The Nepal diaries - Part#1 - Off to higher grounds

Part #1 - Off to higher grounds

Hello dear Steemit! Hi to all of my friends,

I am really excited and motivated to be part of this awesome project!
What a time to be alive.

As I am writing this, I am sitting in a Berlin subway, destination Kathmandu. For the next seven months, I will be working in a reforestation project in central Nepal. Through these blog entries, I would like to share my experiences, knowledge and thoughts. These diaries will be a mixture of photography, video, portraits and interviews, documentation, personal stories and the never ending search for spirituality.

"Genius loci" is a latin term which roughly translates to "the spirit of the place". Sometimes, when you are entering a sacred site, a building or a beautiful forest, you get a little glimpse of what this spirit feels like. Every place is a product of the surroundings and the living beings which exist and existed there in every moment.

Let me take you to those places and the people behind it.

Part 1 - Off to higher grounds

I just recently read a great book which my dad gave to me: "The invention of nature: Alexander von Humboldt´s New World" which I highly recommend. For those of you who do not know Alexander von Humboldt, the guy lived in the late 17th century and was a Prussian geographer, naturalist, explorer and highly influential character of his time. The amount of knowledge this man gathered is beyond impressive.

So when Mr. Humboldt would go for an expedition to Latin America, he would have to sail across the ocean, which would take him months, let alone all the dangers and risks such a journey came with.

250 years later, I am sitting in an airplane, with my inflatable neck pillow, wondering which meal I should decide for. The advance in technology which mankind went through in this short amount of time never fails to amaze me.

Still, most of the people at the airport are in a bad mood, everyone is looking at their phone or sleeping. With flights getting cheaper and cheaper, people tend to loose their appreciation for this incredible service.

Did you ever wonder why your flight is cheaper than a train ride for the same distance?
I was wondering about it and did a little research. Let me explain it:

1. Flight companies do not pay taxes on kerosene. Yes you heard right, while you pay 70% taxes at your local gas station, flight companies pay 0%.

2. Flight companies such as Airbus and Boeing get huge substitution payments by the EU and American governments.

3. Inside of the EU, they do not have to pay 19% taxes like the train companies have to.

So this means, at the moment, there are no regulations on greenhouses gases emitted by flights. (Which is 2% of the total anual emissions) Au contraire, flying is even empowered with the taxes you pay. Train rides emit 90% less greenhouse gases than flights. If you would take away the substitution and tax advantages, flying would become way more expensive, but it would finally be in a healthy relationship to riding a train. Substitutions for train tickets would be an awesome way to promote CO2-friendly travelling.

Over here, you can have a look at how many planes are in the air, at this very moment, unbelievable: https://www.flightradar24.com/

For every post I do, I would like to introduce you to the music I am currently listening to, my taste goes from Jazz to Psytrance, so be prepared for a diversified mix in the upcoming posts.

I have seen this particular band live in Berlin, I loved their performance and they are my all time favorite "drinking-a-chilled-glass-of-wine-band" enjoy Khruangbin (They shared the story of how they came up with the name at the concert, Khruangbin fittingly translates to "airplane" in thai-language and it was the first thai-word, that the guitarist learned).

http://bit.ly/2xg10I4 - Khruangbin

Let the universe smile upon you my friends, hear you soon.

genius_loci

If you like the pictures,
take a look at my little online
photo-gallery: http://bit.ly/2yk4VSF