Living in the tropics is beautiful. The palms are swaying, the sky is blue, the mangoes are sweet — and by 10:30 in the morning, your house can feel like someone accidentally parked it inside a pizza oven. So yes, staying cool is not a luxury here. It is survival. But the power bill? That …
In my last article, I told the story of the strange chain of coincidences that eventually led me to Lizz: Fiji, German friends, Skype, and one unexpected “hello” from a woman in the Philippines who was apparently a little bored at work. It still sounds ridiculous when I write it down. If someone had told …
In May 2005, I returned to Fiji after ten years. Not because I had planned some beautifully organised “spiritual journey back to the South Pacific,” with a notebook full of dreams and a playlist of ukulele music. No. The truth was far less poetic and much more German tax-consulting-office-related. I had just quit my job …
One might think that my return to Hawaii, after weeks in the South Pacific, would have felt like a grand finale. A beautiful last chapter. A soft landing back into the world of leis, aloha, palm trees, and Tom Selleck-style shirts. Well… not exactly. My return to Hawaii began with an immigration officer. Not a …
It has been two months since my mother passed away. Two months sounds like a long time, but grief doesn’t follow a calendar. During the day, I am mostly okay. I keep myself busy. I do what needs doing. I write, I remember, I move from one task to the next. But when the day …
Another night flight. This time from Rarotonga to Fiji. On the evening of May 17, 1995, I left the Cook Islands and flew west across the Pacific. The flight itself was not very long, maybe around four hours, but something very strange happened on the way. I lost a whole day. Not emotionally. Officially. Because …
After leaving Moorea, I was still emotionally somewhere between paradise and heartbreak. From the window of the plane, I had watched the island slowly disappear on the horizon, and I had already made my promise: I would come back. The addiction had started. The German man from Fiji had been right. But the South Pacific …
The German man from Fiji had warned me. “Moorea is beautiful, Andi. But be careful. It can make you addicted.” When he said that on the phone in Germany, I smiled. It sounded nice, of course. A good sentence for a travel brochure. But after my first morning on Moorea, after the salty catamaran crossing …
I already told you about that famous Hawaii shirt I bought in Hawaii in March 1993, the one from the Tom Selleck Collection. Back in Munich, this became my newest fashion trend. Maybe “trend” is a bit optimistic, because I was actually the only person following it, but every great movement has to start with …
“Travel makes you speechless, then it turns you into a storyteller.” ― Ibn Battuta Travel Makes You Speechless — Then Annoying at Dinner Parties This quote of the day is painfully true. Travel has a funny way of first shutting you up completely — and later making it almost impossible for you to stop talking. At …