Ira and Jeffrey in front of a mountain lake somewhere in Norway
Somewhere in Norway

 

Kwerps: Reflections on International Living and Travel

By Jeffrey Baumgartner and Iryna Nikolayeva

This bloggish web site is a collection of thoughts, observations, reflections and ideas inspired by international living and travel. I hope it will provide you with three things: a sense of what other places and cultures are like; inspiration to look at your life in new ways and a laugh. But, I don't want to be overly ambitious. If you get two out of three of those things from any of our stories, I will be happy. Read on. Enjoy. Share your feedback!

 

New to this blog?

If you are new to this blog, I suggest you start with Touristless Venice, about my trip to Venice immediately after the EU lockdown was lifted. If you like a bit of romance, you'll probably enjoy Falling in Love in the Austrian Alps.

 

Latest stories

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The Queues of Paris (April 2023)
A recent visit to Paris involved standing in long queues and battling crowds. Fortunately, I have an idea about reducing crowds at tourist sites. Read it here.

 

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Revisiting Portugal (March 2023)
Ira and I take a road trip to my one time home: Portugal.

 

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Portuguese Memories (September 1985)
On a road trip through Portugal with Ira, I am reminded of my life in Lisbon in the mid 1980s

 

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Fleeing to Cyprus (January 2023)
I decided to visit Cyprus off-season to do some hiking and wandering in ruins. It was a delightful trip.

 

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The Answer Lies Just Around the corner (November 2022)
All my life, I've felt that the answer, some profound purpose in life, has laid just round the corner. Although I have experienced a lot in life, I am still looking for that corner.

 

More stories
Check out all of our stories here.

 

Note: stories are in order of when they were written. The dates in brackets are when the stories took place.

 

 



Other projects by Jeffrey include: Jeffosophy - essays on stuff that he has learned over the years; Ungodly.com - a collection of his recent artwork; and The Imagination Club - hosting experimental workshops in Brussels.