Schlagwort-Archive: climbing

Digital Nomad Stop #8: USA – Time for a holiday

Even digital nomads need a holiday. My first one since becoming a nomad! After spending 2 weeks in San Francisco, Kesh took me on a 2 week surprise trip around the US to see some cool places. I didn’t know where we were going which was a first for me and kind of fun and exciting!

Our first stop ended up being Las Vegas, the unreal casino city in the middle of the desert. It was fascinating to see this fake world with an Eiffel Tower, a New York skyline, all those casinos with black jack and roulette happening everywhere. Just so different from anything I had ever seen before. Kesh surprised me with tickets to the „O-Show“, which is a well-known trapeze show that has been held in Vegas for many years. If you have followed my blog, you would have read in my article about my stay in Koh Tao that I recently got into flying trapeze and aerial silks. So I was super excited for the show and watched fascinated as the artists were performing their stunts. Definitely one of the coolest shows I have ever seen! We also went to my first ever comedy show which was fun too.

Another reason for stopping in Vegas was to go rock climbing in Red Rocks, a famous climbing area just outside the city. We relocated to a hotel with a beautiful view of the rocks and got 4 solid days of climbing in, including one really cool multi-pitch. I really liked the climbing in Red Rocks, the style suited me and it is just a beautiful place to be at. The multi-pitch Big Bad Wolf was definitely my highlight!

After Vegas, we boarded a plane to Chicago. From the desert into a city with skyscrapers and much cooler, windier climate – quite a change! In Chicago, Kesh showed me around the city and its famous sights, like „the Bean“, a really cool sculpture shaped like a bean (obviously) and I tried famous drinks and dishes, such as the deep dish pizza.

We also went to watch my first ever baseball game, to tick off another „America must do“ for me. It was interesting to see, but as there is not much action on the field, it gets a bit boring not knowing all the rules after a while. Chicago was a cool, unexpected stop which is probably not on every typical tourist agenda but definitely worth seeing!

Our third stop was… New Orleans! The city of jazz and beautiful colonial houses. What a contrast to Chicago again. Back to the heat, this time to a more humid version of it. And also, no skyscrapers, but small, colonial-style houses. I really enjoyed walking the streets of New Orleans, taking hundreds of photos!

In the evening, we were drawn into the bars and had the chance to listen to some amazing live music. I never knew I would like jazz that much! Really cool experience.

One day, we ventured out to the sculpture garden, which was nice to see. A definite highlight of New Orleans though were the beignets at Café du Monde which were always tricky to eat without creating a sugary mess all over yourself but super delicious and a great breakfast and in-between snack.

Our fourth and final stop of the trip ended up being – New York! On the days we spent there, we just walked around soooo much, through all of Manhattan, and across Brooklyn Bridge. It felt so cool to be in between all of these crazy high skyscrapers and to actually be walking down the Broadway.

We only had 2.5 days in New York, but it feels like we did so much! From exploring all the main sights to eating delicious food, grabbing drinks, to watching a comedy show and even a musical (Hamilton) on the Broadway, another real highlight! We definitely made the most out of our time in the Big Apple and I must say that New York is not over-hyped but an actual highlight and worth visiting at least once in your life.

And with that, our 2 week trip across the US came to an end – a trip filled with lots of adventures and fun and that I will keep remembering and looking back to! Here are some more photos of our trip.

Digital Nomad Stop #8: USA – San Francisco and surroundings

After a couple of days stopover in Austria in April, I took a flight to San Francisco, my next destination. I spent 90 days in the US, the majority in San Francisco and its surroundings.

During my first 2 weeks, Kesh and I ticked off quite a few of the highlights the city has to offer – the Golden Gate Bridge, different central districts, parks and squares, the seals at Pier 39 and much more. We also went on a ride on one of the historic trams and explored the coast line.

Later on, I explored almost every corner of the city, went on hikes, checked out the local climbing, saw the Golden Gate Bridge from all kinds of different viewpoints – and much more. But I also just lived a normal life, working in the mornings, helping Kesh with some home improvement and van projects, cooking some nice meals and meeting some of his family and friends.

Some of my highlights of my time in San Francisco include:

  • Hiking in Muir Woods
  • Climbing at Castle Rock
  • Running across Golden Gate Bridge
  • Murals walk in the Mission district
  • Wine tasting in Napa Valley
  • Sailing in the bay

…and much more!

Here you can find some photos of my time in SF and the immediate surroundings. Post and photos about the Yosemite national park and other places I visited in the US to follow…

Overall, I really enjoyed my time in San Francisco. Public transport is tricky though, so I’ll definitely look into renting a car or buying a bike next time I’m around.

