Trips: Overview

Countries I’ve been to (October 2026)

Current visited countries: 59

Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer

My plans

Plans for 2026/2027/2028:

• South America – Brazil, Argentina, and Chile
• Iceland
• Portugal/Spain: Porto/Coimbra + Galicia
• Bretagne

Other (bigger) projects (for the next years):

• British Columbia with Vancouver (Canada)
• South Africa
• Japan

My latest trips

September 2026: Amsterdam Region + Brussels (Netherlands/Belgium)

The first time I went there, I was 16. I took the train alone, crossing half of Europe. It was before roaming and all the other amenities that make life within the EU so much easier today. I went to many places and saw cities such as Amsterdam, Utrecht, Ghent and Antwerp. For someone who had grown up away from big cities and metropolitan areas, it was spectacular: modern architecture, impressive infrastructure and a kind of open mindset that was almost impossible to find in Central Europe at the time. And this was the beginning of many trips, unforgettable moments and memories, road trips and endless journeys by train.

Even today, in 2026, this region — especially the Randstad in the Netherlands and Flanders in Belgium — remains one of my special places in Europe. The flat, endless landscape, the modern architecture and the vibe motivate me every time to move on, try new things and believe in a better future.

This time, I visited the areas north of Amsterdam, with amazing views of the IJsselmeer in Marken, enjoyed sunny hours in Zandvoort on the North Sea, and spent an intensive week building new connections and gaining new impressions and experiences in Brussels. Benelux is the place in Europe that recharges my “innovation battery” — making me resilient again to people who prefer the past over the future, preserving the present rather than creating new opportunities, and who do not believe in innovation.

My version of these regions might not be complete — and it doesn’t need to be. My experiences from the past 10–15 years, my memories, the music of those years and every new experience have shaped this vision. Together, they give me confidence, energy and motivation to move forward.

Just like the Netherlands created new land from the sea and built cities on it, I believe it is possible to achieve ambitious goals and create something new.

June 2026: Marche (Italy)

What is authenticity? For me, it also means simplicity. And when it comes to Italy it does not mean those fancy restaurants, high-end hotels, dolce vita, Pizza and Spaghetti. Authentic Italy does not exist because there is not one Italy. There are many Italys based on its regions that carry hundred of years of traditions. And it is often a simple lifestyle: Not of choice, but because the region often does not offer much.

When I am getting too annoyed to the Italy Disneyland in big cities and touristic hot spots, then I go to explore regions such as the Marche. Between mountains, hills and the Adriatic Sea there is everything I need for a relaxing holiday. And also this June I had the pleasure to stay some days in the North and Centre of the region. Here everything is basic – and this is what makes it special: Mountains with amazing views in the Apennine, endless hills with beautiful views, medieval atmosphere in Urbino, till the Riviera del Conero with beautiful beaches. Simple restaurants with food that reminds me on childhood on the Adriatic Sea, amazing Sangiovese wine, and the option to hike in the mountains and swim in the sea on the same day, the Marche are one of my highlights in Central Italy. Simple, easy and authentic – and most important: Far away from mass tourism.

June 2026: Gdańsk and Warsaw (Poland)

Poland always surprises. It is often overlooked. It has, especially in Western Europe, still the reputation of being a ex-communist country with little to offer. And here it is where two cities show that they are playing in the top league in Europe when it comes to modern infrastructure: Gdańsk, located on the Baltic Sea in the North, and Warsaw, the Capital, located in the centre of the country. Gdańsk and Warsaw have beautiful reconstructed city centres as both have been severly destroyed during the Second World War. But this is not everything: The cities have amazing modern public transport, outdoor areas such as parks, and it is easy to reach the nature around the two cities. The personal highlight of this trip in Warsaw: The Varso Tower with amazing views over the city. And in Gdańsk it is recommended to not just visit the beautiful old town, but visit also Sopot, Gdynia and especially the Hel penisula: Endless, white beaches on the Baltic Sea!

April 2026: Istanbul

During my studies I have learned a lot about this important city on the crossroads of continents, the meeting point between East and West, the former Constantinople, capital of Byzantine Empire, to Istanbul, capital of Ottoman Empire for many centuries. This city, today home of over 15 million people, offers countless historical remainings from its long history, modern architecture and amazing views on the Bosphorus.

