Travelling alone

I’ve done two holidays alone. I always wanted to go on a cycling holiday, but I couldn’t find anyone who wanted to come with me.. In 2009 I got on my bike alone, after which I cycled a thousand kilometers in five days, to the middle of France (Dijon, the mustard city). I noticed so many things you don’t see from the highway. On the bike I saw every village, every church, the residents, the baker, the children who ran a hundred meters behind me.

And in 2012 I went to Mumbai for two weeks, also alone. The trip was also to visit advertising agencies and meet people I knew through the internet. I spoke to a lot of people from agencies and for example went to a DJ, and was allowed to talk live on Mumbai’s biggest radio about my trip.

Traveling alone gives you the space to do exactly what you want and to discover. Also partly yourself, I think – because you reflect everything on yourself and your notebook.

A cat I met in Mumbai, 2012.

Latest

Torrential rain and colorful umbrellas

Torrential rain and colorful umbrellas

I was planning a bike ride, but then saw it was drizzling, so I carried Hasse outside — underneath an umbrella — to go get a coffee. Yet the rain was so heavy we just hid underneath the canopy in front of a supermarket to see some of the chaos unfold. I’ll miss these streets […]
May 25, 2026
Streetside in the AI Park

Streetside in the AI Park

Be skeptical of sweeping stories about China, regardless of how good or bad they portray things. The technological advancements mentioned in the news may be even more profound in reality, but not as widespread as shown. The GDP growth has lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty, but real wealth is mostly concentrated in coastal […]
May 16, 2026
Clothes Making Clouds

Clothes Making Clouds

There are so many ways to define Shanghai, yet a few popular icons do a lot of the talking. As the international metropolis and a symbol of China’s rising economic power, there’s the Lujiazui (陆家嘴) skyline — with the Oriental Pearl Tower (东方明珠) and high offices of Chinese and multinational corporations. There’s the Maglev train […]
May 5, 2026
Passing on the Baton

Passing on the Baton

Day 2876 in Shanghai and I’m walking with Hasse on Dongdaming Road (东大名路) in the Hongkou district. In 2018, I lived next to this road; here I registered my first Chinese bank account, bought my first baozi in a FamilyMart, and it’s here that I photographed so many random things because Shanghai was all new […]
April 13, 2026