jeremy in suisse!

bonjour, hallo & ciao from the motherland! welcome reader to the first stop of my 2015 summer euro tour. it's with a great smile that i sit to document my many adventures in switzerland.

focmaps.com

10 days, 8 cities, 167,000 steps rounding out at 100 miles on foot :)

to say that i explored the lands of my great great grandparents doesn't do my feet (nor my pf flyers) justice. every step was a reminder of the many years i spent longing for the day i'd actually be here. although i often found myself taking much needed mid-day snoozes, i promise you, i took full advantage of each and every hour i had.

because of our flight path over the artic, 
i didn't experience darkness for well over 30 hours

the adventure began in earnest with the 20 hour flight to my first city, geneva. we flew over greenland and the artic ocean with stunning views of blinding white glaciers.

a friend i hosted in los angeles last year, anouk, was my incredible host during the time i had in the french speaking west end of switzerland. as i made my way through swiss customs, it was so nice to see a familiar face smiling back at me on the other side of the world!

my wonderful swiss host in geneva, anouk! 
thank you to the entire keller family for your kindness and hospitality :)

during the 5 days i had under the care of the keller family, i was absolutley humbled with generosity and comfort. with anouk on summer holidays, she was kind enough to guide me around the various cities i had on my list.

Geneva

a day spent in geneva, biking around the city and swimming in it's beautiful lake. 
there's a unique collide between two rivers in the center collage above; 
one comes from the lake (blue) the other from the mountains (brown). 
we also made a stop at the U.N. Europe HQ! (top left)

Lausanne

an afternoon spent in lausanne is an afternoon spent on the stairmaster...the city is built on hills, big, exhausting, endlessly beautiful hills! lausanne is across from geneva on lac leman (lake geneva) and another friend i hosted in los angeles calls it her home. katy met up with me and anouk during her lunch break and we sat in the park, catching up on life :) we were also surpised by an impromptu street performance from a band outside lausanne's large cathedral!

La Chaux De Fonds (home village)

my 3rd day in switzerland was ambitous. 3 cities and 5 trains later, i will have seen my home village, la chaux de fonds (above) along with the swiss capital (bern) and ending the day with a stay in the swiss alps (anzere). we spent 3 hours on a walking tour through la chaux de fonds which included a stop at the international watch museum. it's not just my roots that draw me to swiss time pieces, it's the craftsmanship and precision that intrigue me...it was an incredible feeling and privilage to walk the streets in the village of my great great grandparents :)

Bern (swiss captial)

a pleasantly rainy day in the swiss captial! we stumbled upon the U.S. Embassy and i also fell in love with a beautiful wenger watch...it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to purchase a swiss watch in none other than the swiss capital, but to have an instant connection with the piece as well (think harry potter and his wand!) was beyond meaningful.

Anzere (swiss alps!)

unfortunatley, most all of my time in switzerland was accompanied by clouds and rain. although it didn't stop me from enjoying my experience, it did prove for some sub-par images :/ but none tops the rainiest, cloudiest, foggiest conditions like my time in the swiss alps! just outside of sion, a mountain community (anzere) was where i spent 2 nights and a full day covered in the densest mist i've ever seen. we hiked 12 miles rountrip to a beautiful lake that we knew we weren't actually going to be able to see...but the hike (and the 50 ft. radius we could see from any given angle) was still a blast!

Zurich

my experience in zurich would not have been nearly 
as memorable without the amazing host i now consider a good friend.

my zurich host, beat, gave me a guided tour of zurich each night after finishing work. we walked by his favorite places in his beloved city, where tourists rarely venture. he lent me his bike for a strenuous uphill trek to a panoramic view of zurich and it's lake from atop uetilberg. but depsite the shocking views of the city and the surrounding swiss alps, my favorite part of zurich was being treated to the finest local meal of  zurich geschnetzeltes (small pieces of veal cooked in a creamy mushroom and white wine sauce). thank you for your unrelenting hospitality and kindness beat! people like you make the world a much better place :)

Einsiedeln

einsiedeln was a suggestion from my host, beat. i mentioned that 
i wanted a small village atmostphere and his recommendation was spot on! 
i took beat's bike and cycled around a large lake, discovered an enormous monestary, 
summer ski jumping, and two cows i'd now call my friends :)

Luzern

luzern was another suprise visit on my list, and another succesful suggestion from beat. 
it was the 8th and final city to round off my tour of switzerland.

i've now seen more of my home country switzerland than i have of my actual 'home' state of california. and to be honest, i'm totally happy with that! it's an experience i dreamt of as a child, and the time i've spent here has surpassed any expectations i could have possibly had growing up. 

it's a land that invests heavily in it's people, providing countless public spaces that you would actually want to use. in zurich, they have these amazing swimming areas embedded right in the river. docks line the edges with bars and restaurants, and jumping off the bridges is absolutley acceptable :)

it's difficult to imagine the distances i've walked and the many different cities i've managed to see. i even skipped venice, italy, scratched it right off the list, because i wanted, no... i needed more time in this country. although it's undoubtably the most expensive country i've toured so far (about $20 USD for a plate of delicious chow mein...no, not joking) it's people and culture have also been the kindest and most accepting of others.

up next is vienna (wien) and the country of austria! i'm looking forward to a new adventure and hopefully some improved weather!

to my hosts, anouk, the keller family and beat; you must know how incredibly special you've made my time in switzerland. for the memories i'll never forget, and the friends i'll always have, thank you!

thanks for reading!

