Tag: Business-Travel

Around the World in 12 Days – Taiwan

Don't mess with me
Don’t mess with me | Hsinchu | 2017

Sunday morning, still in Portland, my alarm went of at 4am in the morning. I left for the airport, dropped the rental car at 5:30 and boarded an Air Canada turboprop for Vancouver, the flight lasting about one hour. After takeoff I was treated to some nice city views of Portland, then the Columbia River on its way to the Oregon coast. Then it became cloudy until Vancouver, where I caught some glimpses of the skyline while landing.

After a three hour layover I boarded an Air Canada Boeing 787 Dreamliner for the 12 hour flight to Taipei. Sitting on the right side I was able to see the beautiful misty fjords and islands of British Columbia, later the mountains on Alaska’s South Coast and the Aleutian islands. After crossing the Pacific Ocean the first landscape I was able to spot in the distance where the mountains on Russia’s Kamchatka peninsula, then the Kuril islands, before flying across Japan, then down the Eastern Chinese Sea to Taiwan, where we landed in Taipei at 3pm local time on Monday afternoon.

Leaving Canada Sunday morning, arriving Taipei on Monday afternoon? Yes, possible, because we crossed the dateline eastward and “lost” a day in the process. Time difference between Portland and Taipei is a whopping 15 hours, although the “physical” time difference is only 9 hours (when we landed in Taipei at 3pm it was midnight in Portland – albeit not Tuesday, but still Monday). Sounds weird? It sure is, and it messes up your system pretty bad. A driver picked us up and took us to Hsinchu, which is an industrial city an hour drive south of Taipei. We got into the hotel at 5pm, where we were due to meet our Taiwanese host for a dinner at 6:45pm.

While the other two in my travel party decided to hit the bed for a bit of relax after the long flight, I rather took my camera and went on a photowalk to check out what there is to see around our hotel, knowing this hour I had would be my only opportunity to see a glimpse of Taiwan on this short 24h stay. Venturing around the blocks I found a little temple and experienced life on the streets of Hsinchu.  Nothing spectacular. But it made me happy and satisfied that I managed to experience a bit of Taiwan at all…even it was just a short walk around the hotel….business travel reality….

After the jump find some images I was able to capture….. Continue reading “Around the World in 12 Days – Taiwan” →

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Around the World in 12 Days – Hiking on Mount Hood

Ramona Falls
Ramona Falls | Oregon | 2017

Have I said that on of the greatest assets of my job is that it allows me connect with so many great people all across the globe. This is especially true for those I work closely with on projects, and this forges bonds beyond pure office colleagueship. With two others of those great guys I teamed up to spend our free Portland Saturday going hiking on Mount Hood. Leaving Portland at 9am we drove the 45 minutes to Zigzag Ranger Station  where we asked for a recommendation for a nice hike on the slopes of Mount Hood. They recommended the Ramona Falls hike, a pretty easy 9 mile loop trail with about a 1000ft elevation gain towards the falls. The first 4 miles of the trail are identical with the famous Pacific Crest Trail, running from Mexiko through the US up to Canada. Toughest part was that we had to cross a mountain stream balancing on tree trunks. The weather was splendid, we had great talks and enjoyed a wonderful 3 hour hikes in the beautiful landscape of Mount Hood National Forest, with views of the 11,240 feet (3,426 m) volcano, walking through fairy like treescapes and capping it with the spectacular Ramon Falls, crashing down a black, 120 feet rock wall. As camera I brought the Olympus PEN-F with the mZuiko 14-150mm F/4-5.6 Travel Zoom. To see the pics from this great hike in the Pacific Northwest continue after the jump……. Continue reading “Around the World in 12 Days – Hiking on Mount Hood” →

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Around the World in 12 Days – Rose City Waterfront

Portland Waterfront 01
Hawthorne Bridge | Portland | 2017

After a very productive half week in our Wilsonville office I finally had the first opportunity to do some sightseeing on this first stop on my Round the World business trip (read the first post here). Friday night I drove into Portland downtown to do some sightseeing at the waterfront of the Willamette River, something I haven’t done in my previous trips to the Rose City. To join me for this evening walk continue after the jump…

Continue reading “Around the World in 12 Days – Rose City Waterfront” →

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Around the World in 12 Days – Greenland

Greenland from air 10
Greenland | 2017

So my Round the World trip has started. Right now it is not very exiting, as I’m spending the first four days in our Portland office fully tied up in work, not able to benefit even a bit from the splendid summer weather the Pacific Northwest has been enjoying the past weeks.

