Fri March 09 2018  —  e-mail Manfred

Soon to be on the road again.

Flag England Flag Uk

Friday, February 11 2005

6 month, 20 days

London, England

About Travel Photography,
Colors of the World.

Manfred is creator of ThisFabTrek.com, travel photography, a travel blog and a photography blog (a journey from 2004 to 2013). 'I set out to see the colors of the world, always I try to capture the colors'.

Seeing, is understanding, so I report and photograph, but formost enjoy and live those different conceptions of life (all that TV [and the web] cannot give). I reject jealousy, animosity, bigotry. Be free!

Manfred in the desert of the Western Sahara

The mind, when pondering at night and always asked those questions. What am I doing in corporate wonderland of bank, university, office or church? Who is the other animal asleep deep inside, the thinker, punk, creative, or Indian, vagabond and healer, maybe artist, writer, photographer, traveler, globetrotter? Oh God, dare you to think. When I saw the lies, gambles and manipulations I follow the old dream and set out for the journey of life lived, the journey to see the colors of the world.

During years on the road I have taken the turns as they came along, and realized one thing: Only such a small part of the planet can be explored and such a vast land and sea mass will always remain unknown, to me; many swamps, jungles, deserts and oceans will never be traveled. But then I am father of twin boys, Daniel and David, my most important, and I show them some of the wonders and colors out there.

ThisFabTrek, Photography and Journey, the Stories from the Road and Life around the World, stopped in August 2013 after more than 9 years, Love and Peace.

Last vehicle.

G20, Chevy Gladiator.

Chevrolet Gladiator G20, The boys in Cordillera Blanca, Peru.
The boys and Chevy van, Peru.

The G20, the vehicle that came to me for the Americas adventures.

6 wheeled Land Rover.

Land Rover Defender 6x6
Link to Foley

The vehicle of the Africa adventures, a Foley 6-Wheeled Land Rover Defender.

Before, the MB307.

Manfred and MB307
Journey, Middle East.

The vehicle of the Middle-East and North-Cape Journeys. See all vehicles.

Daniel and David with nanny Aisha, the best we ever had, black African Woman carrying white twin babies, in Bamako, Mali.

"Photography enables you to grasp a place first time round. ... Photography is a means of exploration, it's a vital part of travel, almost as essential as a car or a plane. " - Wim Wenders.

"The worst prejudice we acquire during our youth is the idea that life is serious. Children have the right instincts: they know that life is not serious, and treat it as a game..." , Egon Friedell.

"How far you gonna go. Before you lose your way back home" - Tryin' To Throw Your Arms Around The World, Achtung Baby, U2.

"If you want to be a hero well just follow me." - Working Class Hero, John Lennon.

"When I think of all the things I have done, I know that it's only just begun." - I love you, Lou Reed.

"One does not escape the Sahara - the Sahara let's you go or not" - Touareg.

"Planet earth is blue and there`s nothing I can do" - This is Ground Control to Major Tom, David Bowie.

"Glory for the crazy people/in this stupid world" - Ahmed Fouad Negm.

Land Rover 14,432km

Trekking 243km

Ferry 504km

Train 150km

Other cars, taxis, bus, Audi 4.633km. (bringing the Audi to the UK and back has contributed most)

Travel Blog

contains Festival/Fiesta/Art photography.

"There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come." - Victor Hugo.

"What matters in life is not what happens to you but what you remember and how you remember it, to tell the tale." Living to Tell the Tale - Gabriel García Márquez.

"They never taught wandering in any school I attended. ... they never taught the art of writing a book, either. It's all so mysterious."
"Wandering is an art in itself. Wandering and writing don't mix"
"Writing demands commitment and if one thing your wanderer is allergic to is that very quality of commitment, for once one is committed he runs that very risk of failure ..." Wanderer - Sterling Hayden.

www.thisfabtrek.com > journey > europe > england > 20050211-london

I went to find out.

I went to Bludenz in October to fall in love. Heidi quit her former life and came travelling with me.

4 month later Heidi and I decide to go separate ways again. She wants to see Australia, find herself.

