Challenging the World

14/04/2020

14/04/2020

One of the most frequent questions are "where do you sleep everyday" so I thought I will capture the place I slept very day or try it at least as good as possible. For people who haven't been traveling it's may a bit awkward, for 'real traveler' it's just normal. Enjoy!

14/04/2020

I hate trash! Especially if it's not in the trash bin where it belongs!
So I usually pick up everything I find on my way, especially in nature. From now on I try to capture what I will find before putting it where it belongs. I hope it's an inspiration for others to also do so. The problem is everywhere and includes everyone, be not only responsible for yourself, also look a bit around as well. It's not about the quantity, it's not about to impress, it's rather about to take a little bit more out of nature as you brought in. This is the secret, if everybody would do that it would look nice and clean everywhere. I try to do my part, are you trying to do your part? Get inspired! :)

02/02/2020

Everything is perfect? The conditions, yes. Everything else? No, it's not and it doesn't looks anything but good if I get rid of my pink sunglasses. It's a hard decision to make, to just ignore it and try to enjoy it as long as it's possible, or to act and try to change something. Our glaciers are almost dead already, what will follow next...?

17/01/2020

Let's get back to business, put the pink sunglasses back on, forgot everything happening in this world and head into the mountains to find peace and enjoy yourself.
I would like to share with you the probably most amazing picture I took last year. There, on the summit of Giebnegáisi, Sweden, everything was perfect; the light, the timing, the northern lights.

I would like to present this picture with a poem I did hear the very first time at the Mountains on Stage film festival from the movie Félicité from Pierre Hourticq. The poem was written by his brother Benjamin and I translated it into english after I got it from the Mountains on Stage crew. Every single time I was reading it, I was crying. Not one single time without tears in my eyes, this is how deep it goes, enjoy!

Since millennia
Humans kept away from me

Why?
You might ask.

For a long time they saw me
as a hideout
from gods and fantasy creatures.

I see the things more simple

But human being disguised
the unreachable as a myth.

Out of cowardice
he doesn't dare his weakness
to admit to something bigger.

I have
a certain contempt for him.

To see what they do with the forests
and oceans.

Because they always crave control.
Am I next on their list?

Or will her fear
protect me from their greed?

For about a century
people seek me out.

I'm starting to understand
that this species is more complex
than I believed

Apparently humans
does not fear me anymore.

Their conquest of the lower world
helped them overcome his fear of me
and gave them courage and trust.

Maybe carefree too?

In front of this greedy being
I have to protect myself.

So sometimes I scare them.
Watch out, watch out!

I remind them of their previous fear
call them to humility
and show them their unimportance.

Bow down to my sharp needles
and my pure ice.

Face me without cheating,
do not rely on machines or tricks.

Only the essential as you are.
Earn my respect and then

I might get soft
and surrender indulgently to you.

Only your distance and your respect
can open the doors
to my charm.

Because under my cold, rough look
I hide the gentlest feelings
you'll ever find

Ecstasy and exuberance.
Inner peace.

In the middle of my white blankets
you'll experience never-before-seen dreams.

Yes, go ahead. Have fun.
Do you see?
I am not that cruel.

We can be a good team.
Let's go together
Stardust dance and dream.

Just an advice:
Don't come alone.

You know, only respect and humility
can protect you from me

You listen to them.
How many times
your comrades saved you
from your foolishness and forgetfulness.

If you ignore my threats
they listen for you

When blindness comes over you
they see for you.

Connected by the rope
like an umbilical cord,

you have to stay together
to intercept each other's weaknesses.
Appreciates and maintains this connection.

I am strict but fair.
If you really explore my dream
you'll find more than just fun.

In our crazy dance
behind the slides of my dress,
is the secret of your being.

Because yes, you
which I called unimportant

can set yourself free
from the vices of your species.

Be thankful for me
But not only that.

Know that these towering moments
have a price.

I'm not a treasure
that you conquer and keep.

I can always deny you
violated,
so that you never come back to me

Since you took what I gave you
are you my prophet.

Tell it all of your species.

Preach the respect I deserve
as well as our mother:

The nature.

Advise them to fear me.
But also tell them
how gentle and fair I can be

Behind the curtain of your dream
who knows,
maybe that's the truth

You find awareness about your being
and your unimportance to me.

Draw from your imagination,
explore my most beautiful
and most glorious pages.

But always with caution
under my most beautiful splendor
I hide my greatest dangers.

You have to learn humility, respect and courage.

But can you make it
to climb my heights

you find the gentleness
of rarity and bliss.

Some call me cruel.
Wrong.

Unlike you
I am free of vice.

My natural superiority
is undeniable.

I don't have to split
to rule.

So come together
polish your friendship
like a diamond.

Against them
have the gems,
that I hide, no value.

Learn to share what I give you.

I don't belong to anyone
and yet I belong to everyone.

