Hyderabad – first nights 

Traveling to India to meet up with a friend, and my first days there going to an indian wedding, what a way to start my Asia adventure. An adventure that I have had on my bucket list since I first fell in love with traveling in 2013, with an interrail trip with my the danish scouts, and with this stamp my trip starts finally.

Vijayawada in Andhra pradesh – wedding 

The indian wedding, is a massive party with something like 5000 people over 2 days, loud music, fireworks and lots of food. I was the only white person there but everyone was so nice. So first day was the wedding party here we came to bless the couple putting rice on their head and then next day was the reception, the big party day. Where the bride and groom would go from their house to the party arriving with fireworks and then go on a horse throne getting pulled from the car all the way to the big stage, where people would again come up on stage and bless them, this time with flowers, and then 3 massive food courts around the premises with different food stands. I was just following my friend who sometimes would tell me someone wanted a picture with me because the guest would first come to him to ask. 

Hyderabad – Big city, going out. 

Going out in Hyderabad, pretty much like any other big city so not much to tell here. But I did get to taste india’s delicious food, I absolutely fell in love with pani puri a snack, a hollow deep-fried crispy shell (puri) filled with spiced potatoes, chickpeas and chutney then dipped in tangy, spicy, or sweet flavored water (pani). And one thing I look forward to is to test the indian food out in Denmark, because funny this is I didn’t actually use to eat Indian food in Denmark and I usually hate rice dishes, but after having tasted all the amazing food in India that has definitely changed.  

North Goa – Party town, crazy life 

And then we took a sleeper bus to north Goa, and this is a bumpy 9 hour ride with no toilet but in a bed but was honestly almost easier to fall asleep in 4 meter waves across the atlantic, maybe just me being more used to sailing though. But we made it and checked into our hostel, Dreams, in Arambol, North Goa, the home of psy trance parties so naturally our days was more from afternoon to morning. Our days would be waking up, go to the common area outside our dorm rooms and waking up with hangovers waiting for the first one to initiate the first beer of the day and then more and more people would join and more and more beers or old monk (the indian rum) would be consumed, with all respect of cause. (Drink responsibly guys). Then we would go to mango three bar, to meet more people and find some food, my favorite food snack what chicken 65, so good and for more food, paneer butter masala with cheese/garlic chapati, roti or naan bread, yum yum yum. And I ate a lot of raw onion and lime as this you got for every meal to manage the spiciness and also helps our westerns to not get a bad case of stomachaches.  

South Goa – Volunteer, Jungle living, Canacona, Kochi, Munnar, Indian train and Christmas

After a week of partying it was time to move on, time to go to South Goa. So I found a volunteer job on a Farm and stay in Sadolxem, Canacona, South Goa. A Yoga retreat in the middle of the jungle just 15 minutes drive from the town Canacona. Here I stayed for 3 weeks over Christmas, where I helped preparing the huts for people to stay and feel the same bliss of paradise we felt staying there and making art work, smashing down an old clay sofa to rebuild and make the place Nice again. I also got to help in the Indian kitchen as we had to make our food, so I would be blending everything that I was told to blend and then 2 hours later we would all meet up and eat together sitting on the bar table, very chill. In the day time we would cool down at the river, and at night we would well still be by the river but we would make a fire and sing and chill. And when we needed to get into society we took a bike taxi and would enjoy the beach there. 

While staying here I took a weekend trip with a 14 hours train ride from Canacona, South Goa to Kochi, Kerala in 3rd class. I have done long trips much like this but in Europe, which is much more spacey than Indian trains, where personnel space is not a thing, and you have feet everywhere, which for me is a struggle, cause I hate feels in my face and guys touching me randomly when they walk by because i’m white and being white in India is like being famous. But when you take this out of your mind, life in this train is a fun experience and for me a must when in India, so much is happening, some sleep, some eat, some laugh and play songs, because not many uses headphones no no that is insta reels on loud, so I finally got upgraded to second class, not knowing I could do that in the train by talking with the conductor and got my own bed to get at least 6 hours of sleep before landing in Kochi, with the frase “chicken biryani, veg biryani” in an Indian accent, oh what fun.    

