Abandoned

Bench I

808 - Industry XI

808 - Cemetary II

2016 - Moss II

Eery Feelings

It's an eery feeling, seeing yourself in a video on youtube from a time where you had no clue what was about to happen and when you had no clue who you were going to meet soon. I imagine my brain like a circle and only parts of it are colorful, other parts are still empty.

I remember everything from my time at VidCon 2013, how much I loved it and how much I hated it. When I met Will and RJ for the 2nd time but didn't know them at all, when I met Miles and Jake and Nick and Ken and hat no idea that I was going to travel through Europe with them within the next 2 years.

I can't get over that feeling.

It would be nice if I could find words for this. Because for me this is one the most predominant feelings of both tours, Europe689 and DTour alike. Being in a place, experiencing things, but not knowing the most important people in my life yet. People I was going to meet only a couple of days later.

Summer in Latvia

A summer in Latvia is full of light. Darkness doesn't happen. The sun goes down for only 2 hours and even then there's nothing but twilight.

A summer in Latvia means food. It means colorful soups, refreshing salads and delicious ice cream. What's better than a cold beer from a Latvian brewery on a mild summer night.

Let me celebrate a trip and the people I'll never forget with the pictures of a country.

Butterflies, ducks, frogs and dragonflies were our companions.

We listened to fairy tales and walked in footsteps of people who lived hundreds of years ago.

Happiness about a picture. Happiness about a butterfly. Happiness about a lovely day.

Follow me to the Old Town of Riga, right out of a movie plot.

Where old meets new ...

... and rest is a pleasure even on the hottest day.

... but also to the seaside of Jurmala.

Illusions and reality at Mezapark.

There's more to see and more to explore and more people to meet too.

A summer in Latvia is green. It's full of flowers and trees, of sunlight dancing in the leaves and people living outside and next to the water and the national parks.

Gauja national park on a hot summer day, with 38 C / 100 F was a super special experience. Weclimbed up a tower, ate pastries, hid in chilly basements and let the breeze cool us down high up in the air.

Visiting old friends and making new ones. Can it get any better?

Gauja national park on a sizzling summer day, high in the air, over tree tops and brick walls.

And then there's Riga. The capital itself. Come follow me.

Where you don't need to step into a museum to experience history.

... food is only a heartbeat away ...

When your friends not only take you to a place of your past ...

Wind in the hair, a blue sky and white clouds in the sky.

And a promise to myself to come back soon. No, not only because of the food.

The Friendly Movers

Imagine moving out of your parents' home, leaving behind some of your stuff in a moving box. Years later your mom calls you and wants you to pick up the rest of your belongings because they want to remodel your old bedroom. You get back and when you open the moving box you're immediately vaulted back to a time that you've long forgotten.

Something similar happened to me the other day. I met a friend who I hadn't seen or spoken to for ages. He started talking about long forgotten friends, about places we had been and things we had done. And I had a pretty hard time. It felt as if he was talking about someone who doesn't exist anymore and that someone was me. Had I really liked that music? Had I really been friends with a girl named Christiane? Do I want to know where she's living now?

So many cobwebs in one single conversation

A couple of days later I got an email from a member of a forum that I had frequented regularly but had completely forgotten. Out of curiosity I went there and when I saw my old avatar, my old nickname and my old personal messages it was such a weird feeling.
The people there wanted to know what I had been up to and when I told them about Europe689, DTour, a wedding in Florida, friends from Latvia, the US and Australia, they reacted as if I had grown two heads. Yeah, that's me. I'm no longer standing at the sidelines, watching how other people lead their lives. I'm right in the middle of it.

"You've changed," they all said.
Wrong.

For the first time in my life I'm with people I feel comfortable with and can truly be just like I am.

"The best thing in life are the people you love, the places you've seen and the memories you've made. Life goes on. I have travelled, visited places, felt the heat of the sun on my skin ... learnt to enjoy every moment." (as seen on a shirt)