Blogs To Read - Hand Luggage Only

Recently I really got into travel again but as I'm currently a volunteer at a school I am pretty much limited in budget and time. So, I try to suck in as much about my favorite destinations and routes as possible through the internet. Aside YouTube, blogs are my major source with my personal number one:

© Hand Luggage Only

© Hand Luggage Only

These two guys there on the left are actually still quite new to the blogging business - although their had the idea of Hand Luggage Only since 2012 their started the blog in April 2014. They write about anything they think could be useful or entertaining for their readers: travel logs of the most awesome parts of their never-ending journey, top lists of activities and tips, and guides to make your travel smoother.

"We believe that travel should be accessible and open to all, that's why we try our best to showcase WHYs, HOWs and WHEREs of the very best in travel."

Hand Luggage Only | Bloglovin

Stay On The Board

So, you might know that winter is not my favorite season for longboarding. My fingers got cold even with 25+°C sometimes, as they don't really have any task and just hang in the wind most of the time. But now - late November - it is really painful sometimes. Also the cold air gets up your sleeves, the street tends to never really get dry and it gets dark way too soon. Many longboarders search for an alternative and most of them end up snowboarding. I personally did it the other way round: I just couldn't wait one year to get onto the snowboard again and didn't want to go for indoor winter sports. Here are some of my experiences about transitioning from longboarding to snowboarding and vice versa.

Rear foot steering. I personally pretty much kick out my rear foot when I'm turning on a snowboard - just like sliding on a longboard. At the same time, you will most likely miss the sliding all the times you're in the city without slopes.

Locking in your feet. My girlfriend didn't trust the longboard at first because she was used to being strapped to the board. But as I told her, there is nothing to worry about. My feet did never just slide of the board - neither while carving nor pushing.

Atmosphere. Of course, the atmosphere is totally different. On a longboard you can go on for hundreds of miles without ever visiting the same place twice. On the snowboard you are pretty much limited to the mountains you're around and you will have to stop after a trail of maybe 10 miles, if you're lucky.

Does anyone of you have other experiences with these differences or did you notice anything else?


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Awesome Decks - Landyachtz Chinook

For today, I found a really nice downhill and freeride board: The Chinook. This is one of the examples that show how Landyachtz does not only guarantee great artworks but also awesome shapes.

With its 9-ply Canadian maple it has basically no flex unless you really try to bend it. In the overall length of 40" there are two wheelbase options: 31.25" and 32.25". The W-bowl concave locks your feet in at the right spot and makes it hard to slip off. The drop gives you the possibility to get your foot close to the wheels to gain some extra control over the +/-10° wedged trucks. Although this might seem a little drastic when you look at it, the Chinook is meant to be a less aggressive version of the Evo - still a monster - to match the more modern trucks.

I just love everything about the artwork: How the lion's head is symmetrical, how all of it consists of these striped triangles and this awesome glow of the eyes. Well, not everything - I would love to have another option to the main colors. Maybe a red or a darker blue would work out really well. But I guess there won't be any other color setting as the deck isn't in production anymore. If you love it for the shape and don't really care about the artwork, you can still buy the Landyachtz Evo for $140 deck only or $240 to get it equipped with Bear Grizzly 840 181mm trucks, Hawgs KM FSU 70mm 80A wheels and System ABEC 5 bearings.

Giving In To Blogging Stereotypes

I never liked these cliche bloggers that post nothing else than top lists, awards and link ups. But actually - now that I blog myself - I understand how good it feels to have a scheme to work by and build your content around. Also readers as well as authors have a benefit from them:

Top lists: As a reader it is super comfortable to go through a list of eight or ten facts or tips and just leave out the ones that don't catch your interest within the first  two or three words. At the same time you can write it in a very easy way as you can split your research and writing into little texts. Perfect to take one item at a time whenever you find five or ten minutes to write on it.

Awards: If you want to find new blogs to read, just search through your favorite blog and see if he or she ever did one of the blogging awards. Usually there are ten bloggers nominated and also you can go by the blog that nominated the one that you are reading. Obviously, as a blogger you get some extra visitors from your nomination and also you have a guide to write your post by.