In Kochi I met up with a local from Couchsurfer and we went to Munnar the land tea and saw some waterfalls, but no elephants and because of the election, lots of people on the street with music and statements to share but no alcohol anywhere because in Asia you can’t drink and vote, apparently they want you to make sure you make a sober decision. And for my Kochi trip I took a tuktuk around town, where I saw an old school washing place still in use, a place where the washing machine is a person standing in a booth with a bath and slamming the clothes and bedding onto a block, drying the clothes outside and then ironing with heavy irons. Very interesting to see and honestly I think the guy washing had fun doing it, gave me a little extra show for the camera. And then I went around a saw all the different churches and temples, because in india and especially Goa and Kerala, there is a lot of different believes as the dutch, Portuguese and british and other where there because it was a good trading route, which is also why going to south India or more specific Goa or Kerala is a good way to transition into the Asian lifestyle from Europe or USA as there is more restaurants and such for where you get cutlery and you can get western food, which is what they in india call Fine dining. But if you ask me this is not what I want, I want authentic, local and new.     

For Christmas we went and got Lebanese food after seeing the sunset from the hillside with a lot of other people, each having brought different instruments with them to play, one brought drums, one a trumpet. So an amazing chill vibe for the sun to come down to a perfect Christmas night. And then my days in India was about to end and I started saying goodbye to all things India and all the amazing people I was staying with here for it is time for new adventures, meeting up with friends from Copenhagen in Sri Lanka to celebrate New year.  

Tromsø, Paris of the North. Got its name back in the late 1800s, because the women would adabt the latest fashion trends from Paris, and it also reflects on the city’s sophisticated atmosphere, rich cultural life and cosmopolitan vibe, Today the nickname evokes its charm, but also its significance as an important cultural and trade hub in Northern Norway. And lots of beaytiful nature.

The citycentre contains the highest number of wooden houses in Northern Norway, the oldest dating from 1789. also historically if a house is red (ochre-based), being cheapest is for poor farmers and fishermen, Yellow houses (more ochre) for middle class and white (zink-based) being the most expensive for the wealthy. Today vibrant colours are used more for traditions and aesthetics. And now these colours are a cherised aspect of Norwegian architectual heritage.

The port to the arctic ocean, a mosaic port symbolizing the gateway to the arctic oceans. Unveiled in 2024 and is a great place for photo opportunity with views of the arctic cathedral. It has a meaningful local connections.

Sommarøy, A small Island in the Tromsø county, where they dont use the 24 hour clock, as we know it because in winter time they hardly have any sun and in summer time sun is barely away as Sommarøy is north from the arctic cicle line. Meaning in summer time the sun is continously above the horizon for 24 hours (also called “Midnight sun”) and in winther time it will be below the horizon, this also means that in winter time you have great chances of catching the northern lights and what an experience that is, so I packed my tent and hammock, though very happy I had my tent, as the island is light on trees and come winter time high on wind and the tent brings me closer to nature, to experience the wonders of the northern lights while on a budget.

Camping, So in Norway you can camp where ever, as long as you are 150M away from private grounds, and dont litter. So this means if you dont mind sleeping in nature or have a campervan it is a good way to keep your budget low. If how ever you have plenty of money I loves luxury such as showers, and toilets I dont know some people like that, there is a 4 star hotel that is pretty nice, but dont ask me about that, Im a nature lover and a low budget traveler i would much rather spent less on sleeping and more on experiences and such.

Hiking, to the top of Hillesøy (A mild 183m and 1,6km to the top). It was a great little hike and very interesting with the ice, and lets just say im happy there was a robe to clam to. Took me around 1h and 30m with stops to enjoy the view. A hike where I used my arms just as much especially down, as we rappelled down some of the big slippery rocks. Getting to the local restaurant after, I was feeling fine a little sore but not too bad.

Aurora Borealis, Photo dump of a few of the many pictures I took of the lights. It was truely a magical moment to witness, I felt so energized and elated, it was so amazing and way better than I ever imagine and to experience it on my first night getting here, I had litterally just put up my tent just a few hours before. The feeling of the right time and right place, luck and being blessed comes to mind. Tuesday I caught one more big beautyful show, in a starry night with no clouds so also very cold night i guess that is the price we pay to get the beautiful sky.

