hope when my good hoster Vautron writes that they were able to restore my 750 travelogues from several incremental database backups and also fix any database errors.

Without checking, we set off for the next destination on our journey. Galtelli is located in the mountainous hinterland near the famous Cala Gonone in the east. The time-honoured village is fast asleep. Like so many others before us, check-in is completely online. Our accommodation for the next few days is a real castle, the Castello Malicas. Directly in front of the castle is an ancient rock tomb, surrounded by the large green municipal park and behind it the 806 metre high rocky Monte Tuttavista. (more…)

I’m off then…

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#761

0805

2025

Thu

23:17

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Spoiler: this travelogue has absolutely nothing to do with Hape Kerkeling, the Way of St James or self-discovery. But a hell of a lot to do with self-definition.

The colourful medieval houses of Bosa are enchanting without any official bans on the use of toilet stone colours. Even blind Italians probably have more reliable good taste when it comes to choosing the colours of their houses than Germans do when it comes to shoes in general.

Castelsardo, which is on the way, has changed a lot since my last visit a few years ago. The little girl’s comment on the oil-on-wood works in the castle’s “art museum” is enchantingly short and to the point: “bäh”. (more…)

Sardinia’s wild west

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#760

0605

2025

Tue

23:08

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The journey continues northwards across Sardinia’s wild west. In the Iglesias region, over 2,000 years of mining history have transformed the landscape into a Swiss cheese. Similar to the Ruhr region, history is only just beginning to be converted into new jobs.

We visit the Nebida mine beneath rust-brown mountain slopes. We then continue on to Porto Flavia, an impressive piece of mining under Belgian management from the late 1920’s. Our Smurf enthusiastically trolls with us through deep, dark tunnels. The Galeria Henri in Buggeru is unfortunately closed. (more…)

Sant’Antioco, Chia & Punta Trettu

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#759

0305

2025

Sat

21:00

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6539

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It’s been far too many years since we both last visited Sardinia. We know the north well. This time we are focussing on the south. From Cagliari airport, it’s an hour’s 80 km drive by hire car to the small island of Sant’Antioco in the south-west. Our accommodation is located right at the highest point of the beautiful old town next to the basilica. Flamingos dine in the surrounding lagoons at sunset.

Even after Easter, Sardinia is anything but awake. Everything is empty, stress-free and cosy. 25 to 30° is much more pleasant than the constant 13° of rain I experienced on my last visit at the same time of year. You can still kite on almost every beach that is closed from June at the latest and wild camping is still a mass sport. (more…)

Blue Lagoon, Dahab

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#758

1410

2024

Mon

21:29

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The Blue Lagoon is located just 20 kilometres north of Dahab on the Gulf of Aqaba and is an absolute world-class kitespot. It can only be reached by boat via the sea – or by a diversion of over 100 kilometres from Dahab via the inland. According to numerous locals, a good price for a boat is currently EGP 3,000, or around €60. But even after several hours of negotiations with a number of providers, not a single one was prepared to take us along at this price. We pay EGP 4,000 including transfer. The transport home is cancelled.

For a world-class kitespot, you should also choose good winds. We choose the day with the best forecast. Firstly, the wind at the Blue Lagoon is much more constant than in Dahab, despite the proximity to high mountains. Secondly, about five knots stronger. Thirdly, at the northern end offshore over really mirror-smooth flat water. Just a week ago, Red Bull organised the “Winds of Sinai” competition here. (more…)

The stars over the Sinai desert

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#757

0810

2024

Tue

23:20

day #

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We use one of the last windless days before our departure for a jeep and hiking tour in the Sinai desert. You can easily pay 40 euros or more for a trip like this in a hotel. We booked through Masha in the Facebook group Dahab Digital Nomads. For five people, the full-day trip including dinner by the fire under the stars in the Sinai desert costs a good 20 euros. You can decide for yourself what you want to see.

We set off in the midday heat. At the rubbish dump outside Dahab, the plastic rubbish burns in the best Mad Max end-time style. There is plastic waste everywhere out here, for which we travellers are largely responsible. You can’t buy water in a glass anywhere. In the meantime, activists are calling for a beach clean-up in Dahab. What is that supposed to achieve? Some people see less rubbish at hotspots? And care even less everywhere… (more…)

Dahab got something!

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#756

0710

2024

Mon

15:11

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Dahab is different from the rest of Egypt. Mass tourism is far away. And it will stay that way for some time to come. The journey from Germany is a little tougher, taking at least 15 hours from check-in. A large international community of digital nomads lives a colourful life here. The most important thing for us, however, is that the wind blows very reliably over shallow water at a pleasant 30 degrees, even in October.

