- Visited 21 cities (+3 from last year)
1. Sevilla 2. Hamburg 3. Berlin 4. Duisburg 5. Buenos Aires 6. Cordoba 7. Iguazu 8. Bariloche 9. Santiago de Chile 10. Mendoza 11. Madrid 12. Frankfurt 13. Montpellier 14. Zürich 15. Amsterdam 16. Paris 17. Istanbul 18. Mainz 19. Barcelona 20. Karlsruhe 21. Bozen

- Read 13 books (+3)
1. Freedom 2. Tod in den Anden 3. The Catcher in the Rye 4. Der unendliche Plan 5. How Proust Can Change Your Life 6. Leonce und Lena 7. Das Geisterhaus 8. Das Böse Mädchen 9. Das Museum der Unschuld 10. Unterm Rad 11. Draußen nur Kännchen 12. Steve Jobs Biography 13. El Sombra del viento

- Watched 34 films (+5)
1. Die Band von Nebenan 2. Drei von Tom Tykwer 3. Black Swan 4. The Outsiders 5. Glorious39 6. The Kings Speech 7. Love and Other Drugs 8. Hereafter 9. The American 10. Eden 11. Almanya 12. Die fetten Jahre sind vorbei 13. In China essen Sie Hunde 14. So ist Paris 15. The dancer upstairs 16. Midnight in Paris 17. Im Winter ein Jahr 18. Gottes Werk und Teufels Beitrag 19. My last five girlfriends 20. Idiocracy 21. Le diner de cons 22. Lammbock 23. Precious 24. Fish Tank 25. Resturlaub 26. Friends with Benefits 27. Auf der Flucht 28. Das weiße Band 29. Thyranosaur 30. I killed your mother 31. The Rocky Horror Picture Show 32.Die fabelhafte Welt der Amelie 33. God of Carnage 34. The Ides of March

- Throughout the year I posted 311 bits on Twitter, wrote 5 blogposts here and collected 31 pieces on Thoughtstrudel. My Aperture library grew by 1732 (+406) photos of which I uploaded 177 (+45) to my Flickr Stream.

- According to RunKeeper my motivation was enough to go running 33 times (+4) for a total 392 km(+184), which makes for an average of 11,87km (+4,70) per run including my first ever Marathon in 3h and 43 min. – I worked out 22x (+3) and went swimming 5x

Finally I spent about 42.532 seconds tracking data with highly questionable importance to anyone.
Happy New Year!

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“Humans make errors. We make errors of fact and errors of judgment. (…) These weaknesses put us at a disadvantage. We make decisions with partial information. We are forced to steer by guesswork. We go with our gut. That is, what some of us do. Others use data.”

from “The Data Driven Life” by Gary Wolf

The quote above is from an NYT article, that I first stumbled upon in April 2010. It was about a group of geeks tracking personal data in their everyday lives and how they used this data to draw useful conclusions from it.

I was instantly fascinated by the gigantic potential behind this idea and started experimenting to track little bits and pieces right away. Ever since then, the idea and the movement behind it have seen enormous waves of interest from the private as well as from the commercial side. What the article from 2010 described as a group of “geeks and outliers” with “abnormal behaviour” is now defining new industries, selling bestsellers and, as some say, moving us towards the the next step of human evolution.

However it still seems, that many people have never even heard about all of this concentrated awesomesauce- let alone thought about tracking a thing or two. As every dear reader of this blog is a very trend-aware, interested, cool human-being, this is of course intolerable.

To your rescue, the smart people from Third Wave have started what they call a “topic sprint” (a concentrated effort one just one topic) on exactly that topic. Their series should give you a proper understanding of what makes this topic so fascinating to me and why it might help you run that marathon or loose a kilo or two.

