RECENT POSTS

Spoilt in Mérida

Mérida is the capital of the region Yucatan in southern Mexico and I came there to work there on a project, which was then cancelled. So all of a sudden I had a week to spare and decided to use this break as a vacation and to spoil myself.

Of course there are the Maya Ruins and Cenotes around which shouldn't be missed, but since I had lots of time in Mexico I decided to simply explore the city... Read more


Street art walk on isla holbox in mexico

Holbox had my heart before I even arrived at my hostel. No streets just sand, tons of puppies and around every corner huge murals covering entire facades of buildings.

There was a street art festival twice on the island and ever since artists are either booked or just show up to showcase their work... read more 


Guest Post: Exploring the temples of bagan from a hot air balloon

Hot air balloons over Bagan

Paula shares her story about a hot air balloon ride in Bagan, Myanmar, showing us the best temples from above... read more


Street art, Architecture and Vodka in Katowice


Ten days in Morocco - an Itinerary and what's good to know

Ten days in Morocco - an itinerary

We spent ten days in Marrakesh, Casablanca, Fes and Rabat and put together our favourite spots for you, plus some helpful information for your trip... Read more


Guest post: Taipei Spot house

Last year I went to Taipei to visit my friend Doug, where he took me to his favourite restaurant and told me that he was thinking about starting a blog about colonial architecture. I loved the idea and we spent the evening brainstorming what he could write about. Here we are, twelve months later with his first guest post, which obviously had to be about the exact restaurant, where I heard about his blog "Going Colonial" for the first time.. Read more


The New York Highline

On my last trip to New York City I was 18 and had just finished school. My friend Lena and I spent the week shopping at Century 21 and looking at all the touristy things there are to see in Manhattan.

 

So this time I decided to take it all a bit slower and to look at the New York High Line, which had been built in the meantime... Read more 


An alternative tour through Barcelona

I'm a bad tourist. I don't care about history and feel like I've seen enough churches. Also, many museums bore me.

What I'm interested in is meeting local people, hearing stories about weird customs and simply walking around looking for marketssmall restaurants or street art. The problem is, that it's not that easy to always meet the locals, who are willing to tell me their stories or to show me their neighbourhoods. I guess, they also have something else to do.

 

Therefore, I was hooked right away when I heard about the Free Original Barcelona Alternative Tour. These guys specialise in street art and Catalunyan culture, which they will show you in the neighbourhood of le Raval... Read more 


Road Tripping through Croatia

I'm usually not a big fan of driving, but in Croatia we found so many spots, that are just easier to reach this way, that J and I decided to rent a car for our entire trip.

 

It ended up being the perfect choice, as we were able to go to secluded places and travel at our own pace. We spent ten days in Croatia, but our itinerary could have been easily spread over two weeks or more... Read more


Abandoned planes and tunnels at zeljava air base in Croatia

Exploring Zeljava air base, an old underground airport and military air base of the former Yugoslavia, while trying to not accidentally cross the border to Bosnia... Read more


Top 10 instagrammable spots in Hamburg

With two rivers, douzens of parks and a buzzing art scene, Hamburg is not just great for a weekend trip, but also to impress your friends and followers on Instagram.

Since Hamburg still excites me after living here for several years, I've put together a list of my favourite spots to visit for a great afternoon and a few likes from your Social Media-friends... Read more


Beach bumming in South bali

After almost a month in Indonesia, I realized that I hadn't been to a single beach there. If you've followed my journey for a while, you probably know that this is highly unusual for me, that's why I decided to spend my last three days in Bali looking for the perfect beach... Read more


Five things to do around Labuan Bajo apart from looking at Komodo Dragons

View over Labuan Bajo

Labuan Bajo is famous as a starting point to go on a dragon tour to Komodo island or Rinca, but there are many other places to explore from there. I had already booked a week in a dive resort right at the border of the National Park, but had a couple of days to spare in Labuan Bajo. So I went on to explore Flores island, as usual mostly to see everything you can see from a boat... Read more


Where to see Komodo dragons

You can't come to the Komodo National Park without seeing the dragons.