But whilst flying the first leg of my world tour I was treated to some spectacular views of Greenland’s east coast that I want to share with you today. For more photos and details about the flights continue reading after the jump…. Continue reading “Around the World in 12 Days – Greenland” →

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Around the World in Twelve Days

Lufthansa B747-8 Event

Phileas Fogg did it in eighty days. The protagonist of Jules Verne’s famous novel circumnavigated the world in 80 days, to win a wager of 20,000 pounds with members of London’s Reform Club. Accompanied by his French servant Passepartout and followed by a detective named Fix (who suspected Fogg had robbed the Bank of England), his travels, by all means available in the Victorian world of the 19th century, were full of adventures. He made it back to England on time, won the bet and even brought himself an Indian princess he saved from a fiery death.

Lufthansa B747-8 Event

My travel around the world will, by all means, be a lot less glamorous and adventurous. If all goes well it will take me 12 days. And I will travel westbound. The route is Nuremberg – Frankfurt – Vancouver – Portland – Vancouver – Taipei – Shanghai – Seoul – Tokyo – Munich – Nuremberg.

Fore some more info and a few more of colorful airplane photos I took at a Lufthansa event a while back continue after the jump…. Continue reading “Around the World in Twelve Days” →

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What I saw but not saw

A Million Lights
A Million Lights | Paris | 2012

I have spent last night in Paris. Due to a late flight in I landed in Charles de Gaulle after midnight. Took a Taxi to a hotel in Velizy, arrived there 1am in the night. Breakfast at 7am, shuttle to the office, management meeting, employee town hall, quick sandwich lunch, back in a taxi and off to the airport. My day in Paris (actually it was 15 hours). Business travel reality. But while crossing the city on the way back to CDG I saw the Eiffel Tower and the bridges crossing the Seine. It put a smile on my face, and I fondly remembered the (photographically) better days I had in the city of love on previous business and family trips. And it felt good to be back in Paris, even for a few hours. So sitting in another hotel somewhere in the Black Forest (back in Germany but not home) I did a quick trip back into my archive that I always carry with me on a portable drive. To see in more detail what I only briefly and from a distance saw today in reality. Eiffel Tower, Pont Alexandre III and Hotel des Invalides.

Wide legged
Wide legged | Paris | 2012
Love and History
Love and History | Paris | 2009
Tower Watch
Tower Watch | Paris | 2009

I hope you had a good start into the new week!

Marcus

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StoNur on the Road – One Night in Budapest

The Earth from above in monochrome

Street ? Airport ! (6)

Business Travel Reality

Visit my Learning Center with all my free tips and inspirations around photography

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Keep Portland Weird

Keep Portland Weird
KPW | Portland | 2017           1/40 sec @ f/2.8 and ISO 200

After a six week hiatus I was back in Rose City this week. And amazingly, the weather matched the season, with some beautiful and warm summer days. Despite a fully loaded schedule I managed a small photowalk last evening, just taking my tiny Ricoh GR II that I had brought for this trip and doing a bit of walking through a mild Portland summer evening. I was looking for the famous “Keep Portland Weird” sign that I haven’t seen before, and that set the tone for the rest of my walk. For some more “weird” photographs from PDX continue after the jump… Continue reading “Keep Portland Weird” →

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Instant Inspiration (19) – Tell your day in two photos

Road to America
Road to America | Portland | 2017

“Instant Inspiration”  is my series for you if you feel you suffer from “Photographer’s Block”  or simply want to shoot something that you have never tried. Or at least not recently. Read the posts, become inspired, take your camera, head out and have fun!

Episode 19 should inspire you to describe your day’s content with just two photos.

The idea to this inspiration came to me while on my “usual” Delta flight from Amsterdam to Portland. “Usual” ? Well,  despite having not travelled to Rose City in the past six weeks, this is already my tenth business trip to the USA this year, and we are not even at the half year mark. And in addition to this trip there will be minimum two more travels to PDX before my summer vacation. And I really like being in the USA. Since my days as an exchange student in Pennsylvania some 33 years ago,  I consider the USA my adopted second home country. I have been here countless times for travel and on business. And I liked each and every trip.

The thing is, this short trip is packed full of “road work”. I have meetings lined up from the moment of arrival until I step back on the plane for the return flight Friday afternoon. No time for photography this time. But thankfully there is the archive (I took the two photos during one of my last trips to Portland).

 

Road Work
Road Work | Portland | 2017

So how does your day look like? Try to capture it in two photos. Take your camera (or phone) and be creative! I’d love to see your photos – post a link in the comment section.

For all other episodes of my instant inspiration and many more photography tips visit my Learning Center

Have a good week!

