Category: Travel

For my fiftieth birthday my mom brought us on a week’s vacation in lovely Northern Cyprus. See pictures on this Google Photos page.

Hello friends, I hope you are fine and hunkering down safely at home during these interesting times. A lot has happened since last I wrote on this newsgroup, I moved back to Norway at the end of 2019 after more than a year away for working at a call center in Athens. It was a…

Summertime in the northern hemisphere is here once again and I hope you have a great one. Here in Oslo life goes on after the downtown bomb attack and the following massacre of youth at Utøya nearly two weeks ago. This made a huge impact on the Norwegian people; and most people know someone –…

Came back last Thursday, after four wonderful weeks on the Azores. I spent the last few days in Horta on Faial island before returning to Ponta Delgada to catch my flight home. This was a nice little town too, and my favourite hang out there was the Peter Sport Cafe. Also the most lively and…

Angra (the Cove), Terceira. Angra used to be the main port and the capital of the Açores, from around 1450. It’s a hidden inlay behind the defunct volcanic islet (called Monte Brasil) being an obvious anchorage for ships in transit back in the day. The current name dating from the 19th century is; Angra do…

Spent two magnificent weeks on São Miguel and have now changed islands to Terceira. Went by catamaran from Ponta Delgada to Praia da Vitória yesterday, and it’s quite nice here too. They say that of all the Azorean beaches this one is the best one, and that might be right. Not as stony as the…

Hello from Ponta Delgada, São Miguel -Açores. Been here since last Thursday and I just love it here. The first three nights I stayed at the Hotel Talisman in the center of the old town, a really nice little place and I can recommend staying there. I then moved on to a typical package tourism…

I wish you another good summer! This year’s trip goes to the Azores, which is the autonomous volcanic outpost of my all time favorite country; Portugal. Located 1500 kilometers due west of Lisbon. The pictures on the web from there look just amazing, and I hear only good words about these nine islands – of…

Hope you and your family are all well in this Christian/Catholic holiday week. I am doing just fine and really looking forward to warmer spring days and park life. And also – my summer 2010 trip to Portugal and the Azores! Have fun you guys!! 🙂 Tommy Hermansen

Oslo is freezing cold these days, but warmhearted friends sure helps a lot. Colleagues at the printshop are really friendly too, which makes helping them out more enjoyable. The pay is not too bad there either, so I am finally clearing out my old Disastercard debt, and will hopefully be able to get away for…

Hope all is well with you. Summer is coming up again here in the Northern hemisphere, and I have a month off from work with no plan what so ever. This is a welcome break since I didn’t get a vacation last year. There are several festivals that I’m considering dropping by at. Vuuv, Ozora…

If you are in Oslo two weeks from now, please join me at M3 for my thirty-fifth birthday. Sat 28 feb at three pm until the next day. Tommy Hermansen

Hey again…Sorry but forgot to give you the link for those pictures. 🙂 It’s public so you don’t need an account:

Long time since the last email now. The reason for this being that I’ve been at home working the whole year. Still won’t be able to get away on any long trips anytime soon, but will do a couple of weekend trips coming up in September and October. I’ll be in Amsterdam Sept 19th until…

It’s that time of year again to wish you all happy Christmas and so on. This year was a tough one for me personally. All work and no play, as indeed I predicted about a year ago. Well at least I got away for a week in London during Easter, and a few weeks off…

Hello again friends! Hope all is well in your corner of the World? I’m fine, work is good and the travel budget is looking far better now. The plan for the summer is Amsterdam and the Landjuweel Festival again. Me and my good pal Eivind are coming down to make the city unsafe for all…

Hi all! Got back home again last night. London was quite fantastic. The weather was really warm for the season, and the ale was just perfect. Never got around to attending that easter party thing though, was stuck in another fantastic place called SOS and was chatting away with the Brazilian waitress in Portuguese the…

Hello friends, Easter is coming up and I’m off work again for a week. I’ll be in London this time round, from 2nd until the 9th of April. Going over to meet friends (you perhaps?) and probably also checking out the Acid Monkey Easter party with at least one favorite psy-trance artist on the line-up,…

