Florida, Florida, Florida!

Okay, I've been out of juice for my laptop since I arrived here on the 24th. So, that made me unable to do a blogpost. However, to be honest, I could have if I borrowed one of my hostesses computers. But I was mostly just too lazy. I've really needed lazy after the long flight. My hostesses are scared I'll grow bored, but I keep assuring them that I like the nice, slow and enjoyable Floridan pace of things.

So, my plans have changed a bit. My original idea was to head back to Sweden around February, however since I paniced when ordering my return ticket, I now have a return flight at the 20th of Marsh. Me, in my panic and without sleep for 24 hours thought that "90 days... that is one and a half month". No idea how I got that. Sooo, I will be staying at each place a bit longer than I first intended. But, then again, it is quite nice to not have to feel stressed out.

So, now I am in Florida, and I've already done some nice things. I've been to a Highwaymen museum. The Highwaymen are a few black people who were influenced by the artist A.E. Backus who was a very famous landscape painter. Google the feller and google for the highwaymen and you'll probably recognize it.

We also went to see a historical museum about Fort Pierce, where I got to learn tons and tons of things about american history. All the way from the native americans to the second world war. The guide who took us though it was completely awesome. Normally the museum takes about 30 minutes, but with his information and enthusiasm the tour took 3 hours. Despite the fact that when he started the tour he said "I'll just get you guys started, and then you can see the rest of the exhibit yourselves". Cudos to you, Peter. I was so caught up I didn't even remember to take pictures.

Apart from that we also went to a water centre where we got to see lots of fishes, a bit of swamp and also got to pet sting rays. One of the rays got really attached to one of my hostesses and was really cuddly and lovesick. Nope, not the one in the picture, but an actual sting ray.

To hell and back again.

These last few hours have been truly horrible. Mostly my own fault, but hard bought lessons.

First I was wrong with the time for when the plane departs, making me check out early and then have to spend from 4:30pm to 3:30 am at a pub, drinking lots of tea to please the owners so they wont throw me out. The last 5 hours I don't drink anything though. I get a taxi who drives me to the airport, I really need to go to the bathroom, and I'm so thirsty I'm feeling faint. Check in starts at 5am, my flight leaves at 6:20, last checkin at 6:05. No sweat, right? Wrong! The stores open at 5am, so does the bathroom. So I figure I check in my stuff first.

I'm about to check in my luggage when the woman looks doubtfully at me "no return ticket?" and I say "nope, keeping it open. Probably will head from canada to either sweden or Australia, not decided." This is where I learn that you must have a return ticket. Or a ticket out of the US, not greyhound, and it can't be mexico or canada. Since they are too close. Now it is 5:20 and I have 45 minutes to find an open airline counter who can make me a return trip. And it must be from the united states. I try 3 different desks, and the first two says "nooooo". The third guy, from Lufthansa, saves me though. I panic a bit, try to transfer money but the cellphone wont accept my code. I'm about to burst into tears, hyperventilating, stressed out, thirsty, feeling faint when I remember that I can also use  a bank id box thing. I dig it out (I thought I lost it two weeks ago, but found it by pure chance only 3 hours earlier). I get my tickets (the printer refuse to work for 5 minutes due to technical problems). Time is now 5:50. The queue to the gate is miles long and my vision is growning darker and twitches about the edges. I've not slept for almost 24 hours and generally feel bad.

I manage to get on the plane this time (even though the ticket is from San Francisco to Arlanda, and then 10 days later from Arlanda too San Francisco again, since that return trip actually shaved off 400 euro from the price, again, Lufthansa is awesome!). I really need to go to the bathroom, and my mouth feels like a wasteland. I'm so tired I could just cry and stressed out beyond normal human comprehension. The flight then leaves from Berlin, goes to Dusseldorf where I take a connecting flight to Miami. The rest from here are just usual first time tourist mistakes and embarrassments so not worth mentioning or getting hung up on. During the flight, I cannot sleep at all. I nod off, and drift in some sort of semi-coma, but relaxing sleep, in those small, small, small seats is impossible. They have really gotten smaller lately.

The plane to Miami is late on arrival, so I miss the greyhound I wanted to take. I get directions though from local tourist information. I wish them a politically correct happy holliday and end up in a seedy part of West Palm Beach. I give up and manage to get contact with my host saying "Halp! I'm stuck!" and like a pair of angels, she and her girlfriend swoop down and rescue me.

I did have an interesting conversation though. A drunk man with long beard, about 65, he said but looked younger begs money for a beer. Being very charming I say no, rather than just ignore him. He then smiles widely and says "I don't recognize your accent, where are you from?" and we end up talking for 15-20 minutes. I learn that he is a shaman, that he got a magic hat, that he can use his power to influence people. That he is an awesome artist, that he is really good with music. And I deduce that he is a runaway compulsive liar. But he is fun to talk to and we share life stories.

On the train between Miami and WPB I meet another retired fellow from England, who spends his retirement backpacking everywhere. He just came from Mexico, and went to the stop after mine to visit some old friends. He is visiting all his old friends from when he was a teacher and international teacher to see which he still got good contact with and which he should really cut his ties to. That guy gave me lots of helpful hints and tips.

So, despite now 48 hours without real sleep, of going though my personal nightmare of a hell, I am now safe and sound. With lots of new experience.