Marcus

Related Posts:

Instant Inspiration (4) – Juxtaposition

Instant Inspiration (I) – Get Down Low

Instant Inspiration (11) – Change of Perspective

Instant Inspiration (12) – Playfulness

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Budapetizer

Hungarian Parliament
Parliament | Budapest | 2017

Back home from my express trip to Egypt and Hungary, all within 72 hours. What I didn’t  achieve in Cairo I managed to get done in Budapest. I escaped my business duties for one evening and got to a full 5 hours of sightseeing (mostly on foot) through this magnificent imperial city, returning to the hotel way past midnight.

I brought along the Olympus PEN-F with the mZuiko 14-150mm F/4.0-5.6 travel zoom. And me and my cam had a fabulous time. I took to many photos for a quick post processing session, but I promise I’ll take you on a tour through a summer Budapest evening. After all, I have a long weekend ahead due to a public holiday here in Germany. So I leave you with this appetizer shot of the Hungarian parliament building, taking from the gardens of the former imperial palace. Image specs are 0,6 sec @ f/6,3 and ISO 200, focal length was 90mm (equals 180mm in full frame equivalent). I put the camera on a stone wall, as I didn’t bring a tripod. I just added a bit of clarity and contrast in Lightroom CC, otherwise this is out of camera.

If you haven’t done so, checkout my new Learning Center for a collection of free tips and inspirations around photography.

Wish you all a great Thursday!

Marcus

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Instant Inspiration (16) – Dusk at the Ocean

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Travel Day (5)

Nile Night
Nile Night | Cairo | 2017

Back to business travel was the motto of the day, after a six week stretch at home. Took an early morning flight from Nuremberg via Frankfurt to Cairo. I had hoped so much to see the pyramids during approach into Cairo airport, but sat on the wrong side of the plane. Instead I was treated to great views of the city and the Nile. I’ll be on the ground less than 24 hours. So I’m in on the most iconic cities on the planet but sightseeing is limited to aerial views from the plane and taking in street life from the windows of our shuttle bus during transfers between airport, hotel and restaurant.

Talking about restaurant, the absolute highlight was meeting my new Egyptian colleagues and enjoying together a splendid dinner in the Kebabgy Grill on the tip of Gezira Island. It was really special, not only the great talks with incredibly hospital people, but also the atmosphere while we were sitting directly at the Nile. The table was set with all kinds of delicious foods and we were waiting for the Muezzins to call out sunset, as it’s the holy month of Ramadan and everyone is fasting from sunrise to sunset. Security is obviously an issue in this metropolis of 21 million, police and security forces are visible everywhere and also the fact you need to pass a machine gun post to get into a restaurant is a bit eery.

Anyway, a half day of intense meetings ahead, then it’s off to Budapest via Vienna, where I will arrive close to midnight if all goes well.

The photo of the Nile from the restaurant I took with the Ricoh GR, image specs were 1/6 sec at f/2,8 and ISO1600. For a city like Cairo the Ricoh is the travel cam of choice as image quality is awesome and it is small enough to fit my front pocket. Only a pitty there wasn’t more opportunity to use it.

Have a great week!

Marcus

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Business Travel Reality – A Day in a Picture

A Travel Night full of Magic

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Monday Mountains (7)

Mount Rainier in Washington
Mount Rainier | Washington | 2017

Yesterday was travel day. Once more I took my usual Delta flight from Amsterdam to Portland. Apart from sitting 3 hours in the plane while still on the ground in AMS (they were fixing a problem with the water system) and apart from finally having a few new movies on the entertainment system (with the start of the new month) it was a totally uneventful and photographically dull flight with one single exception: while starting the decent into PDX we passed Mount Rainier in very close proximity, and the top of the highest stratovolcano of the Cascades Range was raising above the otherwise solid cloud cover. Enough to warrant the seventh episode of my Monday Mountains. For more info about Mount Rainier and more photos continue after the jump….

Continue reading “Monday Mountains (7)” →

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A Travel Night full of Magic

Aurea Borealis
Aurea Borealis | Northern Atlantic | 2017

I know this is not the prettiest of photos. I took it handheld with 1/2 sec shutter speed and a whopping ISO 25600. Out of the window of an airliner that was shaking from light turbulence. But for me it meant the world. Just a week after crossing off two items from my bucket list when skiing on Mount Hood I saw the very first Northern Lights of my life. And this was in the top 3 of my list. It came upon me out of the night sky 38.000 feet above the Northern Atlantic. For the full story and a few more images continue reading after the jump…

Continue reading “A Travel Night full of Magic” →

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