Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Zurich: the world's most expensive city?


It was 2:00pm at Delta HQ when my phone rang.  It was Kristin. "We have to make the 4:30 to Zurich, Bermuda is completely booked up for tomorrow."  It was Memorial Day weekend, and we needed to use the extra day off as extravagantly as possible.  I asked no questions.  Within minutes, I scrambled to close up my work.  I cleaned out my teapot, saved my excel files, and raced home to pick up Kristin.  Within two hours, we were boarding a flight for Zurich.  Working for an airline has its benefits, the contours of which I am just beginning to explore.

Zurich is the top city on the Economist cost of living index, but we found it easy to stay there on the cheap.  We booked our 4 star hotel through Priceline "pick a price" for about $140 after tax, we dined on Bratwursts and pretzel rolls (a personal favorite), and used Zurich's superb train and subway system to get around when foot travel was not in option.  

I did not find it prohibitively expensive at all. In fact, I was not nearly as fatigued from sticker shock as I have been in the past in places like Singapore, London, or the Kathmandu International Airport - where I once bought a Kit Kat bar for something like $5.

Anyways, here are some pictures from our spectacular trip to Zurich:

Monday, June 18, 2012

The sun never really sets


When it all began, I was just another passenger, chasing the sun across the pacific.

As a traveler, I decided not to stop. The odyssey continued as I finally abandoned my past for opportunities and plied my trade as a writer or student or analyst or whatever else could get me in the position to smell jet fuel and know that on the other side of the jetdoor was a world and a world away.  Travel is the journey and the destination, and I do whatever I can to keep the trip alive.

So fast forward, and here I sit.  Twice removed from my home, the hour is late and a dog slumbers at my feet.  I am tired, sure, but is that not the point?  To see so much of the world that you collapse in exhaustion from the beauty of it all?  To know what you have seen and to know that the only thing keeping you awake is the bright shining suns in your past, and the possibility to share that beauty with the world, one way or the other...

The question was never when will it stop.  The question remains, how long is now?   

I ask myself this question when everything is right, and the sun is setting behind a beautiful city to dance its way across the Pacific.  There is a moment, just before the sun relinquishes its control to the night, and that moment is my 'now.'  I can't capture it with my lens, and I can't capture it with my words, but I will always chase it with my life. 

Friday, June 1, 2012

Liechtenstein - a tiny rich country


Nestled between Switzerland, Germany, and Austria is the tiny principality of Liechtenstein.  It is one of the smallest countries in the world but has the world's highest per capita GDP's at over $140,000 per year. The country is filled with art and flanked by the alps.  It is the perfect place to spend an afternoon.  In the hills, above the capital city of Vaduz, is a castle where a ruling royal family still lives to this day.

Here are some pictures from this wonderful place.