First Time in Paris in Over a Decade
As a perpetual traveller, the start of every new travel adventure is almost always intertwined with the ending of another travel adventure. Sometimes, I even manage to make the in-betweens and layovers noteworthy as well. Such is the case of my layover in Paris, the prelude to French Guiana. This story begins in Munich, where…
Hopping Along the Canary Islands pt. 3: Lobos Island and Fuerteventura
As you may know from my previous post, I had somewhat spontaneously decided to embark on a solo escapade, and my first solo stop was Fuerteventura. Well, it wasn’t completely solo since I traveled to the island by ferry with two girlfriends who had just come to visit me in Lanzarote. The evening I arrived…
Hopping Along the Canary Islands pt. 2: Exploring Lanzarote and Ideating my Solo Escapade
Even when you’ve carefully curated a precise schedule and plan… Shit happens. Leaving La Graciosa was very exciting; I was so looking forward to our time in Las Islas Canarias. I had it all mapped out… two nights on this port, two days on that island… We would have been done seeing the best all…
Hopping Along the Canary Islands pt. 1: Sailing From the Iberian Peninsula to La Graciosa
This next saga is a little overdue; due to technical difficulties and multiple ocean crossings, I find myself just now able to recount my time hopping around the Canary Islands in the last few months of 2020. So much has happened since then that it almost feels like a lifetime ago. Let’s go back in…
The Narrow Staatenlos Escape From Mainland Spain To The Open Atlantic
The SY Staatenlos crew was enjoying touring Southern Spain after nearing completing a long first voyage from the Adriatic to the Atlantic. We had sailed all the way from Montenegro, overcoming stormy seas and a faux kidnapping along the way, and possibly seeing the tip of Atlantis as well. But suddenly everything was at risk.…
One month land-bound Part 5: Sardinia – Saving the Best for Last
Welcome to the final installment recounting the time I spent off the Staatenloss this fall. If you’re jumping in now, be sure to check out the weeks leading up to the grand finale in Sardinia. To give you a quick recap, about three weeks prior to the events on this post, I flew from Montenegro…
One month land-bound Part 4: Boat Days in Lampedusa and Linosa
In this post, I want to tell you all about my Italian escapade’s grand finale, the time I spent hopping between the islands of Lampedusa and Sardinia. As you know, at the end of the summer, I spent about a month land-bound. During this time I road-tripped from Switzerland to Germany and then spent 2…
One month land-bound Part 3: Volcanos Galore in Mount Etna and the Aeolian Islands
This is the third installment in the land-bound series, which has been recounting the time I spent off my boat at the beginning of the fall. In previous chapters, you learned about my love for world-class mountain passes as I raced through Switzerland, Austria, and Germany. In my last post, I spoke about my first…
One month land-bound Part 2: Road-Tripping Through Sicily and Exploring the Aegadian Islands
In the first part of this story, I recall the first week of my month-long stint on land. During that week I road-tripped from Switzerland to Germany, through Italy and Austria. I managed to see friends, meet clients, and attend the annual TCC meeting in Nuremberg; all this before going home to see my family…
Legends Of The Sea: From Ibiza To Almeria
You think Ibiza is dead now? Well yeah, Covid-1984 kind of killed Ibiza. So as we make our way across the Mediterranean headed for the Atlantic aboard the SV Staatenlos, we won’t be partying it up on the island. But we will be searching for the “tip of Atlantis” and maybe some UFOs, or even USOs.…
One month land-bound Part 1: Mountain Passes Galore
This next saga is all about the month I spent land-bound and crossing borders all over Europe. This first installment recounts my time road-tripping from Switzerland to Germany through Italy and Austria. We begin after my most recent time in Montenegro. Side Note: While I stayed on land; the Staatenlos remained in Montenegro for 10…
Making Waves in Mallorca
You’ve now learned how the SY Staatenlos battled the stormy seas all the way from Montenegro to Mallorca. We faced many trials and tribulations, which climaxed when we were unwittingly involved in a faux-kidnapping drama that could have put us in some hot water. However, there were also moments of calm during the storm, such…
The Great Staatenlos Shanghaiing Hoax
Let’s be clear to start. This is not a post about going stateless in Shanghai. I have partied it up in China before. But that was back when I was jet setting the world, rather than sailing the high seas aboard The Staatenlos Catamaran. So in this post, we’re talking about shanghaiing, also known as…
Changing My Mind On Montenegro?
