Saying a final goodbye to all in the Czech Republic.

Back on the Isle of Man for a two-day break, back at Allan's place, back on the kareoke.

At Alex's in Niederselters, feeling like 17 again.

Back to Brno... or not. I couldn't be bothered to return to the Czech Republic, so started hitchhiking with Alex to Italy. It took 24 hours on the road to get there, with a sleep break in Switzerland (in our driver's daughter's flatmate's bed). We spent a few hours in Pistoia and hitchhiked back to Frankfurt the following afternoon, a round trip of well over 2300km. With a combination of perseverance and lots and lots of luck, we were much faster than anyone could have expected.

Exploring the various sights of the village of Klöden - torture instruments, castles, pizza ovens, creepy attics and more.

Wtih a stopover in Dresden to find myself an ukulele (later to be named Natalia), I hitchhiked my way to the revived Klöden camp! Unlike 2007's disaster where I went to Klöden and lost almost all my photos, I've managed to keep 2009's ones safe. 2009 Klöden - three loud nights of razvrat and a great way to say goodbye to the summer.

A trip out to some woods, caves and swimming in a small lake (with carp and jellyfish...) with three other newly-qualified teachers from my CELTA course.

Various bits and pieces from August in Brno - my last month here. Picnics in parks, a few guests, and walks in the woods around the city.

In Brno I studied an intensive four-week course to become qualified as an English teacher. I passed it... and so did everyone else who took the course with me :).

Two low-key days exploring Prague with Monika, staying at Zlatka's place in Všetaty. My sixth time in Prague, but the first time in summer...

A collection of pictures taken during July. For most of this month I was busy studying and so I had almost no free time, but still it wasn't totally uneventful.

Pictures of my flat in the beautiful former artists' district of Kaminka in southwest Brno, and of the various people who've stayed here.

A journey to the centre of the universe (a small town somewhere in Brabant), staying at Tim's for a short time.

This is the first public appearance of Anthea - purchased in Maastricht for maybe too much money while staying at Marlene's place on the way to Utrecht. I studied in Utrecht for a few months four years ago, and it felt great to return to the city. The event was a large CS gathering to celebrate Midsummer, with many various goings-on. After travelling for over a month and a half, this holiday to the Netherlands made a cool epilogue for my holiday :).

As a group of four, we hitchhiked to Vienna. However there were problems getting through Germany, problems finding a place to sleep in Salzburg, and I felt ill when arriving in Vienna, which persuaded me to take the next train to Brno. My journey ends here...

Several days spent at Alex's place, eating, drinking, playing games, dancing, enjoying the summer, and discussing future plans...

We left Mount Royal a day early, heading to Niederselters. I hitchhiked with Marlene, and it was an eventful hitchhike, one I won't forget in a long time... we were lucky to be alive...

The rain came down and so did many of the tents. But we stayed to have a six-hour-long jamming session across Mount Royal in Tim's van, as well as many meat-related good times.

Playing music, touring Traben and Trarbach, and nearly breaking my neck by falling off a tractor.

The Mount Royal Summer Camp begins. I went to Traben-Trarbach in 2007, but have never made it to this camp before. I loved this event because even though it was raining and the turnout was low, I knew most of the people there, meaning we owned the place :). It was also the scene of maybe my most satisfying hitchhike ever - getting taken 2km in a brand-new BMW directly into the centre of the campsite, driven by a flamboyant American woman. Only Massimo noticed my moment of glory...

Hitchhiking with Marlene from to Traben-Trarbach. Hitchhiking was the second-fastest method of travel between these two destinations - someone beat us travelling by train. However we were faster than Massimo's van, and much faster than Adam who went by plane, but ended up at the wrong Frankfurt airport, not realising his mistake until he'd already landed and went looking for us...

After a night of mayhem at Trevor's place, my camera had AHOJ stuck inside it and wouldn't focus correctly. So the first few images here are blurred (before the camera recovered). We stayed in Berlin for a couple of days - I slept uncomfortably on a large mattress with many other bodies, ate lots of D-Snack, and purchased Sonia.

