Inter-State-Hopping

After my short stay in New Mexico (and a rather unpleasant intervention at the E.R.), I got back on the road and drove north to cross over to Colorado. I've found a couchsurfer in Durango who was going to take me in for two nights and since I've never been to Colorado before, I was rather excited about the detour.

I got a rental and that car had some interesting features. For example, when I stopped at a rest stop and decided I needed something from the trunk, the car automatically locked the doors and I had a mild panic attack while I was trying to figure out how to get back in... The Sheriff (who just happened to stop at the same rest stop) couldn't help me, and since my phone and my wallet were still on the passenger seat, neither could the rental company. Luckily, some workers from the rest stop said "that happens all the time" and managed to open my car door for me (and yes, they jimmied it...). All they wanted in return was a hug, which was completely fine by me.

please excuse my camera, destroying the picturesque sky....

When I finally made it to Colorado, I was thrown smack in the middle of a dinner party at my host's house. Four dogs were running around the living room and seven complete strangers invited me to try their homemade pie and play charades with them. I was tired and exhausted from the drive and my otherwise spent night before, but I couldn't say no to this likeable bunch of people, so I joined them and we played and laughed till way after mightnight. Did I mention I love couchsurfing?

Durango is close to the four corners (and yes, I wanted to go there, but everybody said it wasn't worth visiting, so I didn't take the detour) and to Mesa Verde National Park. The Park is probably more interesting when the weather is a bit warmer, but the entire region was rather beautiful. Downtown Durango is such a cute little town, I really wish I'd had more time (and more energy) to explore it!

this picture really doesn't do it justice

I was reminded of an old TV show, Everwood, which was also set in a small Colorado town. The scenery was amazing, and I can only imagine how enchanted this must look in winter.

I already like Colorado :)

Since I couldn't really walk around much, I decided to drive around instead, do some Inter-State-Hopping and visit Mesa Verde, Farmington and Aztec, where they have a small excavation site of Aztec ruins. I definitely want to come back to Colorady though, maybe finally make my dream come true and work on a ranch somwhere around here for the summer - it's definitely worth a visit!

I like the Rockies :)

State Parks, Graffiti and the Origin of Hamburgers :)

Hello Folks :)

I've decided to pick up this blog again and include some of my more recent adventures in the West.

Our first stop is New York State. Back in September 2013, I decided to visit some friends and explore the Empire State. My adventure started with my rental car at JFK Airport. Picking up a rental in Rush Hour and trying to get to upstate? NOT a good idea! Well, at least now I know that my nerves can handle the stress....

I spent my first night in Binghampton at yet another couchsurfer's house (thanks again Marc!) before I finally started exploring what upstate had to offer. After visiting Albany and Syracuse in 2012, I knew that the landscape up there is rather beautiful, but I was anxious to finally check out some of those state parks! So my first stop was Watkins Glen just south of the Finger Lakes. Well, what can I say? See for yourself:

The walk is about two miles long and takes you along the water. It is fascinating to see how the water made its way through the stone and shaped the Glen. Of course, I was especially lucky to have picked such a gorgeous day! :)

I then drove along the Finger Lakes (beautiful scenery with lots of local wineries to visit!!!) to Rochester to visit yet another couchsurfer. He showed me some of Rochester's graffiti Art scene at an old water reservoir and an abandoned subway tunnel. Here are some examples:

this is my favorite - it reminded me of Native American Art

The Subway Tunnel

some close-ups

Almost missed this one!

I spent a couple of days in Rochester and enjoyed the mixture of small town and upstate landscape as well as the pancakes in one of the diners ;) (I wanna say it was Jay's Diner, but I'm not sure...) I especially enjoyed the old wooden home with the beautiful front porch! I want a front porch...

And, of course, there was also a funny, *did that just happen* kind of story :) So, as some of you might know, I love Hamburg. Most beautiful city ever. And I'm German, and this always seems to come up at some point... So, I'm in Rochester, and my couchsurfer's roommate and I are talking and he brings up Hamburg, New York which is right next to Buffalo. So, of course, I tell him I used to live in Hamburg in Germany and that I love this city more than anything else and so on. He replies with "Do you know the story of the Hamburger?" and I go "Yeah, of course I do, I used to tell it on my city tour bus. Two guys from Hamburg invented the Hamburger in America and they called it Hamburger because that's what they are: people from Hamburg" and the roommate goes "Yeah, but do you know where that happened?" and he goes on to tell me the entire story about how two guys from Hamburg were selling hot dogs at a festival in Hamburg, New York, but they ran out of sausages, so they had to come up with something else, and all they could get from the butcher were patties, so they made Hamburgers! And, yep, he even had a pin from that fair for me :D I love my life!

