The collected writings of a Renegade Tourist

Category Feeling of the moment

Murger weg, 9:52 pm

I am passing the point where the street lights end, behind me the street is desolate and gloomy, no people around and but few lights in the windows, in front of me just murky darkness. As I leave the light a feeling rises within me, I don’t think it’s fear, no its not strong enough for that, but rather apprehension. In my mind I can rationalize it, I highly doubt some ill doer would be waiting on a dark road at the edge of a rural German town with the intent to accost a chance jogger. Neither do I think … Read the rest

Stein Holzbrucke 6:05 am

I am crossing a small wooden bridge, the sound of the river rushing past beneath my feet is very visceral. It surges by with a noisome gurgling that drowns out the only other sound to be heard this early, that of my own feet treading the ground. At this hour, the vanity lights of the town church, the small castle and the bridge itself are all out and there are no tourists awake to take pictures of the night vista. Mists hang like a veil in front the grey mountains in the distance and the churning river is a dark … Read the rest

Riverside path Bad Säckingen, 10:54 am

I’m sweating despite the early autumn chill, my heat is thumping in my chest and my breathing is labored. I’m running on a small path along the river, everything is damp from the rain, my steps squelch in the mud. To my right a single row of trees and beyond that the dim turquoise waters of the Rhein, ever flowing past me in the opposite direction. To my left a field of corn, the green stalks rising up to meet the milky sky that covers everything in the distance. I look up for a moment to see a mountain rising … Read the rest

Mittlere Rheinbrucke, 1:20 pm

There is a person swimming in the river! What the hell? I am standing on a bridge over the river Rhein in the middle of a fairly big city and really did not expect anyone to be swimming in the river. It is one of Europe’s main waterways after all, not just some small creek. Well, in my experience there will be some crazy people everywhere, Switzerland shouldn’t be an exception. But then, just as I’m about to turn around, another person floats out from under the bridge, a small boy in a life vest this time, and shortly after, … Read the rest

Over the Taiwan Strait, 8:10 pm

We took off with the nose pointing roughly northward, seeing little but blackness out the windows. Just a moment ago the pilot made a big sweeping left turn to point us more southwesterly and as we leveled out a magnificent view opened up outside the little porthole to my left. We are flying at a pretty low altitude so we can see the ground fairly clearly; most of it is wreathed in shadow but thousands upon thousands of lights are spread out in the darkness, little dots of amber intermingled with specks of blue tinted white. It lights up the … Read the rest

Road 54, noon

As soon as the road entered the mountains the fog descended. As we climb higher it gets thicker and I find myself unconsciously slowing the car down as visibility shrinks to just tens of meters. I hunch forward over the steering wheel and peer into the milky nether, searching out the curve of the road and the least sign of an oncoming car. My focus is heightened partly from fear of flying off the road, partly from excitement at the risk. My wife beside me is scared but the sense of danger has me smiling.… Read the rest

Myvatn nature bath, 3:58 pm

The sky is clear with a few tufts of cloud, the air smells of sulfur but there is a cool breeze blowing. All around is the dramatic Icelandic landscape, barren mountains and all. The water II’m sitting in has a strange color, a kind of milky blue that is almost luminescent. The water is comfortably warm and relaxes the body. Sitting here soaking in a hot spring, looking out over the landscape is just perfect.

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Coastal road, remote fjord, 3:40 pm

We’re on a gravel road, the car vibrates and bounces on the uneven surface, small rocks ping off the underside of the body at a steady rate and we stir up a big cloud of dust behind us. To the left of us the mountains, barren cliffs coming down in terraces towards the sea, the narrow road clinging on to the edge above the blue water and me fighting against the loose gravel to keep the car from careening off the edge. I look out over the fjord to the mountains rising sharply on the other side, and realize how … Read the rest

Main road near Vik, 10:15 am

This car has far more problems than I care to list, the gear lever has to be manhandled into position with force and precision, if I let go of the wheel, the car skews off to the right, the windscreen wipers work none too well, and only the driver side speakers function. In short, it really is just as sad a car as the rental company’s name suggests, but it’s getting us where we want to go, zooming along, with verdant fields on the right and stupendous cliffs looming up on the left so close you could almost reach out … Read the rest

Over keflavik 9:14 pm

We have just turned in over land, only a few minutes from touching down. At this point you will normally see the outskirts of the city down below, trees rivers and highways. To my surprise there is nothing here, just a grey brown plain of broken rock and earth stretching uninterrupted out to the sea. Not a single sign of civilization. What kind of strange land is this we are coming to?… Read the rest

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