bandithnyc

The Altai Mountains are situated between Siberia, Mongolia, China and Kazakhstan. I want to go there and join the Nomads there who hunt with their eagles.

Never do I experience that sense of freedom more than when I arrive in Ibiza. There is something about it that makes me free and it is not the drugs, ‘cause I’m not a user. But the whole atmosphere and the people. Whatever you want to do, you can do and people let you. It is my paradise on earth…

My mother is Thai and I lived in Bangkok when I was a child. Childhood memories are a funny and sweet thing, I remember the barber next door and the kid I used to play horse racing with, I remember the taste of my favorite dessert, the monthly open air cinema they would have in our neighborhood and everyone would bring their chairs. I remember one movie which was sort of a Thai version of ‘Jaws’ and scared the shit out of me and lots of Kung Fu movies. I had white talc powder on my face and loved the rainy season because everything would be under water and chaotic. I remember the traffic jams, which were actually worse then I think. The bus rides to Phuket, where there was only one hotel at Patong Beach and the train rides to Songkhla with my aunt, and the people who would come to our windows to sell things whenever the train stopped. I remember the change from hot season to super hot season which would just happen from one day to the other like someone turned on a switch and all the boys would shave their heads. I remember the travels with my parents in the North where we would sleep in remote monasteries, my mother knew a lot of monks up there and my dad would have a lot of headaches in the morning because we slept on mats on the floor. The beautiful chanting of the monks and the lotus flowers, which I can’t find anywhere in NY.
That was a long time ago, and a lot has changed since then, but when I go back these days I still find things here and there that remind me of my time in Thailand.

I had friends in Hong Kong who went to International School there. One of them moved to Switzerland, her father worked with Swissair and we would get stand-by flights to Hong Kong.
I was there with her around 4 times when I was 16 and 17. So much fun. We would get drunk in Lan Kwai Fong, hang at the beach in Repulse bay, smoke some weed on Lamma Island.
At some point, we were drunk and I got a tattoo. Luckily I didn’t regret it the next day.
Haven’t been back since it went over to the Chinese. Wanna go back.

I haven’t actually really been there. This was maybe 15 years ago or more, the border was open for Thai and Burmese people to cross. I think now it is closed. My parents and me were traveling in Northern Thailand, I think we were in Mae Hong Son, when we just tried to walk over the bridge into Burma. My dad was walking a little behind us, so the guards didn’t know he was with us. They didn’t even look at my mother and me, ‘cause we looked and spoke Thai, but they stopped my dad and sent him back, ‘cause he’s white.
My mom and me walked around on the other side for about an hour and bought some stuff and then walked back to Thailand, where my dad was waiting in a bar at the bridge.
I want to go “back” desperately and see Yangon, Mandalay, Pagan, travel down the Irrawaddy,... maybe this fall.
Aung San Suu kyi is one of my personal heroes and Human Rights is a big issue. I think she said, people should not travel there until there’s democracy, so boycott or go? I don’t think boycotting changes anything, but by going, you might get an idea of how people actually live there and what is going on. And by experiencing something, you’re more bound to change something.

My parents came from Switzerland, picked me up in NY and then we flew to San Francisco. We rented a car and drove down to L.A. So beautiful. Amazing how the landscapes change. I’ve never seen dolphins and I cried, when i saw them in the ocean.
I always thought I’m gonna hate L.A., but when we approached from Malibu and I saw the first surfers, I was halfway sold. Now I actually want to live in L.A. for a while…

I travelled from Delhi to Neemrana to Samode to Jaipur to Jodhpur to Ranakpur to Delwara to Udaipur to Mumbai. The drive from Ranakpur to Delwara/Udaipur over the Aravali hills is the most beautiful road trip I have ever made so far. A trip of a lifetime. You cannot tell of Rajasthan or India, you have to experience it. And what an experience it will be.
I want to go back and go to Bikaner and Jaisalmer, also see other parts in India, the North, Sikkhim, the Himalayas, the South, Kerala, Bengal,...

Unfortunately i didn’t like it much. The whole Portuguese heritage is extremely interesting and the locals are great and it’s beautiful and Goan food is amazing. But I can’t really put my finger on it, the whole hippie-drugs-fucked up-spirituality-dreadlocks-charter tourism-hippie market-finding yourself-goa is where life is-atmosphere just didn’t go down well in my land.
So no more Goa for me, but if you love it… good for you.

My dad ran a marathon there about 10 years ago and I accompanied him. We flew to Hong Kong and then took the Speed Ferry to Macau which I loved and always wanted to do since I saw it in the Bond movie “The Man With The Golden Gun”. We only stayed for 2 days and I was too young to go gamble, but my dad won a trophy or medal or something.

I was born in Zurich. We then moved abroad and when time came for me to go to school we moved back. I’ve lived there until a few years back and live in NY now.
Zurich in the summer is the best city in the world! The lake and the river are clean and there are many beautiful public swimming areas scattered around town, we call them “badi”. But you can jump in anywhere you like, literally (except maybe for the stretch in the old-town). Life basically shifts to those places for the young and beautiful during the warm summer months, where there are also great open air bars and restaurants.
Nightlife in Zurich is considered as one of the best in Europe, yet still and underground tip. People from the bordering countries travel to Zurich just for the clubs, bars and lounges. People are best described as “bohemian riche”, understatement is key, but so is success.
As soon as it gets cooler and then cold, you better move on, for it will just remain a grey city until the next summer…
And yes, it is clean. That’s how we like it and that’s how it’s supposed to be. I’m still not used to how dirty NY is, pigs!