The End

This is it. I'm back home and the German day-to-day life has re-absorbed me. Before I start my final entry, I want to adress the future exchange students once more. Everything concerning the exchange is labeled "transportation", "housing", "To-do" or "organization" if you have any further questions, don't hesitate to email me or find me in the facebook alumni group. If all else fails, I guess I'll see you at the pre-departure meeting ;) Enjoy your time in Boston, the city is amazing!

So, after visiting 6 different countries and 8 different time zones, testing 8 airlines and 14 different airports on my 16 flights, visiting approximately 40 different cities during my travels, meeting up with old friends and making new ones along the way and after spending 80 (EIGHTY!!!) hours in flight modus, I am FINALLY back where I started - safe and sound in Frankfurt, Germany :)

my facebook map on August 21, 2012

The same map on February 9, 2013

Boston really is an amazing city... It is also amazing how I can miss my Bostonian friends so much, even though I communicate with them almost every day (facebook can be pretty handy sometimes...)
But at least now I have my Frankfurt Friends again :) It sure feels good to be back! Two of my dear friends welcomed me at the airport (Thanks again Maren and Tina!) the rest caught up with me at home on sunday or at the university these past couple of days. I don't think I've ever been welcomed back quite like this :) It feels good to know you guys missed me too. You are very special to me and I'm glad I can randomly run into you at our university again :D

My family welcomed me with a fully equipped front door :) I've said it before and I'll say it again, they are pretty cute sometimes...

Home sweet home!

I bought a couple of souveniers and they were strewn all over my three bags when I arrived... It took me about two hours to unpack everything and I still haven't actually managed to deliver every present ;)

Christmas in February ;)

Ok, ok, I admit, some of it will stay in my room ;) I'm so glad that (almost) all of my favorite people actually made it to my small village on Sunday to spend the afternoon with me and my many stories :) It's a good thing I have this blog, otherwise it would have taken days to fill you in on all the funny, beautiful, incredible, weird, fantastic, overwhelming and life-altering things I've experienced over the past months :) Did I mention that I love my life? 

Thanks again for being there - love you

Well, this is it, things are back to normal, Goethe University is my home again, people are still the same, I now miss people I didn't know six months ago and, once again, I want to thank everybody who supported me before, during and also after this amazing, dream-realizing, mind-blowing trip around the world. Those people are, in no particular oder, the Hessen-Massachusetts exchange program and DAAD, the Caliopean Society, my parents :) the rest of my crazy but cute family, my beloved Frankfurt Word Nerds, the best roommate ever - Maureen, Katie and John, Jeff, Jaynellen and her lovely Texan family, my amazing Canadian Family Barbie, Timm, Carolyn and Lavern as well as Brian, Kyria, Ros, Randy and Jolene and all the other important Canadians :) I also wanna thank all my couchsurfing hosts along the way, especially Randy, Melinda, Walter, Carmel and Thomas, for making my trip extra special and keeping in touch with me even after I was gone. All my couchsurfing experiences were great, but some of them were incredible ;) Also, thanks to all the great people I met along the way, Danushka, Brian, Ursula, Neil, Matt, Steven, Bryana, Nick, Markus, Denise, Claire, Joanna, Carlos and all the others. You're part of the reason why I'll never forget this trip and you will always be welcome on my couch, no matter when our paths may cross again! 

Last but not least, thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this little blog - I certainly did! 

The End

Ni hao from Asia

Singapore to be more precise... But apparently most people here are Chinese, so I think that counts :) After a very long flight (eleven frickin' hours!) I finally made it to Asia! I met a nice Argentinian on the plane and we ended up sharing a cab to the city, because we both didn't want to deal with the public transport system (although it is really easy as is turns out!) The hostel is located in little India and there really are almost exclusively Indians around here! The funny thing is, this city changes all the time, no matter where you go! It's absolutely fascinating!

On Monday, Carlos and I went to Chinatown - definitely my favorite part of the entire city! It is so cool! Full of little market places and food *everywhere* and tons of things to buy for my dear friends at home *gifts for everybody* Carlos didn't like the Asian food but I LOVE it! It's so good and so cheap! It's crazy!

Chinatown!