I meet up with friends from England, Berlin and Munich for a good time. Pegasus Airlines rewrites ancient mythology into a contemporary “boom bomber to Bangkok”. Despite a long stopover in Istanbul, they don’t even offer free water, let alone any free food. I had been looking for a cheap way to get here for a long time. But even the cheap and fast flights to Hurghada are no longer an option now that the ferry service to Sharm El Sheikh has been cancelled. (more…)

1,400 km road trip through Crete

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#755

1904

2024

Fri

13:36

day #

6160

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We spend two weeks travelling all over Crete with the little one. Avoiding the storm on the west coast, we first land in Platanias. Almost everything is still closed before the Greek Orthodox Easter.

The sea is boiling with 13°C water and 17°C air in big waves. Our small flat is right behind it. But the wind is a little too lusty for me to be thrown into a frosty second kite session without a wetsuit. (more…)

Micro Magic Kite Bliss @ Elafonisi

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#754

0804

2024

Mon

18:44

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6149

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Our 20-year-old travel guide already describes Elafonisi as the “lost paradise”. Elafonisi only makes it onto our list because there are a few references to the fact that you could probably kitesurf in the turquoise-blue paradise lagoon from time to time. In general, information about kitesurfing on Crete is more than sparse on the internet. But there are spots where you are allowed to kitesurf. You can only find them with the help of locals.

The forecast for Elafonisi is quite good for one day. The journey from Guaves to the south-west corner of Crete takes a good three and a half hours. The often single-lane road first leads over a winding pass to high above a spectacular canyon. Dozens of stalls sell organic honey, olives and raki. The road then descends almost as steeply through an idyllic valley to the sea. (more…)

Walrus rolling in wild East Crete

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#753

0604

2024

Sat

20:33

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6147

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Crete is my eighth and by far the largest of all the Greek islands I have visited. The family arrives with a stopover in Viennese style. Even at Easter, the sheer endless competition from car hire companies knocks car hire prices below the price of scooters in developing countries.

Our booked basic hotel suffers from construction delays. We are rebooked at the 5-star all-inclusive Guaves Waterpark Resort. The little one enjoys gigantic children’s pools and dad unlimited pita gyros with a few cocktails. (more…)

One Month Barefoot: Good Night, Vietnam!

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#752

1702

2024

Sat

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As soon as I’m back in My Hoa from Da Lat, the strong winds return. During my last ten days here, it was almost constantly blowing across the flat water at 20 to 43 knots. A GoPro mount that is probably tied too tightly around the centre strut causes it to explode on the jump. Due to the Tet holidays, the repair takes five days. Even after the second attempt, the centre strut continues to lose air. My wings are flat and records are over.

I find the GoPro that fell out of the kite in the morning at low tide after a long lagoon traipse. I borrow the expensive Insta 360 X3 from a Chinese woman and head out onto the water with a good harness mount. In the shallow water in front of the Phan Rang Kite Centre, I crash after a mini hop. The second harness opens and tears the Insta several metres over sharp pieces of coral on the seabed. The total loss results in the most expensive 20-second clip in 25 years of kitesurfing holidays. The coral bites me in the knee one last time.
(more…)

Communist Biking: Nha Trang & Da Lat

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#751

0802

2024

Thu

12:28

day #

6089

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The wind in My Hoa drops for the first time in many weeks. Down, that means “only” 18 knots here. I go out for some mild cruising with the 12. My friend Tom comes over from Thailand. We put up at the very nice luxury resort My Hoa Kiting Town. In the “lull” we hire 150cc scooters and set off along the winding coastal road to Nha Trang to Cầu Nước Ngọt waterfall. Cold, clear water cools us down nicely.

Two days later, we set off on our big tour. The 600-kilometre journey first takes us two and a half hours to the city of Nha Trang with its half-million inhabitants and white tower blocks. The roads are horribly crowded for long stretches. Tom’s bike breaks down. I’m about to push him uphill with my foot. Tom swaps the scooter twice, then we head for the thermal springs of the I-Resort. Artificial waterfalls, steep slides and hot pools are surprisingly relaxing even at almost 30 degrees. (more…)

Kitespot My Hoa Lagoon, Phan Rang

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#750

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2024

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The journey to Phan Rang, which took more than two days, was tough. My first accommodation is Vietnam Surf Camping in the very south of the lagoon. The small yurt on the beach is simple but cheap. On the first day, I just put the split together and have a broken binding repaired by the Phi Kite School. The wind is blowing at up to 32 knots across the 1500 by 300 metre wide standing area. There are up to 100 riders on the water from the five kite schools. It rarely gets crowded.