To give you an idea, here’s a paragraph from the first article:

“Data is at the core our lives in the information age. It’s one of the essential ingredients to how we work, make decisions, communicate and much more in the 21st century. Data is the most raw and abstract form of information, that has the power to change anything. From the decision of what to wear today by checking the weather forecast to buying or not buying stocks based on company metrics to whether to wage war or not according to data collected by an intelligence agency. (…continue reading)”

So far they have published three articles:

• Introduction: The Quantified Self by Johannes
• I track therefore I am  by Johannes
• The Quanitified Self in health and lifestyle  by Peter Bihr

My very own setup currently consists of 12 metrics, that I am trying and most often failing to track on regular basis. Despite all doubts at the beginning, some have already helped me to change some of my habits, others are still being tracked, because I suspect them to be motivating or offer genius future use cases. Most of all however I find it fascinating to able to observe and experiment that is still so dynamic and full of novelty.

As I like to say: What you learn in the process is just as important  the outcome. Happy tracking!

For those of you who tuned in new: Harvest is a great Menswear store in Munich. I reported about them earlier. Cheers to Philip! The online store almost looks as nice as the offline equivalent.

So now, go hide your creditcards and follow this link.

Travel:

• Big comfortable buses are the standard for long-distance overland travel. Cama vs semi cama is worth paying extra, air condition is usually on freeze and onboard breakfast & lunch suck badly. (sleeping mask, ohropax & proper headphones are helpful everywhere)
• Less is more when it comes to packing. Clothing is relatively cheap compared to Europe, so rather stock up on a few tshirts than carry stuff around unused. Getting your stuff washed at the local ‘lavadero’ is also fast and cheap. 4€ for a huge bag
• To use an Argentine SIM in your existing mobile it needs to support GSM 1900/850, which your decade-old Nokia probably hasn’t.
• No matter where you are, ‘Havanna’ (the Argentine Starbucks equivalent) is reliable for a solid cortado, free WiFI and some tasty alfajores.

Places

Iguazu

• Hostel Inn is a hostel with the pool of a hotel, great staff and happy vibe.
• The waterfalls will blow your mind and  completely soak everything on you -bring a ziplock for phones, passport etc.

Cordoba

• ‘Pasantias Argentinas’ is a friendly German agency that offers Spanish courses, voluntary work at NGOs/Kindergardens etc., internships and farm-stays. You live in one of three great community houses in Alta Cordoba and their office helps you where they can.
• Macanudo Bar is truly a unique place to have a drink at. Where else do you get a bathtub with living fish in it as your table?

Bariloche

• Again, Hostel Inn Bariloche. Great from the terrace, friendly staff and acceptable dinner.
• Swim in the lake.
• Rent a Bike and go up the surrounding mountains.
• If you feel homesick, have a good beer at ‘Cerveceria Bachman’.

Santiago de Chile

• Barrio Bellavista is king for coffee and lunch, but more on the touristy side-Barrio Brazil seems more local, but just as nice.
• Restaurants in the market hall offer affordable seafood, as fresh as it gets.
• Visit a Jazz Bar. Jazz is huge in Santiago. We sadly discovered this only on our last day.
• ‘Cerro Santa Lucia’ is the perfect place for your 360degree panorama picture.

Mendoza

• Get on a bike and explore the bodegas and olive-oil factories. Organized tours are offered everywhere around the city. You will learn why French oak is better to wines than American Oak and what makes an olive oil extra virgen
• Take a walk in the beautiful park a bit outside the centre to recover from the resaca that you will probably have, if you take wine-tasting seriously.
• Most obvious, but most important: Enjoy lots of Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Buenos Aires

• My favorite places on a map.
• Don’t miss a ride on the ‘Subte’ (BA underground). The linea A trains are an attraction for themselves. For about 20 cts it takes you all around the city.
• Dance to ‘La Bomba del Tiempo’, a live percussions-performance that takes places every Monday. Imagine Techno on African bongo-drums.
• Puerto Madera, the Dubai of BA, is shiny and nice, but real life happens elsewhere.
• Palermo is beautiful for strolling around & shopping, but consequently hipster-heavy and more expensive. I felt more at home in San Telmo.
• Finally: Drink lots of coffee and enjoy the vibe.