We found this really cool Buddhist temple and decided to check it out. I had to put on a Sari (which I thought was pretty cool) and I felt rather spiritual walking through the wonderfully decorated temple while some monks were chanting their prayers...

...ok, maybe it was a Hindu temple....

the ultimate temple experience ;)

We then made our way to Marina Bay - What a contrast! This is how I had pictured Singapore! Super-clean and super-modern with skyscrapers EVERYWHERE. Definitely impressive....

Singapore's skyline

At Marina Bay, we also saw one of the most expensive hotels in the world: The Marina Bay Sands Hotel. That weird shape on top of the three towers? That's the swimming pool.... I couldn't help it and checked the rates: rooms start at 500 Singapore dollars per night... I case you were looking for a vacation spot ;)

The Marina Bay Sands Hotel - crazy!

Another famous hotel is the Raffel hotel. Raffels was the founder of modern Singapore, so the name comes up all over the city. The hotel is set in a beautiful street full of palms and there are birds everywhere. It's very colonial...

Colonial remnants

Having a Singapore Sling here is one of the "things to do in Singapore" - but not on a Student budget ;) It was nice to have someone to travel with. Thanks for your company Carlos!

Carlos in front of the Merlion

We went to the Botanical Gardens on Tuesday. I checked out the national Orchard garden - I love Orchards! Hands down, coolest flowers ever ;)

...although some of them looked a little weird...

Tuesday night, I met with a local couchsurfer and we had dinner together at Makansutra :) Makan means food and sutra means paradise! Need I say more? Meeting Joanna was great, as usual we had lots to talk about and ended up chatting the night away! It started raining but we were sitting underneath a big umbrella so it was all good! I actually enjoyed the thunderstorm - made the humity a little more bearable...

Wednesday, I checked out Little India with my roommate Claire. It really feels like little India ;)

Colorful houses in Little India

We had lunch in one of the most popular food halls: Lao Pa Sat *yuuum* I still can't believe how cheap and how GOOD food is here! Anthony Bourdain was right - this city is awesome! ;)

Rocking the Chop Sticks at Lao Pa Sat

Creative and a little crazy...

No, I'm not talking about me... I mean Wellington of course! The last stop of our spontaneous road trip was New Zealand's capital city on the southern edge of the North Island. After only five minutes driving through town, Bryana Nick and I all agreed: Wellington is awesome! There's so much creativity and so much energy in the city, it is absolutely enticing!

The ever busy Cuba Street

We met yet another one of Bryana's friends in a very cool reastaurant called Southern Cross. They have a nice outdoor area where we had dinner and chilled for a bit, before our "guide" took us to the waterfront. Maybe it's the harbor that makes me like Wellington so much, maybe it's the similarities with San Francisco... I don't know but I loved it!

I'm a harbor - fan!

A little bit of sunset romance...

The best part about being in Wellington was that a bunch of other couchsurfers we had met before were there too! We met up with Peter first and then I met up with Glenda and Jorge again *yay* funnily enough, they were also at the Southern Cross, so we went back there...

We exchanged Nick for Peter somewhere along the way...

Couchsurfer Reunion @ Southern Cross!

On our way down to Wellington, we had found out about the Rugby Seven's, an international tournament where a bunch of teams play a special kind of Rugby (only seven players per team). Not that we know much about Rugby, but Bryana wanted a ticket anyways :) It's supposed to be the biggest party in New Zealand and I actually believe that! The best part was, everybody came dressed up! The entire waterfront turned into a circus on friday ;) here are some of my favorite impressions....

(un) fortunately I had to leave Friday night and take the nightbus back to Auckland where I spent one more night at Carmel's and said goodbye to Thomas before I left New Zealand on Sunday morning.

New Zealand, it was a pleasure to get to know you ;) The country is absolutely amazing, the people are super nice and the couchsurfers have made my trip better than I ever thought it would be! Special thanks to Carmel, Thomas, Warwick and Chris, Carol, Glenda and Jorge, Bryana, Denise, Nick, Markus, Jargil, Simon, Aaron, Anna-Marie, Gerrard, the Annas and all the other amazing couchsurfers I met along the way! You rock! Hope I'll see you again some day somewhere ;) 

An unexpected journey...

The good thing about having no plan is that somebody might come along with a plan and just take you with her ;) That's what happened to me when I talked to Bryana on Sunday and she said "Yeah, come with us, it'll be fun!" She wasn't joking! What a fun way to end my time in New Zealand, traveling along the east coast with a Canadian with Kiwi Connections, an American from China, a German dishwasher ;) and a reliable old Campervan :) That's the life!