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DAMN! Lost my power adaptor to the laptop at the cafe in Berlin >_<

The waitening, and "why overhaul"

I'm currently hanging out at a 24/7 internet café in Berlin. And I realize it will cost me a bit. I don't want to get thrown out, and I need somewhere to be for the next 7 hours. So whenever someone looks a bit annoyed or ask me if I want something with a look in their face as if "or get the heck out" I order something. Thus far I have gotten one coffee, one beer and now one pepper mint tea. Really nice tea though. It is a cup of hot water filled with fresh pepper mint leafs. And having spent 3 hours here already, the people here doesn't seem to mind all too much that I'm loitering about.

So now I'm mostly just being bored, counting down the hours to when my taxi comes at 3:30 am. Hoping that my 15-something euro I got left won't run out.

Bored, bored, bored. I did get a call from my family though, which highlighted my evening quite well.

As I got nothing better to do, I might just as well write the story about why I choose the name "overhaul".

The Overhaul
My overhaul was a 3 step plan to get back on track in life. I was in a really bad place a few months ago. Hated my life, hated myself, hated my job. So, I had a choice. Either I continue this spiral of hate, and that would lead to bad things in the long run. Heck, even in the short run I was starting to alienate friends.

So, to battle this step one would be "quit my job". Step two "get into shape" and step three "see the world". I decided I would do this at the last year's Norberg Festival.

I started with quitting, feeling a lot like you do when you really need to go to the bathroom, that you need to go "now now now". However I couldn't just leave. Would both look bad and feel worse. So I filed for my resignation, hoping that the two months of notice would go by fast. They did, they only took a month! Thanks though magic applied by my team leader together with a stroke of luck there was a change of schedule period at work, so I got to leave early.

Step two, get into shape, was a really awesome plan. I would work out 3 times a week, and walk for 1-2 hours a day. However first thing that happened when I quit my job was that I deflated completely. Even getting out of bed felt horrible. It was as if the structure holding me up went out of my body. As if stress had been the only thing I was. Shortly after I got a long, slow cold. Then my back broke. With so many things stacking up and without any energy left in me I gave step two up and just took walks whenever I could.

Step thee is the current step. See the world and get over my shyness as much as possible. To the surprise of many of the people I've been visiting I am actually very, very shy. Almost to the point of social anxiety (probably past it too). Asking for things in shops feels awkward. Trying to upkeep conversation is awful and hard. And so on and so forth. If I meet a new person, it takes me a long time to warm up to them and be open and honest. This whole travelling is really just a smoke screen to force myself to "get out there". It is not easy, let me tell you. I still have a hard time approaching people for buying random stuff in christmas markets and the like here abroad. Sometimes I cut myself some slack. Sometimes I tell myself "You're not leaving until you spoke to that person".  It is slower than I hoped, but it is going quite well.

Last, forth, step is not really counted into this. But it is to get a job once I get back to Sweden. I've had a few job offers (some even abroad, but they pay bad, but if I somehow get stuck in San Francisco... ... for some reason *innocent hope*, who knows?). But if all else fails, I'll become a train driver and throw away all my aspirations of web design, design, and creative work.

So, there you have it.

Hustle the hustling hustler!

So, I was approached by a girl who pointed to a paper which in bad engish said something about being the official charity for deaf children. On the very same photocopied paper there were names already written, photocopied. Where it said city someone had written "Alice" where it said "zip code" someone wrote "Paris". About 3 names, the same errors for each name. An obvious scam. She refused to talk in either German or English with me, so she was not even from Germany. So, I scribble on her paper, and for the amount I write down €20. Here comes the hustle! I gave her €10!

Wait, wait, wait. Before you complain and go "Mattias, you stupid bastard, you still gave her money!", sit back and listen. I took a few steps, went out of view for a bit and then came back, all angry-looking and said "Wait a second! You scammed me! That wasn't right!" she looked a bit taken aback an shook her head. I said "I want my money back!" And she shook her head again. I looked around and loudly said "Where is the Police?" in both English and German. Loud enough for people around to hear, but not loud enough to actually call attention. She looked scared and pulled out the €10 I gave her. And I say "No! Look the paper. I gave 20!" She looks and then gives me a 20 instead. I nod and go away. Secretly trying not to cackle in insane glee and adrenaline.

Now I just need to hustle some other scammers out of another 15 euro and I've broken even from the previous one.

In  other news, I messed up a bit with the flight plan and thought the plane left at 3:30, when it actually leaves at 6:30, leaving me effectively stranded in Berlin with no place to stay or go. According to the homepage, the airport close between 00:00 and 04:00. I tried to call to confirm, but something was wrong with my phone. But I managed to get the help of my roomie to double check it (cudos man *fist-bump*). So I've been wandering from about 11 am to now (4:30 pm) before I managed to find a 24/7 café with free WiFi, huzzah! I just hope they won't throw me out, since I'll be staying here some 10 hours or so.

Observation: Christmas Markets

I think this is an entry my stepmother will be very interested in. Seeing how she is the Christmas General in the city I come from and decides with a claw of iron what the decorations should look like. Much like the dark knight Kato, but more christmas-y and without a doubt more friendly. And where Kato got a heart of stone, she got a heart of fudge. Okay, I'm getting side tracked here.

So! Christmas in Berlin. Queue your favourite Christmas song, I know I'll be listening to mine while writing this. The general decoration is quite normal, but with a big-city budget. You see trees which outlines have been lined with rows of light to make it look like they are cartoonish cutouts with glowing edges when night comes. Snow flakes hang in walkways and in the old-town parts more classic decorations can be seen. Those known from the late 80s and early 90s.