Don't demand a right over me
no property.

Get rid of your selfishness.
Share the emotions that I give you
but also my respect.

Do you see,
how gracious I am?

I make you better
altruistic and happy.

15/01/2020

After spending NYE in a cosy mountain hut in the Swiss Jura I felt like some sun, some heat, some warmth.
Instead of spain or south france I ended up in Finale Liguria, Italy and was more than happy with the conditions! As long as the sun was out, it was amazing, even warm enouth to climb topless! It's also been ages I had an proper campfire to starr into, an empty and beautiful little beach and all under a rock roof, what else can you ask for?

13/12/2019

From the north of Scandinavia I traveled down to the south, to attend the European Hitchgathering in Denmark. A friend of mine wanted to teach me for a while already, but it never worked out. Now it finally did for a short amount of time! :)

29/11/2019

It's late and I actually want to sleep, but I feel the need to express my self and think it's more important then to be tired.

First of all sorry for sharing a German page, I hope you don't mind and I'm sure you still get what it's about!

I spent the last couple of days in a stable and save environment and mainly fixed things which I destroyed during my travel or things that came fresh from the container. You know, repairing, reusing, upcycling and in the end recycling. The process went along with Black Friday advertising the whole time, I had to turn of the radio, I couldn't stand it anymore. It drove me crazy and all this consuming s**t we actually don't need with kill us in the end.

But I can also remember a time when I was also one of this sheep buying things because it seemed like a bargain. I did it a lot and I found a lot of things super cheap and I was happy, at least of a short time, because I thought I saved lots of money.
Everything changed as I started traveling 7 years ago for the very first time. There was suddenly only a backpack and I had to carry everything I possessed. This made my realise that a few things are enough to make you happy and keep you going. I experienced to stuff everything I need into a backpack and it worked! OK, sometimes I had two backpacks and at some point a bike and a trailer and so on, but I guess you get the point!
After I came back from my first journey I didn't really buy a lot anymore. There was no need and I realized THIS was the real way to save money. The only way to save 100%! Stop buying things you don't really need, only because it's cheap, it's a trap!

And now as I'm living from the waste of society I beg you to don't buy s**t you don't need or to gift such things for Xmas. I'll be one of the ones who's finding your returns in the container and it's breaking my heart to see such an waste of resources. So much energy, time and pollution were put into it, only to throw it away again. Stop this madness! Boycott this madness!

Don't do it for me, do it for you, our future generation and our beloved planet

19/11/2019

After reaching the most northern point of the European Mainland I still had the desire to test my 'self made' touring skis a bit more. Since there was new snow know coming at these days I was looking for higher mountains and the 'closest' and most suitable place was Tromsø.

So I left the bike somewhere behind and hitchhiked the ~700km across to catch some powder on the west coast.

Unfortunately is was still pretty warm and no sign of powder, only soft snow, with some patches of hard snow in the shadows of the steeper northern slopes. That, in combination with my short 100cm skis didn't give enough boost to keep me on top of the snow and made it very hard. My moderate skiing skills did the rest to it, so I abandoned the idea after a couple of tours, since I was rather falling down the mountain, than skiing. At least the view was amazing from my last skitour!

15/11/2019

Challenging Finnland - From the bin on the race track

As I was heading back South to pick up my slicks for the bike in Kalix I finally managed to meet up with Adrian, an old friend from Australia. He is also a skier who often spends the Australian summer in the cold European North. He was on his way South to a long cross country ski race weekend and did a little detour to pick me up and bring me further South to Rovaniemi. The race sounded tempting but since I never skied (cross country) before and had no gear anyway there was no point of thinking about it.

From there I continued further South and came across an
interesting looking green container behind a sports store. I
couldn't resist to jump in and what I found was a kind of a sign
for me; Lots of energy gels, cross country ski boots, a pair of
skating skis and a couple of bindings! I contacted Adrian again and told him that I found some gear and if he would teach me, I would join him for the race. He agreed and so I hitchhiked back up back to Rovaniemi after I got the spare tyres for the bike and we continued together to the race. I haven't been cross country skiing before in my whole life as mentioned, but it seemed like a great sport and opportunity so I gave it a go. I showed Adrian the equipment I found and we sorted things out. Some of the gear I found was still alright, some wasn't matching and some was too broken, with his help and his connections we managed to set the whole gear and he taught me skating the day before the race. It was an amazing day with a blue sky and after a couple of laps I felt kind of
comfortable on these lang and narrow things. Of course my technique was still very bad, my speed was low, along with my confidence, but I managed to ski!

For the race day he also provided me with
appropriate ski race clothing and took care of everything else. Again, a big thanks for everything

11/11/2019

One more update!
Sleeping places from almost the whole year in Scandinavia, summer and winter, enjoy the cold and the midnight sun!