“Sitting together to a good meal with a cool person is something I never want to live up and it’s one of the most enjoyable things about my life.”

Jeff Staple sums it up perfectly: The best social networks are created around the dinnertable. I know of no medium, excluding maybe alcohol, that can spark thought and conversations so well no matter what language, background and age the people around your table come from. So food is the next big thing. You can watch lifestreams of conferences about it, download iPhone-Apps that count calories, read blogpost about hipsters that harvest bananas in their drawer or bother your friends with photos of the Schnitzel in front of you, that you upload to Flickr and crosspost to Facebook. What a happy world!

Lately, however, I have made the shaking discovery that the happy little food lovers community is actually divided in three “CLASSES” with badly differing objectives. So I made up a little theory…

1. The Spoon Swinger: People that came into cooking, have fun with it and are usually very good at it. Mums are the perfect example. They are creative and use their creativity to create whatever the fridge offers. They are happy if it turns out well, but is is more about making the others happy. In a restaurant they’d rather be watching the cooks, than sitting behind the plate.
2. The Connnaisseur: He likes great food – if he can eat it. He knows all the go-to places in town, can read any international menu or talk two hours about different brewing processes of coffee. Confusing a cappuccino and flat white would never happen to him and he takes pleasure in explaining the difference Sometimes he also cooks, however he does not feel at home in the kitchen, but rather at the table.
3. The Real One: He loves every bit of it. He knows about where the carrots are from and if they had a happy life, but also knows how to cut them and which. He cooks for an hour even if he’s alone at home and before bed secretly thinks about how he could tweak the receipe just that little bit more. He’s the one starting the urban farm and opening up his own restaurant. He’s also sort of the coolest.

I suspect many Type 3 claimers are actually Type 2. What type are you, are there more types, or is this theory complete crap after all?
(5 hours early to the airport on a Sunday. Thanks for reading my little bit of nonsense.)

- I visited 18 Cities (at least for 1 night).

1. Amsterdam 2. Barcelona 3. Berlin 4. Fago 5. Freiburg 6. Geneva 7. Lagos 8. Lille 9. Lisbon 10. Santiago de Compostela 11. Porto 12. Prague 13. Straßbourg 14. San Sebastian 15. Varna; Golstrand, Bulgaria 16. Vigo 17. Zürich

- I read 10 books and- as always – promise to read more in 2011.

1. ‘The 4 Hour Workweek’ by Timothy Ferriss 2. ‘Die Eleganz des Igels’ by Muriel Barbery 3. Markus Albers’- ‘Meconomy’ 4. Alain de Botton’s ‘Consolations of Philosophy’ 5./6. Siegrid Lenz: ‘Schweigeminute’ & ‘Die Deutschstunde’ 7. Joseph von Eichendorf: ‘Aus dem Leben eines Taugenichts’ 8. Walter Moers: ‘Die Stadt der verlorenen Bücher’ 9. Anna Gavalda: ‘Zusammen ist man weniger allein’ 10. ‘Manieren’ by Asfa-Wossen-Asserate

- I watched 29 films.

1. Alice in Wonderland 2. Friendship 3. An Education 4. Whatever Works 5. The Ghostwriter 6. Was Kommt nach uns (DOK.fest Munich) 7.-9. The Bourne Trilogy, 10. Science of Sleep 11. Vincent will Meer 12. Chloe 13. Toy Story 3 14. Inception 15. Black Death 16. Verlobung auf Umwegen 17. Die Eleganz der Madame Michel 18. The Dancer Upstairs 19. The Town 20. Exit through the Gift Shop 21. Gainsbourg 22. Eat Pray Love 23. Yo tambien 24. Somewhere 25. Requiem for a Dream 26. Easy Rider 27. Ich sehe den Mann deiner Träume 28.Erbarmungslos 29. Home for Christmas

- I went running 29 times for a total of 208 km, which makes for an average of 7,17 km per run – Don’t ask about my pace.