What sets Berlin apart from other places I've been during christmas is the markets. Each and every square got little houses with open sides where people sell their handmade goods, hats, food, candy, roasted chestnuts and glüwein. In one of the markets there were oak wood ovens where a lady stood behind the counter, kneeding a huge piece of dough which she cut up and then placed into the oven. Most of the food is equally roasted over open fire or on huge frying pans hanging over a fire pit. Spits of meat are being kept warm near a fire and large fire places stand amidst seats and couches which are under roofs and clad in deer skins were people sit under blankets and drink their glüwein.

In the middle of all this you see really nice looking old style merry go rounds, tiny ponies which children can ride. An ice skating area set up around an old statue and even a huge ferry's wheel.

Everywhere is the smell of firewood being burnt, warmth from the fires all around, the smell of fresh roasted nuts and candied apples. The sound of small choir groups and live musicians mingle beautifully into the chaos. And I just couldn't help but to think "This, just like THIS is how a Christmas market should be. No metal bars holding flimsy tarps in place. No poorly made goods which you can find anywhere. Just happy children and good Christmas cheer!"

It's been years since I felt as christmas-y as I did today when I drank glüwein, munched roasted chestnuts and nibbled upon a huge piece of meat inside bread.

Ich bin ein Berliner!

So, I left Amsterdam with mixed feelings about the place. Mostly I just felt isolated and depressed there. The city wasn't all too beautiful. The people greedy and often rude. Tourists everywhere, and most of them being obnoxious and loud. Giggling like teenage girls over a pop idol about that they can smoke weed. Oh whee, yeah, good going. Anyone anywhere can smoke weed if they want to. It's not like it actually is that hard to come by illegally.

Next time Mr. Mouse... next time...

One night, I was relaxing at the hotel, Discovery Channel on the small television, Nintendo 3DS in hand when suddenly I saw movement by the sink. It was a mouse! A honest to god tiny little mouse! I went "Eeeee!" and tried to find my camera, but it got away. The next morning I heard rusting in my plastic bag with food. I hurried to straighten it up and saw it in there. But as I went for my camera it jumped out and ran away.

For the evening, I set up a cunning trap. When I woke up the next morning, the trap was tripped! But the illusive Mr. Mouse was gone together with the crumbs of potato chips.

Yesterday night I arrived here in Berlin. A much friendlier city than Amsterdam. Sure, people are stressed here, but there aren't beggars here which when you accidentally look at them start following you around as there was in Amsterdam. Before you read on, make sure to put on this song:  Mr. Jones Machine - Vit Citroen. It will set the perfect mood. I went from my hostel this morning, singing along to this song which was set on repeat. After a while I came to The Fernsehturm, where there was a really cozy christmas market.For 3 euro I got a really large sandwich with vast amounts of feta cheese on. 

Then I strolled around a bit. I was here last summer, and I must say I like it better without all the tourists. Also, there are many small christmas markets all around. Very cozy wooden cabins with open sides where people sell hand made candy, jewellery, food, glühwein. Together with small ice skating places. Of all the christmas markets I've seen during my travels, the ones in Berlin are the best by far.

Also! Today I have been on the road for a full month! Huzzah! I wonder if my roomie miss me back home. Or if he is relishing in the fact that he got the apartment to himself. I hope for the first. Because I'm missing home myself.

A lonely pint

After a few failed attempts of finding someone to hang with, I gave it up and went for a beer of my lonesome at a pub. €7. Things really are expensive here in Amsterdam, that's even more expensive than in sweden. Only thing cheap are hookers and weed. At least if compared to the rest of the world. I'm really starting to think this place was sort of a bad idea to come to alone. I'm a bit baffled by how hard it is to reach out to people here. Either tightly wound tourists who wonders why on earth this strange Swede is talking to them, or some dutch person trying to make money of me. Bleh, I might be a bit down after a day in isolation with belly ache and Christmas coloured poop. But I really look forward to coming to Florida and meet up with people I know again. Only a few days left.

Rumble in the night

"I might be going down, but I'm taking you with me!" I heard a voice saying as I got home yesterday evening. I was nibbling a EuroShopper noodle box I got from a super market and looked around me to see who just spoke. Then I heard a slow long growl and felt a sudden pain in my stomach.
"No! Why would you do such a thing?!" I screamed in horror and pain. "I did nothing to you!"
The only answer I received was a maniacal laughter as I staggered towards the bathroom.

Yup, the tourist stomach finally set in. Despite my attempts of varied and healthy foods, I guess I had a bitterballen too many or a resturant I visited cheated a bit with cleanliness. Might also be the tap water. Sooo, I'm just staying in doors, and staying hydrated today. Sooo, a day with videogames, QI episodes and what not I gather.

I think i just got hustled...

So, there I was, mindig my own business when this black fellow makes a tight turn and as I walk fast I don't have the time to move out of the way. So I bump his arm lightly say "sorry" and move on. He comes after me, yelling that I spilled his drugs and shows me his pipe and there is some white stuff over his hand, the things he spilled. "Man, I spent my last 50 on this, you buy my stuff. You buy my stuff. I know people here, you don't buy you sorry" and he started shouting at someone. Long story short, I just paid him what I had on me. €25. He grumbles and moves on, cursing loudly. Talking about racists and what not.

At closer inspection I gather he really had no drugs, and had just poured a bit of ash over his hand, hustling money from tourists. Because unless he was odd enough to smoke cocaine, I don't know any drug which is such a.fine white powder. Which you put in your pipe at least. And walk around with. On a street. Aww well, was still more exciting than the torture museum. Even if a bit more expensive.

