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Merry goes places
  • Merry Goes Round
  • Merry Life
Jul 2016 – Apr 2017

Merry goes places

A 290-day adventure by Merry Goes Round & Merry Read more
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  • Merry goes places
    1

    New memories with old friends

    January 27, 2017 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    So blessed with amazing friends!

    I got to hang out with my friends Chloe and Derrick for a family wedding in Puerto Muredos for a week. We had a relaxed time and enjoyed every meal, adventure, and tons of good talks together! I also spent a good amount of time working and got to attend Derrick's sister's beach wedding and meet his lovely family.

    Although I must say that these all inclusive resort vacations are not at all my typical travel mode of choice, I enjoyed every day! We found fun things to do, like build expressionist sand castles, ventured off quite a bit, like the first night I got to the resort, we walked by the beach into town to go explore ;)

    Farewell was hard (proven by picture #6) as it is always with my much loved Chloe, but we know there will be more adventures another time! Will miss you guys!    Read more

  • Merry goes places

    24 hours of happy

    January 29, 2017 in Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Having rented a car for 24 hours, we decided to make the most of our freedom on Mexico's highways. We started mid day, so after a half day at a water adventure park in a natural lagoon / inlet, we obviously had to see the sunset in a little fishing town and then get up at 4:30 to catch the sunrise at the Mayan ruins of Coba :)

    The water park was fun and since it was quite cloudy, not busy at all. Chloe's highlight was certainly seeing manatees (the thing that looks like a rock in picture #2 ;) ). Our overall highlight of these adventure filled 24 hours was definitely the ruins of Coba though. We got there just in time for sunrise and were on our way, biking to the main temple as soon as the gates opened. We had the small pyramid for ourselves close to half an hour before other tourists got there. These places from the Mayans are quite fascinating, but for me personally also a bit strange to visit. To think there were numerous human sacrifices performed on the top of this temple, and the "altar" stands there to this day...

    But the view over endless thick jungle is not diminished by that!! And after a fun morning, we brought back the car just 25 minutes over our 24 hour rental :-)    Read more

  • Merry goes places

    Dive, work, relax, repeat.

    February 7, 2017 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    I really enjoyed my week on Cozumel. Besides getting some more work done, I got my diver's certificate after 4 dives and a theory test.

    Diving was my reason to come here and I fell in love with the sport right away! Cozumel has tens of reefs and spots to dive with rays and sharks, and nice warm water. My favorite dive was through a vertical reef dotted with tunnels to swim through and underwater caves to explore. I saw a 2 meter wide sting ray and hung out with two big sea turtles under water. I'm certainly hooked on scuba diving! Although I think I still prefer free diving because you don't rely on technology and fancy equipment but only on your skills as a diver

    I also made some new friends, did a trip to a very remote pearl farm north of the island and cooked some good old German food (Oma Diddas Wurzelgemüse). This was the first time I had cooked a full dish in many months. It wasn't as good as it could be, but I enjoyed it :) Oh, and picture 3 is my diving instructor's car. VW Bug. It's falling apart (in one sharp corner, the door opened by itself), but drives without issues!    Read more

  • Merry goes places

    Lets fly a kite!

    February 13, 2017 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    I'm a bit sad this is my last week in Mexico :(

    But the bright side is the great time I'm able to spend here in El Cuyo, kite surfing all day, eating authentic Mexican food with new friends and, which was dearly needed, tons of sleep. I have a little room in this tiny non-touristy town, and have been sleeping in my hammock - I could totally get used to this!!!

    The kite surfing is fun and finally learning to go upwind very rewarding. The guys from comekitewithus.com are building out a fantastic spot for the wind and an experience off the beaten path, away from the hypertourism in most of Yucatan.

    Thanks John, Rose, Ryan and Becky for a beautiful week!    Read more

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    Family time

    March 1, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    Some of your family you're born into, and then some of the people in your life become family by choice. Both kinds are such a gift and especially precious when you share all the fun and all the rough times in life with each other.

    This time I got to spend 2 weeks with my loved ones in California, just living life, going on little adventures in the bay area and up in the snowy Sierra Nevada. I also spent some time repacking all my gear (according to Aria, I was packing all day every day ;) ), and am now ready for my next adventure in Southern Argentina.

    My dear ones in Cali will be missed every day!! Love you    Read more

  • Merry goes places
    11

    At the end of the world :)

    March 4, 2017 in Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 6 °C

    After a seemingly endless journey to the southern most city in the world (or fin del mundo as they call it here), I spent my first day working and exploring the area. The city of Ushuaia is in the very south of fireland and starting point for most Antarctica excursions. I too will be taking a boat south from here on Monday, but not all the way to Antarctica ;-)

    Besides being a small harbor and airport city for tourists, there's not much to say about Ushuaia.

