wandke

Festivals are my thing. The Dark Mofo festival, surrounding the two weeks of Winter Solstice, is an intense celebration of art and humanity. A mix of performance art, electronic thumps, sculpture, theater, in the streets, on the streets, under the streets. Read about the festival, including the man who was buried under the main road for three days, in this great BBC article: Dark Mofo The provocative festival changing Tasmania's reputation. The Center of the Festival is the Winter Feast Hall, where the food and drink vendors were trying to out craft each other. Each booth something so unique, fresh, local, and reasonably priced served under sparkling neon lights in a giant dock house draped in red velvet. In the distance, a four-piece band plays jazz from an elevated cutout in the velvet. Craft beers, local ... read more

Just over ten years ago, I didn't have enough time to make it down to this bucket list world wonder - Milford Sound. And now, I've arrived! Pulling into the picturesque town of Te Anau after dark, I didn't know what to expect this morning. It was chilly, OK, it was snowing. But the flakes stopped falling right as I walked out my door to the bus stop and the clouds parted to reveal that I was at the foot of some 2,000 meter glacially carved mountain peaks. It was physically jaw-dropping! It was just below freezing, and I was way below freezing, but the excitement of finally seeing Milford Sound today kept me hyper and heated! I almost missed my bus, even though I was standing in front of it for ten minutes, because I ... read more

Creativity runs deep in my veins, despite being a engineer and super fan of science. I've always love drawing and painting and art appreciation is just a part of my soul. It was a complete honor and surprise that B wanted to invite me and some of our friends to her totally exclusive Chelsea Arts Club for drinks and dinner. The Chelsea Arts Club was founded in the late 19th century as a haven for working artists. In order to be a member you had to be: 1. Bohemian in character and 2. Artsy! It was a hideout for famous people such as Salvador Dali and Francis Bacon and used as a place for artists to share their ideas and make connections. Although it has become much more difficult to become a member, B's parents have ... read more

I am a friendly person. I like being friendly! I smile at strangers, make conservation with the checkout girl, and genuinely want to share everything. This attitude lends itself perfectly to my small village life, but when I bring it back to a big city, I'm always amused at it's uniqueness. Not that people in cities aren't friendly; I just think they are genuinely overwhelmed with action and activities and stress and appointments and advertising and pressure and well, just too wrapped up to unwind. And usually on their way to work while I'm casually strolling the streets. Either way, I'm the same me no matter where my feet tread, so I brought my sunshine and smiles to the Peckham Rye neighborhood to visit B's artist's studio in the famous revamped Bussey Building. Her directions were ... read more

I'm baaaaack! I've spent the last two years building my website development business so that I can work from anywhere and anytime. Now that I have clients keeping me busy full time, it's time to test my theory of travel and working! One of my best clients is located in London and her business is growing fast, so I decided to fly across the pond and and engage in my first working holiday! I am so grateful that I planned my trip to start in Germany. After ten years of only traveling around English and Spanish speaking countries, I am so happy to be completely lost in translation. I thought I had a few words and phrases stored up there in my long-term-language-library, but after arriving, i realized I knew only three. Hallo! Danke! Auf Wiedersehen! ... read more