At the end of April, at 00:43am on the 28th to be precise, I published a journal entry titled ‘Turn the page‘, where I explained that I was about to depart on a spiritual and physical voyage to recharge batteries, gather new impressions and invest some time into interests that had been neglected due to the limitations that comes with a 40 hour work week.

I’m back now — been back for a few months — and it’s time to write some thoughts down. Not the easiest task I have you know; where does one start to tell the tale of a 123 days long break that was spent in 8 different countries and many more cities and places? For sure it would have been easier if I took notes over the course… but that would have been to easy… wouldn’t it? (to be frank (and who doesn’t want to be Mr Frank), if I’d found time earlier I would have done this earlier, but the limitation that comes with a 40 hours work week once again is at work and I’ve had this post as a draft for a couple of months….)

So let’s start by pin down a few key dates, give them some headlines and then fill them with some reflection and thoughts.

A small note. This entry turned out being quite ambitious and… yeah… rather long. I had to be shallow with the level of details at certain places simply not to turn this into a novel. Hopefully you’ll find it interesting anyway. If not, at least the collages of photographs turned out rather nice.

Index:

Paris, France, 22-23 April

The Paris trip I actually made before the break, but it was a partly a opportunity that arose from having one, so I tend to include it into the whole shebang. I’ve already written about this journey in the post titled ‘Croissant and cigarettes‘.

London, United Kingdom, 6-10 May

I had the fortune to begin my break just after a sales meeting in London. So I took the opportunity to stay on a few days and spend some quality time with my lovely friends over there. People who have met me the last couple of months know how much I miss London and the Brits. To me, being in London is similar to the feeling you get when you hear a song that forces your limbs into dance… yeah, it’s hard to express in words.

Stockholm, Sweden, 11-27 May

Most of May was spent in Stockholm. Gave some attention and spring love to my house; oil the porch, new porch fence, sweeping leaves, heating cable to guest house, electricity to outdoor lights, water-pump maintenance etc and so on. Being a house owner when you have plenty of time on your hands (and a dad that helps you out) is actually good fun; when the “have-tos” aren’t tagged with orange florescent stickers screaming NOW! NOW! DO IT NO!, all in uppercase letters.

Together with Henrik ‘Hanky’ Engdahl I also managed to squeeze in a little house party to welcome the summer; Club Hanky Ingarö. We made use of the large porch and massive grill. May was warm, so a few brave souls took the first dip in the sea during the early hours of the party.

In May I also invested in a new camera. Before going to Paris I handed in my Canon 5D MKII on service. In the meantime I borrowed a friends Nikon 3D. We got close. Very close. So close that I decided to sell my Canon and buy a Nikon 3Ds. Nikki and I are now very close friends. She’s a truly amazing camera, and some of the results can be seen in this post.

Follonica, Italy 28May – 18 June

I went down to Italy with a goal; to kick start the habit of exercising regularly and develop as a photographer. When I set a personal goal, I tend to go flat out; do it almost to an extreme. These didn’t turn out being an exception to the rule. As long as my body allowed for it (at times it said ‘no thanks’), I was out early in the morning before the sun got too high, and again in the evening when the sun was about to go down. So twice a day running and after each run a did some pushups and sit-ups.

What I didn’t expect — the big surprise — is that I truly enjoyed this… well, many of you would call it torture, very much. It was refreshing. Fun to see how the body and soul reached and dealt with the limits. How the mind wonders between the different states of pleasure, relief and pain. I was disappointed when my calves or knees told me to rest. I got angry when my right shoulder got painful from all the pushups. Probably sounds a bit… mental, but I’m sure a few of you have gone through a similar exercise rush at one point or another. Being completely hooked on endorphins.

In between all the freakish amount of exercise I did some day trips to near by villages such as; Populonia, Massa Marittima, San Gimignano and Roccastrada. All of them very beautiful. It’s basically impossible not too fall in love with them, be through a lens or through sunglasses.

A colleague, Elin Ankerblad, was invited to speak at a Barilla Digital Day at the Barilla headquarters in Parma. So I took the opportunity to visit Parma for a few days (too) — the home of Parmesan and Parma ham — and give Elin some company as well as get a glimpse of where Italy stand on the development ladder of digital media and services.