You’ve read about my metric mistake in Montenegro and the resulting crackdown the Staatenlos catamaran endured. In the age of Covid-1984, me venturing to Montenegro constitutes “high-risk” travel (learn more about that at the bottom of this post). So it was my expectation that the Montenegrin authorities would be more lenient with me, especially over…
TSC Maiden Voyage Part 5: The Party After the Storm and Sailing Winnetou Canyon
In the last week of sailing, we had encountered some of the craziest weather I had ever experienced. First, as we tried to outrun the storm by sailing north from the Kornati Islands to Mali Losinj; and then, as we discovered what bora winds were while navigating through the Velebit Channel. The bad weather wasn’t…
TSC Maiden Voyage Part 4: Bora Winds in the Velebit Channel
By now, I’ve told you about almost everything that happened during our 3-week maiden voyage with our Staatenlos Catamaran. Thus far, it’s been a pretty cool progression to recount. Our first week on the boat wasn’t too long ago, yet somehow it feels like ages. The start of this journey was not without its own…
Heuereka IV And A Metric Mistake In Montenegro
As many of you know there was a large milestone in store for me in 2020. No, it was not completing every country on the United Nations list. That was supposed to be at the beginning of 2021. But that’s now pushed back because of the Plandemic. Rather, my big milestone was turning 30. And…
TSC Maiden Voyage Part 3: Dark and Stormy Days Ahead
Ready to find out about the stormiest week of our maiden voyage? Let’s pick up right where we left off on my last post… First Stop: Trogir By the time we arrived in Trogir (after having spent almost two weeks on the boat already), life aboard the Staatenlos had become quite predictable -in the best…
TSC Maiden Voyage Part 2: Blurring the Lines Between Business and Pleassure
Hello again, I know you’ve been waiting with bated breath for the continuation of our catamaran’s maiden voyage story. In my last post, we left off during our time in Lastovo, right around the time we lost most of our guests. From Lastovo to Mljet The night everyone left, it was just Sheila, Josh, and…
The Staatenlos Catamaran Maiden Voyage Part 1: Bisevo, Vis, Lastovo and Hvar
After a bit of a hiatus, I’m back and finally ready to catch you up on the last month. My birthday, Heuereka and August came and went with the blink of an eye. It’s probably safe to assume that it was an eventful summer. For instance, and to keep you in the loop, up until…
Closing My Last European Capital
You all know I am a country collector. But did you know I am also a capital collector? This summer, while exploring Europe due to COVID*1984, I had just one remaining European capital to close. And I closed her. Do you know what her name is? Well, I’ll give you a hint. She is petite…
Complying With Bureaucracies: The Trials and Tribulations of Exporting and Re-Importing a Boat in Just one Weekend
While we spent a week hopping around the Kornati Islands on a sailboat, my agent (boat purchase broker) was on mainland diligently carrying out all the bureaucratic errands to finalize the acquisition of my boat… or so I thought. You may know that by this point, I had already paid for the boat in full,…
Croatian *Road* Trip Part 7: Hopping Around the Kornati Islands… On a Boat
It’s been a little while since my last post; life has been quite busy lately. As you know, I’ve been spending a lot of time in Croatia, while the rest of the world has shut down in panic, afraid of the harmless flu that shall not be named. Most recently, I’ve spent a considerable amount…
Croatian Road Trip Part 6: Istria
In my last post I told you about the days we spent conquering the Biokovo Mountain Range after a week sailing the Adriatic. My time in Croatia seemed to have been moving slowly. I’d done so much already, and It hadn’t even been a month. Don’t get me wrong, I’d enjoyed every minute of it,…
Croatian Road Trip Part 5: Conquering the Biokovo Mountain Range
If you’ve been following along, you know I just spent about a month in Croatia. I got to discover the country by both land and sea. First, I road tripped from the capital to Dubrovnik, right before going on a week-long catamaran cruise around the Croatian islands. This next series of posts picks up right…
Croatian *Road* Trip Part 4: Island-Hopping In A Sailboat
Have you been thinking my Adriatic adventures ended abruptly… maybe in a shipwreck or seasickness, and that spelled the end of my Croatian travel series? 🤔 If so, think again… and welcome to the fourth installment of my adventures in Croatia! To recap, in part one, I spent a week driving around northern Croatia with…
Croatian Road Trip Part 3: Getting the Drug Mule Treatment Crossing Borders and Enjoying Relatively Empty Croatian Cities
Note: This post is the third and final installment of a multi-part series about a small road trip through Croatia before boarding my chartered catamaran for a week. In this chapter, we visit Split, cross borders to Bosnia and Montenegro, and enjoy the beautiful town of Dubrovnik almost to ourselves. In my last post we…
Croatian Road Trip Part 2: Geeking Out in Karl May Movie Sets and Spontaneously Sailing the Adriatic
Note: This post is the second installment of a multi-part series about the week I spent exploring Croatia by car with my little brother. In this chapter, we traverse through our time in Plitvice Lakes and a few of the Karl May movie sets. I also throw caution to the wind and hop aboard a…
Croatian Road Trip Part 1: Exploring Zagreb and the Ancient Capital of Varazdin
Note: This post is the first installment of a multi-part series about the week I spent road tripping through Croatia with my little brother. In this chapter, I talk about how I ended up in Croatia and about my adventures in the central region of the country. Read on to learn about my first impressions…
The Seas Of Southern Sweden — Europe’s Freest Covid Country Part 2
Are you ready to traverse the remainder of Europe’s freest country in COVID-1984 times? We’ve already driven up the Baltic Coast of Sweden, prioritizing the strangest hotels possible en route to one of the last open ski resorts in the world. Now it’s time to see the North Sea coast and the (much warmer) southern…