I knew that the lagoon of My Hoa / Phang Rang was dry from time to time. Kiting in the morning or afternoon: I’m flexible. But there is usually only one tide a day here. I didn’t know that. At low tide, the water is either completely gone for the first 300 metres or far too low for reasonably safe strong wind kiting. Sand and quite sharp rocks / corals alternate everywhere. There is no larger safe landing zone with only sand. (more…)

On The Road Again: Saigon

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#749

1501

2024

Mon

8:07

day #

6065

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Never before have I set off on a journey so exhausted. Corona brought a lot of work at first. Then the reopening brought the biggest slump in profits ever. For the first time in a quarter of a century, I was looking for a permanent job as a web designer. Then, all of a sudden, lots of big orders came in again. What remains is the biggest tidal difference of all time – and all-encompassing fatigue.

When saying goodbye at the airport, the little ones’ last words are “Daddy, warm hands”. That’s the favourite compliment she can give a web designer with chronically cold hands. I will miss her very much. But it’s high time for more sleep, a heavy workout and plenty of big airs at one of the windiest spots in Asia. No exhausting expeditions. To be clear: the plan fails as soon as I arrive in Saigon. (more…)

Golf de Roses

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#748

3004

2023

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23:58

day #

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We’re hardly here before we’re gone again. A month is like a day. We set off from Tarifa at sunset. We head into the hinterland via Malaga on empty roads. A graduation ball is raging behind a lonely petrol station in the middle of nowhere. In the café next door, people are getting married on posh chalets over plastic chairs.

The lights of Granada pass by in the dark. Up into the desert and always follow the central reservation through the night. Lost Highway. The coffee fizzles out after midnight. After three o’clock we change every hour. Squalls at sunrise in the Ebro Delta. Barcelona in the morning. (more…)

One month in Tarifa

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#747

2904

2023

Sat

23:28

day #

5804

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There are 360 windy days a year written on Tarifa’s flag. After many years of visits, I know all the winds of Europe’s southernmost city. Or so I thought. Our April here begins with two weeks of almost non-stop Levante gales of 22 to 52 knots. Exhausted from the 2,800 kilometre journey, I don’t move on to known alternative spots with less wind.

I look for work. I analyse dozens of kite school websites. I give detailed advice on window vents that whistle in a storm. Then the wind is gone. After a few days in the doldrums, the forecast promises another non-stop Levante storm for our entire stay until the end of April. I forget the number one Bavarian rule for kiters: “When the wind blows, use it!”. (more…)

Caños de Meca

Post
#746

2004

2023

Thu

23:33

day #

5795

512
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The Levante in Tarifa is once again blasting at a stubborn 20 to 45 knots today. There really isn’t a single kiter out on 12 kilometres of beach. Even the big air pro riders in the Balneario are taking a break today. We drive to Getares, the next kiteable beach in the direction of Algeciras. Just 16 kilometres from Tarifa as the crow flies, we once again find ourselves on another planet in terms of wind. A light kiteboarder is bobbing through small waves in just under 12 knots on his 13.

We head back to Tarifa and check the wind at Valdevaqueros. It doesn’t actually feel all that strong and bucking. But that’s typical. The nasty wind doesn’t come all the way down to the beach, especially on the first Levante day. It only bucks a few metres further up – and then extremely. Even Liam Whaley advises us to move on today. (more…)

Levante Nemesis @ Tarifa

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#745

1604

2023

Sun

17:11

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I have been travelling the world with my kites for 24 years. The wind is my life. Among the more than 200 kitespots I’ve visited in over 50 countries are some of the world’s most stubbornly strong wind areas: Bavarian lakes in front of a thick western front. Kalpitiya, Sri Lanka. Cape Town. The Cuesta del Viento high in the Argentinian Andes. The Philippines. Bahia Salinas in Costa Rica. Fiji. Or River Gorge, Oregon USA.

In all these places, I’ve always had a few days with too much wind for the smallest kite. According to the anemometer, my nose recognises 50 knots pretty accurately. The Levante storms we are experiencing in Tarifa for a month this April are simply blowing the bottom out of every barrel. By the end of the month it will probably be > 50% Levante with 22 to 52 knots at the top. (more…)

2.800 km Roadtrip With A Baby

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#744

0104

2023

Sat

22:56

day #

5776

544
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My life is travelling. If I could only do one more thing in life, it would be travelling. I was terrified that the most important part of my life would be over with the baby. I was also afraid that our attempt to combine my life and the baby would go wrong. My father simply thought our plan was crazy.

Our plan? Travelling to Tarifa in Spain by car for a month. That’s a nice 2,800 kilometres from Regensburg, including stopovers. Parents we know said that a maximum of four hours’ drive a day would be feasible with a baby. We didn’t book anything at all in advance and just went with how the baby was feeling. In the end, we came to two realisations: Our baby is the most stress-free and favourite child in the world. But travelling with a baby is still endlessly exhausting. (more…)

Infinite shallow water @ Cagbalete

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#743

0703

2023

Tue

7:20

day #

5751