Being half Italian, raised in Sweden but now with parents living in Italy, I keep asking myself; should I move to Italy? Can I live in Italy? For sure I can see myself do what my parents have done — moved down as pensioners — but I nearly never see myself moving to Italy while I’m still working and am still dependent on a working society, urging for challenges and a passionate modern digital approach. But Parma gave me second thoughts. The city was beautiful and traditional and gave a good vibe of culture and being modern. The people at Barilla had visions, they weren’t there yet, but the biggest pieces were in place, so It’s just a matter of time…

Driving back from Parma I had to stop by Maranello — the home of Ferrari. I’m a huge fan of Ferrari, both the F1 team but also by what they have achieved and by what values they live and run. I had the fortune to drive a Ferrari 360 Moderna at Donnington a few years back during a Red Letter day. It was magic. It’s only once you’ve driven a Ferrari you truly understand what it is.

So, being in the heart of the tale, I had to take the opportunity to drive their latest car — the Ferrari 458 Italia. It was Amazing. I was very nervous before we headed off — it’s a very very expensive car that goes very very fast and I was about to drive it in the Italian traffic, that in combination with my passion for speed felt dangerous — but as I left the parking lot and pushed down the throttle all the stress just washed off. The difference between the 360 and the 458 was astonishing. This car is simply all. Responds to everything and you quickly become one with it. I did have some bad luck with traffic. Found myself being held up by a Lamborghini…
According to the driving instructor, the car costs 17000 Euros to insure per year… so unfortunately the love for design, speed and engineering isn’t all that’s required. It was after this ride I decided that to look into getting a Ducati instead of keep holding on to the dream of one day owning a Ferrari… or maybe I should see the Ducati as a first-step…

I left Italy in a bit of a rush; Hyper Island got in contact with me and asked if I wanted to assist them in recruiting students for the next year. So I packed my bags, squeezed in two days in Rome with my cousin, and headed back to Stockholm.

Stockholm, Sweden, 19 – 23 June

This unplanned stint in Stockholm was very intense. Early mornings going off to Hyper Island, and low pacing evenings to digest all the impressions. Most of the days were spent with a small team of three interviewing people.

I have had, and still have, doubts over some of the decisions that are being made at Hyper Island. They are changing — I have no problems with change — but it’s going very fast and from the outside it seems like it’s going in a more corporate direction rather than educational. So it was really nice to be part of this process and see that the same sorts of people are still applying and that the amazing people working with the students are doing a fabulous job. Let’s just hope they get the support they need.

Skellefteå, Sweden 24-30 June

Straight from Hyper Island I jumped into my car, picked up a friend and former band-colleague, Funky Dan, and begun a 820km road-trip up north to celebrate Midsummer.

On our way up we stopped at Härnösand to say HI to Mohammed Khanamadi; an old friend and our former drummer. Mohammed taught me rhythm and definitely made me a better musician. We hadn’t meet in something like 8-9 years. Being there, it seemed like just a few weeks… we got scared by the “years” revelation as we talked about it.

In Skellefteå I mainly took it easy. Visited friends and hanged out. Many of my friend in Skellefteå have children and wives, so it’s getting harder and harder seeing them in one place. It’s more of a form of speed dating than get-together.

My sister’s boyfriend has built a home cinema in their flat. It’s a small room with a huge projector screen. The magic, what sets this room apart from all other home cinema rooms, is the audio. The sound system and speakers makes you rediscover music. Hear things ways you haven’t heard. It adds new dimensions. I didn’t get the chance to spend that much time in the room as I wanted (I considered spending an entire day just listening to records).

Besides the amazing sound, this trip turned into ‘The Microwave’ trip… a few friends were around and we decided to make some tacos. I threw in some taco’s in the microwave to heat them, quickly glanced at the packaged and read ’5 min’, set the timer, closed the door and pressed the ‘on’ button. I don’t use microwaves. Never had one. I like fresh food. So I didn’t have the reference point to give the ’5 minutes’ a second thought.
After a few minutes I smelled something. Went to the microwave, opened and in a few seconds the entire kitchen was filled with yellow smoke and the scent of burned corn.
It’s embarrassing to admit, but yes, I managed to f•¢k-up tacos. Yes, I destroyed a microwave in the process of doing so.

I drove down to Stockholm all by myself. A 6-8 hour drive depending on how fast you like to travel. I don’t know what it is I like about long-distance driving, but I truly enjoyed it. I can just go on and on and on. As I came back I remember asking myself; who needs video games when you have motorways?

Stockholm, Sweden 1-7 July

First week in July I had blocked in my calendar to assist Karl Thyselius in renovating his kitchen. But he decided to hand the task over to the carpenters instead. They were doing the rest; removing a wall, moving another wall, new floor, new bathroom, paint all the walls and ceiling (etc and so on), so it made sense that they also did the kitchen.

