Maktub07

I will soon add pics, clips and texts on my trip through the Middle East. But not before I get them all sorted ;-)

For all those who can't wait and don't mind some German language challenge:
www.maktub07.blogspot.com

Inspiration

"One final paragraph of advice: Do not burn yourself out. Be as I am-a reluctant enthusiast... a part time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it is still there. So get out there and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, encounter the grizz, climb the mountains. Run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and lucid air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, that lovely, mysterious and awesome space. Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to your body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much: I promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those deskbound people with their hearts in a safe deposit box and their eyes hypnotized by desk calculators. I promise you this: you will outlive the bastards."

Edward Abbey

Thanks Melissa for sending me this.

Overland from Istanbul to Cairo - October 2007

This is a rough idea of what my next little travel adventure will look like. It's gonna be a 4 week overland trip from the Blue Mosque in Istanbul to the Pyramids of Gizeh. I'm so excited! :-)

You will soon find further details on this trip here.


Größere Kartenansicht

River Surfing in Freiburg

It's probably something that all of us have experienced before: Just when you think things can't get any worse, something else happens and makes your day shine bright :-)
Exactly this happened to me last weekend. It had been raining for days and it didn't look like it would get any better soon. I was close to tally this summer as being done and over with and I was already getting prepared for a long and weary winter ;-) Exactly on this very day a friend called me up and said: "Let's go surfing!"
Here is the deal: our small river that runs through Freiburg was actually carrying so much water that it generated a standing wave just a kilometer outside the city. Can you believe it?! So we really did go surfing in the middle of the Black Forest :-) Aloha!! Check it out:

Crazy Slacklining

You can find more of our slackline videos here: My Slackline Videos on youtube

The Dalai Lama - a skateboarder?

I don't know why exactly the Dalai Lama visited Freiburg, but he did! :-) When this was announced months ago, I instantly bought tickets for his public hearing and I was really looking forward to this ever since. Especially after I had already accidentally seen him last year in India. There he rode past me in his car, when I was visiting Dharamsala, the place of his exile residence. But back then I could only see him for a split second. This time, it was to be the different:

About two hours before he was holding his speech in front of more than 7000 people, he went to visit the town hall to be welcomed by all kind of important people. Zillions of people were also gathering outside until he waved from the balcony to the cheering crowd. After this hype I went walking around the city and while doing so, I was strolling down a small street. All of a sudden I saw this group of people coming just behind me. It was the Dalai Lama, together with his bodyguards, TV, politicians,... He had spontaneously decided not to take the limousine but rather walk his way to the hotel.
So there I was, standing all by myself on the sidewalk, smiling from far towards the Dalai Lama, while holding my skateboard in my hands. It didn't take long, before his eyes targeted me from a distance away. He was obviously delighted by my means of transport. As he was passing me, he slowed down, pointed at my board and signalized his intent to step on it. Of course it was only a joke and at the same moment, he waved aside and said laughingly "too dangerous" .. "you be careful" :-) I was pretty much fully parallized and all I could do was to keep on smiling my brightest of all smiles, while mumbling something I don't even remember. Right after that the TV-folks came up to me and wanted an interview of how it felt to be adressed by the Dalai Lama in the middle of a street in Freiburg.
What can I say? I guess it doesn't happen to too many people to talk to the Dalai Lama about skateboarding :-D
I really don't know why things like these always happen to me, but they do. I don't mind - keep 'em coming ;-)

Surfing Seignosse

Check out this delicacy: the brandnew video of our surftrip to France this spring. We were hitting the Atlantic-Coast in our little party-convoy, all the way down to the Spanish border and had a major blast during these 2 weeks. Cheers go out to the best party- and travelcrew you could imagine for such a trip: Lorenz, Vale and Cosi! Aloha ;-)