August 2025: Transilvania (Romania)

Travelling through this region offers so much more than Dracula (traces of the real Dracula can be found anyway on many spots). For long, the region has been on the edge of Central Europe, or in the old time, the “Western World”. Villages got destroyed, rebuild and again destroyed. Mongols, the Ottomans, and other frequently devastated the region. During the week, I saw some of so called fortified churches all over Transylvania. Some of them are now part of UNESCO world heritage and show the difficult history of the region. What makes Transylvania so special is the huge variety of languages that are spoken on the territory: Besides Romanian, Hungarians are living in the area for centuries, in some areas they are even the majority. German speaking people were brought or came to Transylvania in the Middle Age creating a modern system of almost democratic types. The heritage of all those people is something you feel throughout all the region. From the beautiful city of Brașov/Brassó/Kronstadt over the medieval Sibiu/Nagyszeben/Hermannstadt to smaller cities such as Sighișoara/Segesvár/Schäßburg the region teaches us that variety is always needed for development and growth. This can be seen especially in Cluj Napoca/Kolozsvár/Klausenburg, a city always in transformation and now an important hub for IT in Europe.

History is not just there to create profit out of it (like it is done with Dracula in many parts), but it can help us to find solutions for problems of the present. People coming from regions “on the edge” are always more attentive and open to new ideas, because for many of them dealing with complexity is simply part of their daily life. With the tools that European Union is giving us, we can use all the cultural variety to come up with new ideas and perspectives showing that nationalistic monotony and a “nation first” mindset will ruin us on the long term. Where can we learn this? In regions like Transylvania that – thanks also to European Union – can use the heritage to show that variety is not something for the museum, but needed to understand the world of the 21st century and its problems.

July 2025: Sardegna

The second time on this beautiful island: This time the Eastern Coast from Santa Teresa Gallura till Costa Rei was part of the trip. Also Costa Verde, located on the Western side, has been visited again. The most beautiful beaches are located in the North around Isola della Maddalena and around Baunei, including one boat trip along the beaches that are often considered the most beautiful of Europe: Cala Goloritzé, Cala Mariolu, and many others. There is no “ugly” area on this island, every beach offers new breathtaking views and deep, blue crystal clear water.

June 2025: Lyon, Annecy, Grenoble and Torino (France and Italy)

Lyon is one of my favourite French cities: It is relaxed, offers an interesting mix of amazing food and a huge city centre that can be easily explored walking around between the Rhône and Sarône river. One of my favourite spots: The view from the Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourvière and the area of Musée des Confluences where the Sarône river ends up in the Rhône. From Lyon it is not far to explore the French Alps with cities such as Annecy with its amazing lake and Grenoble inside the French Alps. This trip also included Torino, the capital of Piemonte region, on the other side of the Alps.

May 2025: Südtirol/South Tyrol + Trentino plus Dolomites

Südtirol with vibrant cities such as Bozen/Bolzano or Meran/Merano that combine Alpine landscape with mediterranean vibes is always worth a trip. Easy to reach from the Alpe-Adria Region, it is the best example also how minority rights can help to create a prosporous region. Trentino is still a bit a hidden gem in Italy, but offers beautiful cities such as Trento (the regional capital) or Rovereto and the (famous) Lago di Garda with Riva del Garda. Between the two regions, the Dolomites are always a nice destination: Crossing over the alpine pass and roads shows you the beauty of the Alps.

September 2024: Calabria – Scalea, Tropea + Isole Eolie (Sicily)

Calabria will need your full attention. It is not Rome, Amalfi, or Venice – this is the real Italy. Raw, wild, but also extremly beautiful. Apart from Tropea, which is the most beautiful city and touristic area of Calabria, there is still a lot of place to discover a region in its original state. From the beaches of Scalea down to Scilla – where you can already see Sicily – this region offers amazing food, beautiful beaches, but lacks of touristic infrastructure (and sometimes infrastructure at all). It is something for people that really want to understand Italy – its beauties, but also the downsides.

The Isole Eolie are vulcanic islands located North of Sicily and West of Calabria. From Tropea there are every day in summer tours to these islands that offer amazing beaches and cute, little villages. The highlight has been Stromboli: Black beaches and erruptions of a volcano!

June 2024: Norway: Oslo, Tromsø, Finnmark (Nordkapp)

When I was about 10 years old I found in a book a graphic that shows the sun position in different locations of the globe at different times of the year. I remember till today how fascinated I was about the fact that the famous midnight sun north of the Polar Circle shines “forever” in the period around the 21st June each year.
And this year I just did it. For months we were preparing this trip to the Far North of Europe, to this special place called Nordkapp. I was checking with anxiety the weather forecasts that even in the first days of June showed every day clouds and temperatures around 10 degrees. How will it be up there?

