Author RenegadeTourist
It feels like I’ve been tightly strapped down to the gurney I’m on because there’s pressure across my stomach and I can’t get up. I have IV needles in both arms and some kind of electrodes stuck to my forehead. The nurses just removed something from my left hand which feels like a tiny step forward, at least I can move my fingers. There’s a blood pressure cuff squeezing my right arm and a pulse meter clamp on my finger, so I avoid moving that arm. I also seem to be wearing some kind of compression socks that squeeze my … Read the rest
About six weeks before my 42nd birthday I went on a health checkup. Now, my normal attitude towards seeing the doctor is a variant of ”if it ain’t broken don’t fix it” so under normal circumstances I wouldn’t have gone. However, here in Taiwan, periodical checkups are mandatory under the labor law. For people my age it’s at least once every three years and I had already done one two years ago so I was planning to wait until next year. However, the company nurse informed me that the company was going to cover the, fairly significant, cost this year, … Read the rest
Nulchado Island, 9:13am
My wife and son are sleeping and my brain is kind of fuzzy from the lack of sleep of a red-eye flight. Our hotel won’t be ready for a couple of hours, so I turn off the main road, cross a rickety looking bridge and end up on this islet that’s barley visible on the map. Choosing to explore in order to stave off my drowsiness I follow the road right along the shoreline, passing through the shadow of the main bridge high above. It’s not until we come back into the light that my brain start … Read the rest
The bridge shoots straight as an arrow into the mist. As I pass the first pillar, the surrounding landscape starts fading out of view. A quick glance to the right reveals the faint outline of an enormous temple complex – must be Fo Guang Shan – backlit by a hazy sun. Soon it disappears into the mist behind me, and with that the last landmark is gone. I can see from the GPS that we’re crossing a river but from here it’s completely invisible; I can’t even guess how high up we are or how far we are from the … Read the rest
One of the things I enjoy the most when I’m out hiking are the sections of trail that require you to do a bit of actual climbing. Compared with flatter trails, which feel like going for a walk in the forest, those sections fill me with a sense of adventure. The thing is, they don’t need to be particularly difficult to be fun; you can have a route which, by climbing standards, is pretty easy, but the fact that it’s too steep to simply walk up, and you’re out in nature rather than at a climbing gym, makes it feel … Read the rest
The first time I stood on a pair of skis I was so young I can’t even remember it anymore. During the next 25-ish years I went skiing or snowboarding at least one week every winter. Nowadays I live in a tropical country so I don’t get much chance, but every once in a while I get a strong itch to hit the slopes. The only way to cure it is to go on vacation to a ski resort. At the beginning of this winter I started feeling that itch again. As I was planning were to go, the question … Read the rest
With a gentle humming the lift chair pulls me upwards towards a sky that's not quite black. The hills below me are lit up at intervals by spotlights that cast cones of an eerie pinkish glow across the landscape. Bare ground covered in withered leaves, dotted here and there by patches of snow. Naked trees with their brown spindly branches, like insectoid fingers stretching towards the darkened sky. Off to the right, across an inky chasm, is a string of lights, presumably illuminating an unseen slope; row of trees silhouetted against their brightness, the light diffusing through the tree tops forming the vague outline of a hill. Beyond that, as far as I can see, nothing but a void. With these surroundings it's strange to think that in just a few minutes, I'll be riding my snowboard down the slope that's somewhere beyond that forested peak in front of me.
A couple of years ago I hiked all five peaks of Five Finger Mountain (五指山). At the end of that hike I came to the conclusion that the ring finger and little finger peaks are only worth hiking if you have the explicit goal of doing all five fingers, but can skip them otherwise. A few weeks ago I went back to Five Finger Mountain to hike what I consider to be the optimal route. Here you can see a map of my route, click it for more details.
It starts by going through the very narrow gorge called … Read the rest
My son is turning six today. Lately I’ve been thinking about how becoming a father has changed me, and the things I have learned by taking care of my son. Here are, in no particular order, some insights and reflections that these six years have brought me.
Noticing Children
Young children are, due to their size, easy to overlook – quite literally. However, after getting used to paying attention to your own little fellow; checking that he’s not right behind you before you take a step back; making sure he’s not standing in the way of the waitress carrying a … Read the rest