Category Archives: General

whatever does not fit in a particular category, or is related to more or other countries.

FOMO (fear of missing out)

28 Sunday Jul 2019

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So I made it. I survived the heat wave. Although I must say it was quite bad, or so I read and heard. The Belgian all time heat record has been beaten. It was more then 40C.

But I cheated. I went south, to more ‘normal’ temperatures, even though we also had peaks of 38c, we had lows of 13C.

We have done a bit of an unusual thing, at least for a Belgian. Instead of flying to our holiday destination, or driving straight to it, get there as fast as we can, we took as many detours as we could find, on winding mountain roads, just for the fun of it. Yes, we love driving! For us it is not a way to go from A to B. It’s the sport, the act of driving itself that we love. Our holiday starts as soon as we get into that car. Even though we try to avoid traffic jams, they don’t freak us out as they do to many people.

We did a mere 1000km extra on the most beautiful roads, we drove 5 days instead of the -normal- 13 hours. Driving long distances is something we learned while living in Argentina, and what we learned to love and appreciate. Stopping to visit and see things instead of speeding to be ASAP at the destination is so much more fun! We suffer from FOMO, fear of missing out. Pass by an interesting place without stopping, without finding out what it looks like, imagine!

Mountain roads, mountain passes, hairpin curves, in combination with amazing landscapes, high mountains and grand landscapes, driving uphill and then down again. That’s not what we Flemish, in our ‘plat pays’ (song by Jacques Brel describing our lands), are used to. Our country is flat. Our country is small. And still we think everything is far away. Dinner in Brussels (1h drive)? Too far!

Perception!

It’s all in the mind!

Grossglockner Panoramic Poad, Goldek Pass, Nockalmstraße in beautiful Austria, have you ever heard these names? And what about the even more spectacular Dolomite Road, Sella pass, Gardena pass and the Santa Maddalena road in Italy? I hadn’t, actually. Mr. Google introduced them to me. Truly amazing and spectacular views! Driving for the fun of driving? Well the Dolomites are definitely my favorite European roads. A place to go back to in other seasons, I guess it’s not for nothing UNESCO world heritage…

5 Days and 2300 km further and my holidays experience is at its height. It has t even started yet, but I’m ready…!

ps all images taken with my phone

Back in the game…?

13 Thursday Jun 2019

Posted by in Belgium, blog, General

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Has this blog become dormant? Maybe it looks like it, but well, it isn’t anymore! We are now 3 years further in the 21st century and here I am again. A tourist, no longer an expat and always a local. Yes guys, I guess I have officially moved out of Argentina!

For years I have been wondering, together with my readers, why I had moved to that beautiful country in the Southern Hemisphere, and being back in Europe I truly wonder why I didn’t stay there.

But well, I didn’t. Life changes.

A blog for tourists, expats and locals. Doesn’t that sound exciting? Who of the 3 are you? Where do you live? Where are you from? Where are you going to? Don’t we all wonder about that? Aren’t we all moving from and towards something (more or less) interesting?

I will now start to focus on life here in Europe. That continent more or less the same size of the USA, but with 740 million people living in 44 different countries and speaking 24 different languages. Where cultural differences are significant and which makes it all just more interesting. A continent that is so rich in history that it’s considered an open air museum to the rest of the world.

I will start exploring, together with you ! I have been away for a significant time (8 years) so this might become an interesting ride!

Like, tourism. Did you know that in 2018 Europe received 713 million international tourists, that’s about half of all the tourists in the world!? (source UNWTO)

Should we embrace tourism? Or try to stop it? If it weren’t for Ilja Leonard Pfeiffer ‘s book “Grand Hotel Europa”, I wouldn’t have thought much about it. Now I do. Think about it.

Check out my next post to find how I cooperate in tourism, and a lot lot more!

PS also check out my news section in my website to and follow what I do in relation to my work as a photographer

PS foto : Gent, Belgium, taken with my fish eye lens.

Pa

The Red Light City

08 Friday Apr 2016

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Patience is what I thought I have already learned. When you live in Argentina, patience is what you need. To wait in line at the bank, to wait in line for the bus, to wait in line for the supermarket, only patience can save you. And I thought I had quite enough to face the world’s challenges.

Until I started traveling in Europe and ended up in Zurich, Switzerland. A beautiful little city on the lake with the same name ; very, very picturesque, cobble stoned streets full of nice restaurants and shops. It has international vibes, let’s say I heard more English spoken than German. Suisse German I must say. Although my German is quite rusty, I do understand most of what a German says, where as I can’t figure out anything these Suisse are saying. Fortunately (for me) the Suisse are true polyglots.

But what struck me most when coming here, is the amount of red lights. It seems the huge amounts of traffic lights are all set on red. For cars as well as for pedestrians.

Wait. Wait. Wait.

So stressful I decided to take out my chronometer. Probably the first time I ever used that thing on my phone. 1 Minute until it switches to green, long enough to let 6 cars or so pass. If you can’t pass through the first green, add another minute or so to your schedule.

Or more.

Same for the pedestrians, 2 to 3 red lights -or even more- to get to the other side. Compared to this, crossing the 9 de Julio in Buenos Aires feels like a breeze.

But I am not complaining. Today I will leave the car where it is, in the parking lot of our hotel just outside the old city center, and try out the public transport. And as a pedestrian, I am bad, I cross the streets when the light is red and there are no cars. What is normal in Buenos Aires, is not done in Switzerland, but well. If that is as bad as I will be today, we shouldn’t worry too much, should we?