Hello from freezing cold Skedsmokorset, Norway. Hope you all are having a good time as always. This upcoming year will be another year with almost no traveling for me. Still struggling penny wise and none of the announced festivals are tempting to go to either, maybe the Biosphere festival in Portugal could be something, no…

Hello dear friends. Just writing you a little message to let you know that I’m moving out of town next Friday (September 15th). Have found a fantastic flat right next to where I work. Fiftyfive meters square with a marvellous view of the valley below. So no more 90 minutes comute every day, just a…

So, now this little vacation is sadly over. Spending the last days here just hanging out and rewindinding after the fantastic festival. Actually the music was not quite up to my taste this time round, but I found a really cool chaishop the first day I came there, and ended up spending most evenings at…

Hello from Porto Calem! (the calm port). My fifth day in the country and I’ve spent them all in Lisboa and Porto. Heading for the hills soon I guess. Wanna see the Douro valley and maybe try some more of local sweet fruit juices from this area. Bit too sweet for my taste really, I’m…

Just a quick hello to all friends in or around Amsterdam. Going with a dear friend to A’dam the weekend of 2nd-5th June. Will be staying near the Museumsplein. Hooray! See you? Tommy Hermansen

Summer mid-night hello from the polar rim! Been a lot of work related issues the last couple of months, was actually hired, fired and then hired again around the last three new moons. Back in IT again of course, this time just north of town at Skedsmokorset. Used to live up there too – about…

Yup! Finally!!! After more than a year of looking for work and almost giving up on the future, I recieved an e-mail from a previous co-worker who were looking for freelance graphic designers, who could help with creating their direct marketing junk mailings. So I ended up doing that for the last couple of weeks.…

Hey friend! Howzit? Wishing you lot a very merry yule festival and winter solstice from freezing cold Oslo, and a wicked brand new year! Thanx for the X-Mass greetings! Hope to make it to Turkey for the total eclipse in March! Anyway all is fine here, good friends and times. Party on! Love, Tommy Hermansen

Hello friends out there. I hope you all are having a great time! I am still hanging around Oslo and have no funds for changing that situation. It’s actually not easy living up here either, especially while being unemployed. Anyway, I just try to make the best of it – and this wonderful summer really…

Hello friends from out there! So now the mailing list has been successfully moved to Google Groups. Hope you all are having a great time wherever you might be. I have already received some super nice replies to the invitation e-mail that was sent out some days ago. Good to hear from you too! Well…

Hello friends! I’m still at the Costa del Sol actually. Just couldn’t move away from this lovely summer-like feeling. It’s quite warm during the days here now, I guess around 20 centigrade. But the water is impossible even for a Viking to stand for much more than a couple of seconds, and roaming around evenings…

Hey friends! I´ve now moved on a little bit since the last newsletter. I´m in Malaga at the Costa del Sol in the south of Spain. I really love this town, and have spent several days here to chill out, and to try the local cuisine and wine. Very nize indeed!! I also spent a…

Hello and Happy Space Christmas from a quite cold Barcelona! Here for a few days to visit good friends and to celebrate the new year with them. I finished my job last week and had a really nice x-mas in Oslo. We ended up on a way cool “lock-in” party at my favorite club, but…

Hello friends! Unfortunatly, I have decided to postpone the South America trip until I have the nececary funds for such a pricey air fare. High season over there and too much spending on fun here at home, has resulted in a shorter upcoming trip. Too bad. I’m going to Barcelona to see my good friend…

Hello my friends! Long time since the last TommyOnTrip posting now. Had enough of Yahoo this time around, so that’s why I’ve been bothering you with these Topica Subscription Invitation and Reminder e-mails the last couple of days. Not all of the 270 or so previous subscribers have accepted yet, so this message only goes…

A nice day in Oslo and the weekend is coming up shortly…

Hello friends, hope everything is all right, and that you have a nice time with your loved ones! This year I’m spending the Christmas holidays at home with my family for once. The last two I spent in Brazil and South Africa so it’s been a while in fact. New trips are vaguely visible on…