So this period was mainly just spent hanging about. Played a lot of golf. Ran a lot in the forrest. Enjoyed the slow pace of the Swedish summer.

Oslo, Norway 8-11 July

The Oslo trip was a semi-spontaneous long weekend road trip to Oslo with Vinh Kha to visit Joakim Jansson, Mikkel Due Pedersen and to get another glimpse of what Oslo had to offer. It was also the last drive in my Fiat Bravo before it got sold.

Driving to Oslo was as enjoyable as driving down from Skellefteå, but after passing the Norwegian border it got… difficult.
The speed-cameras in Norway aren’t as visible as the speed-cameras in Sweden. The speed-camera warnings are placed further away from the actual speed-camera (in most parts of Sweden, the speed-cameras are more like slow-down-now signs) and, on top of this; speed signs aren’t that many — I might have imagined this; but it seemed like it was more signs telling me what speed it wasn’t (cross over signed) than signs telling me what speed it was. So… yeah, we got flashed by a speed-camera traversing a little bridge. I haven’t received anything yet. Knock on wood I never will. But it’s a weird feeling… to think you might loose your driving license every time you open the door at home or check the mail.

I like Oslo. It’s a bit more European than Stockholm. A bit more edgy and alive. More fiction and more relaxed. But yeah, I have only been there a few times and only briefly. So these are initial thoughts. Forgive my naivety.

Another “fun” story to tell is the morning I decided to go out for a run, left the car keys in the trunk and locked it… I was extremely hungover that morning, and probably should have been in bed instead of out for a run literally sweating Gin & Tonic. That run costed me 2000 Norwegian Kronor… as if Norway isn’t expensive enough already.

Tokyo & Kyoto, Japan, 14-27 July

When I decided to traveling for a bit, I wrote down a list of places I wanted to see and experience. I then shared this list with a friend, Vinh Kha, over a dinner. His first reaction when glancing on the list was to ask: Why not Tokyo?

I had no good answer to that. Felt almost embarrassed that Tokyo wasn’t in, what I thought was, my very substantial list of places.

So I decided to promote Tokyo to the very top of the list.

Since all of these traveling-plans came together very quickly, I never expected that I would get anyone to be as spontaneous as I am and decide to come along. But I was wrong! Karl Ringman had a few weeks unplanned, some money to spend and a wish to visit Japan, too!

I’ve done my share bit of traveling, but I have mainly explored places that in one way or another is anchored into European culture (America, New Zealand, for instance), so it was very exciting to find myself in a place where the “rules” no longer applied. For example, in Tokyo they don’t have street names. They have names for the things in between the streets (blocks) instead of the thing surrounding it (the streets). This took some getting-used-to. (For the curious: here is a short Ted Talk explaining it more in details: Derek Sivers: Weird, or just different?). Yeah, took some getting-used-to.

We split up the two weeks in Japan with 4 days in Tokyo, then 5 days with Kyoto as a base while exploring nearby areas, and then another 4 days in Tokyo.

The first stint in Tokyo felt like a cultural-climatisation. Extremely interesting in retrospect, but quite confusing while being in it.

Kyoto

Kyoto was beautiful, hot and humid. Extremely hot and humid. But also beautiful. I kept up with the running while being in Japan, so each morning I ran along Kamo River. In the 30-40 celsius heat I probably lost about 2-3 liters of sweat every time. Was tough. But also a nice challenge. But with the humidity also came the wet clothes and smelly bathroom. My soaked training gear never really dried…

So Karl and I had Kyoto as a base and then we did day trips to areas around it. A funny detail Ringman and I discovered was how we completed each other — he always remembered the names of the places we needed to go, and I remembered where to go and how we went. For some reason, the Japanese names just don’t stick with me… like ‘Kiyomizu-dera Temple’.

Nara

In Nara the deer is regarded as heavenly animals and is protecting by the city and the country. So you’ll have tame deers roam through the town.

Besides the deers, and their affection to show of their testicles, among the highlight was the massive budha inside the Todaiji temple.

Arashiyama

I will remember the trip to Arashiyama as the sweaty-bamboo-day. I don’t know how warm that day was, but without moving fast or carrying anything heavy, I managed to soak my entire t-shirt in sweat. A fascinating amount even by my standards.

Besides visiting the bamboo forest and the Tenryuji temple, we took a boat ride on the river. It was very peaceful and beautiful. One of those rides when nothing happens and you’d like that nothing to continue for a few days.