These giants are said to be found on five islands, while the local dive guides only told be about Komodo and Rinca, where you can officially visit them with a ranger (I was very happy not having the information, that they are also just chilling on Flores and thought they only lived in the National Parks. I never heard of anybody just meeting them on the other inhabited islands, though)... Read more


One Day in Taipei

My last trip of 2016 took me to Indonesia, but not before stopping over in Taipei for a day and a half. I was pretty excited about this interruption, because I had never been to Taiwan and because I could see my friend Doug, who I had met in Hong Kong the year before and who is now working in Taipei... Read more


The Tree House at the Berlin Wall

"I found something, that you will like" J told me on our first day in Berlin. "It's a tree house, right where the Berlin was has been".

I was expecting an architectural project, reusing the space that had become available after the Wall came down, therefore I was pretty surprised when I was standing in front of a building, that had obviously been built out of scrap wood... Read more


On the tracks of La petite Ceinture in Paris

On the tracks of La Petite Ceinture in Paris

This railway from 1852 was a circular connection between the main railway stops and ran within the fortified walls of the city. Abandoned in 1934, the remaining station and tracks are now being developed into cafés, running tracks or simply decorated with Street art... Read more


10 things to do in and around Bucharest

I've teamed up with Hannah of Eat Sleep Breathe Travel to show you our favourite things to do in and around Bucharest in Romania... Read more


Stavropoleos Monastery – the most peaceful spot in Bucharest

What made this place special for us was that – although it's right in the middle of the old town – it feels absolutely quiet and peaceful. We simply sat down on one of the walls in the courtyard for a few minutes, catching a breath after almost being killed by that car, watching people light candles or walking around, examining the old grave stones... Read more


Itinerary for travelling South East Asia for four to six months

So you're planning a trip and you're wondering how far you'll get South East Asia within four to six months? This is my list of places I visited in four months without rushing from one place to another using local transportation when possible and flights when needed, including Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, the Philippines and a little bit of Vietnam. It can easily be stretched to six months by staying longer at a few great places or by adding a few... Read more


Street art at Millerntor Gallery 2016 in Hamburg

On Sunday, I visited the Millerntor Gallery, an international art- and music festival, taking place in Hamburg once a year. Initiated by Viva con Agua and Hamburg's most famous football club FC Sankt Pauli, this massive exhibition is taking place inside the stadium... Read more


Artsy in Amsterdam – visiting the Banksy Exhibition at Moco

When I first heard about the Banksy Exhibition at Moco Amsterdam, I was outraged, thinking they were showing his pieces, that were literally ripped off the walls.

Only then, I found at that Bansky actually also creates indoor art on canvas, wood and paper. Whoops... Read more


Two days in Santorini

After relaxing days on Milos, I decided it was time to get off the sun chair and I took the ferry to Santorini, where I met my best and oldest travel buddy: My Dad.

He was the one who introduced me to travel as a toddler and who never stopped travelling himself. Since he was on his way to Crete, our paths overlapped in Santorini and we decided to spend two days swimming, hiking, eating tzaziki, driving around the island and petting donkeys.

...Read more


Milos for Beach Bums

After a couple of busy days in Athens, I needed a break from the city and a swim in the ocean for the first time this year.

I had chosen Milos to fuel up on Vitamin E because my online research revealed that it had the best water, good snorkellingdiving and nice beaches. Sold!... Read more


Street art impressions from Athens

When I found out how much street art there actually is to see, I decided to skip everything else and just wander around for two days. I mean, the Acropolis isn't going anywhere, right?... Read more


Chinese Hutong Architecture in Beijing

Do you want to do a Hutong Tour on my rickshaw?”

A rickshaw driver jumped in front of us while we were strolling around Beijing.

I looked at my friend Lydi. We were both pretty tired from flying to China from Germany, being driven around in a rickshaw – although pretty touristy – sounded kind of perfect. We had planned to check out the architecture of the hutongs around the forbidden city anyways, so we climbed on our new friend Jinjing's rickshaw... Read more


Inspiration from Salone Del Mobile & Fuorisalone Milan

The Salone / Milan Furniture Fair / Milan Design week /whatever you want to call it is an annual exhibition showcasing the latest in furniture and design.