Already the trip up was amazing. I saw a world that is so unique also because I travelled all the way up from Stockholm with ground transportation. First, we took a night train from Stockholm to Narvik, then a bus till Tromso and then the last approx.. 400 km with the car. On this long way up to the North I saw the vegetation slowly changing: From “normal” woods to small tress, to a landscape called Tundra (something that I remember mostly from geography in school). Sweden, Norway, Finland and then again Norway: Every day we got up more to the high North.

And with every Kilometer towards the Nordkapp also the weather got better. On the way: waterfalls, endless plain lands, high mountains still with snow, and the famous Norwegian Fjords.

And then there was the day: Nordkapp. The Polar Sea. And the sun was shining in this night of July all night. The clouds got away and the sky got clear when I felt the sun on my skin at midnight. This is the moment where I felt that another childhood dream came true.

May 2024: Basque Country, Bilbao (Spain) + Bordeaux (France)

This part of Spain is an autonomous region located in the Northeast with own traditions and language that covers also part of what is today France. The city of Bilbao is one of my favourite cities in Spain, not just because of the mix of old and new architecture, but also because here tapas are not a touristical thing, but the pinchos, how they are called here, are cheap and incredible tasty. Close to Bilbao there is Gaztelugatxeko and other coastal towns also amazing nature and castles, as well as with Donostia / San Sebastián also a beautiful city. On the French side, small villages in the hills and Biarritz (a bit posh) and Bayenne (the highlight of this part of Basque Country!) offer many things to visit. Bordeaux is one of my favourite French cities, amazing wine and food combined with even more amazing architecture. And: Dune du Pilat, the highest dune of Europe directly located on the sea with amazing views!

January 2024: Zanzibar, Tanzania

What was the plan: Escaping winter and going to summer. 7 days of hot weather, sun and tropical landscapes. Besides this I did not have much expectations to this holiday on the beautiful islands of Zanzibar in the Indian Ocean.

Yes, I found all that in that jewel of Tanzania. The beaches were amazing, the colour of the water exceptional and the weather hot with plenty of sunshine. During our trip, we discovered several areas of the island, from North to South. Each beach is different: From the wide and sandy beaches of Nungwi and Kengwa to the islands around the capital, also called Zanzibar, and the beautiful beaches in the South, in particular Mtende. Zanzibar is the perfect place to escape the winter on the Northern hemisphere and it offers for almost all type of beach lovers something: More quiet areas, busy cities – and yeah, here it starts the interesting part: Zanzibar and Tanzania surprised me, multiple times.

I expected a island with not much to do, some beaches and that’s it. But this island offers so much, even interesting historical treasures such as the old city centre, the so called “Stone Town”. Between colonialism from Portugal and United Kingdom, also Oman shaped the cultural life of today’s island.

The tropical fruits are the most delicious one I ever had. The people are kind and always friendly, at the beach, on the street and in the hotel, Hakuna Matata is not just a motto, it is a way of life. But I also saw the poverty in the rural areas, I experienced frequently power outages and saw the bad infrastructure.

But besides this all, what is the most important: This trip opened a new world for me, a world that was not part of my education curricula in Europe and that is barely appearing in the media. Wikipedia was a companion on all this trip together with suncream and water bottles. This trip, planned as a simple beach holiday, turned out to be much more. Every trip can help you to understand better this world – if you are ready for it. For me, one thing is clear: I will definitely come back to explore more.

August 2023: Corsica/Corse

During these cold days with almost no sun, I am dreaming of summer and I am thinking on Corsica/Corse, this beautiful island in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea.

This place is magical. It offers magnificent beaches, especially the Plage de Saleccia, the Plage de Piana or beaches around Bonifacio. There is no place to mention all the beautiful places we saw during the trip around the island.

But Corsica is also wild, a rebel inside France with a strong own identity and a own language that shows the deep connections to Liguria and Genova.

To understand the island, it is not enough just to visit the beaches, you need to see the mountainous landscape in the heart of the island. You can hike, swim in a river and in the sea in one day. Corte is my favourite city also because just behind the city there is a beautiful spot to swim in the river.

Corsica is unique and has its own character, it is wild and peaceful. I will definitely come back to this beautiful island.

June 2023: Canada: Nova Scotia, Ottawa, Toronto

The predominant element in Nova Scotia is water. Already from the airplane you can see the many lakes that are located all over the region and close to the Atlantic Ocean.

