Splette's Travel Blog
  • The San Francisco skyline (easily recognizable by the Transamerica Pyramid on the left)
  • Panama City - I love the grungy look of the city
  • Caribbean beach at a peaceful summer night, captured by long exposure.
  • The active volcán Arenal is close to La Fortuna and too dangerous to climb
  • Sleeping yellow eyelash viper in the wild. Small but deadly.
  • Me on volcán Santiaguito
  • Chicago (aka Gotham City)
  • One of the iconic yellow New York City cabs
  • Chrysler Building, New York
  • Times Square, New York
  • The White House
  • Towards the light
  • Nuclear Reactor at the Oak Ridge National Lab
  • Featured Content

  • December20th

    6 Comments

    Bank fraud – how to lose 500 1000 € overnight

    Four withdrawals of a Peruvian bank of 122.77 € each.

    My bank account statement

    My attempts of getting my bank account in a better shape have taken another blow this morning. Here comes another article for the ‘crime’ section of my blog (José, I hope you are happy now! :) ).

    As we all know, I am really good at losing things (one of the numerous superpowers I possess). But the only thing I actually got stolen during the last 12 months of traveling was a pair of smelly sneakers. Until last night, when 500€ (to be precise: 491.08€) miraculously disappeared from my bank account. That’s not cool. The money was withdrawn from a bank in Lima, Peru. I have never even been to Peru (yet). How this is even possible is beyond me. I could not contact my bank directly because their service number cannot be reached via Skype. So, my dad (who has access to my account) had to take care of this. The bank blocked my card but what’s going to happen to the 500€ is unclear. The bank person in charge did not reply my email, yet but told my dad something about a police report. I wonder how and where from I am supposed to get this police report. From Germany (via phone?), from Costa Rica or do they expect me to fly to Lima to file the report there…

    This is frustrating. And I am still puzzled as of how this is possible. Unlike my other (legit) cash withdrawals here from Costa Rica, the fraudulent one says ‘Lastschrift‘. But then the statement also says it was done with my debit card (‘EC-Karte‘). But that card is in my pocket. It was never lost. I am pretty careful when withdrawing money from an ATM and watch out for suspicious things. I always cover my hand when entering the PIN number.

    If any of you has experience with a similar situation and has any advice for me to get my money back, please let me know…

     

    The complaint ('denuncia') I filed with the police in Costa Rica

    Police Report

    Update: Thanks everyone for the feedback. I talked to the bank. It was not a real ‘Lastschrift’ but someone withdrew money from an ATM with a duplicate of my debit card. My bank asked me to file a police report here in Costa Rica which I did (needed a translator as the cop didn’t speak English). Now I need to fill out some additional paperwork and send it all off to the bank. Within a few weeks the bank should refund the money.

    A few days ago, I noticed that my credit card was blocked again (this must be the forth or fifth time this year). I called and it turns out that someone in Peru withdrew about 500 Euros with it! What a surprise. Apparently, that fraudster did a proper job and stole my credit card information, too. The employee at Barclay said this happens all the time. I’m not sure if I need to get a police report for this one, too. She did not mention anything. My problem right now is that I have no way to withdraw money until the new cards arrive in Costa Rica and I have not that much cash left.

  • December18th

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    Making money from travel photos isn’t easy

    As you may or may not know, I am making a living and pay for my travels with my science illustration work. It’s not exactly making me a rich man. So, I am always looking out for alternative ways of making money. No, don’t worry, I have dismissed the idea of smuggling cocaine in my anus across the Colombian border… But it has always been my wish to generate some income from my traveling. Writing has never really been my thing (despite this blog), I am more of a visual person. And I have taken tons of photos this year. So, I was thinking of offering some of the nicer ones on a stock photography site.