Hiroshima

The visit to Hiroshima is by far the biggest emotional butt-bite I have ever received. Standing in the museum, reading about one of the most vile acts of human kind almost brought me to tears. I had to take breaks to hold it back. Reading about it, made me feel embarrassed to be human. But it also had the other side to it. How the city, Hiroshima, and its people, have managed to rise again and look beyond the injustice and vile act they were subjected to.

Tokyo

It was nice coming back to Tokyo. This time around we felt more at home in the city. We knew how to get around and we were more comfortable. We almost caught second wind.

We had a lovely evening with Waldemar Wegelin and Robbin Ingvarsson, two Hyper students currently working at W+K in Tokyo. Went for lovely food and a very special little bar — were we managed to convince the bar-man (aka the pirate) to close the bar and come along to the next place (where he seemed to feel that part of his responsibility that evening was to hook us up with Japanese girls, ha ha ha — was bizarre and funny) — and yes, he failed.

Tsukiji fish market

I would highly recommend everyone visiting Tokyo to visit the Tsukiji Fish Market. For the experience and for the nice photography opportunity. But, when visiting, please show the deepest respect. I never felt so unwelcomed but still accepted before. Odd. Don’t bring big bags, don’t use flash, stay out of the way and don’t eat a mountain of Sushi the night before…

Harajuku

Harajuku is the name of the area around Harajuku Station. Just north of Shibuya. On a Sunday this area has a lot to offer; you can hang around Jingu Bridge and give all the amazingly dressed up youngsters the attention they are soaking for, or go shopping down Omotesand and Takeshita Street, or enjoy the show by the rockabillys dancing in Yoyogi Park (which gave a sense of being a user-generated-festival). Pure joy.

Karl and I visited a small bar in Shibuya quite a few times. It was our “we’re done for the day, let’s go and get a glass of wine” place. So, as regulars, the people who ran it invited us to an evening when they were having a live band playing.

What they didn’t tell us, and that we found out when we were there, is that the band was booked for a wedding party. So It was a wedding… and then it was Karl and I. Turned out being fun and a bit bizarre. One of the highlights was the women dressed in a dress, that to us Swedes, is a wrapper for a chocolate bar called Kexchoklad.

We ended our trip at a cocktail bar on the 49th floor. Overlooking Tokyo. It was our first time to Japan, but we both agreed it was definitely not the last. It’s a country, culture and people that leaves you still wanting more. I will go back, and when, I will hopefully stay for longer than 2 weeks. On the To-Do is visiting the rest of Japan. Mt Fuji. Get locked away in a ryokan for a week or two.

Stockholm, Sweden 28 July – 2 August

After Japan I had a few days in Stockholm before heading over to New York. Katrin, who I made friends with in Oslo, was over during these days. So even if I was “home” I kind of continued being a tourist — renting a car and exploring the archipelago, going to galleries etc.

Overall I got the sensation that the summer in Sweden was coming to an end already. Karl & Josefine’s flat was almost finished, and people were having outdoor parties until late but it wasn’t that warm… but yeah, I was back from Japan — so it might just have been me.

New York, United States of America, 2-16 August

First time I was in New York, back in 2007 I wasn’t overly impressed. My expectations that time around was… unreasonable. This time around I knew what to expect and I loved it.

I managed to squeeze in quite a bit during my two weeks in New York, but I was actually trying to ease off on the throttle. By now I’d been traveling for awhile and I was getting the sense that I wasn’t as alert to new impressions anymore… but, yeah, it only took a few days for the hunger of exploration to come right back again.

Was really good to catch up with some of the friends I have over there, and it turns out they are quite a few of them over there and they are all very lovely.

A medal of honor should be handed to Karl Ringman (same Karl I was with in Tokyo). As we got to New York he got back to work, and I just kept dragging him out on all these late night adventure. He had to dig deep, and yeah, he did it in style!

Without going into too many details, some of the highlights were; the boat with free booze around the south part of Manhattan, the karaoke session at Arlene’s Grocery, the encounter with Philip Seymour Hoffman and the amazing dinner at Traif. The entire list is long, but I save that for another time or to be discovered on my Flickr account.

Stockholm, Sweden 17-18 August

After New York I came back to Stockholm for a meeting with Doberman to discuss my future with the company and when/if I should return in the beginning of September.

Berlin, Germany, 19-25 August

My trip to Berlin was something I spontaneously booked while sipping wine at Ost Café in the East Village, New York, and being a bit restless. At the time I didn’t know if/how/when I would return to my previous job or not, but I knew that nothing would happen between the last week of August and the first of September. So, at the time I thought it would be a brilliant idea to book another flight, and this one to Berlin and, after that continue down to Italy again.