Digital Nomad Stops #6+7: Railay and Koh Tao – Southern Thailand

From Chiang Mai, I took a flight South to Krabi. I was more than ready for some more climbing, beautiful beaches and to find a place where I could settle for at least a month. It was fun to take a boat to Railay and remember the time in 2007 when I did that trip as a day trip from Krabi together with my sister. I didn’t quite remember HOW stunning the place was though. Arriving by longtail boat at Railay East, with blue water, blue skies and beautiful limestone cliffs on both sides, I felt very fortunate to have picked this place as my next stop.

I spent the first couple of hours checking out about 80% of the accommodation options available in Railay to find the best deal for myself. Low tourist numbers due to corona helped me to score a really good long-stay deal at Railay Princess Resort which was absolutely amazing! The room had the best views of anything that I saw in Railay, it got cleaned every day and included a breakfast buffet. Yes, I got spoiled and yes, it was hard to leave in the end. Perks included monkeys playing on my balcony every now and then and a roof-top pool. Not too bad!

But now on to the climbing, which was obviously the main reason I came to Railay. While I did have a lot of work during my time in Railay, I usually managed to get out on the rock 2-3 times / week. I would have preferred more, but that’s complaining on a high level. I met lots of amazing people and climbing partners during my 7-week-stay. I managed to climb some really cool routes, practiced my rappelling skills and watched the sunset on Railay West beach almost every day.

Some of my favourite crags/routes were:

  • Thaiwand Wall – the crag with the best views
  • Missing Snow 6b+ and Beauty & the Beast 6c – my favourite routes
  • Humanality 6b+ – the most recommended multi-pitch, and rightly so with some beautiful pitches, a scary crux pitch and a fun rappel into Freedom Bar afterwards (with a well-deserved cold beer)
  • Don’t Grab the Krabi 7a+ – one of the only 7a/+ that has ever appealed to me to project. I didn’t managed to get on it as many times as I would have needed to send it though unfortunately, but it is definitely the 7a(+) that seemed the most achievable to me so far.

Of course, there was much more to my time in Railay and these are only some of the many highlights. I would definitely like to return one day with a bit less work and more time for climbing.

After 7 weeks, I decided that it was time to move on and spend the rest of my time in Thailand on Koh Tao. I had been to Koh Tao twice already (in 2010 to do my open water and in 2013 when I was on my first round the world trip), but both times I had actually not managed to see a lot of the island. The first trip was focussed on diving and it was pouring rain the whole week with flooding. During my second time on Koh Tao, I was a bit tired from travelling and preferred to take it slow for a few days. This time I had booked a hotel for my 1 month stay on Sairee beach because I felt too lazy to walk around and compare prices. I regretted my decision afterwards as the hotel was nothing special and overpriced for what it was. But hey… you can’t always take the right decision, right!? At least Sairee beach was the perfect central location and good for sunsets.

My plan for Koh Tao was to still work a lot (unfortunately) and to go bouldering and maybe sport climbing. I had heard good things about the bouldering on Koh Tao and vague stuff about some bolted routes. If nothing would work out, I would just go scuba diving a lot. In the end, I did not go on a single dive and while I did go climbing and bouldering quite a bit, my main activities ended up being flying trapeze and aerial silks!

I had heard about the flying trapeze on Koh Tao from a climbing buddy in Railay and had thought about it more as a once-in-a-lifetime kind of activity. Never did I expect to have so much fun and I did not know they also offered aerial silks which I had wanted to try for a while. Always good to keep your plans flexible!

My highlights of Koh Tao were definitely my new skills on the trapeze and aerial silks that I acquired over the course of the month. I also really enjoyed the bouldering though. It was my first time bouldering outdoors and I loved it! Definitely something I would love to do more in the future.

The climbing was also great. First time on granite with some slabs, some chimneys and just a totally different feel than the limestone in Railay and Tonsai. My favourite crags were Big Brother Slab and Jansom Bay which I only got to visit once unfortunately as my climbing partners were more interested in other crags. The most beautiful route on the island (for me) is Grunt Force 6b, the most interesting one Leg Day 6a+ (both Jansom Bay) and I also found Bisou 7a+ at Golden View a route that would have been worth projecting. Again, I did not have enough time, I only got on it once on toprope to feel it out.

I liked that Koh Tao was a lot bigger than Railay and offered way more different activities and restaurant options. I enjoyed having my own scooter again, cruising around and exploring beaches, going for a snorkel here and there. And I loved getting into trapeze and aerial silks. Overall, a great way to finish my stay in Thailand!

Here are more photos of Railay

And here more of Koh Tao