What was worse is that it was my breakfast money, so I had to hunt an ATM for an hour, since all I found were out of service.

Late Night at Red Light

So, today I've done a lot of walking. And by a lot I mean something near too much. about 16.2 kilometers or so (quite exactly 10 miles). Strange enough I've been walking half the day though some sort of half-depression. Just feeling "bleh" about everything. "Should I do this? ...meh. Should I do that? What's the use..." However after a bit of extra food (from Burger Bar, awesome €13 burgers. Worth every cent) I started feeling a bit better again.

I went to a museum, A Torture Museum. €7.5 and I thought "yeah! I can get interesting ideas here for item to sell in my 3D shop!". And let me tell you, meanwhile I got interesting ideas, it was the worse museum ever. Absolutely NOT worth that kind of money. All in all, reading all the texts and taking a picture of almost every single item, it took me 20-30 minutes to walk though it. The whole thing was a set of narrow corridors made to feel like a medieval dungeon. They pulled that off quite well. But the light in there was terrible, at times so bad you couldn't even see the exhibit at points. Making photography close to impossible. Most of the torture instruments were replicas. It felt a bit like looking at a children's picture book and reading a short few words of info more than going to a museum. No, not worth it in the least.

After that I drifted around a bit, then headed to a local cinema and saw "The Hobbit". Wow, I was blown away. I loved it! The only bad thing about it was that it felt too short. And that was at almost 3 hours. I liked it a lot more than Lord of The Rings, but then again, I liked the book much better too.

Last but not least I headed to the Red Light District to see what all the fuzz was all about. Though the heavy mists of cannabis smoke, hanging thick over the canal I saw lots of people and lots of naked ladies. And wow, let me tell you. There were a lot of very pretty girls with little or less clothing there. And wow, let me tell you. I do not like the sex industry. But that's a feminist discussion for another day.

Not Red Light District, but pretty =D

But, I've realized that getting a hotel room rather than a hostel room might have been a tactical mistake. I'd really have liked to have some strangers to hang around with and do things in the town with. Really, going to a coffee shop by yourself isn't really all that fun. Much like going to a bar on your own. However, on a bar you can just have one beer and think it is nice and leave. Going to get stoned alone would be like getting drunk alone. And a lone drunk is quite a sad thing. Same thing if you'd be so inclined to go to a sex show. If you go alone, you are a sad lonely person. With a group it is a fun outing. Soo, I'm staying away from the drugs and the sex during this visit. Hmm, unless I perhaps find a mushroom cookie to enjoy at the hotel room. So I can be a tourist in astral Amsterdam...

Amsterdam!

I've been a bit lazy with updating the blog lately. I've mostly just been walking around, looking at museums and things like that. The only thing with real blog substance was a zoo visit, but I spent all that day being lazy around the Hostel and picking at my bellybutton.

Yesterday afternoon I arrived in Amsterdam and locked myself into my hotel room. That's right, hotel room! It cost me only something like €160 for 5 days, and the only bad reviews were about mice. Sadly I've not seen any mice, even though I have my camera ready. I'm thinking about setting up a trap for a mouse and see if I can trap one for some nice pictures. Hrm, I should see if I can find a marcro lens.

Soo, the zoo! Let's talk a bit about it in retrospect. I walked though town, about an hour, an hour twenty and spent all the day at the zoo. I can for sure say that winter is not the season to be there. It is a bit like a post-apocalyptic landscape. No people, some animals, trees without leafs. The outdoor areas were quite commonplace. Much like you can see at any zoo. However, the indoor areas were were nice. They have 5 different buildings spread out over the area. And they show every aspect of the zoo. Turtle egg incubation, baby lizards, veterinary office. Heck, even jellyfish larvae.

The thing I didn't like about the zoo was the inconsistencies in English signs. All in all, only about 10 animals in total had English information, the rest were in Dutch alone. Hey I don't mind that there are no English signs, but it gets annoying when only a few got it. All or nothing.

Guess how I took this picture =D

The monkey area was quite dull though. And it really, really, really smelled like poop in there. Understandable since they're indoors for the winter and they don't spend as much time decorating places for the winter. What amazed me was that two other people was standing inside there, amidst all that horrible smell of urine and poop and eating. Then I heard them speak, German, and things fell into place.

Anyhow, I'll leave you with this, and head out into Amsterdam!

Rotterdam by night (Lots of photos!)

So, I decided to take my camera, my newly bought gorilla pod and head out into the darkness to take pictures of Rotterdam during night time. And also to experiment with long exposure times. I find it amusing how led-lights appears as dots when they move past at a rapid speed.

The tripod fell over....

Rotterdam!

Nothing bad about my hosts. They have been nothing but generous and fun. I really treasure the time we had together. But to be in a hostel, to be left to my own devices after having been social with friends almost every day since the 20th of November was starting to get socially exhausting. Being left to my own devices for a while have been awesome.

I started with a quite early morning with nice, free breakfast downstairs. Then got up, gathered my gear: my newly bought Nintendo 3DS (since when you bring it around with you, you exchange your information with people automatically and unlock stuff. Also, it got a step counter). I went out for a short stroll, snapped two pictures and the camera battery died. I kept walking for a while, returned to base camp while the battery recharged.

During the day I had been in mail and sms contact with a guy called Samer, who is a photographer, writer and part-time teacher of philosophy. We met up at the train station and he showed me around the city for many hours, meanwhile talking and exchanging life stories. A truly nice guy and an awesome guide who pointed out all sorts of things I should do and see.