- j

jeremy in europe 2!

231...this is roughly the number of days worked since mid-september of 2014.  it's now august, 2015 and 4 days separate me from a much anticipated second tour of europe!

august 10 - sept. 7  europe, summer 2015

the alluring history & rich culture of these countries themselves is enough to seduce anyone into a second go around.  but the potentially surprising detail that brought me back is...curiosity.

                                                         source:  swisswatchwire.com

as a child my mother used to mention every so often that her side of the family is swiss.  i knew from a young age that with my darker complexion, a trip pursuing long lost family might end in some awkwardness, but nonetheless, i always took great pride in my half-swiss roots.  to me, the swiss have always meant unparalleled craftsmanship and resolute neutrality.  two things i would be more than happy to have etched into my tombstone (joking, joking...please cremate me!).

i don't have a grand plan to quest after my relatives in the mother country, but i am adamantly curious about the land & culture of switzerland.  and so, it's switzerland where i begin...

i fear this may be your last big adventure old friend...

with my trusty backpack and sidekick adventure bag, i'm packing up a weeks supply of clothes to last for 30 days.  this bag has seen me through moments of paralyzing adrenaline and days of pure elation.  i've had her for 6 solid years, and i couldn't have asked for a better companion.  you're the reason i never have to check a bag, you fit my back like a glove, and you even double as a pillow when i'm desperate...but sadly, with holes in your meshes, and all but busted zipper cords, this may be our last great tour together dear backpack.  lets make it count!

while switzerland is the main attraction, i'm not taking a 19 hour flight with a 5 hour layover in moscow for a one stop tour...

- venice, italy
- vienna, austria
- berlin/hamburg, germany  (and)
- stockholm, sweden

these cities tentatively round off the remaining weeks. and with a eurail pass, my typically well-planned itinerary is not set in it's tracks.  i bought the rail pass for $800, and it allows for 10 full-day train rides, i.e. anywhere i can go (even switching multiple trains) within a 24 hour period counts as 1 day of riding!  28 european countries participate in the eurail pass, and with various packages for purchase, you're bound to find something in your budget.  my only stipulation is that i must use my 10 trips within 2 months...psshhh, done!

representing home with the red, white & blue  :)

as my closet continues to swell with adventure ridden pf flyers, yet another pair joins the collection as this summer's designated euro-tour kicks.  a new pair is vital to my ambitions of exploring 5 brand new cities on foot.  lets see how they hold up to the many miles we have in store together...

my brand new 24-70 f2.8 lense joins me this summer
to slay down europe's architecture once more!

and what would a euro tour be to a photographer without a camera!  sweeping architecture and breathtaking landscapes top my desires, but who knows whats to come...

i invite you to join me on my adventures as i document the beautiful aspects of human civilization and culture in central europe.  with well planned free time (and some luck), i'll be posting  my happenings in each destination along the way.  check-in mid-august for my first stop, switzerland!

to my friends, family and dear sasha for your love and support during this last season of work...

thank you!

i'm inexplicably blessed to once again passionately explore the world around me...

*jeremy in Europe 1!*

as always,

thanks for reading!

- j

jeremy in nicaragua!

it's august, and another summer tour has come to fulfill the annual needs of my mind & body.  welcome reader to my nicaraguan adventure of 2014!

every piece of this trip was defined by the unknown, beginning with the plane tickets...noting some of the words from my last post in greece, i did have big intentions to make my way towards central america this summer.  however, my plan was costa rica...so how did i end up one country north?

i used the small coastal town of san juan del sur as base,
but also spent a night on the island of ometepe in the middle
of lake nicaragua surrounded by two active volcanoes...

while trying to find adventures and accommodation in costa rica, i found the basics to be a bit more expensive than i had anticipated.  in california, and as an american in general, most conversation about travel in central america is usually about costa rica, so i found it kinda easy to forget there were other places to see (huge mistake).  in defense of my ignorance, the united states does have travel advisories in 3 out of 6 central american countries; guatemala, el salvador and honduras...

pasture at the base of volcán concepción on isle ometepe

a friend made a subtle suggestion of nicaragua, and it's as if the map i had been staring at for days suddenly doubled in size. as if my mind realized the possibilities of discovering paradise in a place i knew very little about...

