Autumn in Mulhouse
02.11.2025
While days got shorter and shorter, I recognised that it has been ages since I took the old Canon 5D Mk2 for a small ride with my bike. In-between work and taking time for friends and family, I was not really motivated to get out and take pictures. The Fujifilm I barely touched this year so I am hesitating with selling it and getting better lenses for the 5D since I got stolen all my equipment in Zagreb and the 50mm f1.8 is the only lens which is left.
Moving to France: new flat, new job, new possibilities!
11.10.2025
So what are you going to do when you want come back to reality? Yes…searching a job, searching a flat. But what comes first? Not an easy question to answer since it’s really hard to rent a flat without a job and the other way around as well: hard to get a job without a flat. So I applied from remote in the region around Basel (Bâle) and I found a job at the Deutsche Bahn AG even without having a flat around there. They were quite flexible since they search for new people to work in their maintenance area for the trains. So I got a job but even with that paper in my hands it was not that easy to get a flat. After visiting around 12 different flats and always go different excuses from the owners not to accept us (you could get children in the future, move again etc…) we were quite desperate. But after all we found a cozy 48m^2 flat in Rixheim, a small town next to Mulhouse. So right now I seriously have to learn French to get along here, no more excuses. To push my motivation a bit further, I subscribed to the local volunteer fire department and I gonna continue my volunteer fire brigade career in France! People here were welcome me with open arms so I going to try to not fail them.
After the dark comes the Caddy!
23.09.2025
Truck is gone… but what comes next? I was searching for a successor. But in term of getting smaller, lighter, faster. So no truck this time, it had to be a normal car. But normal cars just suck so I was searching of something I could easily fit a bed in and also something I could transport my bike and at the same time something which could probably serve as a daily driver for work? Had some French models in mind but my heart is still connect with VW since I owned a T4 model some years ago (still miss that old buddy). So finally I went for searching a Caddy Maxi, long wheelbase and diesel engine. During my ride from Mulhouse to Mainz by bike this summer I found a model from 2011 with just the basic equipment and for a good price. Finally it turned out that the engine had some injector issued, so on my first bigger trip to the Netherlands I directly run into a glitch and we had to exchange the injector on piston 1 straight on the highway. Since then it’s running fine and I am still working on the foldable bed construction in the back. Installed with working lights in the back, the front and everything integrated in a nice Whelen Freedom lightbar I really like how the design of the car finally turned out.
Yes, we did it… we sold the truck.
12.09.2025
Every chapter ends somehow sometimes. And for us the chapter of traveling with our beloved truck ended after 5 years and almost 60.000km across Europe. We enjoyed our independence in the truck, traveled a lot, met a lot of lovely people along the way. But finally we recognised that we were not able to find our path along traveling. Sure, it was a great time and a big chapter in our life but we also felt always that that is not the way to go in the future. Mathilde was searching for a formation and I was just not fulfilled with ‘just’ travel. I wanted create something else with my free time, get back to work on other projects. A lot of my personal interests and hobbies I was not able to follow during travel, that was after all also a big disadvantage. Also we had to work the winter in the seasonal jobs in Austria which became more and more burden than joy, even with all the lovely people we were working with. It was just too much in winter and less and less in summer. A big disadvantage was also the fact that I was the only one able to drive the truck since it was a 7,5t vehicle. So after all it was time to say goodbye to our good friend and we are thankful for more than 50.000km without any glitches. Good old Mercedes quality work. 🙂
Working as a seasonal worker in Austria
19.04.2025
In the winter season 24/25 I had the possibility to work in the ski and snowboard workshop at Patscheider Sport in Serfaus, Tyrol. Like almost all the seasonal jobs, the start was quite rough with the long working days. But after some days I got used to it and from this time on, working was quite fun. It was my task in the morning to receive the customer sports gear, fix them on site or prepare them for the service in the afternoon. In the afternoon we started grinding and fixing the skis and snowboards. Also the machine and the tools had to be maintained from time to time so overall, it was quite a varied kind of job. The team grew together like a family and we had a lot of fun during and after work. I am glad to made this working and living experience at Patscheider Sport in Serfaus and can recommend for those who are searching for a winter adventure in the Alps!