Another fantastic year ends, and I was awake to see all but one sunset. (Shame, usually I'm up to see all of them.) This day was spent lazing around at the campsite, deciding in our large group what to do and where to go next.

One reason for me going to the Berlin Beach Camp every year is to meet people who I've travelled with, but haven't seen for many months. Other reasons for me going are so I can roll around in sand, play other people's musical instruments, and sing things. This all happened here.

This day was wet in the afternoon - very wet. Everything, possessions and people, got soaked. Maybe the rain was the explanation for the low turnout this year. But it wasn't a problem.

The first day of the 2009 Berlin Beach Camp was a fantastic blur in my memory, so the story begins here on the second day. To be honest, this whole five-day party was a blur, but at least I've got some photos from the other days. In these pictures, Trevor wakes up and does AHOJ. Then there are some biscuit letters, and Massimo sniffing Bimbo's nether regions. Lots of other cool things happened, trust me. This is the best weekend of the year, and with good reason...

It's always worth visiting Łódź every now and again. This was my third visit - I've been to Łódź more than any other Polish city...

A sunny day aboard a luxury boat for a small trip along Kraków's river.

Having a fun afternoon with many familiar faces not seen since New Year or even further back.

My second visit to Kraków this year, and I think I stayed around too long (five nights). Apart from meeting Asia and Paweł again, having Monika round to visit from Łódź, and taking part in a CS weekend, I spent a lot of time hanging around doing very little.

Hitchhiking to Brno and staying until I found a flat to live in... after one day I found a place, so I stayed for a lot shorter time than expected. I'll be back.

I've tried to go to Vienna many times (and sometimes I've been travelling to Vienna before having to turn around), but this time I finally made it. It was a quiet two nights.

I left Padua with the idea of hitchhiking to Vienna. I left way too late in the afternoon and ended up in Udine with not enough time and no accommodation cheaper than 60 euros. Onto Vienna by train...

A day out in rainy, dirty, unfriendly, expensive, confusing Venice. But I'm glad to say I've been there - it's unforgettable and unique. After wandering around aimlessly for a couple of hours, we bought postcards and attempted to recreate them by taking exactly the same photos as were on the cards. I needed to be on the water for some of the shots, and couldn't really afford a boat ride (or anything else in the city), but we did our best.

Hitchhiking as a group of three (and meeting some much more cooperative Carabinieri) Sanne, Casper and I made it to the wonderful party town of Padua. I was there for three days but didn't see so much of the city - one day was spent in Venice, one day was spent working and one day was spent trying to hitchhike onwards. But the nights were fantastic - long warm nights in the park, playing sports, eating tasty food and having spontaneous jam sessions with many local musicians.

Onto Lake Garda to meet up with Casper. The journey was eventful - after getting stopped by the Carabinieri when trying to hitchhike (even though we were doing it legally...) we took trains, which in Italy are cheap but are always cancellati. After finding a very luxurious campsite and enjoying a delicious meal, the great meetup took place in Sirmione, a village on a long peninsula cutting into the lake.

Experimental Travel #40 - Voyage to the End of the Line.
Sanne and I couldn't decide where to travel from Arenzano... so we hitchhiked and let our drivers choose. The rules: when a car stops, we ask the driver where they're going. When they tell us, we say "Cool, we're going there too!", we jump in, we travel with them to their end destination. We continued hitchhiking in this way until the late evening. We could have only been taken to the next village, or just as easily taken to the next country! As it happened, we took something like six or seven rides, and ended up in Bobbio, a beautiful village in the mountains 150km from our start point.

We celebrated our lap of Monaco with a trip to Italy! We start with two days of visiting Ligurian seaside towns, staying at Stuart's fantastic flat in Arenzano, and deciding on how to continue the journey...

Go to the start/finish line of the Circuit de Monaco and stick out your thumb. Hitchhike around the race circuit (or as close as possible using public roads) and cross the start/finish line to end the challenge. Sanne and I made it in 9 or 10 minutes - we forgot to time ourselves. Also, taking a video of the whole thing would've been cool, but hey, you have to save something for next time...