Hello gang, just wanted to tell you a quick hello, and pass on the word about the Total Lunar Eclipse and star alignment which is coming up shortly. The Harmonic Concordance of 2003 is the name of this unique occurrence on and around the 8th of November, hope you can explore and experience it! Still…

Yes friends, that time has unmercifully crept over me again; when I have to head back to home and work. Feels good though. Had another great time travelling around in Greece: A fantastic festival on Samothraki, a few days recovering on Limnos, spent a couple of nights on Chios, then the last week relaxing on…

My good friend Arvid grabbed this out of the Samothraki atmosphere. https://gallery.snille.com/picture?/774/category/samothraki2003 More pictures to come on his web site, so check back there soon! Sorry to you guys on the trance.net list who already got this. Today I’m on Samos and expecting dear Alecz to arrive tonight. Have all the fun you can whenever…

Hello dear group! I’ve just been through one of my best festival experiences ever! I thought Samothraki was magic this time round! More than a week of hammock work and dancing with friendly fraggles from all over the planet. Even the weather supported our party! Thanks goes out to all the nice people in our…

Hey guys! Hope summer has been good so far! Mine was OK, even though I was working. I’m preparing my summer holiday these days, I’m flying down to Athens, Greece next Sunday. I used up some old bonus points which I gathered a few years back while I was working as a traveling VIP software…

Hello world! Just got back after a week-end of camping in the deep forests outside Arvika, Sweden. It was mosquito hell! Well they were maybe not as terrible as what they would be like in actual Hell, but camping outside in Scandinavia during the summer, those flying pests can get damn annoying! We were a…

The World Health Organisation today issued a new warning against non-essential travel to the entire Western hemisphere following renewed concerns about the spread of Severe Loss of Perspective Syndrome (SLOPS). Officials are warning travellers not to visit the UK, the US, almost all of Western Europe, and Canada, following further outbreaks of the disease, which…

Hello, dear friends from all over the planet! How are you doing? Trust you are fine! Working/Traveling? Hey, also let me know your plans for this summer (the summer of the northern hemisphere I mean). Looks like I’ll have to stay here in Oslo this summer, working and paying off old travel expenses on an…

Hello gang! I spent last week with good friends in Avoriaz in the Alps on the French/Swiss border. I’d never heard of the place before, but it turned out to be great. Went with my dear old pal Darek, who brought his digital camera with him. He’s going to upload some pictures on his web…

Hello friends! South Africa turned out to be another one of those countries you just have to fall in love with, and I certainly did! Cape Town in particular stole my heart big time, it’s another place I have to return to at some point. That sweet city is residing well up there on the…

Hello ev-ryone!! From sunny Cape Town I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Wicked 2003! And I hope you’ve been good this year… Tommy Hermansen

Location: South Africa’s Northern Province. Near to the Kruger National Park, and along the line of total eclipse of the Sun. Wednesday morning it was completely overcast and it was a bit depressing not to be able to actually see the heavenly glory. But as it turned out this was just magic. DJ Tristan was…

Hello friends! This short msg just to inform you I have landed safely among friends. Staying at the Backpacker Ritz until 9.00 tomorrow morning when the bus is leaving for the site. Will be massive for sure. I’m travelling light so I hope I have brought all the essentials with me. After the Eclipseparty I’ll…

Yep! Got my ticket to Johannesburg!! Hey hey! 🙂 Tommy Hermansen

Hello all! Just another short one: Barcelona is just fantastic. Staying with good friends and having a fab time at the local bars. Went on a tourist bus last week to see more of it (was a bit steep at 14 euros though), and fell in love with this sweet old city completly. Got the…

Hello friends! Life in Oslo is good! I’ll soon have a new job in the graphics arts business (IT support work), and we hopefully have some nice parties coming up. Winter has come down on us with a vengeance up here, but there are at least very good posibilities for skiing and similar fun, if…