But, it turned out I was a bit too “trigger happy” when I came to booking flight. I had already arranged for a few get togethers and meetings with friends in Stockholm during those weeks. But that day at Ost Café, all those commitments where forgotten.

Berlin is a special place. So young and still so old. I like it. It’s like she is rediscovering herself, and, has the freedom to do so.

My stay felt rather short. A few days kind of disappeared with a small cold. It never blossomed fully, but it made me a bit weak and slightly uninspired. I caught it while having a snooze on a slope next to Flohmarkt am Mauerpark (the Flea Market Mauerpark). Woke up with a blocked nose.

Follonica, Italy 25 August – 4 September

Back to where it started. I got a similar feeling as I got in Stockholm in the beginning of August — the summer is on it’s way out. The pace was slowing down, the weather was cooler, the tourists were fewer.

I’d kept up with the running while being away and came back and had lost about 10% of my bodyweight. Rather impressive given the fact that I didn’t exactly live a spotless lifestyle during this period. But I did run almost every day.

I went for a few runs down the same paths I did at the beginning of summer and thought they were to short and too easy. Remember being rather impressed how fast you can overcome your limitations. I still had fresh memories of where I normally reached physical and mental resistance. Now I just flew past them as if I never done anything else. It gave me confidence. It was paying off.

Stockholm

Every summer Karl Thyselius celebrates his 26th birthday. This year he turned 29. The celebration of the 26th year tracks back to a very successful birthday party held out at their cabin out in the country side when he turned 26. So the tradition continued for 27th bd and the 28th bd. The birthday occur at the end of the Swedish summer — last weekend in August — so it’s also seen as a farewell of the summer.

This year was slightly different. The weekend collided with weddings and other commitments people have to priorities. So the birthday celebration went low key and two weeks later.

This time around, we didn’t say farewell to the summer. No. This time around she had already flown south.

La fine

So that was it. On the 6th of September I started work again. After many hours of consideration and talking with friends I decided to go back to Doberman. The key point in the decision was the result of the answer to the question; should I stay in Sweden, and I decided to give it another chance. After all, the circumstances had changed and I wanted to initiate the project to renovate my brothers flat.

Many people I have spoken to during my time off have expressed their envy to my courage to leave work and take some time off. I would say a scary amount of people, actually. Seems like there are many many people out there, who should, really, take a break and focus on bigger questions and issues than retaining their current job.

It’s just so much easier to give yourself an excuse not to jump ship, than to do it. But very few excuses are… valid… or maybe a better way to phrase it is; few excuses are healthy, sustainable or long lasting. Many of them are based on laziness, lack of courage or short sighted goals.

When I approached Doberman regarding my break I actually handed in my notice. I decided I needed a break and the only solution to that, that I saw, was to leave. But since I didn’t have a plan on where to go, they thought I could as well take a break; work out what I wanted and if I didn’t want to stay I could leave then — when I knew… what I’m really trying to say with this is that; not having the luxury to be able to take a break and still retain your position isn’t a valid excuse not to take a break and that I had that luxury was in no way involved in my decision and shouldn’t be in yours, either.

A lot of things were moving in 2010. Following the financial crash a lot of things started to move. I wasn’t the only one who decided to make a change. Many changed jobs (forced or willingly). Many moved. Many broke up from long relationships. This sense of movement around me undoubtedly had an effect on me. You start to question things. But, also; many had a shit year. If I’d apply some hobby-psychologistic-thought to the whole thing, I would say that people who are less reluctant to change felt a bit unsatisfied and anxious during the year while people who are more open to change and challenges took a leap. Obviously there are grey areas, and one is not better than the other. You need context and circumstances. But in a world where things change faster and faster, for sure, it’s a plus if your able to work with change, accept greater challenges and willing to take some risks.

I knew I had to take a break when I got jealous of a friend who unwillingly was let go. That was my wake-up call — when you wish to get fired, then it’s about time to do something.

One sources of inspiration for me was the talk The power of time off by Stefan Sagmeister. I don’t know when I saw this talk the first time, but for sure it sowed a few seed.

Another source was the book The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything by Ken Robinson. I read this after I had already decided but hadn’t acted on it. The book supported my thoughts and gave me energy.

So. Now this marathon-blog entry has reached an end.
Feels good to let it go.
Been a drag to write.
But been epic to experience.
And I will do it again.
And so should you.

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