Mon March 12 2018  —  e-mail Manfred

Bludenz, it is autumn, time to make plans.

Flag Austria

Sunday, October 24 2004

5 weeks since I left Edinburgh

Bludenz, Austria

About Travel Photography,
Colors of the World.

Manfred is creator of ThisFabTrek.com, travel photography, a travel blog and a photography blog (a journey from 2004 to 2013). 'I set out to see the colors of the world, always I try to capture the colors'.

Seeing, is understanding, so I report and photograph, but formost enjoy and live those different conceptions of life (all that TV [and the web] cannot give). I reject jealousy, animosity, bigotry. Be free!

Manfred in the desert of the Western Sahara

The mind, when pondering at night and always asked those questions. What am I doing in corporate wonderland of bank, university, office or church? Who is the other animal asleep deep inside, the thinker, punk, creative, or Indian, vagabond and healer, maybe artist, writer, photographer, traveler, globetrotter? Oh God, dare you to think. When I saw the lies, gambles and manipulations I follow the old dream and set out for the journey of life lived, the journey to see the colors of the world.

During years on the road I have taken the turns as they came along, and realized one thing: Only such a small part of the planet can be explored and such a vast land and sea mass will always remain unknown, to me; many swamps, jungles, deserts and oceans will never be traveled. But then I am father of twin boys, Daniel and David, my most important, and I show them some of the wonders and colors out there.

ThisFabTrek, Photography and Journey, the Stories from the Road and Life around the World, stopped in August 2013 after more than 9 years, Love and Peace.

Last vehicle.

G20, Chevy Gladiator.

Chevrolet Gladiator G20, The boys in Cordillera Blanca, Peru.
The boys and Chevy van, Peru.

The G20, the vehicle that came to me for the Americas adventures.

6 wheeled Land Rover.

Land Rover Defender 6x6
Link to Foley

The vehicle of the Africa adventures, a Foley 6-Wheeled Land Rover Defender.

Before, the MB307.

Manfred and MB307
Journey, Middle East.

The vehicle of the Middle-East and North-Cape Journeys. See all vehicles.

Daniel and David with nanny Aisha, the best we ever had, black African Woman carrying white twin babies, in Bamako, Mali.

Land Rover 8,607km parked in Edinburgh

Trekking 199km

Ferry 352km

Train 150km

Other cars, taxis 132km

Travel Blog

contains Festival/Fiesta/Art photography.

"There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come." - Victor Hugo.

"What matters in life is not what happens to you but what you remember and how you remember it, to tell the tale." Living to Tell the Tale - Gabriel García Márquez.

"They never taught wandering in any school I attended. ... they never taught the art of writing a book, either. It's all so mysterious."
"Wandering is an art in itself. Wandering and writing don't mix"
"Writing demands commitment and if one thing your wanderer is allergic to is that very quality of commitment, for once one is committed he runs that very risk of failure ..." Wanderer - Sterling Hayden.

"Photography enables you to grasp a place first time round. ... Photography is a means of exploration, it's a vital part of travel, almost as essential as a car or a plane. " - Wim Wenders.

"The worst prejudice we acquire during our youth is the idea that life is serious. Children have the right instincts: they know that life is not serious, and treat it as a game..." , Egon Friedell.

"How far you gonna go. Before you lose your way back home" - Tryin' To Throw Your Arms Around The World, Achtung Baby, U2.

"If you want to be a hero well just follow me." - Working Class Hero, John Lennon.

"When I think of all the things I have done, I know that it's only just begun." - I love you, Lou Reed.

"One does not escape the Sahara - the Sahara let's you go or not" - Touareg.

"Planet earth is blue and there`s nothing I can do" - This is Ground Control to Major Tom, David Bowie.

"Glory for the crazy people/in this stupid world" - Ahmed Fouad Negm.

www.thisfabtrek.com > journey > europe > austria > 20041024-bludenz

It sounds tough, but what is 7 weeks?

Bergschuach
Early snow.
Back to square 1.

Still in Bludenz. It has been 5 weeks since I left the Land Rover in Edinburgh to fly down to Zurich and further on to Bludenz in the western most province of Austria to meet Heidrun who I had met in Ullapool.

After 2 days here Heidrun and I started talking about the trip. All she ever really wanted was to travel the world with a special interest in traveling to northern countries like Greenland, Iceland, Norway and yes Scotland but would not mind going to Africa, South America or Asia.

It did not take us much longer to decide that Heidrun would join This Fab Trek. It takes Heidrun a couple of weeks though to actually go and resign from her job. She will be out of it by the end of October. Obviously I miss my flight back to Edinburgh which was due on 19th of October. If all goes well we'll be on our way back to Scotland within the first or second week of November. Moving pretty quickly I would say. We both are dying to finally get out of here. After all this is Bludenz.

What's the plan you might ask? Tour around Scotland for a while, then Ireland and back to London by mid, end of December. We are aware that it's getting colder right now so expect that plan to change any time. Once we leave Great Britain we'll be heading South via Holland, France and Spain and maybe put in some skiing action somewhere (Alps, Pyrenees) whenever and wherever it overcomes us. We are both quite enthused to go about the whole thing as relaxed and laid back as possible. And being Austrians, we both like skiing a lot.

Africa? Yes. That's the plan, the intermediary goal! Too busy is our time right now and a lot of thinking and pondering needs to take place first. We are prepared to let it happen, take the neccessary steps when we think the time has come.

Heidrun Black and White
Black and White. Still love my FM2.
Heidrun black and white
H. Still shy to have her picture taken.
ms Bregenz
But takes up photography pretty quickly.

www.thisfabtrek.com > journey > europe > austria > 20041024-bludenz

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