The whole city got architecture like this

 And, to be honest, thus far the city core of Rotterdam is the most awesome I've ever encountered. The architecture is very creative and absolutely stunning. The city is very clean and a total melting pot of cultures. But, most of all the architecture appeals to me. And then some. I'm really glad I went here despite it not being in the original plan!

City beautification

I was really going to go out for some night photography. But the step counter shows 20603 steps (which would be... what... 15.6 kilometers or something?). But as I got back to the hostel room I sort of crashed. So I'll take an early-ish night.

Observation: Dutch toilets

Yes, it looks odd, doesn't it? A white shelf with a centimetre or so of water on a landing platform for brown airplanes. For me, who is really used to the simple funnel ones this one was a bit scary for me to use. I mean, what if one built a tower tall enough to reach all the way up? It showed that my fears did not have any ground in reality however. To reach all the way up you'd have to be pretty dedicated.

Once you flush, it is sort of like watching soggy gingerbread cookies in a water-slide and then jump of a porcelain trampoline into the abyss of the plumbing.

Truly odd indeed.

A new challenger has arrived!

I just left Nadine's humble abode and set out on the road again. This time I was headed to Rotterdam. That's right, Rotterdam! I had some extra time on my hands since the woman I was going to go to London with have been unavailable for confirmation for too long and time is running out. Also, a listener to my net-radio wanted to meet up, which is the main reason why I settled for some time in Rotterdam.

I had tons of fun with Nadine, she made me DJ with her for a DJ session, as well as perhaps even for a radio if they want to broadcast it. The guys on the radio really wants to broadcast my music at least and that sounds just awesome!

Not only did I get to taste Nadine's awesome home cooking, but I made her some of my own. I made a really close approximation of the Swedish dish "Sausage Stroganov". I didn't find any suitable sausages, since it is very special sausage which is needed. But we settled for some German meat sausage, which in the end was mostly just ground beef inside insistence. So that taste wasn't perfect. Would have been better with hotdogs, but there were no hotdogs other than chicken ones wherever we looked.

We had a few other fish snacks too. One which was deep fried... fish. Another which was raw herring dipped in onions. Maatjes haring. That fish made my stomach really gassy and bloated. So, no. Not my kind of dish.

Now I have arrived at Rotterdam and I'm in my first ever hostel in my life. Yay me! The hostel is called "Hostel ROOM" and my room is "Art collection boom". The hostess who greeted me was both cute and friendly, and as I write this from the dorm room, a live band is playing loud music downstairs.

All set in Kerkrade!

I just arrived to Kerkrade and met up with a new internet friend of mine from Second Life. Currently her name is Tim, but soon enough she'll transform herself to Nadine. She have already started with the initial steps of becoming whom she was since birth. An adventure I'm truly amazed by her bravery for!

Today she introduced me to some really nice home cooking. A stew of sorts with horse meat, potatoes and read cabbage. I can imagine this being something my father would like. Since it tastes a bit like the liver stew he use to make, and since he likes red cabbage.

 As a snack we later had rolmops, which is a pickle and onions rolled into a herring! I never ate fish as a snack before, but it works really well. Tomorrow she'll show me even stranger fish snacks.

We also had some "bitterballen" which is basically is animal stew which have been deep fried into tiny balls. Tastes really good and makes for an awesome snack!

In transit!

Just got on the bus from Hasselt towards Maastricht. Waved good bye to my awesome host Bart with a promise that next time would be during the summer and hopefully a bit longer too. Who knows, if I'm bitten by the travel bug I might very well just keep going until that.

Anyhow, I have noticed a vast increase in my active and spoken vocabulary. So who knows, with enough of this I might actually get somewhere near as good speaking as typing.

Breendonk

Today have been another eventful day!

Bart and I slept in late and then headed to Breendonk concentration camp. It was another one of those museums which really look good. At the beginning you got a little machine into which you typed numbers. Though out the whole place you found the numbers, and when you punched them into the machine, a speaker voice gave you information about that item. The English voice was really awesome.

The exhibit told us everything from practical information about the area. About the guards there and what happened to them after the war. About the prisoners and their faith where available. Witness testimonies from inmates who survived. Over all it was truly scary and horrible to hear about and see. The fact that it was raining/snowing and really wet and muddy and cold when we went outside for the outside parts of the tour didn't help. One just felt guilty about complaining.

After that we went for a cup of hot chocolate to warm our cold hands and chilled souls.

Then off to IKEA for meatballs and fries and make Bart drink some swedish Julmust, however it didn't taste as good as the one I'm used to.

Now we're having trappist beer tasting, so I'll be signing out!

Two Wars, one Pub

WW1 Gas Mask

What a day!

Today Bart and I started out early. We got up at 9 and stumbled into the kitchen for some breakfast. Then we headed off to Ieper for a World War 1 museum. That museum was simply amazing. It was really hightech with bracelets with chips in them that you used on different stations to activate monitors and things like that, to get everything spoken back at you in the right language. Also, it checks if you had any relatives who fought in the war, and if you did you get all sorts of available information about them. Sadly I had none (but then again, the Swedes were neutral in that war...too).

It is hard to put in words how amazing that museum was, and how well it was put together. Really, if you go to Berlin, this is a must-see place.

We also went to see a Brittish monument for the fallen soldiers in the WW1, with thousands upon thousands upon thousands of names.

