An awesome day in… Berlin: Neukölln & Kreuzberg

Berlin has many beautiful days to offer that are far away from the usual tourist marathon. Since I have made Neukölln and Kreuzberg the center of my life for some years now, here is one of my favourite days in these districts.

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Avocado Chocolate Cream

I love avocados and chocolate. Together they make my favorite dessert with minimal effort.

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Your Mothers Nightmare #378: About Wildcamping in South America

Admittedly - before I arrived in South America, I myself had some concerns when I thought more carefully about the idea of sleeping a lot in nature. Hardly any person I met before the beginning of my journey had anything good to say about South America - no matter which country. It appears to be a great need for many people to warn of possible dangers in the countries one is travelling to. That the dicey situations, which are shared with you without asking for it, did not usually happen to the narrator, but to the friend of an acquaintance, doesn't matter. It's hard to not pay too much attention to those drawn pictures. I admit that I don't always succeed in this, but in order to be dissuaded from a project, it takes more than the widespread fear of the unknown, which seems to live in many people.

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Things you seriously don’t have to pack

There is nothing more unpleasant than carrying a heavy backpack from place to place and finding out too late that one or the other thing was really superfluous. Here is a short list of things that have proven to be useless on my travels or that performed too badly in the weight-place-usage ratio.

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What I would have liked to know before I travelled to… RWANDA/KIGALI

Just over 20 years ago the Rwandan genocide took place and yet the country seemed to me to be the most organized and cleanest country in Africa. The atmosphere on the sleepy streets of Kigali, which wind their way up the green hills of the city, seemed somewhat bizarre and surreal. A country with a violent history, great ambitions and concealed contradictions.

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My dearest travel companions: the Menstrual Cup

While travelling I usually found the period unpleasant. While packing, I already counted how many I would need to avoid the uncomfortable situation, to find none if I ran out or had to resort to uncomfortable alternative options, mostly mercilessly overpriced. Some years ago I found the solution for this miserable calculation (and if you are on the road for a long time also wasting space): the menstrual cup.

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My dearest travel companions: Apps and Websites

A smartphone makes travelling a lot more comfortable. You don't get lost on it if you don't intend to, you communicate with friends you left behind or with your worried family, and you can access the endless information on the Internet. Read here which apps and websites I find particularly helpful.

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What I would have liked to know before I travelled to… TOGO

If you travel to Togo as a German, you can be assured that you will often explain where that is. The country is hardly known in Germany - despite 32 years of colonial occupation. Although Togo is hardly bigger than Lower Saxony, it has a lot to offer. Here is a list of things I would have liked to have known before I got there.

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Vegetables with Peanut Sauce

Here is a simple dish with lots of vegetables and a delicious peanut cream that always delights me.

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How To Buy A Car in Colombia

Long before our departure it was clear that sooner or later we wanted to buy a car to travel to South America. We both already owned cars for other long-term journeys and fell in love with the freedom one gets by owning ones own four wheels. But when we arrived in South America, we had to realize that buying a car here is not as easy as in New Zealand and the information you can find on the Internet mostly refers to Chile, which seems to be the country to go to if one wants to buy a car. However, as we were in Ecuador and wanted to head north, a detour to Chile was out of the question. So we started digging ourselves through the Colombian car purchase process with a lot of help from lovely people. Here comes a How-To Car Buying Guide for Colombia.

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Traveling by bike in South Africa

Several day tours on the bicycle, bicycle vacation, or even riding only from one city to another without a car is impossible in South Africa, because it's far too dangerous - these were the usual comments about my plans to travel with the E-Bike from Stellenbosch to Tanzania. "If you don't get attacked, you'll at least get a ruthless minibus driver to get you hospitalized." Nevertheless, I dared to do it and had only positive experiences.

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An awesome day in… Stellenbosch, South Africa

Stellenbosch - a city that I somehow love, but that on the other side is the most racist city I know. Here are a few more or less insider tip's on how to get to know "Stellies" in a day on foot.

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