magnific rock, just south of popoyo, nicaragua

over the last ten years, i've made weak, albeit consistent attempts to become fluent in spanish.  a trip to nicaragua was an exciting test of the fragmented lessons i've managed to piece together.  though i live in california with plenty of opportunities to practice, i've always had a fear of trying to speak spanish to native speakers...well the time had come to throw fear aside and embrace the little that i do know for a full-immersion nica experience.

language was a big part of my decision to explore nicaragua, but i was in search of other indulgences as well.  friendship, adventure, solitude and beautiful landscapes...all of which i found each and every day of my nica tour:

to new friends now near and dear to my heart:  alan, milton, emelie, sandrine,
 isabelle, josh, ambur, ashley, brookly and the many more,
thank you for making my nica experience that much more enjoyable  :)

traveling on your own, you're quick to recognize the opportunity to make good friends.  organic companionship is undoubtedly one of the most vital conditions required for me to enjoy any experience.  it serves to make those experiences profoundly more impactful and meaningful...

i spent part of my day on the volcanic island ometepe hiking through
the thickest, densest jungle lands i've ever seen...it got hotter
& hotter as i made my way up the side of the volcano concepción

 i fell in-love with a white dirt bike, and i wasn't it's only admirer.  as i rode past the smallest of villages, locals young and old would smile and wave at me, but many of their eyes were fixed on the bike.  thanks to my moto blanco, i saw parts of this world that few people have been...

with a motor bike, i explored the isle ometepe, a dense volcanic jungle

washing machines in nicaragua are a luxury and i'm pretty
particular about my clothes, so i had the pleasure of
 handwashing my own stuff!

each and every one of the eleven days i had in nica was exciting, new and unplanned.  i spent days surfing, and i spent days exploring back country trails without a map.  i spent afternoons sprawled out on a massive hammock, exhausted from a late night out with new friends...

magnific rock.  popoyo can be seen towards the upper right

i spent hours on a couch watching soccer from all over the world in spanish.  i smoked an entire pack of cigarettes (why?), i watched intense, ground shaking thunderstorms pass by overhead in minutes, followed by luscious sunshine...

i made lifelong friends and i danced on top of benches and tables over the course of three seperate pub crawls.  i was pushed into a pool by a stranger at a pool party, got out, yelled at this stranger for being an ass, then gave him a hug 30 seconds later...

i sat in silence pondering questions of the future.  at 27, i still wonder on a regular basis, what life has in store.  nicaragua is a fascinating country, with much of the population living in the 3rd world, and many dependent on the limited resources of the socialist government.  as i grow older, i think more and more about what i can do to help those less fortunate than me...i witnessed some of the most intense poverty i've ever seen, and i was humbled with how the people made use of their limited resources.  the thought of what they are capable of with the right tools is so inspiring, i can't help but imagine the potential for success.

an extremely wealthy chinese entrepreneur has plans to begin building a canal cutting through the heart of nicaragua in an effort to compete with the panama canal operated by the united states.  the project is creating alot of tension within nica between people for and against the canals construction.  i see the pros and cons of the grand canal, as it's called locally.  it offers a clear economic boost in terms of local jobs, but it also creates significant environmental hazards, including tampering with the countries largest fresh water supply in lake nicaragua, and also the potential disturbance of active volcanoes...

it's the type of story i can see myself being apart of...how, i don't know.  what i do know is that my adventure in nicaragua gave me more than i could have possibly expected.  as i progress in my exploration of civilization and culture around the world, i am continuously reminded of the beauty and wonder of the universe...

for more photos from my journey, see the full album here

thanks for reading!

- j

jeremy in greece!

welcome reader, to the conclusion of my five country summer tour of europe!

the parthenon atop the acropolis

i've spent the last month immersed in the rich european cultures of england, france, spain, italy and now the ancient lands of greece.  i had eight days remaining on my trip when i touched down at the athens airport.  two of them were to be spent exploring the capital city athina, while the grand finale of my adventure was five days on ios, a small island off the coast of athens, about four hours by ferry. 

sunset seen from filapappou hill, just south of the acroplis

my first hosts in this incredibly beautiful city were avi and yiorgos.  two very kind people who ensured my time in greece was not only a jaw-dropping experience, but that each and every piece of my itinerary was stress-free.  with two full days to explore before falling off the earth on ios, my list was simple;  climb the acropolis and spend some time in the athinean sands.  if this seems like a short list, not to worry, as ultimately my list grew to include far more than this;  the parliament building at syntagma, the national gardens, monastiraki, filopappou hill, the panathinaic stadium, nightlife with a wonderful girl in gazi, the sands of kavouri, and yes, the acropolis and its ancient structure, the parthenon  :)

the unmistakable skyline of the acropolis, seen here at sunset from
filapappou hill 

east face of the parthenon

cityscape seen from the east end of the acropolis, lycabettus hill peaks
in the back right

panathinaic stadium, home to the first modern olympic games in 1896

panathinaic stadium, inside the 'hall of flames' where every
torch from each olympic games rests!  1984's torch from
the los angeles games seen above

tunnel that led athletes out into the stadium, a very moving experience

unforgettable memories in greece can all be credited to the hospitality of new friends and hosts who call athina their home...