The last few weeks I’ve been doing quite a bit of island hopping. After visiting Patmos for a few days, doing near to nothing at all, and staying at the local campsite in my Brazilian hammock. I ventured on with a Norwegian guy called Jan up to Ikaria, where we got seriously drunk on Ouzo…

A long one again this time, hope you have some spare time for it! I have a few hours to kill before getting on the boat to Patmos tonight, and discovered a nice price Internet café. Here’s a proper update on this Greece odyssey so far. I landed on Rhodes on Sunday a week ago,…

Yes I’ve now moved on a little bit since the Ruigoord festival in Amsterdam last week. Got a 99 euro one-way ticket from Schiphol to Rhodes, where I stayed for two nights. Yesterday I got on a ferry to Kos… It’s nice here. Attention all Samothraki ravers: Is there an afterparty somewhere around here these…

This is the forcast for Amsterdam today; Showers and a lot of local precipitation. And yes, this is where I am at the moment. Got back to this sweet old town yesterday night, after a short flight down to Frankfurt and a hellish trainride, where I got stuck just outside of Dusseldorf for three hours,…

Back in nice and warm Oslo for a few days just to slap some people around, who owed me money. Got it today- and I will head out again as soon as my friend Alex from Barcelona shows up here. We’re probably going up to North Cape together, or maybe if I can persuade him;…

Whe-hey landlubbers! Oslo has been a great place for me to catch my breath the last couple of months, with some short visits to nearby happenings of course. Have even been able to scrape up some funds as well. Then, the inescapable fact is; summertime in Europe means festival time. Which again translates to: meeting…

From: Tommy Hermansen Date: Sun May 19, 2002 9:16pm Subject: Invitation to experience sweet little Oslo Hello again all you friends in this great world! Summer in the Northern Hemisphere is now imminent, and backpacking is yet again becoming a more pleasant possibility. Therefore I would like to invite any of you fantastic people who…

From: Tommy Hermansen Date: Sat Apr 27, 2002 3:31pm Subject: Stop sending us boring emails! I know I have been bitching a lot about money problems lately, and I’m really sorry to have bored you guys with that. Of course this forum is supposed to be about travelling, and not about my personal problems, but…

From: Tommy Hermansen Date: Sat Apr 27, 2002 3:06pm Subject: No luck in the employment field as of yet Brothers and sisters! Past: Edinburgh was magic! But unfortunately I had no luck in finding a job there though. I was at least able to spend three weeks among some incredibly amazing people. When I came…

From: Tommy Hermansen Date: Tue Mar 5, 2002 11:48pm Subject: Back to reality (again) Yes my dear friends, the trip closer to the sun is over yet again, and I will now have to start looking around for another job, to pay the bills that have been waiting so patiently to be attended to. But…

From: Tommy Hermansen Date: Thu Feb 14, 2002 6:12pm Subject: Acabou o Carnaval! Yes, the lunacy is over for this time around. Until 2003… I spent those days among new friends in Itaoca, ES. Sad thing about the music here though, was that they played the same 20-30 tracks over and over again! Eu fica…

From: Tommy Hermansen Date: Wed Jan 23, 2002 5:04pm Subject: Rio De Janeiro Hello friends. Today I arrived in Rio. Copacabana beach and all that crap, madness. Not staying here though, I’m already moving on to Ubatuba further south in the state of Sao Paulo tonight. Tired of buses now, but the final destination is…

From: Tommy Hermansen Date: Wed Dec 19, 2001 9:00pm Subject: Merry X-Mas! Just a quick email from Salvador wishing you a Merry X-mas and a happy brand new 2002! Spent the last week in Arembepe and the Aldeia village, just chilling out. On friday I’ll probably go back there for the hollidays. It’s 32 degrees…

From: Tommy Hermansen Date: Sun Dec 2, 2001 4:10pm Subject: Amigos(as) para sempre! Hey! Okay, here we go again compadres, but before I begin; the rumors (as they say) of my death are highly exaggerated. Overpriced Internet is a problem in this part of the world, so I’m not going to do this too often…

