Category Archives: Uncategorized

23/7: While taking a photo of a tree, my sunglasses fell off my head. It wasn’t even a special tree, but I can’t control myself. And it’s happened several times that people have taken pictures of me taking pictures. I go all in, crawl around on the ground, climb up on chairs and annoy peopleContinue reading “Chapter 307: Beloved sunglasses, rest in peace”

23/7: In Canada, I heard story upon story about the bears. Apparently, they were everywhere. Just not where I happened to be. By the time I reached California, I had given up on the hope of seeing a real wild American bear. In Sequoia National Park there were signs about bears everywhere, but I thoughtContinue reading “Chapter 306: Look! A bear!”

23/7: The most famous dome in Sequoia National Park is called Moro Rock, and it is easy to climb.   Moro Rock from Generals Highway.   Moro Rock became a tourist attraction in the early 1900’s, and in 1930 a path up to the top was built. Just walking there, imagining the efforts it hadContinue reading “Chapter 305: Moro Rock”

23/7: Early bird Monday and driving the last stretch to Sequoia National Park. Sierra Nevada really is magnificent. There has been people for a long, long time. And they cooked in granite utensils. My little mom and the Giant Sequoia. Sometimes you’ve just got to keep growing. Despite the obsticles in your way. General ShermanContinue reading “Chapter 304: Sequoia National Park”

22/7: Sunday afternoon, we started on our way east. According to Google, the fastest way from Santa Barbara to Sequoia National Park was to go south on 101, and then just north of Los Angeles turn east and continue onto Interstate 5. What we didn’t think of was that Sunday afternoon on 101 meant all theContinue reading “Chapter 303: Tasting the LA traffic”

22/7: Santa Barbara, as so many other older cities and towns in California (because nothing is really old in California, except the trees), was founded as a Spanish mission. Today, it remains one of the few missions that are still in use. The place was crawling with tourists, just as everything else in Santa Barbara,Continue reading “Chapter 302: The Santa Barbara Mission”

22/7: Santa Barbara has a lot of Spanish in it. Just look at all the white buildings! But it also manages the tricky combination of having an antmosphere of old cosiness and Californian fanciness. It’s posh and historic both at the same time. I kind of liked it. To be honest.   The Santa BarbaraContinue reading “Chapter 301: Santa Barbara”

See, this just grows and grows and grows. Eventually, hopefully something will grow into a strong oak. Or even a giant sequoia. – – – As for me, I’ve moved to Uppsala now, and started studying peace and conflict studies. I managed to find the most beautiful of small apartments, and Hannes has already visitedContinue reading “Chapter 300”

22/7: The hostel in Santa Barbara where we stayed might be the worst hostel I’ve ever stayed at. And considering my extensive travels in Bolivia and Peru, that says quite a lot. You see, it also happened to be the most expensive. But one of the staff of the hostel had a dog that livedContinue reading “Chapter 299: A morning on the beach”

21/7: Crossing the last of the Santa Ynez Mountains, we were met by the view of Santa Barbara.   We made it down to the beach before the sun set. Apart from the beach facing south, and therefore not having the sun set in the ocean, my first impression of Santa Barbara was that ofContinue reading “Chapter 298: Arriving in Santa Barbara”