Boat Cruise, So I actually just found this boat to sleep on where price wasnt to much and breakfast was included turned out a boat cruise was also included + coffee and tea, so lucky accident. And a very nice trip arround tromsø area seen from the water side, with people who want you to have a great time in Tromsø and will help you to not spent too much on overprised tours and such, so this is a 10/10 recommend from me, Norwegian Fjord Explorar Line. And if you are only interested in the boat tour you dont have to stay overnight, they have 3 tours per day (the night one can be cancelled if weather is bad as this is a Nothern Lights tour). And for the people that like a little green project, they harvest seaweed that destroy Co2 and make healthy energy drinks from the remainings with natural vitamins protecting you immune defence, and the remainings of the remainings will be destilled into bio fuel to run the boat. And the energy drink taste good. Lastly the boat is the main scene for an international explorer TV series running in 20 countries, OPPDRAG NORD NORGE.

The budget: So I flew to Tromsø with SAS, with Points so I only paid the obligatory taxes, fees and other charges what ever that is in a corporate world, 266DKK, then 1h 45m busride from Tromsø. Just 30DKK one way. For my homebound ticket, I bought a planeticket for 770DKK, which is just wild that its that cheap to fly, I started looking at train tickets, but going that great a distance became easily 1000DKK and that was only to stockholm, then from stockholm an additional 500DKK, so planeticket it is, sorry earth im on a budget.

Public transportation, However driving around with buses in tromsø area is cheap and can easily be bought on the norwegian Svipper app, which can be used for all of Norway’s public buses, no need to signup just use it anomously. Also a quick note I went to tromsø citycentre to meet up with some acquintances, but the bus to Sommaroy comes by the airport so you dont have to come into Tromsø city centre. And all tickets in Tromsø area cost 30DKK and is valid for around 1h 30minutes.

Pocket money, Norway is not cheap. Just to give you the gist of what it could cost, I paid for a moose burger and a can of beer, 204,42DKK at the local restaurant. However the supermarket is just up the road from the restaurant, where you can get everything, for a fraction of the price, I brought for at least 2 maybe 3 days worth of food (I dont eat that much generally) for 186,21DKK. So it is much better to go to a supermarket and buy the meat there and then cook it yourself at home, the whale meat, moose meat or reindeer meet is especially something to try here and can become a delicious meal. Fried on a pan and cooked potatos on the side with some sauce and then you have youself a nice norwegian meal without breaking the bank.

saturday means night out, Lets check out the Tromsø Night life, a lot of live music going on. its like anyother city night life, they have nightclubs, pubs and bars and it is expensive so the young people start at home drinking before going out around 23-24.

Hostel, I have one night in a boat, Norwegian Fjord Explorer Line, with breakfast and a sailing trip around Tromsø, 481,46DKK and a night at Tromsø activities hostel, which is 316,82DKK for a night. Which is cheap for a hostel/hotel room here, but not uncommon. normal prices are between 300-600DKK per night.

So in conclusion, Norway is very expensive and therefore very difficult to keep the budget low, not a lot of couchsurfers here either so make sure to have you stay planned as these will be the most expensive ones if you are looking to be in town and not out camping in the woods. But it is so worth it to catch the northern Lights, but dont need more that a week here to see it all.

Travelling in 2024

Not much travelling if you ask me though did go to Dublin in February for my friend’s birthday just for weekend so mostly party and meet ups with old friends from my dublin days, I April to Faro, Portugal with my family to celebrate my dad (seems like im just using any birthdays as an excuse for traveling) But great non the less my dad paid this and we had an amazing time, I showed them a little around as it was my 3rd time there, We had rented a big house with a billard pool by the pool and ocean view, two cars (we were 6 adults), the young car was a cabriolet. We saw the famous sunset from the southest place in europe with like 50-100 other people (I didnt count but a lot), was amazing 10/10 do it.

In June I went interrailing to Amsterdam, where I met some amazing people at “Worst hostel in the world”, tough honestly not that bad but after sitting at the owners table and talking with them I got book about their marketing about being the worst. Then I went out when 2 guys who were also staying at that hostel, and visited the coffee shop and walked to the red light district where we found a stripclup and the rest you might if you have been there if not all I can say is go have fun and be openminded I of cause also went to the rijks museum and Hard rock for a glass to my sister and also went to rotterdam to see the food market. But still have lots to see in Holland.