After that, my dear guide and I headed towards Kemmel, where we went to a Cold War bunker. A bunker that was a big secret, even long after it became a museum. Only really know to the local people and was really only made popular after a TV show explaining about different sorts of local sights worth seeing that no one knew about. The whole place was like a time capsule back to the 60s. Really nice design and very well done over all.

Then we had a quick beer at a local pub in the tiny town of Kemmel. A very, very cozy pub. I only wish we would have had a bit more time to spend there.

Last, but not least, I was invited over to Bart's parents for a family dinner with Bart's parents and brother. Together we had a traditional Belgium stew consisting of three kinds of meat (chicken, rabbit and turkey) called Hobokens stoofpotje, beans, cauliflowers and of course real home-made double baked Belgian fries with mayo. Mmm, mayo. The national drink of Belgium. Bart had to leave me for a while, so me, his parents and brother got to practice our English skills together. Showed that they have been to Sweden for a road trip, the parents that is, and that they really liked the Vasa museum.

Belgian goverment!

The Antwerp Grand Centra

Okay, I'm in Belgium now, and I'm going to teach you just how the government work. I know all about it since I had it explained to me one and even saw a youtube video. One. Basically you got one single government which likes french fries with mayo. They control the whole country. Then you got 3 other government (Flemish, French and German) who also have the same power. Each of theses doesn't much like one another and work in different regions (mostly, but sometimes they overlap). Neither much agree with the other, and they all speak different languages so they can't much understand one another, but they all agree on that the national dish is French Fries with Mayo.

When voting, you do it 5 times, since it is a very democratic nation (6 if you count the european parlament vote). Once for Government. Once for the other government. Once for quite local area. Another time for a very local area. And another which I forgot, but is also important.

But they all love fries, even if they say it differently. Oh, with mayo.

To Belgium!

So, there we go. Finally the trip is taking me out of the country towards the land of cheese, beer and chocolate. I just realised that I probably spoke Swedish for the last time in a long, long while when I gave my father a call before the bus left.

Right now I'm bussing though the snow heavy south of Sweden, a bit happy that I got to see a snowy Sweden before I head over the bridge to Denmark, where I'll take the connecting train to Amsterdam, and from there to Antwerp. Huzzah!

Changes

I've made some changes...

The plan was to head to Odense after this to meet up with Andreas for a weekend in the city. However, that had to be changed due to too much work for Andreas which he couldn't dodge. However, my hosts were kind enough to let me stay a bit longer here.

My hosts are really happy to see me stay longer!

This, however have caused a bit of problems train-wise. Especially since I had called to a travel agency and asked about the train tickets from Denmark to Amsterdam and then onward to Antwerpen. They said they can't book within europe. I said I can't book though the site and it asks me to call in. They say that It will be available closer to the departure date. I try to get a ticket, and it says "we would give it to you, but it is too close to the departure date!"

Sooo, there I am, my friend Bart waiting for me in Antwerpen and have gotten a few days off even. Panic rising. I start calling all agencies I can find online to see if anyone can help me. Noone can. I am about to give up, half-choking sobs, when it strikes me... one of the sites showed which train company the trains belong to. So I do a new search on that site, then go to each and every company's site and manage to get an e-ticket from them, which my beloved brother printed out for me.

In other news, these last few days have been rather calm and nice. I've spent a day shopping with my brother's girlfriend. Spent an evening with my good friend Peter, drinking a few beers and talking about travel in general. Also eating on a Dutch themed resturant (hutspot and meat, mmm). And today I spent an afternoon and evening with Oscar and his girlfriend Mia. Oscar have made a really, really, really awesome mulled wine and also threw together a really sweet pumpin soup.

So, on Sunday I head to Denmark to spend half-a-day there, with monies donated by Peter towards the cause. And then onwards and forwards to Belgium!

My beard got upgrades!

Happy Birthday to me!

zSo, today is my birthday, which I conveniently spend while on the road to avoid having to drink too much coffee with friends and family. Nothing against friends and family, but that much coffee gives me heart burn.

First things first. So, my visit here in Gothenburg is spent mostly with my brother Tobias and his girlfriend Veronica. They got a cozy little flat not too far out of town, some 10-15 minutes by tram or so I believe. And I must not forget Octavia, their very, very, very lovesick cat with a 2 meter trigger radius of her purring.

Erik's hat-moose

Yesterday I met up with my good friend Erik (who had his birthday yesterday) and his roomie Jon. We made home made tortillas and played obscene amounts of "Rayman: Origins". Just simply had an awesome time together.

Today me and Veronica spent going though "Universum". A mixture of a museum and an indoor tropical zoo. Here you can find tiny, tiny monkeys, and

they're outside of their cages, so if you're lucky... or unlucky, you can get one tangled in your hair. There is also an assortment of strange and awesome fish in huge tanks and aquariums. Snakes, spiders, poisonous frogs and so on.

Here be monkeys!

Tiny and very cute =D

 
After that we met up with my little brother and had a lovely supper which ended in lots of really delightful cheesecake. And gods, been a while since my feet were this sore.

"Ack Värmeland, du sköna!"

Dan is playing "Polka Polka Revolution"

So now I leave värmland in general and Grums in particular behind. I've had the chance to make music with the person who together with a friend of his started up the group "FantomFürern" and we made a work-in-progress song called "Skeletkvinnan".

I also learned a whole lot of many things about living the life one live in Grums, and a city without any real expansion in the economical sector, despite the city expanding in numbers. The financial hell one tends to get stuck in and what it leads to in the long run.

