Blog
Some stories for the christmas holidays…
As a lot of us are settling into the quiet time over the christmas holidays - I thought i share a bit of reading material. The last few weeks saw quite a few articles published - here the stories - have fun! In the meantime i hope you enjoy tons...
Let’s change the world (get 10,000 girls into school) – Education Explorers!
In my last blog I mentioned my trip to India - I spent a day in a rural village in northern Rajasthan and one of the most striking observation was the way woman were treated there. In general not even as second class citizens - no, they were third class citizens. Most...
Questing in Rajasthan
More than a hundred pairs of curious intense dark eyes were following my every movement as I chewed on my (self baked) chapati. I had just spent the last hour rolling and baking the small loafs of bread on a very basic wood fired oven, then pressed some hot chillis...
Pioneering
Modern Technology & Austria - probably not the most obvious connection... thanks to Tim and Juergen I had the pleasure to attend the Pioneer Festival in Vienna's amazing emperor castle - the Hofburg. Under ancient columns, shiny chandeliers and a bust...
An exponential day in London
I guess most people would say that flying 21012km to meet up with a group friends is a bit bonkers - to be honest, my quick trip to the UK was definitely worth the effort and way more worth the carbon footprint (to be exact 1.84tCO2 :(, which I have offset through a...
Exploring Eastern Tibet
Walking through a valley nobody has ever been, attempting an unclimbed peak – First ascents, exploration in the spirit and style of Mallory & Buhl, to face the obstacles of the unknown has been a dream of mine....for a long, long time! Over the last few weeks that...
Tibetan impressions
Final day in Garzi Town, last hotpot, shower and nice bed for at last two weeks. Tomorrow its time to climb a mountain!
Rain & Pandas in Chengdu
Rain of all sorts has greeted us in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province. Having barely escaped the typhoon in Hong Kong I was hoping for some weather…a no go. It didn’t really matter, however as we spent the better part of the last two days sorting out gear and...
Off to a new adventure…..
"Today the map has no more secrets.” Idle minds repeat that parrot phase. But who knows all Tibet, or its far-away frontier on western China? Even its own prayer-muttering tribes know only their own bleak, wind-swept valleys"-
Looking back a year: My (film) account of crossing the Atlantic
One year ago, I was in the midst of the Atlantic ocean, sitting on the deck of “Switzerland” (bettern known as Heidi) – our entry into the Clipper all around the World Sailing Race. Twenty one strangers and a skipper grew over the length of a long, hot and thirsty...
An exponential Summer
It has been four days since I have arrived back in Hong Kong, and in the pressing humid tropical air I have immediately succumbed to what can only be described severe "Singularity Blues". I am missing the day-long challenges, the inspiring conversations, the...
Graduated..
....or better said moving onward to a life post SU. But before i start into a more detailled story of the last ten weeks, just so much- it was an amazing time, meet the most extraordinary people ever in my life and learned some really cool sh*t (including building...
SU – aka Sleepless University
Remember the following Star Wars scene: Luke showing Obi Wan Kenobi, a hologram of Princess Leia asking for help? This afternoon I had a true glimpse into the future and the hologram became. Together with a several fellow students I made my way into the hills of the...
The big problems (and challenges) of this wold….
“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes!” (Marcel Proust) What are mankind's largest challenges? – here at SU we define them around the following areas: Energy, Water, Security, Poverty, Space, Environment,...
My first week in outer space!
“Stall, Stall, Stall!” There was urgency in the voice that was coming through my headphones. I pushed the rudder down, gave it a little bit of throttle – beneath me the last metres of runway were passing by... But all too late! With a kaboom my Boeing 747 hit the...
The Singularity is Near
As I am writing these lines I am about to land in San Francisco. In a few hours I will start my next BIG adventure – however, this time its not so much a physical one (no mountain to be scaled, no ocean to be crossed), but rather an adventure of the mind: I will...
The power of Change (=my first TEDx Talk)
Back in March i posted: "escape from the hamster wheel" - a summary of my twelve months outside the corporate rat race and the lessons learnt. I was surprised by the amount of feedback i got on it! Thanks a lot!Well, beginning of April I was asked to speak at a TEDx...
A strangled Madonna, Che Guevara and a few Daisies…
Its been a while since i last posted a few words... You might have already started wondering whether i have given up adventuring- rest assured, the opposite is true! Indeed so much has been happening in the last six weeks, where shall i begin? - I have visited seven...
A Kiss for the Lady
On 26 October 1942 the steamship SS Coolidge- the largest merchant ship ever built in the US up to that date - fully loaded with troops and supplies, was taking course on the island of Espiritu Santu in the South Pacific, where a large supply base for the American...
Ashboarding in Vanuatu
Vanuatu? Not sure what or where it is? Your ignorance may be forgiven – its really not the most obvious place I had chosen for a short last minute trip. Located a thousand kilometers east of Australia in the midst of the South Pacific, Vanuatu is a tiny (but...
Escaping the Hamster Wheel
Its 365 days since I packed my huge duffels and headed with tons of kit to Kathmandu – the aim: climbing the highest mountain in the world. As I see some of my friends returning to the mountain, I cannot help but look back and reflect on what all has changed in my...
A Walkabout gone wrong
“Ah, Kosciusko its easy – you can drive to the top!" That should have sent my alarm bells ringing - no mountain, rock or hill is ever easy – its always a function of conditions. And well, the ones that look soo simple are the easiest to underestimate. The pile of...
A day with Flying Kites
Snow, Hail, Mud, apes and big cats.... my trip to East Africa had it all and still, my final day managed to top the previous experiences!I had the pleasure to visit “Flying Kites”, an orphanage in Njabini, around 100km outside Nairobi. Its run by the charity if my...
A tale of Chimps & Silverbacks
I was twelve when I saw for the first time the movie “Gorillas in the Mist” - I remember very clearly how fascinated I was, not by Sigurney Weaver, but by the amazing mammals, and in particular the Silverbacks - the king of the jungle. 24 years later I realized a...
Mud on the Montes Lunae
Mud, mud, mud....and a bit of hail and a long, long way to trek...we are finally back in (sort of) civilization (=a place where they serve beer) after hiking eight days into the midst of the heart of Africa. It all started in Kilembe, a small Ugandan mining town,...
Mountains of the Moon
Mountains of the Moon In 150AD Ptolemy famously referred to the snows of the Mountains of the Moon, that fed the waters of the Nile It took more than 2000 years to find the real origin. When in the mid 1800s daring men started to explore the last white spots of the...
A picnic on Nelion – and an epic climb up Mt Kenya!
What an adventure! Its a week since we left Nanyuki to climb the highest mountain in Kenya and it has been a true experience. We had lots of sun, rain, hail, snow, fog.....and overall it was cold (well, definitely colder than expected!). Already the hike towards the...
Mount Kenya is calling!
Jambo! Its all an Italian's fault that i am in Nanyuki right now: During my Antarctic expedition a few years back i overheard a conversation about the best mountain books. The book mentioned was "No Picnic on Mount Kenya". Never having heard of it, I read it...
Introducing…..Tim
I remember very clearly getting an toy medic helicopter as a present…. for hours I was playing rescue missions on the steep pile of sand in front of hour house, as I was "rescueing" climbers from the treacherous North Face! The helicopter was from Playmobil - famous...
Four Peaks, nine people and 21 hours of fun…
It was just after 7am in the morning, when we finally passed the finishing line. By that time I was shivering, having managed to fill up my boat completely with water (for the second time) and totally soak my fowlies hours earlier. All nine of us, the crew of Stella,...