I had a day in Brussels, Belgium to visit a chocolate factory and the peeing boy statue. Important stuff right. And then a walking tour arround town with brussel stories in my ears, and then on to Paris to watch Denmark against slovenia, and when the game ended I went on to Cannes, the reason for my trip. The student trip, Festival of Creativity. Opening party on the beach and the RTL beach, next day, Party on a yacht then RTL beach party ending at the corner bar all free party I might add. Then danish meet up at 10am with no sleep, going to a pool party with the swedish actress community celebrating a little swedish midsummer. Then Denmark played against England so met up with all the danes at a penthouse with a view over the harbour amazing view and that one goal Denmark could be heard all over Cannes. Final dinner with my class and end party after, ending with a full day of sleeping.

But my vacation wasnt over, I went to Monaco very tired and quickly on to pisa, where I had a few days to walk around here and watch the famous leaning tower you know it the one you need to push back into place, before heading to florence, for a little last minute sightseeing and then home in a very long train ride.

Hvad ville din Oscar tale være ? Generelt hvis du vandt en pris hvad hvilken pris ville det være? Pg hvorfor? 

Nøgen cena på scene til at præsentere Costume design, sjovt  

Perfect days, en film om toiletter? WTF, må jeg da se?

The zone of interest lyder mega spændende da. Han har lavet to film en hvor man man høre den og en hvor man ser den. Lyder meget som noget reklamelinjen ide værk? Altså noget man kunne have tænkt her

De vandt United kingdom i international film, lyder vildt spændende, must see. 

Barbenheimer præsentere stunt performers sammen. Sjovt spil mellem Emily blunt og Ryan Gosling  

Robert dawney jr vinder han en statuette for actor in a supporting role? De jo alle sammen fucking gode i den kategori, stik dem alle en statue  

Men nej Robert Dawney jr løber med, fortjent. Love him, love Them all i denne kategori

Anatomy of a Fall? Must see? 

Best visual effects: godzilla minus one. Teamet har taget små dinosaurer figure med ind, sjovt

Best edit: Oppenheimers og først Oscar til den film, starten på at tage resten? 

Hvordan fejre man at man har vundet en Oscar?

Cheers to everyone

Tasteful nudes? God måde og sige man har sendt nudes? Tror ikke der er en god måde og sende nudes randomly  

The last repair shop, must see? Men hver forberedt? Kan være super emotionel? 

Det lidt sad at der er så mange dokumentarer om krig make love, not war. Please?

Vild tale fra instruktøren af 20 days in mariupol

Cinema forms memories and memories forms history

American friktion skal jeg da også se

Field of dreams, fedt, What? Love must see

Selvfølgelig vinder zone of interest “Sound” hele konceptet af filmen er bygget op omkring lyden. 

Jeg tænker kun indsigter i alt, sange, film, reklamer ALT

That was sad Matthew Perry. “Do not pity the dead, Harry. Pity the living, and, above all those who live without love.” Michael Gambon. 

Hvad finder Oscars på om 4 år? 100års  

Elsker at se Oscars, elsker film, håber i nyder mine tanker jeg havde mens jeg så The Oscars det er jo ikke så en recap, eller er det? man kan sige hvis i gerne vil se både showet så er det jo muligt ondemand på tv2 sikken verden vi lever i, hvis i bare vil se lidt highlights skal du jo nok blive bombet med det på de sociale. Men ja bare lidt tanker fra mig.

Nyd livet. Elsk dig selv. Følg din drøm <3

After Living and working in Dublin I can also conclude that the housing in Dublin is expensive, and if you have a reason to move there be prepared for the cost and difficulties of finding a place is all im saying, though i think that as a Nordic person, it is only for the experience and adventure of it all as the salary is generally very low compared to Denmark, Sweden and Norway, this is at least my experience and might be different if you find a job with more responsibilities and higher up in the chain of work.  

But it is not all work and negativity, the people there are super nice and i loved how they say thank you, in buses especially. 

So I will definitely go back to visit the people that I met, and see some more Irish nature and history. It is a great place for people who love hiking and have yet to visit the Giant Causeway and hike Ireland’s highest mountain which I only just walked near to because of my limited time in Killarney.   

Working and living in Dublin has also giving me a better sense of who I am and what I need to work on, which is why this experience has been one I couldn’t be without with all the bad and the good.