From: Tommy Hermansen Date: Tue Nov 6, 2001 3:00pm Subject: Brazil! Yes finally, after 35 hours travelling on three different flights, and another 35 hours on a bus I have finally hit some nice weather. But I had to have a breather between the two jumps though, so I spent the weekend in Sao Paulo,…

From: Tommy Hermansen Date: Tue Oct 23, 2001 11:49pm Subject: Reality Bites Written in third person for fun: “You have 7,27 kroner on your personal account” the friendly synthesized female voice said on the Bank’s automatic line. “Shit” he’d thought, “it’s only a week till I’m supposed to leave for South America – and all…

From: Tommy Hermansen Date: Wed Oct 3, 2001 4:16pm Subject: Gearing up for Brazil! Hi guys! First of all I must apologize for the Topica mail earlier today, I’ve moved the list back to Yahoo again because of Topica’s recent change in their policy in adding new subscribers. They don’t allow direct subscriptions anymore, new…

From: Tommy Hermansen Date: Thu Aug 2, 2001 11:52am Subject: New E-mail address Hello friends… The Asia trip is now over, and I’m as of yesterday working at Network Associates’ callcenter in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The last couple of weeks I’ve been travelling in Europe, to a couple of music festivals – and to visit good…

From: Tommy Hermansen Date: Mon Jul 16, 2001 6:16pm Subject: THIS is the final TommyOnTrip newsletter Hello friends, I’m now stopping to do these TommyOnTrip newsletters. Since coming back to Europe this is no longer an Asia trip, so it makes no sense to publish them anymore. But I will take it up as soon…

From: Tommy Hermansen Date: Wed Jul 4, 2001 3:00pm Subject: My Asiatrip is over Hello to friends from all over the planet! My travelling in Asia is over (for this time) The budget is getting low, and summertime in Europe is just too fantastic to miss. Therefore I’ve now ventured back to Amsterdam – where…

From: Tommy Hermansen Date: Thu Jun 21, 2001 11:50am Subject: Koh Pha Ngan Hello from sunny Thailand Bay, actually from an Island just north of Koh Samui (if you should know it). Bangkok was a nice and clean experience after the previous travelling in India. Big shiny shopping centres and busy streets. Don’t bother to…

From: Tommy Hermansen Date: Thu Jun 14, 2001 8:33pm Subject: Bangkok Hey gang, Tonight I arrived in Bangkok. I had a very pleasant flight from Calcutta with Druk Air (Bhutan). A highly recomended operator if you’re ever flying in the India/Nepal/Bhutan/Thailand area, very good service onboard and cheap too. I paid only around 120 dollars…

From: Tommy Hermansen Date: Thu Jun 7, 2001 4:01pm Subject: Enough is enough Hello friends! I’ve decided to cut my Asia trip shorter than I expected, and will head home to Europe and the summer festivals in about one month’s time. The political unrest in Kathmandu (and bad trekking weather) convinced me to leave Nepal…

From: Tommy Hermansen Date: Sat Jun 2, 2001 4:23pm Subject: Utter chaos in Kathmandu We arrived in Kathmandu yesterday afternoon, then something happened last night, just a few blocks from our guesthouse… The Nepali royal family was completely wiped out during a shooting incident in the Royal Palace here in central Thamel area. Allegedly Crown…

From: Tommy Hermansen Date: Mon May 28, 2001 12:33pm Subject: Nepal frozen up Hey gang, just a short message this time because of the insanely expensive internet rates here in Phokara. The whole country is frozen up in a three day general strike against corruption in the Nepali government. On street corners around here there…

From: Tommy Hermansen Date: Sun May 20, 2001 3:27pm Subject: Stealth rickshaws and breathtaking mountains We’ve now moved on to Manali on our way towards Kathmandu. The next four days will be a continuous push towards getting us there. Our three weeks in Dharamsala were just fantastic, both relaxing and spending some very refreshing time…

From: Tommy Hermansen Date: Sun Apr 1, 2001 10:53am Subject: So you’re here to save the world, are you? This trip has lately been turning out being a much deeper journey into my mind than first anticipated. I’m meeting different kinds of people from all over the world, and we’re all at similar stages of…