    Outside the city, beavers have taken over the island and leave traces everywhere. Weather has been nice, but rain is forecasted for my entire hike next week...    Read more

  • Merry goes places
    311

    Fireland adventures

    March 5, 2017 in Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 4 °C

    What a fun day!

    With three new friends from France, Switzerland and Italy, I hiked up to a glacier lake. Some adventures included: hitch hiking in the back of a small delivery van, walking through muddy swamps with some of us sinking in way over our boots, river crossings, beaver dams, and gorgeous views.

    A fun new hiking tradition is greeting other hikers in random languages, our favorites today were Austrian, Italian and Japanese :)

    I also picked the nicest spot on the hike to leave an item that belonged to my grandpa there (pic 6). In the 1940s his dream had been to emigrate to Argentina, but he never made it there himself... Love you, Opa Gerhard!    Read more

  • Merry goes places
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    Into the wild

    March 6, 2017 in Chile ⋅ ⛅ 3 °C

    After spending the first half of the day in transit into Chile (Navarino Island), I finally headed out on my 4-5 day trek, called Dientes Circuit.

    It feels fantastic being back on the trails, with my gear and food packed up and only wild nature awaiting me for the next few days. I hiked about 6 hours, mostly through forest and swamps. The weather was chilly but no rain, which made me super happy :)

    Pathfinding is tricky this time as the trail is not marked so well. I lost the track twice today, but was always able to meet the trail again after a while :) Thank God for my GPS    Read more

  • Merry goes places
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    It's cold in the south :)

    March 7, 2017 in Chile ⋅ ⛅ 2 °C

    I'm already in love with this trek. Most day was quite challenging, but even more rewarding. I crossed 2 passes, the first one with lots of snow and the second one with beautiful views of Cape Horn (pic 5). The trail is so diverse, from meadows to rocks, swamp and scrambling over boulders. And so is the weather - rain all night, lots of snow on the pass, some sunshine in the afternoon.

    After a hot dinner, I'm now laying in my cosy sleeping bag as snow has been falling peacefully on my tent for almost an hour. Hope I stay warm :)    Read more

  • Merry goes places
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    Muddy, muddier, the muddiest

    March 8, 2017 in Chile ⋅ ⛅ 6 °C

    Today I crossed the third and toughest pass. Super steep and unbelievably muddy, the path and I soon looked the same all the way up to my knees (sorry I forgot to take a picture, #2 shows my pants fairly clean before the ascend ;) ) After about an hour through this vertical mud, there was about another hour through rocks and boulders, and then a fast descend, sliding down a rocky steep hill, which was super fun.

    All of the trail has been incredibly beautiful and weather ever-changing but always on my side. So thankful I get to see the world on foot like this.

    I'm camping early today and only 2km from the trail end, but decided not to finish yet. I planned 2 more days and didn't want to spend all day in town but rather out here in the woods tomorrow :) That'll give me one rest day and then I start moving north on Saturday.    Read more

  • Merry goes places
    4

    Ooh sunshine

    March 9, 2017 in Chile ⋅ 🌙 5 °C

    I took it easy today, there was more to see and sunshine to enjoy. The trail went mostly through thick forest and was actually quite challenging, with giant fallen trees in the way everywhere. Thanks, you mean beavers!! ;) I climbed or scrambled over about 30 or so (see picture 2), which I am convinced would be so much easier without a 40 pound backpack...

    The last 10km went by the ocean, which I much enjoyed! Such a beautiful island - especially on a sunny day like today.

    Now time for a hot shower :)    Read more

  • Merry goes places

    Rest / work / planning day

    March 10, 2017 in Chile ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

    Puerto Williams is a curious town. Other than being the southern most town on earth, with only 2.500 inhabitants, it offers a few shops, a fairly strong military presence, and ridiculous opening hours (for example 4pm to 7pm or "sometime after lunch").

    Things work slowly this far south, or tranquilo, as the Chilean says. So running a few errands basically took all day, working and planning my next days in between opening hours ;)    Read more

  • Merry goes places
    12

    Two days at sea

    March 12, 2017 in Chile ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    My last two days in statistics: 1 freight ferry, 36 hours, 4 whales, 2 dolphins, 40 or so penguins and countless seals and albatrosses.

    The weekly freight ferry from Southern Chile to Punta Arenas also takes a few passengers on each ride and so with about 25 other backpackers and locals, I crossed the Beagle Canal and the Straight of Magellan through sunshine, thick fog, storm and mostly overcast with beautiful views.