One of the most frequent questions are "where do you sleep everyday" so I thought I will capture the place I slept very day or try it at least as good as possible. For people who haven't been traveling it's may a bit awkward, for 'real traveler' it's just normal. Enjoy!

08/11/2019

I finally found the time again to update the album.
PICK UP TRASH - EVERYWHERE -

I hate trash! Especially if it's not in the trash bin where it belongs!
So I usually pick up everything I find on my way, especially in nature. From now on I try to capture what I will find before putting it where it belongs. I hope it's an inspiration for others to also do so. The problem is everywhere and includes everyone, be not only responsible for yourself, also look a bit around as well. It's not about the quantity, it's not about to impress, it's rather about to take a little bit more out of nature as you brought in. This is the secret, if everybody would do that it would look nice and clean everywhere. I try to do my part, are you trying to do your part? Get inspired! :)

06/10/2019

Hello World, I have to tell you something!

Something that for most people seems irrelevant, disgusting or not worth talking about. For me however, it matters a lot and half of my life revolves around it. I would like to tell you about human waste!
The stuff we create every second, every minute, every hour - day by day.
Most of the time I'm in nature I feel the need, the responsibility, to collect all the trash I find on my way. For me littering is something impossible to understand. I go into nature to relax, challenge myself or simply to enjoy its beauty. How can you do so if you see trash laying around everywhere? I can not, therefore I collect most of it. I like to say, if everybody contributed only a little bit, the whole problem would be solved. Just carry out a little more than you brought in! :)

This is one piece of the whole puzzle, but today I actually want to tell you about another one. As I already mentioned a lot of things that belong in the trash unfortunately don't end up there.The reverse is also true! A lot of things ending up in trash do not belong in there, at least in my opinion. Saving things from the trash is another big part of my life I never told you about!
Earlier I wanted to keep this blog "clean" of political statements - a pure travel blog - but it's no longer possible. For me there is no travelling without collecting as well as recycling society's waste. By now I've seen and experienced so much that it became an essential part of my story.
I can no longer pretend it never happened, especially in such a critical time we are facing. We pollute our Oceans, the beginning of life, we bury it in stinky landfills to let it rott away for centuries or simply burn it to release its toxins into the air we breath. Most of the recyclable stuff does not get recycled and since Europe has too much of everything and the economy is in need of more sales, it happens way to often, that still good things end up in the trash. Still good to go, but not good enough for our society? A hole, a crack, a bit of wear, a wrong size, an opening seam or simply a new released model with even more unnecessary features. It's unbelievable what kind of treasures you can find in the bins!

What about going back to the roots, appreciate and be happy with what we've got? Take care of our things, repair, reuse and in the end recycle it. Question everything we think we need and be aware of the impact.

The less you need, the less you have to work for it and the more you can do things you actually enjoy and like! Collect stories, adventures and happiness, not things!

And if you have to much, pass it on, upcycle it or donate it to free shops, but don't throw good things away! Believe me, someone will be happy with it!

I do not often ask you to share my posts, but today I do. Let the world see what's behind the lid of a lot of containers to finally rise awareness! In a lot of countries it's even still illegal to save things from the trash!

The pictures are only a tiny little glimpse on what to find in the trash. The only pictures I had on the phone in the moment, that's not even everything I've seen!

15/08/2019

After a long and tiring walk I could finally escape the clouds and it lifted just before I hit the coast. On the map it was not even an kilometre away, but the last up and down on this slippery rocks felt like ages!
As I finally made it, I had some trouble finding the spot I was actually looking for - no monument, no sign, only a pile of stones. I had to use my compass and finally watched over the cliff at the most northern point possible.
It was early in the morning and I had to hurry up to get further down to a bay where I wanted to camp before the snowstorm arrived. But as had some spare time, I set up my mattress and had a little nap, as far north as possible on the mainland.

@ Kinnarodden

14/08/2019

Even though I took a short cut it was very long and very demanding. Lots of small/medium sized rocks to walk on that turned it almost into hell. Everything was slippery and you have to be careful because of your ankles at every step you take. Sometimes as the clouds lifted, you saw it was well worth the view. Sometimes you didn't see anything but white. Thanks god for GPS! :D

@ Kinnarodden

13/08/2019

Freedom is my highest good.
There's not much I value that much!
Freedom means for me to do whatever I want to without being responsible for someone else. To don't be questioned and justify yourself, it also means to f**k social media from time to time and do what I enjoy instead. If I don't feel like writing, I don't. I'm not here to get famous or boost my ego, I don't care about likes and followers. I'm mainly here to inspire people and let my friends know I'm still alive.
I tell my story, whoever is interested to follow my path every now and then is welcome, but I don't really care about it to much. I like to use this freedom if I feel like it, but now I'm going to post a bit again. I still own you the last bit of the Lappland story ;)

**keverything

25/06/2019

In Mehamn I did rest for I think three nights before I continued to check out the last 20km to Kinnarodden. As I had mountaineering stuff and was not keen to follow the normal, easy way, I made my own way. The day before I went it to have a little glimpse what's awaiting me. Especially with bad weather an real plus to know! It seems like a lost paradise up there!