    There are two major players in the stock photography business: istockphoto and shutterstock. For my work I have bought images from both of them on numerous occasions. Some of the photos are outstanding. Others are alright. Naturally, those sites don’t let anyone upload any photo but there is a quality control in place. In the case of Shutterstock it looks like this: You register as a potential contributor to the site and submit ten photos. They need to have a certain resolution, at least 7 keywords and so on. But above all, they have to be of high quality. ‘Quality’ is defined by a number of technical properties (focus, grain, exposure, white balance, chromatic abbreviation, etc…) and also by the composition. Is the subject of the photo of any commercial interest for the customers? If more than three of your ten uploaded photos fail these criteria, you have to wait 30 days before you can try again and submit another10 photos. This is why it’s a good idea to check the forums first and get some opinion from experienced contributors about the shots you plan to submit. So, I picked the ten photos, that I though have the best chance to get accepted and uploaded them to the forum:

    http://submit.shutterstock.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=116221

    As you see, the response has been underwhelming. Apparently even my nicest photos have little chance to meet the reviewer’s high quality standards. It’s one of those moments when you realize that you are not as good as you thought you are. A valuable lesson, nevertheless.

    My question to you: Does any of you have experience with or suggestions about selling travel photos? Stock images might not the be the way to go but perhaps there are specialized websites with lower barriers to offer these kind of photos on? Or entirely different ways of making money from travel photography? If none of this works out I might just use them for Wikipedia.

    Update #1: I just bumped into this funny website: http://moneyfortraveling.com. They sell e-books & videos that teach you how to make money while traveling. Well, at least they are making money … ha ha

    Update #2: Looks like I might have a chance with Shutterstock after all. An employee from Shutterstock contacted me and seemed interested in my scientific animations: “Dear Thomas, I am the Director of Video Acquisition at Shutterstock. I wanted to thank you for signing up for an account with us.I recently viewed some of your clips from your website scistyle.com and I know medical animation like yours will connect with our customers. I especially liked the animation 1:33 into your 2010 Showreel. ” I called him back and hope to have a few clips ready to upload to Shutterstock soon…

  • December12th

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    Picture time

    I uploaded a whole bunch of photos. Check them out at the photo page. There are still a few from the US and Colombia missing.

    Update: The Colombia photos are now online.

  • November24th

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    Back in San Francisco

    San Francisco Skyline

    My journey turns out to be a lot less linear than the straight line on the map may suggest. There is a lot of back and forth but that’s not a bad thing. By the time of writing I made it down to Colombia where my trip came to a stop as ran out of money.

    San Francisco Skyline

    San Francisco Skyline

    I decided to fly back to Costa Rica and spend a few months there to focus on work and make some money (I’ll explain this in more detail in another post). My Costa Rican roommate works for an airline and when he said he’d go to San Francisco I got jealous and begged him to get me one of those cheap tickets, so I could come as well. The rest is history; I am back in San Francisco for a few weeks. The swift change of environment makes me realize all the things I missed in Latin America – and those I didn’t. This must be my fifth visit here and I’m always happy to be back. As one of my friends said ‘Welcome back home.” The Bay area is certainly one of my favorite places in the United States.

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  • November1st

    2 Comments

    My trip in 99 seconds

    Click here if you prefer to watch the video right on Vimeo.

    Finally! For those of you that have little time, I created this video – fast forward slideshow with ~600 photos in just 99 seconds. I hope you are not epileptics and enjoy. Don’t forget to turn on the sound.

    And hey, if it’s too fast, you are too old :)

  • October16th

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    The mullets of Medellin and my new haircut

    Two typical soccer boys with mullets in Medellin, Colombia

    Two mullets from Medellin (© Stefan Ruiz)

    The mullet – ‘business in the front, party in the back’. I don’t know why but I have always had a fascination for that haircut. Hence, I was excited to realize that the mullet is a perfectly socially acceptable hairstyle in Colombia. Without a doubt Medellin is the mullet capital here. You just can’t miss them. The interesting thing is that this is not a short-lived trend of some sort. Medellin and mullets have been inseparable for a long time.
    I did not any take any mullet photos during the few days I spent in Medellin but the Green Soccer Journal has a whole photo series here. Check it out.

