Okay. It’s been two long weeks of limited down time and I have finally a chance to come up for air. Here are a few pictures of our road trip up to Rocky Mountain National Park. This was the first leg of our journey: from Dallas, through Vernon and Amarillo, through a back-roads beautiful ride in New Mexico and finally up into Colorado in the dark. We were mostly leisurely on our way – stopping here and there – to see what we could see. The trip was more enjoyable with these breaks. I’ll post a more detailed commentary soon. For now, please enjoy the beautiful outback of the United States.

One of my favorite things is flying.

There is nothing more incredible than being way up high above the clouds, soaring along with hundreds of other people in an air bus. While air travel may not be the most convenient of processes – expensive ticketing (are there no young-people/student discounts out there!?), demoralization at security, time it takes to actually leave the tarmac, waiting for luggage – I always feel as giddy as a five-year old when the engines come on full-blast and I wave goodbye to whatever city is now beneath me.

ironic: the image number for the photo above is no. 737, which happens to be the model whose wing you see there.

Today I was browsing through a few old photos from a trip we took to Neuss during my study abroad in Germany. It is a relatively small city to the southwest of Düsseldorf and is home to the Hombroich Cultural Environment.

The Hombroich Cultural Environment is a synthesis of art, architecture and nature. The starting point of this, now continuously developing experiment of cultural, philosophical and artistic exchange, originated in the foundation of the Museum Insel Hombroich twenty years ago. Now the unique concept can be understood as a variable interaction between a growing and changing creative crowd – studios are rented out to artists, locations can be booked for events – and the interested visitor can become engaged by visiting one of the museums or participating in the community life.

Basically it is the huge acreage of land dedicated to the arts. Famous architects, artists and designers have landed commissions to be free in expression and ideas in this “neighborhood” of landmarks. From rural studios and gardens to Tadao Ando’s sleek Langen Foundation Museum, there is quite a bit to take in.

The experience you have walking through this foundation is one of complete serenity. It is a clean integration between outside and in; North-Rhine Westphalia landscape and art. Ando gives so much attention to detal: the picture-window views, human-sized concrete module system, mirroring on the reflecting pool, elegant wayfinding text.

See here for a video inside the Langen.

Who doesn’t love Friday? It is typically my favorite day of the week. Everyone at work is cheerful, you might have a date for lunch, you talk about your plans for the weekend… Wouldn’t it be nice to have Friday every day? OR EVEN, carry it on your back? Welcome to my world. I own a Freitag. That’s Swiss for Friday and is also the name of a European bag and accessory manufacturer.

Europeans like their messenger bags. I think any city-dweller does, though. Everyone (not just purse-bearing women) needs someway of holding and carrying their belongings when there is not a personal vehicle in which to stuff. Not too long after I started living in Germany for my semester away, I decided to go on a quest looking for the perfect messenger bag for me. Actually I knew I wanted/ needed one before I left the states. I knew that I would be without a place to put things for hours upon end but would still need access to my laptop or camera or books or writing utensils, etc. It was a must. I searched all over the internet, the shopping centers, the luggage stores. There didn’t seem to be something that would fit all my criteria. The bag needed to be durable. It would have to withstand the rain, the wear and tear of it being on the ground and the strain of being stuffed to the max with heavy items. It had to be functional but not to the extent of a Swiss Army Knife. I grew up with simple backpacks for grade school. One Jansport I owned had just two pockets. There was no worrying about where things were kept. It had only two options: one big compartment and a proportionally smaller but equally useful one. My third requirement was that the bag had to be spectacularly beautiful. There are so many options for bags out there that there is no excuse not to be able to pick the color and style and feel of this long-term accessory. For a city-dweller, it represents the same thing a car does to a suburbanite. It is your home away from home and everyone can see it. Not to say that I want to impress anyone. I do not. It is just something with which comes many options and why not choose the best you can? One that will last long and not be a trendy impulse-buy.

