Tag: summaries

Asian Winter Sunset

Thanks for following all my adventures over the past month. I’m arriving home soon and wanted to give everyone an update and summary.

It all began in the middle of December when my dear friend Joseph casually mentioned that he was getting married in Singapore in the middle of January. Of course, we were already planning on being in the States over Christmas, so I was definitely conflicted in scheduling more travel, but I knew I couldn’t miss his wedding.

Dennis shares in the joy of Joseph and Serena's wedding.
Dennis shares in the joy of Joseph and Serena’s wedding.

With Mandi’s support and encouragement, I made the choice to have an Asian expedition. My ルームメイト Drew lives in Tokyo and we both needed the chance to spend some time together. Therefore, with my mobile office packed and having spent too many hours planning my travels, I set out for Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, and finally back home (though due to a cancelled flight I ended up cutting out the stopover in Abu Dhabi).

Just look at that wing - so graceful and so powerful!
Just look at that wing – so graceful and so powerful!

Joseph’s wedding was special and he and his wife have an exciting year ahead of them. Singapore was an awesome country to visit with a strange mix of traditional Chinese sights and modern English sounds. Coming from a law-loving country like Germany, the hyper-strict rules of that small island nation seemed rather status-quo if not a bit light-hearted (Singaporeans have some great cartoon art urging you to be nice). In the week we shared together, Joseph and I finally had the opportunity to catch up on a few years’ worth of life that has passed.

My home in Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong (yeah, all three belong - city, island, special district of China)
My home in Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong (yeah, all three belong – city, island, special district of China)

The stop in Hong Kong was somewhat a disaster, but the kind of disaster you learn from. Catalogued in my earlier post, I ran out of money while I was there and spent way too long on the phone trying to make a withdrawal. Contrary to Singapore, Japan, and Germany, Hong Kong was a city of chaos and the people seemed darn proud of it. I stayed in a tent on the roof of a falling-apart highrise after a night-walk through the lights on the streets below.

The Bank of China building stands proud in the middle of the financial district, making its stripes to reflect their blinking and colorful patterns off the neighboring buildings.
The Bank of China building stands proud in the middle of the financial district, making its stripes to reflect their blinking and colorful patterns off the neighboring buildings.

Getting to Japan was kind of like coming home in a way. After moving around constantly, I would finally stay put for two whole weeks with my dear friend. When I was there in June I was still pretty new to my job and didn’t have the whole mobile-workforce thing figured out either. This time, a veteran at finding great places in the city to sit at for the day, I explored parts of Tokyo I hadn’t seen before: Harajuku, Shibuya, Takaosanguchi, Asakusa. Drew and I maximized our time together (there’s not much free time in Japanese daily life) and explored Yokohama and Kawaguchiko, a small town on the edge of Mt. Fuji. We had a blast and bonded like two close brothers should. His wife Seiko was incredibly kind and hospitable and it was great to get to know her since I was unable to really do so when they started dating in Chicago.

Dennis and Drew in Kawaguchiko in front of Mt. Fuji, the iconic volcano on the outskirts of Tokyo.
Dennis and Drew in Kawaguchiko in front of Mt. Fuji, the iconic volcano on the outskirts of Tokyo.

Now I am back at home with Mandi and it’s good to be home. Home is a fluid term, but I reflected on this particular truth about it: It doesn’t matter where home is: you know when you aren’t there; and the closer you are to returning, the greater you long to be there.

How many beds have you slept in this year?

Last year was a busy year of travel for me. I slept in thirty-five different beds, that is, I spent the night in thirty-five different localities (yeah, I like using creative measurements). That’s almost three different places per month! This all really started last year when Mandi and I went to Germany for a month-long language course in Munich, but I had other journeys to Chicago for laser eye surgery, we took little family excursions, and I started working at Automattic, Inc., which has taken me many places and enabled me to go to more.

Enjoying the sun high on one of the upper-tiers of Monaco
Enjoying the sun high on one of the upper-tiers of Monaco

For all who are interested, here is my 2014 in review:

  • Around forty distinct trips, journeys, or adventures
  • 80,000 miles travelled in a plane
  • 1,400 miles by bus
  • 1,500 by train
  • 2,500 by car
  • 85,000 miles of total travel mileage (this doesn’t count everyday driving)
  • 360 hours spent in transit (that’s a total of fifteen days, or approximately one hour out of every day in the year)
  • Witnessed three large protests (Muslims against ISIS, Catalonians for Spain, and Neo-nazi’s against everyone)
  • Was held up in Berlin and had a crazy adventure trying to get home during the fifth of seven major strikes that the Deutsche Bahn union organized.
  • Visited twelve university campuses.
  • Entered ten different countries.

Growing up I never imagined that I would travel much at all, let alone spend significant chunks of my time en route. Getting some rest towards the end of the year was really nice for me too as travel can be tiresome. It looks like 2015 is going to be starting out just as fast, however.

Posing on a bridge in Venice, Italy.
Posing on a bridge in Venice, Italy.

This Saturday I leave for a four-week journey to the parts of the world where people add hours to UTC to get their time. Namely, I’m heading out for a trip from Germany to Singapore, a short visit to Hong Kong, a couple of weeks in Japan, then an extended layover in Abu Dhabi in order to sleep under the stars in the middle of the barren desert (yeah, I’ll post pictures when I get back) before returning home to Hannover. I’m really excited about seeing the stars and also for the opportunity to fly in an Airbus A380, the world’s largest commercial airliner (certified for carrying 853 passengers).

Greeting all of our friends from Park Guell, Barcelona, Spain.
Greeting all of our friends from Park Guell, Barcelona, Spain.

Thanks for following our adventures in 2014, we’ll keep you posted.