Together with the deep blue sky they match pretty well. Nova Scotia seems endless, especially for Europeans. The landscape is wide, on every corner there is a new lake or a new bay of the ocean.

It is called “Canadas Ocean Playground” and indeed it is a playground that needs to be discovered. If you love water like I do, this is the right place!

Visited towns: Lunenburg and Peggies Cove as well as Martinique Beach and the capital Halifax.

Spring 2022: Andalusia (Cadiz, Sevilla, Granada)

Summer 2021: Lefkada & Kefalonia (Greece)

Summer 2020: Sicily

February 2020: Australia & New Zealand

One of the best things I did it in my life! Visited Melbourne, Sydney and parts of Victoria & South Australia including the Great Ocean Road and the coast until Adelaide, In New Zealand I visited the North Island with amazing weather, beautiful beaches and lot of sunshine. I visited Auckland, Wellington, the Far North, the Coromandel Penisula and the Rotorua region.

September 2019: Cyprus

This beautiful island in the Mediterranean Sea is packed with beautiful beaches, ancient cities and remains from more than 3000 years of history. I have been to the capital Nicosia, to the most beautiful beaches close to Agia Napa and to the highest mountain of the island, Mount Olympos. Also Paphos is worth visiting it.

September 2019: Canada (Ontario)

Not my first time to Canada – and definately not my last trip! I visited again the urban Toronto and discovered new perspectives of the city with a private boat drive from Missisauga to Downtown Toronto. This time I explored the rural parts of Ontario as well as again the Niagara Falls.

September 2019: Bahamas

My first time to the Carribean! The trip to Nassau and to the Paradise Island resort was amazing. White, sandy beaches, a clear sea and lots of attractions made this trip very special!

August 2019: Summer in the Alpe-Adria region

Two trips around Slovenia and Northeast Italy as well as Southern Austria visiting the amazing Soca Valley in Slovenia, the city of Gorizia/Nova Gorica and other new places in one of my favourite holiday destinations!

August 2019: Bulgaria (Sofia & Plovdiv)

Short trip to a new country in Southerneast Europe! Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, offers a lot of attractions as well as good and cheap food. Plovdiv, the European Cultural Capital of 2019, you can discover more than 3000 years of History!

July 2019: French Alps, Provence, Côte d’Azur and Liguria

In hot July I crossed the Alps on the highest possible point by car, the Col de l’Iseran (2764 m), going down then to the Provence, to Aix-en-Provence and Marseille. Along the Côte d’Azur I discovered amazing beaches with a pristine underwater reefs. We stopped also in Liguria.

May 2019: Madrid & Castilla-La Mancha (Toledo)

I did not expect that Madrid is so beautiful! The Spanish capital offers a nice old town, a lot of attractions and tons of good food. A day-trip by rental car brought me also to the Valle de los Caidos and the San Lorenzo de El Escorial Castle as well as to the former capital Toledo with his medieval town.

April 2019: Milan, Liguria & Tuscany

Short-trip to Milan, the nice town of Portofino and Florence – including good food.

April 2019: Stockholm & Uppsala

My first real time in Sweden (before I just visited Malmö for some hours)! I added some days to a business trip and discovered the swedish capital as well as Uppsala with his famous university.

February 2019: Jordan

Sleeping in (and then exploring) the desert of Wadi Rum was amazing! We discovered Petra, part of the Unesco World Heritage, the capital Amman and the countryside of Jordan up to the Red and Dead Sea.

September 2018: Israel

Living in the heart of Tel Aviv – on my 5th trip to Israel I finally had the opportunity to discover my favourite city in Israel directly from the center. Amazing sunsets, the smell of the market and one day-trip to Akko had been part of this trip.

September 2018: Portugal

The city of Lisbon and unforgetable days on the Algarve coast in the South! The amazing beaches of Lagos and Albufeira as well as the Capo de Sao Vincente were the highlights of this trip.

August 2018: Romania

I visited Timsoara and the Banat region as well as Cluj Napoca and Sigishoara in Transilvania. Pristine nature and sustainable tourism make Romania to an interesting country. Driving on the highest point of the Romanian road network on the “Transalpina-Road” was also one amazing thing we did there!

May 2018: Sardegna

Beach-tour around the beautiful island of Sardegna! Had been to Alghero, Cagliari and many other towns around the island. From the beautiful beaches close to Santa Maria Gallura to the “Costa Smeralda” close to San Teodoro and Villasimius – Sardegna, we will definately come back!