Posts Tagged ‘moving’

Again in Brussels

Wednesday, July 20th, 2011

I took some days off to visit one of my new European favorite cities, Brussels. It was just 3 months since I was in Brussels last time, on my way to Dahab. After two months in Egypt it’s was very refreshing to be back in Europe. The contrasts were big, like the gray weather which I had missed so much and the quietness even though the city is big.

Brussels is very idyllic with green parks and beautiful streets. Most people are happy and smiling here, but at the same time they are “trapped” in their boxed every day lives not integrating with the people around them. Here, for example, people look strange at you if you start a conversation or smile to a person that you don’t know. While it’s very relaxing to be back in a “civilized” city I can also miss Egypt where you start conversations with random people on the street several times per day.

Belgian tree

Bois de la Cambre

Brussels bus

Brussels lake

Brussels park

Etang d Ixelles

Flower girl

Belgian swan in Brussels

Mirror effect

Belgian graffiti

Graffiti Bruxelles

Jupiler Belgium

Abstract plants

Atomium Brussels

My travel (living) backpack content

Monday, July 11th, 2011

During the last years of traveling I have only lived with one or maximum two bags. The contents of the bags have been mostly the same, but some things have been added or taken away depending on my current living style and need. In general I have dropped a lot of winter clothes, and nowadays I only own some warm clothes to have for walking up the mountains. At the same time I have added more equipment that make my hobbies easier to do by owning it myself instead of renting or borrowing equipment every time. So, for the first time in this blog I here reveal my current belongings, packed into one 45 liter backpack and one small backpack for daily use:

Backpack packing list

Clothes & health
Clothes for about one week
3 pair of shoes (mountain + normal + sandals)
Sun cap
Basic hygiene products
Basic survival kit

Outdoor sport & hobbies
Climbing harness & shoes
Headlamp
Scuba diving computer, hood & snorkeling equipment
Joggling balls
Harmonica

Electronics
10″ computer for work
2 cameras (normal + tough)
2 phones (wifi/gps + cheap)

The rest
2 sleeping bags (12 degrees + silk)
2 thin towels
Hammock + ropes
Books for learning Spanish & Bulgarian
Notebook & pen
Small things for pleasure, like incense

Even though I am trying to live my life without paper, I still think it’s worth to have a regular notebook to write down thoughts easily in tranquil surroundings, which always is without a computer.

Sometimes I travel with a small tent but usually I give this away to somebody due to it’s weight or size, and then pick up a new one whenever I need it again.

The biggest space problem is the warm mountain clothes. Without these my backpack size would be reduced a lot. The same would of course be a problem while travelling in cold countries.

This was by the way my 100th posting in the blog =)

Backpack packing list

Divemaster in Dahab, Egypt

Sunday, June 19th, 2011

After about 2 months here in Dahab I today got my Divemaster scuba diving license. This is a really fun and rewarding education, and even though it is mostly for people who wants to work with scuba diving I recommend it to all scuba divers who wants to take their knowledge to higher level.

First of all, after having the PADI Advanced license you have to take the courses Emergency First Response (EFR) and Rescue Diver, which teaches you how to save people in emergencies both on land and in/under water. The Rescue Diver also makes you more confident under water and teaches you how to deal with different under water problems.

When you are ready with the Rescue Diver, the Divemaster course takes about 1½ month to accomplish. I highly recommend to combine the course with an internship, which will give you much more experience as well as a lot of fun.

Within the course, one of the things you need to do is to learn the contents of “The Encyclopedia of Recreational Diving“. This is a really interesting book that covers way more about diving then you will ever need to know, but for the interested is the best dive book you will ever read. The book have 5 chapters, which covers different parts of scuba diving:

  • The Underwater Adventure
  • The Ocean Planet
  • Dive Equipment
  • Diving in the Material world (physics)
  • The Physiology of Diving

With the Divemaster license in your hand you are ready to work professionally with scuba diving if you so choose. Here in Dahab for example, that comes along with getting a work visa, which costs around 600 euro for a year. Also, for a while the government were not giving out more work visas to Divemasters, but that might have changed now. If you get the work visa, you will probably end up working as a freelancer because of the economical situation in Egypt right now.

For me, I will take a break from scuba diving now and find some other adventure. Maybe back to wave surfing and mountaineering, depending on what I decide during the upcoming weeks from now.

Divemaster in Dahab, Egypt