Most importantly, I've learned that Eddie Meduza actually can make good music. I have to swallow my pride and confess to that I was wrong. All music made by the Swedish Raggar-idol Eddie isn't all that bad. He is sort of a genius in his way, however just turned to a direction I can't agree with. For instance, his song Skyrider is quite awesome. Obviously a take on Ghost Riders in the Sky, but he does it really well.

However, I must now leave Grums for Gothenburg, with a vague promise that I will get my beard or my head cut off next time I return. I leave my head hung in shame, and with my tail between my legs I accept my exile humbly and head on towards brave new goals. New horizons await!

Thank you so very much for having me, my good friend Dan, and I wish you all the best. Until we meet again, never stop being yourself.

Interesting fact about the train station in Grums. It is closed down, and inside it there is now a clinic.

Grums!

My dear Host

Grums!

So, I'm now in Grums, the point where world starts. Or ends.. or... Well, it is either end of the world. I'm here in Grums with Dan who is my awesome and generous host. Together we have seen a few movies, chilled and discussed the different importances in the world. We also started working on our very own song.

So, why Grums, and why Dan? I met Danne at an Arvika Festival a few years ago and he was a really nice guy. We discussed communism, sang songs about The Reaction by the group "Röda Stjärnan" (the red star). Since then we've kept in contact making music and such things together. Not much that got finished, but we've had a lot of fun together.

The current song sound really nice. The lyrics might be a bit silly though. The idea was generally to make a song. Then we went "should we have lyrics" and "What theme?". We were silent for a few minutes and then said "Okay, first article on the Tabloid aftonbladet.se will be our EBM song's theme." And so we made it "The Skeleton Woman" after an article with a woman called "Skelettkvinnan" meaning just that. Politically correct? Maybe not, but no one died from a bit of necrophilia.

Our beautiful studio

Thougts on the road

So, I just set out on the roads, heading towards Grums to meet up with Rub-a-Dan. And as I closed the door behind me and walked to the bus stop I could not help to ask myself "who will it be that comes back to this door in 2 to 4 months from now? Will it be a new and improved version of me? A less shy and more bold fellow? Or a guy asking himself why on earth all those monies were spent.

Whomever comes home next year, I'm very sure I'll like him better than the dude who just went out the door. Too long have gone since any real change. And by the gods I hope his spoken English is better than mine!

It would be fun to make a mental snapshot now and then compare it. A bit hard to do perhaps. I'll have to use friends and family as a reference point once I get home.

All packed!

My beautiful backpack

Okay, I've packed everything needed now. I think. But, what I find myself having forgotten I can just get on the road. I know the most important stuff have been packed at least. Toothbrush, passport and extra underwear.

The rest is just gravy and extra topping.

Only thing left to do is to fix train tickets and finalize a few hostel bookings and we're all set and ready.

The one thing I'm a bit sad about is that I got very little room left in my backpack. I should perhaps not pack the sleeping bag after all, but... you never know. Right?

My Travel Route

Okay, it is time for me to share my complete travel plan I think. The places have been sort of in flux, and I'm not 100% certain of the order in which I'll do things. But this is the rudimentary plan. But I got a break down of all the major places I plan to visit at least.

The times behind each item listen are when I plan to hit that spot.

My planned travel route. Click to enlarge.

The Adventure begins!

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Grums, Sweden (20th of November)
This is the place where the whole world starts. Or is it ends? Who knows. I will visit a friend I made many years ago at a festival. A really awesome and creative person named Dan, or "Danne" for short. Together he and I will make some songs, chill out and I will learn all there is to know about the backside of Sweden.

Gothenburg, Sweden (23th-25th of November)
Here I will meet up with friends from the Swedish equivalent of High School. My good friends Erik and Elin. If I get the chance I will also meet up with Oscar, an old co-worker and friend of mine, and his girlfriend Mia. Of course, I will also meet up with my beloved brother Tobias and his girlfriend Veronica. I will also celebrate my birthday here.

Fyn, Denmark (1st of December)
Here I will meet up with an internet friend of mine called Andreas.We met over a medium called "Second Life", which is more or less a 3D chat. Remember that, because I will be mentioning it a lot.

Antwerp, Belgium (3rd of December)
Here I will meet up with a friend I've known for a very long time though the internet. Bart. We first met on HavenMUSH many, many years ago. An old text-based chat in Celtic theme, made by a good friend of mine. With any luck we'll go to a Trappist brewery and see monks do what they do best. Beer!

Kerkrade, Netherlands (6th of December)
Here I will meet up with one of my newest Second Life friends, Tim. This is a really awesome person who is just about to undertake the adventure of transforming her body from the male one she was born with, to the female one she really always wanted. Also, I've been promised alfa beer!

Amsterdam, Netherlands (13th-16th of December)
Here I will visit a friend, who's real name I don't really know yet. Sort of funny, but that's how things tend to go when on the internet. A thing such as a real name does not really matter all that very much. She and I will however make Amsterdam unsafe and have a good time together. Though, this is not confirmed, since I've not seen her online for a few weeks to make sure everything works fine. If we do meet up, she and I will however take a weekend trip to...

London, England ( 14th-17th of December)
Where we will do all sorts of strange shopping and looking around. If things go to plan, we will spend a few days here and then head back to the mainland.

Berlin, Germany (19th-21st of December)
I will spend a few days on my lonesome here in Berlin for the heck of it. I really enjoyed this place when I was here during the summer with my family. Never the less, I couldn't help but to wonder what it would be like to just be here on my own without the need for calling early nights due to the hotel being far outside the city and the like.