15/06/2019

And then, at some point, after more then 1300km and almost 100 hours on the bike I finally arrived at my destination in the middle of the night.

It was way warmer as expected, but also way harder and took way more time as expected as well. But it was worth it, what an experience!

Crossing Lappland in 'winter'

A special thanks goes back to Speedzone in Germany for the support for the last decade with pretty much everything I do, thank you :)

05/06/2019

Find the mistake...

31/05/2019

The next storm was supposed to hit the peninsula in the early morning and therefore I tried to cycle over the mountains before. My nap in the shelter on the way crashed my plans a bit. As I woke up the Strom was already full on with 20m/s and snow, even down on the coast. I decided to wait a bit longer, but it didn't drop under 15m/s anyway and so I decided to head straight into it as I wasn't keen to wait for too long. The road was free of snow and ice for at least two weeks, the day I arrived it changed again. Winter came back and hit me hard as I left most of my heavy duty winter gear further down the road.

@ Nordkynn

27/05/2019

In Ifjord I had the possibility to store some of my gear and go a bit lighter! I left around 20kg of gear and mainly food behind for the last 100km. Since I had to go back the same way anyway there as no point of taking way to much with me.
It felt definitely better, but it was still not light and to I failed with my attempt to cycle it all in one day. I had already 20km in my legs as I arrived in Ifjord and actually only wanted to nap just before the mountains start again. This is the only region in Norway (as far as I know) where they have fixed, scheduled convoys during winter. So if the road is closed, you have to wait and their waiting shelter even had a couch! So my nap took a bit longer as expected :D

17/05/2019

I was lucky to see a lot of moose on my way north. The most were very stressed or scared, you always see them running. This was also the easiest way to make the difference between reindeers. Moose are of course bigger and darker, but that's not always as easy to spot.
Anyway this moose was weird, it kind of posed right in front of the 'careful moose' sign and next to my bike, maybe it was influenced by some drugs or so?🤔

15/05/2019

meets
After spring in the fjords I climbed back up into winter at the around Since it didn't get dark I just continued cycling until I reached the snow again. At a parking I meet a couple of locals and asked them about the up there and if it's still possible to . They told me about great conditions for snowmobiling and they've also seen some people skiing.
The one asked if it's may possible that I'm a little bit crazy, I found that so cute! Back in Australia or so they would have only said 'you're a mad c**t' or so :D

Anyway at the end of the ride and the top of the climb I camped next to that frozen lake. Don't ask me why I didn't camp on it, as it would have been an amazing picture, I guess I was just to lazy or/and tired...

That day I used my new for the very first time. I usually don't like to use a stay away from and prefer a but as a you don't always have wood around and a choice. So carrying a stove is a backup anyway. So far I managed for weeks to either eat cold or making a fire, here it seemed like a decent place to check out the low temperature 'hot gas' also from just a little older. It's probably 20 years or so after the logo but I'm sure it's still working!
A special thanks to for the gas and EDELRID for the stove.

@ Ifjord

14/05/2019

After the river mouth comes the ocean! I reached my first fjord up here and spotted already some interesting stuff!

A little bit more coast and I've got to head over some mountains again :)

@ Smalfjord

10/05/2019

This was so far not only one of the most beautiful views and sleeping spots, this was also my last view of the tana river towards the delta where the river flows into the Arctic Ocean in a couple of kilometres. It was a clear and nice night, so there was no need of an shelter and I enjoyed a night once more under the open sky. There were no stars, since it doesn't get dark anymore and the picture got taken around 2am, not long before sunrise. I was unfortunately to tired to stay up for that...

Wanna see more of that? I captured pretty much every place I've been sleeping since I'm on the road, check it out; https://facebook.com/globalfreedommachine/photos/?tab=album&album_id=750940425048192&ref=page_internal

08/05/2019

The journey along the Tana river brought me along some old sami settlements to the last possibility to cross this huge stream easy and dry - the tana bridge.

From the eastern side it looked weird, like as one side was super solid and the other half only 'temporary' or even to lift up. As you continue, you realise that you actually see two bridges matching each other perfectly.
From the old one you have a nice view across to the new one which is only half build yet and just hanging across the river. It looks so weird and it's my first 'half bridge' I've seen. I was pretty interested in the construction, so went on the work side to check it out! The gate was open and I thought I match the safety standards on this entrance sign. I don't have steel caps in my shoes, but at least they look like :D

I inspected the steel 'wire' which is holing the whole construction and it's massive! I tried to move it and it felt like concrete...

@ Tana Bru Scenic View