Kilkenny, Bray, Killarney, Howth and Galway

Killarney so while in Ireland I visited a few places, all had their charm. I absolutely fell in love with Killarney, the home of Ireland’s biggest saltwater lake and also their highest mountain. The small town charm with lots of cute eating places to find you dinner, lunch or maybe just a coffee or tea for a little from all the exploring you will be doing there.

Bray, the first place I visited its about 20 minutes outside of Dublin by train and went there to meet up with a bunch of CouchSurfers for a festival on the beach. Wasn’t there for long but had a great time.

Kilkenny was one of the first places I visited whilst there, it is famous for its medieval building and castle. It is also known as “Marble City”. I took the tourist bus taking me to the original Hollywood, the birthplace for the Hollywood we know in LA. We also visited the nation park in Glendalough, with the ruins of the monasterio de San Kevin. Here you can also spend a good day walking around the lake. We then found our way to Galway to see the famous cliffs of moher and then I got dinner in town before heading back to Dublin.

Howth the end station, 2 stops from where I ended up living for the majority of my time over there. There is a nice hike up the hill where you can get a view over Dublin and the ocean.

So thank you Ireland for the great experience and hope to see more of what I found that Ireland can offer.

Belfast is the capital of Northern Ireland, and throughout its modern history it has been a major commercial and industrial centre. Also the place where titanic was designed, build and launched.

When there I recommend to try the market first as it isn’t open for that long, it’s a great place to find your lunch and a lot of great stuff to browse through so watch out you might some money here.

After we went to take a black cap to learn some of Belfast history (told from the Catholics side) but a very good time and they also go through the Protestant side so you can see it but in a more drive through way. And just go to the tourist office near the city hall, as some of the offers on the internet is not to be trusted.

The city’s history have occasionally seen conflicts between different political fractions who favor different political arrangement between Ireland and Great Britain. Since Good Friday (Lang Fredag in Denmark) agreement on April 10th 1998, the city has been relatively peaceful and major redevelopment has occurred. It ended most of the violence of the troubles and ethno-nationalist conflict that has been happening since the late 1960s.

It is a wild story, and our guy spoke things like being imprisoned like it’s life which it was, luckily not so much anymore. Now he spoke with a very Irish accent which was great for the authentic of it but a bit difficult to understand. But we saw the freedom wall, the Murial and visited a museum where we saw a little of how was, how people snuck in cameras and newspapers.

After we went to the city hall but it was about to close so browsed trough pretty quick but had a very nice interior and then lastly Victoria square to see the view from top, this also gave us and idea of why all the souvenirs had two yellow cranes on them.

We didn’t get to see the titanic museum, which wasn’t high on the list as none of us was that big fans of the film I mean it was nice an all but very mainstream. And then you can also kiss a big fish statue thingy which is near the museum, and is supposed to give you wisdom, it is also called the salmon of knowledge and is based on the story “the boyhood deeds of Fionn.” About a fish that ate some hazelnuts that had fallen into the well of wisdom, and gained all the knowledge in the world. According to the tale, first person to eat the fish would inherit all of its knowledge. It was constructed in 1999 to celebrate the return of the fish to the river Lagan.

And that was my first trip to Belfast, a great trip with no expectations as we planned it a day before and ended up going with my at that time Danish colleague who were going back to Denmark to study.

And bonus it’s summer down there in February and generally much better weather that here in Ireland, sorry. And another fact when traveling there, the plane ticket might be a bit spicy at very long but hey it’s to the other side of the globe, but it is super cheap everywhere especially for people living in north Europe. 

Roodepoort 

So I was based for the first week at my friends house in Roodepoort a city in Jo burg. And first thing I noticed driving from the airport was how black people were walking on the side of the highway and crossing, now this is something I never see in Denmark except if extreme situations, but down there completely normal no one bats an eye.

A good idea for your trip rent a car or travel with a tourist group, as public transportation sucks. There is a train going from Jo burg airport to mid town Jo burg but if you want to see the city, go to Pretoria (one of South Africa’s capital cities) by car. You can take Ubers but price for renting a car would be cheaper in the long term. 

I also went hiking on the geological trail at the botanical garden here in Jo burg, a 3,5 km walk to the view over Witwatersrand and a waterfall at the beginning of the trail. In the garden you can enjoy a picnic or go to the restaurant. 