The Fuorisalone is a massive exhibition taking place all over the city of Milan at the same time, where many shops and galleries open their doors to show their work and where many brands jump on the bandwagon to exhibit their newest products. And I'm here to explore both... Read more


Murals in Hamburg at Frauen Freiluft Galerie

Apart from being pretty, the harbour has been the economic centre of the city for many years.

One street in Altona emphazises its importance for the city using Street Art: At große Elbstraße and Neumühlen, there are 15 murals in different sizes, explaining the economic power generated by women in Hamburg's harbour since 1900. The aim was to counteract with the assumption that harbours are usually run by men... Read more


What to do in Hamburg when it's raining

If there is one thing, that's good about Hamburg's weather: The city offers a huge range of activities for rainy days. There are loads and loads of shops, museums and places where you can see the rain running down the window panes... Read more


How to do a day trip from Hong Kong to Macau

It's almost impossible to get bored in Hong Kong but being at such a busy place, it was time for some peace and quiet for me. Introducing: Macau.

The former Portuguese colony is just an hour by boat away and rocks some cool European architecture, combined with quieter streets and an almost traffic-free old center... Read more


Shopping and Architecture at Phnom Penh Central Market

The Central Market was constructed in 1937 in the shape of a dome with four arms branching out. The design is by the French architect Louis Chauchon.

 Located in Phnom Penh's city centre, it is said to be the biggest market in Asia when in was built. From 2009 to 2011 in was renovated by the French Development Agency... Read more


French architecture memories in Hanoi

Hanoi was tough on me. I arrived there after deeply falling in love with Luang Prabang's calm friendliness and cute architecture, with smiling children on the street and with being greeted hundreds of times a day with a charming "Sabaidee"... Read more


Falling in love with Laos in Luang Prabang

Laos and I did not get off to a good start. It all began in Vientiane, where crossing the border after taking the overnight train took me several hours and definitely all my nerves. The officer opened his tiny window, took my money and my passport, closed the window and wasn't to be seen for several hours... Read more


Getting crafty in Luang Prabang: Weaving

Oh, that's what we've been doing wrong!”

My friend Aga was looking for activities in Luang Prabang on her phone: “Apparently the women in Laos are very much into weaving because it's said the better you are at it, the better a wife you are going to be. That's why we are still single!"...Read more


French and Lao Design at the Putaxai Victory Monument in Vientiane

This piece of architecture in Vientiane won my heart when I heard of it before I even arrived in Laos:

In 1962, the Americans donated concrete for a new airport and Laos decided to build a giant victory monument resembling the Arc de Triomphe in Paris instead... Read more


Life in Manila's South Cemetery

A while back, I saw a documentary about people living in the south cemetery in Manila, many of them working for the cemetery but staying in between the tombs over night.

 I've always found the influence of different circumstances in different places on design fascinating. How do we react on what is given and how does our culture influence the result?

So... how do people live in a cemetery? ... Read more


A trip through the Philippines for visual people

So you're doing the whole scenic views thing?” my new Filipina friend asked me sitting in the white sand, overlooking the most beautiful beach I've ever seen. “Uhm, yes”.

She pointed out that my itinerary through the Philippines basically consisted of impressive cliffs, stunning beaches and beautiful views... Read more


Wreck Diving in Paradise with Two Seasons Coron

I was staying at Two Seasons Coron, a resort with it's own dive shop.

Before even going to my room, I talked to Bon, the in-house dive master and booked a tour with him for the next morning... Read more


Newsflash: Mandalay isn't horrible

Starting from Yangon, I wanted to work my way up north over Inle Lake and Bagan to Mandalay. The common response to that was: “Cool, but don't spend any time in Mandalay. I heard it's a horrible place”.

So I was obviously on a mission to find the beauty of Mandalay, and spoilers: I did... Read more


Views from the Yangon Circular Railway

Since a big part of the life takes place outside here, you'll basically drive through people's living rooms when taking the train... Read more


The old and the new Kuala Lumpur railway station

The Kuala Lumpur Railway Station is famous for its mixture of eastern and western architecture

...read more