We started our unexpected journey after the white water rafting in Rotorua on Monday afternoon. Bryana knows people all over New Zealand (or so it seems) so our first stop was Opotiki where her relatives offered us the Bachelor pad for the night :) Jane and Steve were awesome hosts and so one night quickly became two! It was nice to just chill out after so much excitement over the weekend. The only problem was that well all fell asleep on the beach... DON'T FALL ASLEEP ON THE BEACH! Let's just say we all bought Aloe lotion afterwards....

chilling on the beach

As I said, Steve and Jane were awesome hosts and had a nice barbecue for everybody on Tuesday - just what we needed before hitting the road! 

meat anyone?

On Wednesday, we hit the road through the gorge towards Gisborn with the guys in the back and my phone as radio replacement... 

Don't tell anyone ;) 

I wanted to get up in the middle of the night and watch the sunrise in Gisborn (first sunrise on the planet) but my idea wasn't very welcome (too early...) so we had an easy start instead (oh well... I'm not so much of a sunrise person anyways...) In Gizzy we met up with another one of Bry's contacts who offered us coffee and home-brewed beer (and a hyperactive dog who couldn't stop playing ball with us ;) ) It's always great to hang out with locals! 

Reunion in Gizzy!

"Give me the ball!" 

We hit the road again to make it down to Naples - the Art Deco capital (or something...) very cute little town BUT we got there around 5 and EVERYTHING closed at 5:30! The guy in the hostel was not kiddin when he said "you're not gonna do anything tonight..." Luckily, we were quick to find a place to hang out (the Irish pub) and entertained ourselves with some pool and a surprisingly intense game of MONSTER JENGA :) Good times guys, good times!

Fun times!

I don't mean to brag but technically, I was the last one to pull out a block before the whole damn thing collapsed... So, technically, I beat the guys... just sayin' ;)

I got it!

Thursday was road day again. The guys were chilling in the back while Bryana manoeuvered the van through the hills. You're an awesome driver Bry, I'd be your co pilot any time! We "lost" the German in Lower Hutt and later lost the American somewhere in Wellington, so our fellowship was finally broken on Thursday night BUT I had an AWESOME time with you guys! I'm glad I ran into you at the CS event and I think our road trip was pretty epic :) I hope to see you again somewhere down the road! Bry, Ireland is still waiting ;) 

THANKS Bryana, Nick and Markus for a fun week of traveling! Enjoy the rest of your stay here, I kinda wish I could have stayed too... 

The Couchsurfing Campervan Crew! *yay*

Couchsurfing Weekend!

....I don't think I've ever had so much fun with so many strangers before :) I LOVE COUCSURFING! As I've already told you, we climbed up the volcanos on Saturday which is probably why we took it a little easier on Sunday and drove into Taupo to sit in a hot river at Spa Road. It's a river and a hot spring in one, so basically you're just sitting around and there's hot and cold water flowing all around you :) Fascinating experience! We used it to chat and chill in the river :)

just chillin' in the river....

We brought our Couchsurfing banner of course :) We also started a massage row, which had some of the other people look at us with envy ;) Well, we know how to make a spa experience a real spa experience! I think we were sitting around in that river for about three hours... When it finally got too hot for us, we went back into town to have dinner and hang out at the waterfront, taking over the entire Buger fuel and the pub next door ;) Here are some expressions from our group:

Cheers Couchsurfers!

Bryana and Gerard enjoyed the music

Enjoying some live music and the sun

Me and my girls Denise and Bryana

Sadly, some of the surfers already left that day or went up to Rotorua from Taupo. The rest of us went back to the camp and had a very... interesting... evening :)

Gerard's look says it all :)

And then we went white water rafting *yay* SO cool! we met at Okere Falls just outside of Rotorua. When we got there (we were the third group) Nick just got back and when we asked him how it was, his answer was "We flipped, it was awesome!" Nick, I'm still not sure why flipping with a raft after a 7m drop is awesome, but ok... glad you had fun ;) Our raft didn't flip *yay* so we could just enjoy the view! It was absolutely stunning!

We did it!

Okere Falls

The last run lost their guide.... 

"Where is Simon?"

but it was all good, he appeared right next to the raft ;) What a FUN day! What an AMAZING weekend! thanks to everybody who was at the Couchsurfing meeting, I think we all had a blast :) Kinda makes me want to come back next year just to see y'all again :) Awesome! Wicked fun! *happy*

YAY Couchsurfing! :)