I visiting the very big casino, Monte casino, where you can win or loose your money at the game area, or if you have kids go to the arcade or watch at movie at the cinema and then find some food at one of the many restaurants around. It is like a city in a building, very beautiful.

We went bowling, without shoes, weird. But in their defense it was at a bowling center where pro come train and bring their own equipment. And then a night out in the local area, a very nice trip getting to see where my friend grew up. 

Pretoria

In Pretoria we saw the Voortrekker monument and the union building where a statue of Nelson Mandela stands

On May 10th 1994 with a crowd of 100.000 people, the inauguration of Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s first democratically elected president after the end of apartheid, and his vice-presidents Thabo Mbeki and FW de Klerk heralded the beginning of a new era in South Africa

After seeing the views here and saying hello to the nelson Mandela stature, we went to explore the Voortrekker monument. And people that walked from Cape Town to Pretoria for a very long time and with wagons fighting with the Zulu’s. It is an wild story showed amazingly on the walls as a timeline and in the basement you can go see more artwork about the journey they had to take

Cape Town 

I then flew to Cape Town, where I had 3 days of exploring, table mountains, cape of good hope, penguins and a day driving around town

1 day I spent hiking the table mountains, a 1000m climb on a stairway made of rocks (surprise). On the top there is a big national park where you can walk a bit higher and enjoy the views all around Cape Town. And a restaurant/bar. 

For those of you who don’t like climbing you can take the cable car both ways or one way if you just want to hike one of the ways

I then went with the hop on hop off tour bus to see and hike the cape of good hope and see the penguins, very cute animals but watch out they bite (didn’t test it just trust the guides). At the cape of good hope a baboon was walking around, who by the way does like to steal your food. I walked to the light house and enjoyed the views of the two biggest oceans meeting while getting some very clean Antarctic air. And then walked to the other point seeing some ostriches on the way and lastly the seals. 

And my last day there I took a chill time just driving around with the hop on hop off route buses and getting some stories and saying more of Cape Town. It drove by a very nice fishing theme restaurant, the mariners, where they had great service and food. And then to the beach and hotel area where I enjoyed a hurricane at the hard rock (had to buy the glass, I mean). 

For traveling around in Cape Town I do recommend using the hop on hop off buses as you get around, and hear some great stories about the place. There is also a wine tour that I didn’t have time for. It is also a cheaper way to see Cape Town. 

Finally I also recommend the long street backpackers hostel, it is cheap, close to every and with a great atmosphere to meet new people. If you want to go for a more luxurious time the Nelson Mandela hotel. But no matter what hotel you choose i am sure you will have the best time here and I will definitely go back

I have learned a lot and it’s been great to be back on Crete after 20 years rehashing some of the memories. Crete is a Mecca for nature lovers, hikers and historians. And though I don’t get to walk the Samaria Gorge as it’s closed, I hope to walk Imvros gorge and I’ve seen the old town of Rethymnon and Chania. Learned some Greek, tasted lots of Greek food and wine.

Looking forward to see what is next for me.

Crete is a wonderful place to see, so much history, different weather and nice people all around. I went here 20 years ago with my mom, grandmother, sister and brother. I was 9 at the time so a lot of the time was spent at beaches and the pool and don’t remember a lot from it other than we had an amazing time here, reading my moms story from time has help with my memories and it fun reading it. We are now staying at Agia Marina one of the many vacation cities with lots of hotels up the coast, stretching like 5-6 cities.

It’s been fun saying the city come to life as everything is opening up and will be fun to see it with people as there are still a lot closed and getting remodeled and ready for the season.

I’m exited to learn and grow with this experience.

Houston has over 11.000 restaurant so finding food was not a problem, and I was invited to have lunch with the guy I was staying (my dads colleague used to be in the Copenhagen department now in the houston department) and the food was delicious and not that expensive so if your are ever in houston I recommend jonathan’s the rub.

And houston is big so renting a car is definitely also a good idea, but are you traveling on a budget there the buses go all the time and Uber is very used there as the as in the rest of America.

I had my first experience at a basketball game, which over here is 3 hours long , i means not the game itself but there is a lot of breaks and show in between the game and there is even carnival games and other entertainment if you don’t want to sit and watch the game the whole time. All in all a fun very American experience.

And you can easily spend a day walking around downtown, seeing artwork, buildings, skylines and parks.