I was lucky to live abroad as a child, travel to many countries and spend my summers on the water. My desire to get out and see more of the world led to my choice of career in the cockpit of a jet airliner. Being paid to travel sounds perfect, but after no more than three days, I always have to head back home.

So I roam the planet in my free time, too. My bucket list is long: total solar eclipses around the world, the northern lights in Scandinavia, hike the Pacific Crest Trail, drive the Panamericana, cross the Atlantic Ocean with a sailboat (maybe followed by the Pacific), gaze in awe at meteor showers and erupting volcanoes, fly past mountain peaks with a paraglider and one day see planet Earth from orbit as an astronaut.

I prefer to live with light baggage, as it’s not our possessions that makes us happy, but the experiences and the people with whom we share them. Always in my bag are my notebook and camera to capture experiences, thoughts and insights!

Sirius is a Volvo XC60. With this series production car, I’ve already explored some impressive places, even off-road. It got its name from my love for astronomy. Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky and very close to Orion (more on this in the next section).

In the summer, it carries an Autohome Airtop rooftop tent with 205×145 cm (81″x57″) of sleeping space and in the trunk a DIY kitchen with twin-burner stove, fridge, electrical water supply (enough for showering!) and lots of storage space. The water supply is 90 l (24 gal) and electricity comes from a 100 Ah Lithium battery, which is charged while driving, via solar panels or with shore power. Only the bathroom is something I have to find when I need it.

The newest member of the family is a 35-year-old Steyr 12M18, a military transport truck from the Austrian army. The truck has already been completely restored – tried and tested technology in a simple, modern shell.

In 2024, it received an isolated box, flexibly mounted to the chassis, now becoming a tiny house with all the amenities: kitchen, bathroom, large bed and even a wood-burning stove.

With this mobile vacation home, I want to discover the world piece by piece, a few weeks or months at a time. Living like Thoreau on 12 square meters (130 square feet) with everything I need to live.

What’s missing? That’s right: a boat! So I can discover not just the continents of this planet, but its oceans. Relive and continue the most precious moments of my childhood, connect to 9,000 years of maritime history. Anchor in secluded bays, feel the wind and the sea spray on my skin and in my hair, be one with nature.

In finding a name, I’m still uncertain. Interestingly, both candidates are from Japan. Kintsugi is the art of repairing broken porcelain with gold, making it into something more valuable. Tancho(zuru) is the crane, symbol for loyalty, luck, love and long life.

After reading Jaron Lanier’s book on the topic, I’ve deleted all of my social media accounts. I don’t want to put on a performance. Be meaningless content, the main character in the TV series of my life, my memories its episodes. Life is so short and valuable. The more we experience it through a screen, the less we live it. It’s time to go offline. Time to live, time to play! Care to join me?

PS: There are still a few pieces I wrote on Substack. Something in this style–essays with photos and maybe some longer videos–are a project I want to work on some day. But independent of big tech, on my own website.