- I worked out 18 x, relaxed in the Sauna 37x- Hitting the pool for a swim happened only 5 times. (Swimming is boring)

- I took 1326 photos and uploaded 132 of them to Flickr.

Now you’re smarter. What were you up to?

If you ever come anywhere close to Munich- check out HARVEST!

When you enter the store you are warmly welcome by Phillip Stolte, who is owner, designer and shopkeeper in one person. Philip designed the shop’s concept and identity as part of his university degree and then just turned the theory into reality. HARVEST is celebrating retail as it is supposed to be.
The selection is rather small, but very well curated. The store’s design is uncluttered and simple, but still offering enough cozyness to encourage you to go browse the racks for the latest piece. There is also a small but good collection of bags and other accessories on offer. Philip selects everything according to what he likes, and apparently we have similar taste – I could buy the whole store.

The brand-lineup includes well known names such as ACNE, DUNDERDON, NORSE PROJECTS, OUR LEGACY and FOLK, but also less familiar smaller brands such as the beautifull bags from Swedish brand SANDQVIST or HAN Sunglasses from Kopenhagen. Not surprisingly, they are also the first shop I know to sell the well-hyped Japanese PORTER bags in Germany. You notice instantly that someone spent just that little bit of extra attention to detail, that makes things truly great.

From time to time Philip is also joining forces with smaller local brands and friends to create collaborations exclusively for Harvest. A sleek sailor-style Dufflebag by AKINDOFGUISE or a cozy winter parker together with SCHAAF. In collaboration with Munich’s Geheimrad they even created a bike that looks absolutely stunning.

Philip’s most recent project is the Folk Flagship Store that is set to open just around the corner of the original Harvest Store. Apparently Folk liked Harvest so much that they wanted him to help them start their own store. I missed the opening party yesterday, but for my next trip home to Munich a pre-christmas visit is a save thing. The photos look promising ->

After all I’m assuming and hoping that good old ‘brick-and-mortar retail’ is set for a restart. As more people like Phillip want to ‘do their own thing’ some- instead of trying to kick off the ‘next big internet-thingy’- will hopefully open a coffeeshop or bookstore in your neighbourhood. If you are looking for the right idea- I’m missing a well-stocked, MadMen-style cocktail venue! Who’s up for it?

Info:
Harvest Store
- Zieblandstraße 5, 80799 Munich, www.hrvst.de

Folkstore München
- Amalienstrasse 40, 80799 Munich

My current favorite is ‘Gainsbourg’ which tells the story of Serge Gainsbourg a French chanson-singer, you probably know once you hear the songs. The story is good and the storytelling by director Joan Sfar nothing short of beautiful. If you liked any of the films above, chances are good you will leave the cinema with a big smile on your face. A bit less romantic, because it’s real life, but still lots of love and french speaking people involved.

9 /10 points from me. The Soundtrack is likely even better than the movie.

You had too many drinks to drive? Missed the last bus/tram/train? The night ended somewhere else than originally planed? Grab a bike, unlock via your phone and go.

Top 6 advantages: (there are more, but they are not connected to nightlife)

• You decide when you leave the party, not the train timetable.
• No more police trouble because there is no light on your crappy bike.
  (drink & ride responsibly though!)
• No more expensive cabs – Spend the saved money on a burger/döner along the way
• A fresh breeze in your face helps against tomorrows hangover.
• A litttle sport is burning the beers you just had.
• You’re being nice to the environment

Hard Facts:

• 1 minute is 8 ct/s (6ct if you have a BahnCard)
• Signup is 5€ that you get as instant start-credit.
• Further payment goes via EC/Credit-Card
• Leave the bike at any crossroad within city limits
• Other than trains, bikes can’t come too late. (no more #bahnfail)

Deutsche Bahn usually sucks, but CallABike is cool! Now I want the same with cars.

(BTW: There is a neat little Android/iPhone-App to rent & find the nearest bike. Mind the poser-effect when you open a random bike with your phone.)