(from left to right)  stathis, alexia, me, avi, yiorgos!

when my two days in athens had come to a close, the time had finally come to fall off the earth...i was on my way to the remoteness of greece's hidden gem of the aegean sea, ios (eee-ohs)...

standing atop the cliffs of agia theodoti, a beach on the east side of the island

since childhood i've envisioned the tranquility of a personal beach on a remote island far from the commonalities of modern civilization...somehow i knew that ios would offer me this experience.  i had been staring at the island on a map for months and the sight of the white cliffs, deep blue/green waters and the white, blue capped buildings was surreal...as the ferry pulled into the tiny port, i prepared myself for the final adventure to be had. 

agia theodoti

the island is about 15 miles long by 6 miles wide, and somewhere along the rocky, cliffed coastline, was my beach, 'germy's beach' if you will, and i was determined to find it...

my room as i prep for another adventurous day on ios!

the tomb of the famed greek poet, homer.  author of works such as; the illiad
and the odyssey

hundreds of these stacked rock formations dotted the site of the tomb.
i decided to pay my own tribute as well!

my first sunset seen on ios.  i was about 30 minutes from my hotel on the
scoot back from manganari beach...i rode about 20 minutes in the dark...
totally worth it  :)

me and my airplane!

my trusty scooter was more like an airplane, as all the roads connecting the island soar high above sea-level with stunning views of the edges where water and land meet. 

after exploring the island in every direction, i hadn't found my beach...i found alot of great beaches, beaches with girls, beaches with food, beer, snorkeling ..but i hadn't found the one... i decided it was time to ask a local where i might have some luck finding a beach all for myself.  i kept hearing the same name;  "tris klisies", "tris klisies", "oh, yea, you should go to tris klisies for that!  on your way to manganari,  you'll see a cove, just over the hill on your left.  the area will be deserted, and you'll see one or two cars parked there for seemingly no reason...thats when you know you're at tris klisies!"

i followed my instructions and one daft punk, random access memories album later, i arrived at the top of the hill, just left of manganari beach...

tris klisies...surreal

this is the sight i was met with after peaking over the hidden side of the road.  it took twenty minutes to get down the face of the hill, and another thirty minutes of walking clockwise around the cove, until i found...

a lifetime hunt for my own personal beach ends in beauty

hidden away by rocks on either side, i had found my beach, and my tranquility.  it was one of the most beautiful places i had ever seen, the rocks glimmered in crystal clear waters, the air was clean, and the sky...the lifelong anticipation of one day sitting at this place froze me for an instant in time...I wondered if my feeling of accomplishment and completeness was something everyone gets to feel...

my final night on ios was spent on it's most popular beach, mylopotas

coming to terms with the mild depression associated with the final hours of exploring a new country doesn't ever seem to get any easier...the bags are packed, the itinerary, the local maps, metro passes and souvenirs are tucked away in zipped up pouches and pockets.  with the next destination on the horizon, emotions are teetering between sadness and excitement.  sadness that i don't know if i'll ever return to this place that i've just fallen in love with, and excitement for the adventures i'm destined to have in the next city...

well now the next city is home...los angeles, california, usa.  what will have changed since i've been away?  anything?  will it be as if i never left, will i see the world differently?

i wrote 56 pages in my journal over 26 days...the same amount of content recently took me 8 whole months to scribble down back home in los angeles...

i saw unbelievable sights and tacked endless miles onto my pf flyers.  i met people with enough hospitality and genuine kindness to humble me everyday for the rest of my life...and while ive just begun to uncover the many wonders of the earth and the cultures of civilization, i feel tremendously enlightened,  with a deeper sense of connection to all that surrounds me...

thank you to everyone who helped in making this adventure so fulfilling.  to new friends ive made along the way, to old friends who helped me plan my sightseeing in each city!  to the guests i've hosted who gave me the courage to travel alone, and to my hosts, kamila, christophe, dan, steve, avi, yiorgos and stathis;  the memories i've made will last me a lifetime, and they will always be times i can look back at with a smile...thank you for these gifts!

as summer comes to a close, im happy to say it has been the best of my life so far!  so until my next tour of who-knows-where (costa rica?)  i say to you, goodbye for now.  may these documentaries offer you inspiration to embark on your own adventure as well...

thanks for reading!

- j