How long have I been waiting for this? Last monday I finally started my first bikepacking adventure with my Brompton! I took the train from Freiburg to Donaueschingen and from there – on my first stage – I rode about 70 kilometres to Lake Constance. đşď¸
I found a wonderful campsite and was allowed to pitch my tent right on the lakeshore. Of course, the first thing I had to do was to jump into the lake and cool down. The tent was set up quickly and I spent a very quiet and relaxed evening and night, listening to the songs of a little owl. âşď¸đŚ
Well rested, I started the next morning on my second stage, which was to be twice as long as planned. First along the Rhine through the beautiful Swiss towns of Stein am Rhein and Schaffhausen. đ¨đ By noon I arrived already in Waldshut-Tiengen, the actual destination of my stage. But because I didnât like it there very much (đ¤) and a local woman told me it was supposed to be thunderstormy at night and the next day, I decided to continue directly to the destination of my tour.
So I cycled further along the river Rhine, passing Laufenburg and Rheinfelden to Basel. In the end of the day: 132 kilometres in six and a half hours. With about 15 kilos of luggage.
This week I had too little exercise. I sat at my desk too much, had too many appointments and I often took the car due to lack of time. So today, after having a coffee, I put on my barefoot hiking shoes and started walking. 𼞠Iâm lucky enough to live amid the Black Forest, so I can enter the wood just a few steps away from my door.
Most times walking around in nature is the quickest way to ease stress for me. No matter where I am, I can find something interesting to look at or to capture with my camera. But today letting go and relaxing didnât work out quite so well. I could not get rid of my inner tension and could still hear the soft rustling of the city as a reminder of busy everyday life. Nevertheless, I could enjoy the fresh, icy air and capture some moments with my camera. Bodily movement also helped me to shift attention to myself.
Black Forest, Nikon D600/50mm 1.8, processed with VSCO.
âWelcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing!â
How often did I read this text, after setting up a new WordPress installation? I canât count it. Also, there was a time before WordPress. To be precise, I startet building websites to share some thoughts and snippets of my life with the internet in times of the Netscape Composer. If you know, what Iâm talking about, your are old. đ
Today, I start writing again. I did it several times before, under various domain-names, sometimes self- or life-centered, sometimes about the topics that interested me. This time, the new beginning is all about #reclaimingtheinternet.
Maybe it is a bit of an exaggeration, but using popular web services, specially social media is actually in crisis for me. Living by the algorithms or the capitalist rules of rich guys (looking at you Mark and Elon), just does not feel good. I donât want to sound like a very, very old person, but everything was just better in the old (internet)daysâ˘. 𤡠The moments I share in pictures are not supposed to train an algorithm. I donât want product recommendations when I write about my depression (Mhh, a bath essence will solve all my problems đŤ§). And I donât want my body sexualized and restricted by so called âcommunity guidelinesâ.
But as in the good old (internet)daysâ˘, I still have a choice. I donât have to be where everyone is. I donât have to hand over my data to surveillance capitalism. Because the good, free and independent platforms exist and I can build them by my own â then as now!
So, hello (again) at this blog (like in the good old days where the internet was still beeping and loading porn was ⌠ehh, back to the topic!) for all my thoughts in the long form. For all the bits and bobs â from sunset images, podcast recommendations and words of wisdom â I set up my own instance of the decentralized social network Mastodon, where you can connect with me at twothree.space/@oli. đ
By the way: Iâm trying to do most of this #reclaimingtheinternet thing in english. I hope reading this text, does not hurt too much.
Hey, ich bin Oli Lou! Ich lebe in Freiburg, bin Allrounder*in in den Bereichen Medien, Kommunikation und Betriebswirtschaft und dokumentiere hier meinen Blick auf die Welt.