Lists

01 Wednesday Jul 2015

Posted by in do & go, General

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I think everyone has a list of places he or she wants to visit in his or her life. Historical places, see the land where your favorite tv show or movie was filmed, hear say : about everyone you know has been there and loved it. London Paris New York, New Zealand, Patagonia, Bora Bora… 
I am quite sure that Scotland figures high in many a list. It is a country rich in history : you could stay in the same place for days and visit castles around you, or travel around and see one every single day. Its nature, at least in the north, is mainly unspoiled and in a way it resembles some parts in Patagonia, but then without the sun and the wind. Several places have definitely been used in various movies. It is full of water, lochs or seas, so plenty of opportunity to do water sports. And if you enjoy some Scottish heritage that tastes good, there are plenty of whiskey distilleries to visit. 
If only the weather were a bit more cooperative, but then I would imagine it way too crowded to be fun. Many a time we told each other that this is probably a great place in summer, until we realized we actually are in summer. The wild landscapes go perfectly with low dark clouds and the sun coming out just occasionally, but it’s the lack of agreeable temperatures that withholds you from getting in a true summer spirit. Temperatures between 7 and 14C are more like Buenos Aires winter temperatures then what we expect in summer. On the over hand, days are so long it hardly gets dark at night, so however cloudy it is, you are sure to get enough light in a day. 
While Europe is suffering and sighing under a terrible heat wave, temperatures towards 40 and more, tennis players almost killing themselves on the main court in Wimbledon in 40 degrees, northern Scotland will get a mere 22 degrees. A perfect place for heat haters. 
But whatever the weather, Scotland is Scotland, and actually should be on everyone’s to do list. Lots to see, lots to do, good food, and great people (if only you understand what they say).

Although my biggest disappointment being not having seen any of the William-Lawson’s-whiskey-commercial men in quilts. Do they only exist in dreams? 😁
William Lawson’s whiskey commercial men in quilts

The Perfect Housewife

15 Wednesday Apr 2015

Posted by in Argentina (home), General

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It’s not even 10 am and I have already cleaned the entire house, done the laundry, emptied and stored the suitcases, and I even have had time to drink various coffees. It must be that I have finally become the perfect housewife?

Maybe the fact that we had just arrived home the day before, a day I had spend sneezing every 5 seconds and emptied a complete Kleenex box in no time, probably had something to do with my sudden eager to clean. Two months and a half of dust had gathered, well, about everywhere.

But I guess I should truly blame it on the jet lag I say I never suffer from. Traveling through time zones has always been easier on me then the daylight saving time, which stays in my body for days if not weeks. But then a time difference of merely 5 or 6 hours isn’t exactly the end of the world.

Traveling east is easy as long as you don’t have to wake up at ungodly hours, traveling west is even easier if you don’t mind making some early mornings. And if all goes well, in less then 5 days your back in your normal rhythm.

But here are some tips to get over a jet lag :

1. The flight : Change your clock to the time of destination as soon as you get on        the plane

2. NEVER EVER THINK ABOUT THE TIME IN YOUR PREVIOUS DESTINATION.

3. The first day : When traveling east : do not have a nap on your first day. Try not to book anything for the first night, and go to bed when you ‘feel it’s time’, even if your watch says only 9 pm. If you miss this moment, you’re up for a long night and a couple of difficult days. When traveling west, it is ok to have a nap, and try to go to bed as late as possible. Make sure the room is blacked out, or use an eyemask.

4. NEVER EVER THINK ABOUT THE TIME IN YOUR PREVIOUS DESTINATION.

5. In both cases, take melatonin half an hour before you go to bed during 5 Days. It brings your sleeping rhythm back on track.

6. But the golden rule is NEVER EVER THINK ABOUT THE TIME IN YOUR PREVIOUS DESTINATION.

But although I do feel the jet lag, it doesn’t really bother me. And it certainly won’t stop me from traveling through time zones. It is only when it comes to communicating that time zones bother me. And, with kids on each side of the atlantic, that is about all the time.

Super glad to be back in BA, super happy to be home again. Now close in time to my daughter, and far from son. But no worries, times are changing soon.

Global Citizens, a new start

04 Saturday Apr 2015

Posted by in Argentina (home), Belgium, General, New York

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KTIM4412

OK Guys, I am back. After -how long has it been?- more then a year I am afraid. Maybe even 2. But Ok, nothing is lost, yet!

I was completely tired of the subject ‘why on earth did I move to Argentina’, as I felt like I had totally answered that question, over and over again.

Now I seem to ‘suffer’ from the Empty Nest Syndrome, with kids that study abroad (that is, outside of Argentina), which forces me to travel more. (Poor me). My trips are so long that I start to wonder wether I am a tourist, an expat or a native myself. Although I still ‘live’ and totally ‘love’ Buenos Aires, I am quite happy in the other countries I have been spending my time. And that’s when I realized that I have actually become a Global Citizen. 

Global Citizen :

Noun. 1. A person that intentionally chooses to consider all countries as potential places to live, work, and play.
2. A person that can rationalize their life experience without undue consideration of national boundaries or cultural differences.

Fortunately my job as a photographer allows me to work from whatever place on earth, so there are no boundaries whatsoever. That’s when I thought it time to start sharing my experiences again, with whoever is interested in reading them.

Here’s to a new start!

PS feel free to comment, good or bad, I have always liked that!

(photo : globalisation : Belgian fries in Manhattan ©katti borré)