    Besides the stunning scenery down here, the most exciting part was spotting the marine wildlife from deck. Here's some proof of our spottings :)
    https://goo.gl/photos/MjFdTM6BSKKtQ71a7
    https://goo.gl/photos/JWN9GGiHbuXLSxst9

    The last hours went through a storm, which slowed our journey by a few hours. Here's a view towards the front of the ship https://goo.gl/photos/dXVGyVaH13rpJVfA6    Read more

  • Merry goes places

    Two days at the laptop

    March 14, 2017 in Chile ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C

    Don't have much to share other than I've been working lots. In this hostel, I get to enjoy a view even for work calls early in the morning with a lovely sunrise and the occasional dolphin sighting :)
    Feeling so lucky and thankful for the perfect mix of traveling and the awesome people I get to work with!    Read more

  • Merry goes places
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    More work and some comfort

    March 17, 2017 in Chile ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    I've jumped on a last minute work project, so I've been busy with little interesting to report - unless you're an online retailer in the European fashion space ;)

    Puerto Natales is a charming little town with beautiful views of Patagonia and some great spots to eat. So being busy and working all day, I've been treating myself to good food and mate each day! Enjoying the perks of civilization while dreaming of my next hike already... Yippieh, tomorrow I'm heading back out into the mountains of Patagonia for 5 days!!!Read more

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    Icy Patagonia? Guess again :)

    March 18, 2017 in Chile ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    Today was the hottest day I've experienced since I left Mexico. By the early afternoon I was hiking in shorts and t-shirt. I loved it. The only downside - I had to carry all my other clothes on my back plus all food for the next 5 days ;)

    My hike was 4 hours short and not too​ steep, a good and easy start. Once I set up my tent, I spent a few more hours exploring and reading. I'm in bed early So have two 12 hour hikes ahead of me! Buenas noches!    Read more

  • Merry goes places
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    Los Torres

    March 19, 2017 in Chile ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    I set out with the first light and enjoyed the mountain scenery all by myself for the first few hours of the day. Well, not quite by myself - I saw eagles, horses and met a little skunk on the trek. We walked towards each other not noticing as if both in deep thought, and only noticed last second, looked​ at each other surprised, the skunk lifted his tail to warn me and I decided it might better to walk a few steps back. So I did and the skunk thanked me by not spraying me. I got my phone out so late, when he was already walking away... (pic 4)

    The rest of the trek was beautiful. Sometimes a bit dull, when you walk uphill through the same forest for 2 hours, but the views are always worth it

    Twelve hours of hiking later and at least 7 times putting the rain coat on and taking it off again, I'm in my tent. It's raining and I'm​ once more to thankful for smart people​ who engineered this outdoor equipment!    Read more

  • Merry goes places
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    All the hours of the day

    March 20, 2017 in Chile ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Today wasn't the toughest, but certainly the longest hike I've ever done. I started a bit before sunrise in the dark and got to my next camp just after sunset. A total of 13.5 hours on the trail.

    So in short: Patagonia rocks! I'll let the pictures speak for themselves!

    Here's a 360-view of one of my favorite spots along the hike :)
    https://goo.gl/photos/QQ5AmmzGyzvGFMff8    Read more

  • Merry goes places
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    Eternal ice

    March 21, 2017 in Chile ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    After two days of nonstop hiking, today was an easy-going trek. The campsite by glacier Grey was about 4 hours and from there, I went and explored the glacier tongue coming down into lake Grey for a few more.

    Today's trek itself wasn't the most exciting part of this trip, and it was super windy, slowing me down a bit, but I was in no rush and so I was relaxed and focused on my audio books "The power of habit" (highly recommend it) and then "Oliver Twist" (haven't decided if I like it yet). And the glacier was totally worth it. I wish I had another day to spend here to see more of this giant carpet of eternal ice and a few more glacier lakes that it produces higher up.    Read more

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    I. Can't. Stop.

    March 22, 2017 in Chile ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    For now, today was my last day of trekking in Torres del Paine. I wish I could keep going!

    But I had a ferry to catch.

    So I woke up at 6am, left before sunrise and hiked in the dark for about an hour. And was rewarded with a fire-red sky once the sun came up. I made it back to Puerto Natales in time and am now on my ferry to Tortel, which is 2 days north of here through the fjords of Patagonia.

    I loved the trek. It wasn't at all crowded as I had been warned. I was by myself almost all the time, and the scenery and weather were stunning. Yay Patagonia 💙    Read more

  • Merry goes places
    31

    Patagonia by the sea

    March 24, 2017 in Chile ⋅ 🌫 -1 °C

    It's unbelievable how fast 48 hours can go by! Together with new friends from France and Germany, I set out on the first part of our journey north - 2 days on a 600km freight ferry ride through the Chilean fjords west of Patagonia.