After sleeping in an apartment on the France-Monaco border, we spent the next day in Monaco. After exploring the harbour area we walked up the hill to the palace, then hitchhiked around the Formula 1 circuit before heading on by train to Italy.

Visiting a city for the first time, and going on a 26-part mission. All these pictures are in chronological order, over about four hours. (The letter 'U' is missing - for some reason deleted from my camera - we were struggling for a letter 'U' picture and had to accept 'upsidedown child'.)

Our aim was to hitchhike in one afternoon from Palud-sur-Verdon to Nice. We made it, but took a couple of unusual detours around a lake and various mountain villages. City-hitchhiking through the built-up and super-rich Côte d'Azur was also a lot of fun, and Nice is an interesting city, feels like a much larger version of Douglas, but with better weather and a beach perfect for midnight moonlit relaxation.

Found ourselves a small farmhouse hostel at Palud-sur-Verdon, and hitchhiked out to the Sentier Martel - a 17km hiking route up and down the side of the most beautiful and dramatic gorge in Europe. It took us seven hours to hike, and involved scrambling over rocks, climbing down long vertical ladders, and walking through pitch-black tunnels (without a torch...)

Aiming to get to Palud-sur-Verdon, our hitchhike takes us from Avignon to Digne-les-Bains in an afternoon. We're treated to a barbecue and fresh bed linen before hitchhiking on to Palud-sur-Verdon the next day. Perfect weather and amazing scenery.

My first time in the very south of France! And certainly won't be the last. Flew to Carcassonne, then hitchhiked to Avignon, met with travel partner Sanne and prepared for a trip through the mountains.

Enjoying one-and-a-half days as Gabor's guests in Galway with Monika, before she flies back to Poland and I fly on to France.

After getting to Dublin in five rides (including an hour's free taxi ride!) we were shattered, but continued to a live-music club before crashing at Martha's Temple Bar apartment. The next day was spent racing around Dublin and exhausting ourselves, then attending a CS event and staying at Jules' place. Next stop Galway.

Taking five days introducing Monika to Ireland, to Couchsurfing, and to hitchhiking. We rushed through the cities as fast as possible - stayed with Kata and Robi and saw Limerick in just one morning before hitchhiking to Dublin...

Leaving the Isle of Man, leaving my old job, leaving the gang behind. See you again in the distant future...

Large housewarming party in Edinburgh, with guests flying in specially from all over the continent. Good food, good drink, some bad drink, all a lot of fun.

Making and eating momos, and assembling hats with bits and pieces found from charity shops in preparation for the following night.

Hitchhiked from Newcastle to Edinburgh (in one lift!) and made it to Calum and Mairi's new flat, where I stayed five nights. Many people made it over for the weekend from many places across Europe to break in this new flat. Apart from a large hat party, we spent the time touring the city, climbing Arthur's Seat and some other hills, watching films, visiting pubs, watching films in pubs, going on a graveyard ghost tour, and seeing an amazing Celtic band in concert. Edinburgh is one of my favourite UK cities and I'm sure to be here again soon before long.

An hour in Leeds and a day in Newcastle; just stopping by to visit family, and show Guinea the sights.

Visiting the gang in Sheffield for a couple of days with Guinea, as Ian, Sam and Dave start their hitchhike to Croatia.

AHOJ on the Isle of Man!

Guinea decided to leave Warsaw join me at home for a few weeks, so she jumped into my bag and was smuggled onto the Isle of Man. She stayed until mid-April, then left with me to Edinburgh, where she found a job as the resident DJ in Calum and Mairi's flat and decided to stay.

Visiting Aga, Mon and Guinea in Warsaw with Trevor. Sadly I was flying home very early on the morning after we arrived, but we still had time to chat with Floh in Serbia, go out in Praga district and continue the night out at Warsaw airport. Thanks everyone for a fun week, see you soon.

Visiting Iza in Toruń, which is a better city than I imagined. Trevor came from Berlin to join the fun, and we worked our way through one day of beer, gingerbread, vodka ahoj, zapiekanka, pierogi and the occasional fist fight.