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  • September20th

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    Proof of Onward Travel

    My fake flight ticket: Bogota -> Frankfurt

    My fake ticket: Bogota->Frankfurt

    In many regards traveling the world has become so much easier these days. But there is one thing that can cause the world traveler of today some headache: The onward travel requirements that many countries have implemented. What’s an onward travel requirement? Well, you are only allowed to enter a country when you have proof that you will leave this country. This is a major inconvenience when you are backpacking across a continent. Often you don’t know how long you will want to stay in a country. If it’s nice you stay longer and otherwise you move on sooner. I mostly travel by bus anyway and often these tickets can not be bought online.
    So, what to do?

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  • September18th

    2 Comments

    Sensation Seeking

    Sensation seeking anno 2001. I found this monitor lizard and let him bite in my hand in order to test the strength of his jaws

    Lizard-bite sensation, Australia 2001

    Some people say what I do is dangerous (hello mother). Is it really necessary to travel to countries like Honduras (highest murder rate in the world) or Colombia? In fact, why travel at all when home is a safe, convenient and rich country like Germany? I get this question a lot. There are many reasons for why I travel. It makes me very happy. But it’s also exciting. There is always something new to discover, new experiences to be made. I always saw myself as an explorer type of person.
    Recently, my clinical travel psychologist Dipl.-Psych. R. Voegler introduced me to the concept of ‘sensation seeking’. Apparently, people that fall into that category have a tendency to pursue sensory pleasure and excitement. It’s the trait of people who go after novelty, complexity, and intense sensations, who love experience for its own sake. Sensation seekers are easily bored without high levels of stimulation and therefore seek thrills.
    I instantly liked the concept. It’s certainly something I can identify myself with. Sometimes it’s nice to fit so well into a category that gives some explanation of why I do the things I do.
    What is your opinion about all this? Many of you, my faithful blog readers, know me well. Do you believe that I am seeking the thrill?

     

    Am I a sensation seeker?

    • Yep (80%, 8 Votes)
    • No, you are just weird (20%, 2 Votes)
    • Not sure (0%, 0 Votes)

    Total Voters: 10

    Loading ... Loading …

    And what about you? Are you a sensation seeker? Here is a test with 20 questions (of which I answered 16 with ‘yes’) that might give some indication.

  • September16th

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    Panama

    Cloudy Panama City

    “Oh wie schön ist Panama” is a popular German children’s book about little bear and little tiger who live in a house by the river. One day, a wonderful-smelling crate floats past them, with the word PANAMA written on it. Little bear and little tiger decide that Panama must be the land of their dreams, and set off on a quest to find it…  A touching story about learning to appreciate what you have.

    While bear and tiger never actually make it to Panama, this is already my third visit here, though a short one – just two days. From San José in Costa Rica I took the Ticabus to Panama. It was supposed to take 15 hours, which is quite comfortable when you travel first class. No comparison to the Greyhound buses in the United States. The border crossing, however, took over three hours because nobody seemed to feel responsible to stamp our passports or check our luggage. They could put up a sign saying “We are sorry, you can leave the country only during our opening hours.” After 16.5 hours the bus eventually arrived in Panama City. The climate here is quite hot in comparison to San José. I was proud to make my way to the hostel with public transportation, which is amazingly cheap. I had a window seat in the bus; the traffic can be crazy and when a taxi got so close that I thought it would hit the bus, I got scared and winced – much to the amusement of the Panamanian girl sitting next to me…

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  • September15th

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    Farewell Costa Rica

    The active volcán Arenal is close to La Fortuna but too dangerous to climb

    Volcán Arenal, La Fortuna

    I’m on the 16-hour busride from San José to Panama City. After six weeks in San José, it feels quite strange to leave. I got pretty attached to this place and my stay here has been quite different. I wasn’t really travelling, I was living and working. It’s great that I got a taste of how living in Latin America feels like. My Spanish skills made microscopic improvements, though some of the words I learned (such as Polo or Pura Vida!) are Costa Rican slang and pretty much useless in the rest of the Spanish-speaking world.

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