Key West, Florida, USA (24th of December)
This is another spot I go to only for myself. The flight ticket is already booked, and if all goes to plan, I will take a Greyhound from Miami Airport to Key West the same day I land to live in a hostel down in Key West. I will spend a few long days there, and plan to spend New Year's eve in this place.

Fort Pierce, Florida, USA (2nd of January)
Here I will meet up with a good friend form the old Haven-days (that text-based place, remember?). She and I was really buddy-buddy back in the days, and despite breaks and hiatuses in our friendship, she is a very dear friend to me. I will be living with her and her girlfriend for a few days. And if all goes to plan, we might even be able to head to Disney World together. That idea is pending a bit though.

Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Here I will meet up with an old Second Life friend of mine called Kathryn. What we will actually do and what will happen is yet to be decided properly. But we will do something fun. I will also meet up with another good friend (and customer) of mine I know as Eshe. Another one of those persons I'm not sure of the real name of. But, what the heck. She promised me she would go to the store and buy Twinkies for me, now that they have filed for bankruptcy. After all, I've read about Twinkies in about every single Stephen King book I've read, and I MUST try them!

New York, New York, USA
Here I will meet up with my oldest still continuous Second Life friend. Her name is Astoria, the perfect picture of a New Yorker. She will show me what New York is all about and let me at that famous New York pizza which every New Yorker claims to be the best in the world. I still bet it got nothing on our Swedish Super Kebab Pizzas.

Milford, New Hampshire, USA
I am still a bit uncertain about this place. It is a bit out of the way form my other destinations. And travel will most probably be by plane though the states. But if time is not all that awful I will try to squeeze this place in. Here lives a friend and ex-Second Life girlfriend of mine, whom I'd gladly want to visit.

Columbus, Ohio, USA
Here I will visit a good friend from the Haven days. Their name is Kat. My visit here will be quite brief, and our meeting will probably be the one of a cup of coffee or dinner or something of the like. Kat seemed a bit reluctant at my to meet up, but I'm really happy they agreed to, sine they're one of the persons who have made an impact on my life.

Chicago, Illinois, USA
Here I will meet up with a new internet friend of mine named Dana. She and I will have all sorts of adventures. She plans to show me strange places where she lives (like a Swedish themed restaurant!). Also, if possible, I will appear on Chic-a-go-go which is a public-access television show in Chicago where random people dress up in silly costumes and dance. I'm a bit scared of this part. And, if possible, Dana and I will rent a cozy log cabin and just chill for a day or so.

San Diego, California, USA
So much to do here! So much to do. Here I will meet up with Necron, a really good friend of mine whom I met though Second Life. He will also house me for a few days while here. Together we will go to "Das Bunker" which apparently is "the hot shit" when it comes to industrial music. Also, I will meet up with another one of my second life exes, Talina. She have planned to take me and Necron out to Palomar Mountain for random fun in a cabin/house there. Not quite sure about the details. We must not forget Adam, whom I will also meet here. I am a bit nervous about meeting him though. He is friends with both Necron and Talina but knows me as a female online. Aww well, I'm sure it'll be okay.

San Francisco, California, USA
I will make sure to wear some flowers in my hair when going here. I come here to meet up with another good friend (and client) of mine called Brianna and her husband. Where I will be staying is in a bit of a flux. They do have a guest room, but I'm not sure I can and want to impose. If that doesn't work out I will stay in a hostel/hotel provided by Brianna's best friend. A best friend who is into modelling and whom Annie wants to hook me up with. Let's see how it goes, if The Shy Viking will dare to date The Model. Adventure!

Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada
Over the border! Over to visit another good friend from the Haven Days, Robyn. She lives in some sort of strange collective. I'm really curious to see what is happening and going on there. As well as getting to know Robyn better. She and I have not spoken in a long while, but she's an awesome person.

Rossland, British Columbia, Canada
Here I will visit my oldest still continuous internet friend. We've known each other online since further back in time I can remember. His name is Roger, and while I'm not certain what we will do once I hit Rossland, I'm certain we'll have a blast of a time.

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So, this is my current plan. If I'm passing by a place where you happen to be near, do not hesitate to ask me to visit. I'd love to meet up with friends. Old and new. Heck, even friends in waiting (aka, perfect strangers).


Click here to see the travel route on google maps.

So. This is me. Hi!

I'm just going though the last few things, ordering the last few tickets and insurances and what have you, and then I will head out into the world and see grand and pretty new things.

I will keep this blog running and show all the nice pictures I take with my trusty new camera I just got from my father and stepmother. Or, well, not all pictures, but you get the idea.

I will also use this place to vent ideas and make sure you know I'm not quite dead yet. And of course, last but not least, tell about my adventures and explain about all my friends I meet along the way.

The whole idea of this trip is to meet up with old and new internet friends. Some friends I've known for over 12 years. A few others only for a month or too. But they have all managed to win my heart somehow. Some seems to be nervous about me imposing on them, others are all very eager and are making plans for what to show me once I get there. Already now I'll say "I'm sorry I'm late!" because I am fairly certain my idea of a time schedule is pretty messed up. The only real time I got set in my mind is to be in Berlin at latest on the 22nd of December and then be on Key West at the 24th of december.

Anyhow, to keep in interactive, feel free to ask me questions, challenge me to do things or simply just talk to me.

First stop will be on Tuesday the 20th of November. Grums of Sweden! There I will meet up with my friend Danne, and we will make strange music together. =)