Visiting Monika for two days in Łódź. I was meant to do a restaurant review but it never happened - instead, we ate pizza and the Best Pierogi In The World, went shopping, met up with Ewa, and gatecrashed some polytechnic lectures.

Visiting Paweł in Kraków, and hosted by Asia. A lot of wandering around the city feeling cold, followed by a cool night with zapiekanka, various CSers, more zapiekanka, games with ID cards, yet more zapiekanka, and a fair amount of low-quality beer.

<<<LOCATION: Saarbrücken Hauptbahnhof>>>
An Experimental travel game. Travel around a chosen location using a 11-stage set of common directions. Make notes, take photos, compare results.

On the way back to Frankfurt I stopped by Metz for a night to visit Flore and attend a party, as well as do some experimental cooking. The next day I tried to hitchhike to Frankfurt but only got as far as Saarland, so took a train and relaxed at Claudia-n-Markus' place for a bit. Back home, and although the last three days were a bit rushed, overall it was a fantastic holiday. It could be some months before the next one...

<<<LOCATION: French road D925 near Aiton>>>
An Experimental travel game. Travel around a chosen location using a 11-stage set of common directions. Make notes, take photos, compare results.

A night and a day travelling high in the French Alps with Anaëlle, a guest on the Isle of Man last year. Eating lots of delicious local food, hitchhiking over mountains in minus temperatures, experiencing a police van from the inside...

<<<LOCATION: Lyon 6th Arrondissement north>>>
An Experimental travel game. Travel around a chosen location using a 11-stage set of common directions. Make notes, take photos, compare results.

I love this city! I have to visit again sometime. Great food, friendly people, classy atmosphere. It's a shame I had to leave, but I had to keep moving - I left Lyon on the 23rd to travel north to Frankfurt, where my plane home leaves on the 25th...

<<<LOCATION: Geneva Georgian Embassy>>>
An Experimental travel game. Travel around a chosen location using a 11-stage set of common directions. Make notes, take photos, compare results.

Leaving Vevey to hitchhike to Lyon. The route is not so simple - getting past Geneva is the problem. As time went on I accepted a ride to Geneva (it was a Georgian diplomatic service, I couldn't turn them down), explored Geneva for a bit, then walked to France and caught a train to Lyon.

Hitchhiked from Winterthur to Lausanne in four hours (!) and spent 24 more hours as Noé's guest in Vevey. A tour around a vineyard, a tasty fondue and lots of homemade wine.

<<<LOCATION: Zürich Südbahnhof>>>
An Experimental travel game. Travel around a chosen location using a 11-stage set of common directions. Make notes, take photos, compare results.

Spent two nights as Thomas' guest north of Winterthur. We visited Winterthur, Zürich, Uetliberg and saw various things. The area is worth visiting, but it's time to move on west...

I had keine Lust to stay in Frankfurt for eleven days, so travelled to Reutlingen to party the night long with Krissi and friends. The day after, sore head and sore neck, I tried hitchhiking to Switzerland. And it worked well - I went over the Swabian Alps, from village to village, so progress was very slow, but it was a lot of fun. Then a night ferry across the Bodensee and on to Winterthur...

<<<LOCATION: Birmingham International Airport Terminal 2 Arrivals>>>
An Experimental travel game. Travel around a chosen location using a 11-stage set of common directions. Make notes, take photos, compare results.

<<<LOCATION: Isle of Man Airport Departure Lounge>>>
An Experimental travel game. Travel around a chosen location using a 11-stage set of common directions. Make notes, take photos, compare results.

Decided to go to the Alps on the 13th, flying to Frankfurt on the 15th. I like these kinds of decisions. Also, watch out for explosive dogs on the Isle of Man (see first picture).

Photos from the final night of Berlin fun, ending with the usual Flohfish party until I had to leave for the Isle of Man when the party was about to get going (6.30am). Love you all, til next time.

12 months of Berlin Beach Camp fun. When viewing a photo, click it for the full-size version, and print at will. Thank you to the 24 stunning, highly photogenic volunteers who feature in the calendar. Comes with all the Berlin state public holidays marked in red.