music, travels, love

Though I haven't revealed the purpose of this blog yet, one can guess it'll be about at least one of the three things above. Today, it's all of them!

First things first, music. I finished my soundtrack for the season: Foliage In The Fall 
It wasn't hard to find good songs, I've discovered more great music in the last 3 weeks than in the year before, only the order of songs was difficult. Maybe it's the character of the season, but there're a lot of opposed feelings in the music, a lot of up and down. So better put a seat belt on your ears because they'll be taken on a roller coaster ride!


1. The Neighborhood - Sweater Weather: a total Ohrwurm, great beats, sweet lyrics though it'll always remind me of Boston instead of California
2. Atlas Genius - Symptoms: fantastic new band I've discovered (thanks, Dan!), just listened to their album this morning
3. Haim - Falling: what, Fleetwood Mac had 3 daughters? good example of current artists doing it old
style, those were the last (sunny) days in Burlington
4. Ellie Goulding - Wish I Stayed (acoustic): stumbled over it on yt, and I like her voice, for the homesick times...
5. Daughter - Run: this band is amazing, saw them live in Boston! I choose the b-side song Run because I like the lyrics and I learned to play it on ukulele
6. Phosphorescent - The Quotidian Beasts: this might be the best song you'll ever hear! Robert Plant loves their album, I listen to it almost every day. breaks and heals my heart, every time.
7. The Head And The Heart - Shake: it can only go forward, so shake, shake it off. that's what I hear. great tune! (thanks for showing, Rob!)
8. Eliza And The Bear - Friends: the obligatory indie/ fm4-track, reminding me of what's important when my travels get difficult, plus making me dance.
9. Weeks - Buttons: have you danced today? turned the music up and moved? starts of slow and then hits your ears, awesome!
10. Bibio - Haikuesque (When She Laughs): falling leaves and grey mornings have a tune. sigh. oh, and I don't know about the end, it's strange.
11. Bear's Den - Agape: saw them live as a support band of Daughter, loved them instantly. this song reflects my main feeling in the fall (that came along with happiness), the pain of letting go. "I don't wanna know who I am without you."
Bonus: Earth, Wind & Fire - September: Heard and sang this song mostly in the car before the party at Clambake. Combines all my fantastic memories from Burlington and frisbee (thanks, Bhava!)

Now on to a random travel story.
From all the great days I had since I've arrived in San Francisco Bay area, Thursday last week was the most memorable. I was visiting Olivia (American girl I know from Germany, with whom I played frisbee and went hiking in Portugal) and stayed with her and her parents in San Rafael, just north of San Francisco. On Thursday morning Olivia took me into Muir Woods National Park, despite it being closed thanks to the governmental shutdown. (you know, after being in those "third world" Asian countries, isn't it good to be in America?!) What can I say, other than stunning?! I instantly wanted to live among those ancient redwood trees... I spent the whole time smiling, breathing, touching the bark, thinking I've never seen a beautiful forest like this after Nepal.

After some early dinner and an enormous portion of ice cream (yeah, America!) in Marin, we drove into San Francisco to go to a party in a museum. Yes, that's right. We'd changed into dancing clothes at the small toilet of the Indian restaurant to have a fun night out at the California Academy of Sciences, doing the nightlife. Have you ever danced in front of an aquarium, with a live dj and jelly fish in changing colors? It's fun! Also I loved the rain forest and the show in the planetarium, the living roof and that Olivia let me finish her cocktail.
And the night wasn't over yet. We drove back to the parents' house, changed once more into hiking clothes, ignored the mother's warning about mountain lions and drove to the Golden Gate National Park (also closed), heading out into the darkness on the Tennessee Valley Trail with headlights and slightly tipsy. It was exciting, in the dark, with coyotes howling, but we knew they weren't likely to attack us. Still we shouldn't have chosen to talk about horror movies and possible ways to die because it was dark, as I may have mentioned, and I suddenly saw eyes. Two dots to the left, reflected from the light of my torch.
"Olivia, don't freak out, I'm just saying, there are eyes."
- "No, there are not."
"Olivia, there are eyes."
- "No, that's the reflection of a sign."
Turns out it was deer. Puh, we can cope with deer!
We arrived on the ocean, sat down at the shore and had a beer, that I opened in German fashion (read: with everything but an opener). Cheers, to the water and night time hiking. Heading back, we weren't really scared, both Olivia and I have done enough tough sh** before, plus we now had empty bottles as weapons and hearts blinded with alcoholic courage. But then there were the eyes again, coming towards us. Aaaah, why are they coming towards us??!!?? Again, only deer, running down the hill right next to us. We then talked about relationships while hiking through the windy night, a happier topic, and felt more relaxed, until we saw the coyote. In front of us, or should I say, in between us and our castle of steel, our shelter from the bad, our refuge of safety, our CAR. Strongly holding onto the empty bottle in my hand, I hit the gravel a few times, trying to scare it off, screaming: "C'mon coyote, you f***ing creature, we're not scared, I'm gonna beat you up!" That was obviously a lie, enhanced by adrenaline and alcohol, and Olivia simply said: "Shut up, it's all good, he's chilled, walking away." Yeah, the coyote really didn't care about us, even when we shone the car lights on him. We drove back home, safe and sound, and I probably don't need to mention I dreamed of coyotes that night...

So this story about awesome times is a perfect segway to the final section of this post (I sound a lot more organized than I am right now), a big portion of LOVE and THANKS to the people I've met recently. My life would be nothing without the old and new friends in America, so this is for you.
First of all, thanks Olivia for the most awesome time in the bay area anybody could possibly imagine. I do not regret trading Peru for the west coast, best decision ever! All the best with Brent!
Thanks to Bhava for being the most amazing friend and sharing your wisdom with me, I've learned a lot about myself during the time in Burlington. And our road trip along the east coast will be one of my favorite memories from the whole trip. (I'll finish the soundtrack soon, I promise)
Thanks Vraja, Tails, Ali and John for an awesome time in Burlington! I left my hammock, feel free to put it back up in the garden! Also I loved playing with RUT, the ultimate frisbee team, keep up the love!
Thanks to Dan for hosting me in Boston and showing me tons of fantastic music, that I now listen to every day. Hope you don't mind that I stole your pen and confused your ego, you'll get a postcard as a refund.
And last but not least a big thanks to Michelle for buying me a hot chocolate at Starbucks after I'd forgotten my purse in Olivia's car (because I'm dumb!), even though we didn't know each other. The friendliness of random people, and especially Michelle, shall forever remind me of all the good people on this planet. And that I want to be one of them!

There'll be more love, this was just the first part of thanks, so just keep reading the blog and search for your name. Of course there'll also be more music and travel stories. And maybe even shorter posts...