I will travel to Africa, follow my old plan, my plan. Heidi has her own ideas on her mind and needs to follow those, hers not mine.

To leave your conventional live means to break out, to free your mind. To take on someone else's ideas is the opposite. It took me/us some time to realise.

We were quite a fit in terms of that we both have the desire to travel, travel unconventionally. But the time we travelled together laid bare, the obvious, that living together in a bus 24 hours a day, 7 days a week requires just a bit more, maybe a lot more...

So I am back on my own, back in London. Heidi is back in London as well and we meet regularly. We manage not to fight, actually we are about to become really good friends.

back to top

6x6 conversion delayed, trapped in mutants' town.

Land Rover at Foley's
Landy is still with Foley's.

This is mid February. Spring takes hold of England at this time of the year. Temperatures are around 10°C sometimes more, so quite pleasant. Crocuses start blossoming everywhere and little green buds begin decorating the otherwise still barren trees and bushes.

The Land Rover has been worked on at Foley's. Nearly everything is done. Extra tanks, roll-bar, all the mounts for high-lift jack and sand ladders, etc. I am ready to go.

Only a delay in the shipment of the 6x6 differential makes me stay here for the moment. (Pictures below show the fitting of the 6x6 unit).

So I wait while I am stuck.

Stuck in the oddest place on the planet. Harlow/Essex. Heidi and I named its town centre mutants' town.

Harlow is the center of an indutrialised area. Lots of employment and cheap housing. Life centres around a big ugly shopping centre.

An unreal world, only accessible by car. Though not for my truck as it is too high.

But people seem to enjoy it, don't mind having their money taken away by the ASDA's and Gap's of this world.

open Diff
Second axle open differential.
6x6 unit
Foley's 6x6 transfer box.

back to top

Back in London

London Underground station
Earls Court Station.

The weekend 12/13 Feb I am spending in London Bayswater. I meet Simon down in Fulham, I try my new camera, the S3. Saturday I am offered my first ever photographer's job, an invitation to be a wedding photographer. No thanks. But it shows that just swinging a pro-camera in a pub carries the chance of making money.

Monday 14th to Friday 18th back in Roydon and Harlow. I play with the Land Rover, organising stuff, fix minor issues. Heidi joins me out here for a few days.

Friday 18th of Feb Heidi and I meet Jon and girlfriend Gerry again. Jon, I had met when walking the West Highland Way back in August 2004. An excellent dinner, meatballs and spaghetti plus 5 bottles of red in their flat in Watford make a very pleasant evening.

Jon in his natural habitat
Jon in his natural habitat.
Heidi in talk with Gerry
Heidi in talk with Gerry.

Heidi and I meet Michael for lunch on Saturday. Michael now lives in Chiswick, London. We have lunch nearby at the Bell&Cow pub at the River Thames.

Jo on The Hill
Jo Stevens.

Saturday evening I go and see Jo Stevens's band (her myspaces) were Jon's the guitarist. They're playing on the occasion of the opening of The Hill, a club in Muswell Hill in North London. Jo Stevens, singer and songwriter of Scottish origin has recorded a couple of CDs. The band she performed with at The Hill was formerly known as Aviation Blonde, together they recorded a CD back in 1999.

A nice chap, another guitarist, another friend of Jon's I meet in The Hill. His name is Higgs. He has been around for years, playing bass guitar, in various bands with and without Jon.

Jon at the gig
Jon on the Hill.
Jon and JO
Jon and JO.

But winter has returned with temperatures near Zero and some snow and rain. Sleeping in the bus turns a bit uncomfortable. And I am longing to get out of here, get to warmer parts of this planet. How many more days or is it still weeks?

When I write this, I am inside the Land Rover, in Roydon. Only many litres of hot tea keep me warm. The computer these days drains from the second battery since I had a split-charge-battery system installed.

Sometimes I am even online, through some wifi-network in one of the houses near-by. I have my music, hot tea and am connected to the world. What else can I ask for? I think I'd just like the 6x6 differential to be ready so I could finally get out of here.

conncted
Connented insider the LR ...
life inside the LR
... I am sending these shots out.

www.thisfabtrek.com > journey > europe > england > 20050211-london

back to top