Link ups: Another community based kind of post that lives from and for creating a community and getting support from other people. When writing link ups you pretty much just have to build a platform for you readers -  maybe a topic to discuss about or one theme everybody can share their ideas about.

What are your favorite kinds of posts to write and read?

One Day In Hamburg - Essentials

Water, the most important thing to humans. With six times as many bridges as in Venice or double the bridges of Amsterdam water is also a pretty big thing to Hamburg. These are some shots of the Alster and the Elbe, the biggest and most important water surfaces in Hamburg.

Alien Post - The Stormlight Archive

Recently I really got into fantasy books again and the one I was most impressed by is The Way Of Kings from the Stormlight Archive series by Brandon Sanderson. I guess it's my girlfriend's fault. One evening she told me about the new book series she was reading and while she told me about the story (for once not spoiling me) she showed me some drawings that were included in the book. And for some reason, it drew my interest. So after she finished reading, or rather devouring the novel, I got it and this is what it is about:
In this first book the story is mostly built around the young man Kaladin who originally thought of war to be his chance to get out of the life he was born into but ends up as a slave, condemned by the man he would've given his life for. Of course slaves were wanted for war as well, what brought him to the worst place to be: The Shattered Plains, where the most brutal and outrageous war of all time was fought by the human race on the one side and the Parshendi on the other side, assumed to be responsible for the assassination of king Gavilar of Alethkar. King, assassination, war - sounds obvious, right?
At the same time - but on the other side of the continent - Shallan is fighting her own battle in order to save her family. To win the trust of the most important woman, the king's sister Jasnah Kholin, she tries to become her ward at first only to steal pretty much the most powerful item mankind knows about, a soulcaster, used to form anything you want from any material you want. Practically a way to make food from stone and water from soil.
Well, give it a try if you like what you've read so far. Book two, Words Of Radiance is also out already and book three is to be released in 2016 - so still enough time to read the first two over and over again.


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Chasing The Sun

One of the things I hate about fall and winter is how little light we get throughout the day. Especially if your photo- and videography is only a hobby - measured by the time you have available for it - it is hard to get ready for a shoot before the sun goes down. And we still have one and a half months left until we have the shortest day of the year. I'm stunned every single year again.

Like really stunned: Once I realize that it's happening I can't find the motivation to get out and shooting. It just seems like I won't even find anything before it get's dark again. Yesterday I was on my way home around 4 pm and guess what I saw: Golden Hour! But of course I couldn't carry my camera around all day - also I didn't even think that it would become such a nice day. But let's not get too depressed because of that - here are some pictures I collected this summer.

Awesome Decks - Bustin Sportster Pro

Today I want to show you one of the awesome longboard decks I found on Pinterest. When choosing a deck for your new board you can't focus only on the stats,  because no matter how good the board is - it still has to look nice.

So, this here is a nice 37,5" deck by Bustin: The Sportster Pro. With it's typical drop-through / wheel cutout design it is pretty much an all rounder for freeride, cruising and downhill. With the Thermo Carbon and maple hybrid Bustin tried to reach the right stiffness and elasticity balance that they all want. Every brand does it pretty much the same way - but they call it different every time.


But take a look at this gorgeous texture in grey - it still sounds awful. I can't decide whether it looks more like really luxury wood or like brushed metal. However, I love this shade. You shouldn't look too close at the lion though - to me the face looks a little too abstract. All the fur looks fine, especially the "majestic" chin, I think. But there is one thing that really annoys me: Why did they try to give the drawing a graffiti look at the bottom? The rest of the deck is all clean and noble except those eight stripes dripping down there. Still, there are other graphics available at the Bustin store for $179, if you like the shape.


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Blogs To Read - Muted Mornings

© Mimmi Rönning

And Sweden scores again: Mimmi Rönning is 19 years old and currently living in Glasgow where she's studying English Literatur. I love how she is one of the few bloggers now who write about whatever happens in their lives while others stick to their editorial calendars - although that might be fitting for their branches. However, I like her for her writing, topics and pictures that are always composed to awesome posts. Especially her appreciative posts are a nice read when you need to see the good things in life. Well, just browse through her blog a little and you'll find a lot of nice stories to read.

Latest appreciative post: One month in Glasgow & Appreciative Post #6
Muted Mornings || Bloglovin

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