From: Tommy Hermansen Date: Tue Mar 20, 2001 1:34pm Subject: A paradise called Patnem Beach I’ve been on this beach for more than three weeks now. Met with some really good friends and basically been relaxing at a beach resort aptly named “Home”. Owners Richard and Sandy give you a break from Indian life, and…

From: Tommy Hermansen Date: Mon Mar 5, 2001 6:30am Subject: This is a gem! Hello again friends, Since last time I wrote; I’ve moved further north (into southern Goa), to a gem of a serene place called Patnem Beach. To get here you need to catch the coastal train or the bus to Canacona, or…

From: Tommy Hermansen Date: Fri Feb 23, 2001 7:08pm Subject: Gokarna’s stench Greetings earthlings! I was finally able to leave Varkala after five wonderful weeks lounging in the sun down there, I guess I only had a mild case of the well known Varkala Syndrome, the one that makes you never want to leave the…

From: Tommy Hermansen Date: Mon Feb 5, 2001 6:58pm Subject: Lazy days in the sun Today’s been another totally relaxed day on the beach. I have to cover up my bare head while sitting in the burning sun, so I won’t get a sun stroke. Yes – bare, my head is completely bald now. Just…

From: Tommy Hermansen Date: Wed Jan 31, 2001 2:30pm Subject: More pictures uploaded Hello gang! I just uploaded 16 new images from Varkala and other surroundings… Sorry but the pictures of the elephants didn’t turn out well, so I didn`t bother to scan them. Tommy

From: Tommy Hermansen Date: Mon Jan 29, 2001 7:52pm Subject: I’m still alive Hello my friends, I have recieved a couple of emails lately from people worrying about me being caught in that horrible earthquake. You don`t need to worry, I`m about 70 hours (by slow train) away from the disaster area. Life here in…

From: Tommy Hermansen Date: Thu Jan 18, 2001 12:00pm Subject: Varkala Hello my friends, I’ve now made it down to Varkala in the Kerala district in Southwestern India. Bombay was way too dirty and noisy for my liking so I left after only one night at the Gulistan Hotel. My buddy Kjetil never showed up…

From: Tommy Hermansen Date: Sat Jan 13, 2001 12:58pm Subject: Bombay Just some first impressions of Bombay: I landed at the airport at 5 am this morning. The Kuwait Arlines flight was very good, and with their reasonable prices I can definitely recomend using them if any of you guys are heading this way. The…

From: Tommy Hermansen Date: Sun Jan 7, 2001 8:48pm Subject: Amsterdam Hello from Amsterdam! The first leg of this trip is now happening! I arrived at Schiphol on Friday the 5th about 1 p.m. local time, the wind was nearly tearing the plane apart as the pilot slammed it onto the runway. But the landing…

From: Tommy Hermansen Date: Wed Dec 13, 2000 4:39pm Subject: Three weeks to go!!! Hello partypeople! Just writing this short message to let you know that the ticket has been booked, the shots have been taken, and I’m getting my visa tomorrow. Things are really starting to take shape now! The internet booking of the…

From: Tommy Hermansen Date: Wed Dec 6, 2000 7:53pm Subject: Booked the tickets!! Yesterday and today I spent the whole afternoon around town looking for my ticket to the east, but the prices here in Oslo are so incredibly steep. Luckily today I found a website in the Netherlands which had some really good bargains…

From: Tommy Hermansen Date: Mon Dec 4, 2000 1:34pm Subject: 27 days left! Hello gang! With the latest addition of Karlsen (is that you Thomas old pal??), the number of members evesdropping on this list has reached a quite respectable 30! Current situation: This week I’m taking the various shots needed for going to the…

From: Tommy Hermansen Date: Thu Nov 23, 2000 1:01pm Subject: A little over 1 month left!! Today, I’m at a customers site in Stord – on the west coast of Norway. The company is called Aker Maritime and it’s a big company by Norwegian meassures. These guys work in the shipping industry, and the huge…