So with that said, I began to fancy the Freitag brand. I cannot remember how I came across this carrier but once I visited their online store and experienced the passion they bestowed upon each of their unique creations, I couldn’t help but start to grow attracted to them. Seriously, take a look at their website. They have a wealth of information about how they got their beginnings, images and descriptions about their philosophy and process and a not-to-shabby interface.

What makes Freitag bags so special is how they are constructed. You’ll note from the images that the materials used are very specific to how they are used. It is a very simple and minimalist design. Recycled (and thoroughly cleaned) shipping truck tarps (they have them in Europe) are what make up the body of the bags. Each bag template is hand cut by their designers with every face of the bag, inside and out, carefully considered. You can imagine the endless possibilities of color and shape that everyday company logos and advertising can offer. Second, the edges of the canvas are concealed by bike tubes. If you’ve ever changed out the tire on your bike you are familiar with the smooth black rubber inner-tube beneath the treads. Finally, old car-seat belts are used for the carrying and support straps, smartly sewed to the canvas and paired with heavy-duty clamps and clips. Viola. Every bag is different from the rest.

They now produce over 40 different bag types, ranging from wallets to briefcases, laptop bags to duffel bags. Brothers and designers Markus and Daniel Freitag have really done well to turn their need of a perfect bag into a profitable business. And as a bonus, since they were trained as graphic designers, the Freitag brand features really superb info-graphics and a recognizable style.

I was sold. And to seal the deal, when we were touring Amsterdam, our urban district walking tour guide sported a nice blue Frietag. It was the first time I had seen one of their bags in person and I made sure to ask our guide all about it. She loved it. I knew I would too. That night while in the shopping district, we stumbled (read: scoured and finally fell) upon a luggage shop that featured the prodigal bags. While the only had 1o or 15 pieces for sale, the one I chose is still a winner in my book. I had my heart set on a completely grey canvas bag. But the color red on this one was so vivid and luring. I could not pass it up. And besides, the shape on the front is clearly a portion of the letter “S”. DONE.

I have since enjoyed my Freitag for a little over two years now. It has more than served its purpose, carrying well over its share of items and staying resilient to anything thrown its way. It also creates a nice conversation piece.

Inside I most usually am able to stuff my mac (in it’s own padded case), the charger, an external hard drive, a book, a moleskine and magazines in the big pocket and many a writing stick in the front pocket. It also does well to hold my camera or a lunch or just about anything imaginable. While I have not used this feature much, it also has the capability for the inner liner to draw out and, with the extra velcro, nearly double its carrying capacity.

I was in a bit of a hurry when I bought it and never had the chance to peek at what seemed to be a very cool user manual and owner’s guide. Only yesterday did I finally take it out and examine its contents. It was like I was reunited again in the joy of ownership. The Freitag team really put in the time and effort to make each of their products worthwhile from front to back.

I will admit. I may be a little obsessive. It is in part because my Freitag is practically perfect in every way. But maybe more so because I spent a good two hours last night rummaging through a very large bag filled with ticket stubs, receipts, flyers, notes, brochures, bar tabs and other treasured memorabilia that I kept from my time in Europe. I am trying to think of a way to display or archive it all. There is about 5lbs of it. Any ideas?

Until then, I will take this one piece with me daily, enjoying my most valued material possession from the 2008 Spring semester:

Special thanks to the neutral background of a certain IKEA Kramfors sofa.

Check out these really super tourism posters by The Heads of State.

So the Mrs. and I took a long weekend holiday to the Big Apple last month. We had a blast. I wouldn’t say that it was necessarliy relaxing as we had about 12 days worth of activities planned for just four days of stay. Also the weather was pretty terrible the first day but became progressively better until the last day which was gorgeous. 60 degress and blue skies.

We left Friday evening 12 March and returned late Tuesday night 16 March, just in time for me to get to work the next day (…yay). T was on Spring Break and I took that Monday and Tuesday off. Again, it was a great trip.

Seeing as it took me over two weeks to have time to post about this, I am just going to show pictures. I hope to come back to add in-depth captions with an itinerary but for now, enjoy: