The calendar shows Oktober 30th 2014 and I am in Gibraltar (in La Linea, on the Spanish side, to be specific) writing the opening post happily looking forward to my first ride with a sailing boat that will take me to Madeira in two days. Harrr! …but, one after the other!
Hello World
Welcome to my travel log. Two weeks ago I left home to hitchhike around the world. Sometimes I will walk, maybe ride a bike or a horse. I welcome you to join me on my way. On the one hand this blog will serve as a calming plattform for my dear relatives and on the other hand it will be the stone in which I carve all the crazy stories that will definitely come up on my path. This blog is freshly pressed and still under construction. Many things will change in the upcoming months. There are already some ideas on my mind but it will take some time until they are implemented.
The Route
There is no route. And there are all routes. There is no plan and no limit, no temporal restriction. I will travel by land and sea only and most of the time I will be hitchhiking. To be honest I would like to get around our small planet, travel once around the globe. The first basic idea is to hitchhike from Leipzig to Uruguay to visit my dear friend Ralf. Following that I might go to Argentina (to learn horse riding) – southernmost point of South America – North America – Russia – Central Asia – and so on …
Inspiration
In connection with this journey there is a big dream, a very special „Expedition” which will be detailed later on. Maybe you, dear reader, can already grasp what I mean with that. In 12 to 18 months I might be able to tell you more, until then I will be looking for the right thoughts to come to my mind.
My current mission: Hitchhiking from Leipzig to Uruguay
I started eleven days ago in Leipzig and made it without detours to Gibraltar. I will write something about this 104 hours lasting journey later. Right now I am trying to hitchhike through the Atlantic Ocean on sailing boats to somehow get to Brazil. Yesterday was the first time that i asked sailors for a ride. And guess what happened: I got a lift to Madeira. We will leave on Sunday. And I have not the slightest idea about sailing. My first time on a boat, sailing into the open sea. Somehow I expect to get seasick but I don’t know for sure. I am facing my first voyage with a mixture of being afraid and fascinated. Still I have to add: I am afraid, but I don’t fear anything. Why should I?
My first ride and El Capitano
My first captain is Rene. He is in his late sixties and the prototype of a thoroughbred sailor. He is on the sea since forty years, was a professional skipper (many sailors at the harbour don’t even have a sailing license) and spreads a relaxed feeling. When I asked him the day before for a place on board he just replied: „Sure, can take you.” Sailing experience? Cost sharing? Any conditions? Nada. It was very uncomplicated. I slept over it for a night because Madeira is not on my route through the Atlantic Ocean. Usually you go from Gibraltar to the Canary Islands – Capeverdean Islands and to the Caribbean. But concerning hitchhiking in the end the ocean is just like a highway with scheduled traffic. Shouldn’t be a problem to get off Madeira. And finally, I had already been on the boat today helping Rene with some repair work confirming our agreement.
My first ride. 47ft boat named Sun Odysee. You could see from the equipment and its arrangement on the boat that Rene is a professional. A huge amount of technical equipment, alarm systems, internet (1,80€ a minute) and satellite TV, pretty luxurious for a sailing boat. I feel like on a unsinkable high tech Titanic. This man knows all the upgrades he made to the boat. Today he kindly informed me that „on my boat you will find equipment that is unique in this harbour. Everybody is giving the boat strange looks.” I am sure that this will be a really interesting ride especially since he will be able to show and explain me a lot of things. As a rookie I will gladly absorb all that knowledge.
Well, thats it for the first entry. I am happy to see you reading, commenting, ask me anything, leaving greetings behind and have your thoughts reaching out for me. You are welcome to drop by every now and then. I will do my best to make it worthwhile.