    Like all my time in Chile so far, the weather was a mix of rain, sun, storm, and everything in between. I really enjoyed just sitting outside, soaking up the views, the fresh air and some great music in my ears (which has been full of Italian pianist Einaudi lately). Besides the 3 canteen meals per day, a fond routine became the after-dinner wine drinking which we had to skillfully hide from the crew and which revived memories from being, well..., much younger ;)

    During perfect weather, we stopped at a small, remote fishing village "Puerto Eden", where I feel in love with Helen (pic 4) and found the ship wreck of the Titanic ;) (left boat on pic 5). From Caleta Tortel, as far north as the ferry goes, we'll now continue to the on-land part of our adventure, on the famous and remote carretera austral.    Read more

  • Merry goes places
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    Stairway town :)

    March 25, 2017 in Chile ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    The first stop on our way north is Tortel, a tiny harbor town, built into the mountain facing the fjords of Patagonia. The most remarkable thing here is that there are no roads, paths or trails, it's all stairs! So to get from A to B, you climb stairs. Up and down :)

    Every house has its own little stairway and they all connect to create a little web through town. We shared a little cabin and enjoyed the views and sunshine, before heading out to catch a bus going north 3 hours. May the roadtrip begin!    Read more

  • Merry goes places
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    Puppy love

    March 26, 2017 in Chile ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    No matter through which small town or larger city you go in Chile, you can count on dogs to be around. I've had puppies jump on my lap for a cuddle, dogs joined me on hikes and many just want to say a quick Hi. And it's quite the responsibility - I try to name each dog that comes to hang out ;)
    Some of my favorites have been Marcello, Buddy and Louisa 🐕    Read more

  • Merry goes places
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    Meeting Edgar

    March 29, 2017 in Chile ⋅ 🌫 7 °C

    Edgar is how I named a giant glacier in Pumalin national park. The wilderness park was just recently given back to the Chilean government after being in private hands for 25 years. Unfortunately, I only had one day here, but fortunately got to make the most of the little time.

    The three of us started around noon - my French travel buddy Nicolas, our new friend and adopted travel cousin Leo, and I. The plan was to hitch hike to a campsite from where we would do a 6 hour hike to the "Edgar" glacier and then hitch hike back. We got a ride quickly, but only for parts of the way. So we simply started hiking along the road. And of course, we were joined by a dog, as it always seems to happen in Chile :) (pic 2)

    We soon figured that it would take too long to go all the way. So we decided to hike up a viewpoint so we could at least see the glacier from afar. On the base, a sign greeted hikers with an estimated 2 hours to get to the viewpoint. This convinced Nicolas to turn around and enjoy the rest of the sunny day in town ;) Having come all the way, Leo and I walked up the steep trail and up there, saw the beautiful glacier and the trail to it (pic 3). We were soooo close. And it was only midday. We did the math and long story short: we hiked all the way to the glacier, finishing 40km and 10 hours of hiking in beautiful weather (until it got dark and we hiked with our headlamps). And a lovely family gave us a ride back to town just after 11pm.

    We certainly missed Nicolas, but had a great adventure that won't be forgotten.    Read more

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    Northbound travels

    March 31, 2017, South Pacific Ocean ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    I had a fantastic trip north on the "Carretera Austral", a 1200 km road that connects southern Patagonia towards central Chile. Our travel family kept growing and changing and it felt nice, after spending a bunch of time by myself, to build friendships and travel together for parts of the way. The hardest one was "losing" Daniela and Benji who stayed​ in Rio Tranquilo to do more trekking there (pic 1 together with our hermano Nicolas from France). Our paths had kept crossing since my very first day in Chile and they make wonderful travel siblings - adventures, lots of laughs and some of the best talks I've had on my travels. But I already know I'll see them again!

    And so Nicolas and I kept the family alive :) Most the way we made via bus, but also by walking, hitch hiking and a 9 hour ferry for the last bit. Some highlights of the week include finding and making food together in small towns, learning more Spanish as for example from Juan who we met on the ferry and who was killing time by teaching me some grammar (pic 6). We also watched the luckiest drivers in Chile: three tourists in a rental car ran into a ditch full speed while trying to pass our bus on the narrow road. By a wonder, they were unharmed because they hit soft bushes and pretty deep mud. 5 minutes after the accident, a semitruck passed by that happened to have a small crane - and pulled their car out of the mud. Another 10 minutes later, they were driving again with as little as a few scratches and a few pounds of mud on the vehicle but nobody hurt (pic 3).

    One the last stretch, we were unable to get bus tickets and "stuck" in Chaitén for a day, which turned into a fun adventure - this one will get its own blog post though :)

    Thanks everyone who shared these adventures for long or short times!    Read more

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