https://www.patscheider.com
Behringer B1C Speaker Impressions
03.02.2025
Since I did not find a lot of Information about this online, I wanted to share my thoughts here with you. I am not a technician, I am just a guy interested in PA systems, hifi speakers who loves to listen to well recorded music. This is not even going to be a proper review, for this I guess there is a need of proper measurements and a comparison to other systems like the Bose L1, the Alto Busker etc, also I am not going to give sound samples because that is not giving a proper impression about the sound quality of the speaker since everybody using different listening devices and I also have no proper mic. Like with every other speaker, the performance is also highly depending on the environment, the soundings and the location of the speaker indoors or outdoors. What is Behringer: Even founded 1989 in Germany by Ulli Behringer, the products were first manufactured in Germany with Chinese parts but after some years they relocated the complete production to China. They are known for low budget products for hobbyists and also for products being inspired by already existing designs. In fact the design of the B1C could be inspired by the Bose L1 speaker. With the build-in battery and the small dimensions the speaker is designed for people performing the music live on the streets such as buskers etc. Or also for small PA operations, background music, speeches and so on. The speaker was introduced in 2024 with his sibling the B1X which provides an other loudspeaker and DPS Setup, also a bigger battery and more power. In general the build quality of the housing itself is convincing considering the price for that speaker. It is made of plastic with a perforated metal sheet in the front to protect the speaker. You can place it even on a stand, there is mounting for a pole on the bottom of the speaker. Also you could use it as a monitor sideways with an angle of 45 degrees on the ground. The only concern I have are the small control knobs on the back of the speaker. They are a bit wobbly and I have doubts if they gonna resits a small collision with an other object, which is likely to happen on the road.
I would describe the Sound as warm, going more in the direction of HiFi then PA. A similar experience I already had with the EV ZLX 12P. For my use of listening to music out of the box via bluetooth its doing the job, people who are searching for a linear or neutral sound should maybe go of an other system. I feet the Speaker via bluetooth and also via cable to the XLR ports. The XLR line ins have a an EQ and reverb, the bluetooth input unfortunately does not allow any adjustment at the speaker itself. Behringer is relying here on the fact that the most portable devices have a built in EQ. The genres which are working the best are acoustic songs to in general music without a lot of deep frequencies. For electronic music there is an subwoofer support needed since the speaker has just an 6,5’’ build in woofer which is responding up to 3kHz. I do not know what kind of driver is used for the 6,5’’ woofer, if its neodym or not but in this price range I am expecting a normal ferret driver. Since I am still in the warranty period, I am not going to open the speaker. The tweeter is also doing its job quite well, by pushing the speaker to the limits (Clipping indicator LED activated) I did not have the impression the tweeter is screaming or distorting that much. Its more that the woofer reaching its limit and the hole housing starts to get noisy. For the size, I am quite happy with the performance and for my use its doing the job great. I for the moment I mainly use it to listen to music while working in a workshop but in the future I am thinking about getting a second speaker and an battery powered subwoofer to listen to music with some friends outdoors in the nature. A negativ point for me is the all present background noise while listening on a lower volume level. This is important to know if you are thinking about using the speaker at home in a calm environment. The DPS is cutting the noise when there is no signal at all, but if there is a lower signal incoming via bluetooth or the line in, the noise is clearly recognisable. A lot of the lower budget PA systems have these issue, so I would consider this as a part of the game. But it’s good to know. The performance of the battery is not exceptional good, if you listen to electronic music without the reduction of deep frequencies on a higher volume level the speaker will quit battery powered operation after 3-4 hours. With acoustic music from the 60/70s I was able to listen up to 8 hours on a higher level since there are not that much energy consuming frequencies in the songs. If you are a street musician and you want to play for a longer time you should definitely think about an external power backup or invest more and go for a Bose L1 with exchangeable batteries. The speaker comes with a 1,5m power cable, thats it. I transformed a 10m 3x1mm2 patching cable to a normal power cable to be more flexible when the speaker needs to be connected with a power outlet. I also ordered the protection hull from Thomann to transport the speaker, especially to protect the control pad on the back with the small pots a protection while transporting the speaker I would highly recommend. I can recommend the speaker and its sound in general for this price. It is interesting for people who are just need speakers for a mid volume music playback or just speech. In this price range you should definitely not expect a professional system for the every day use on road. For the the use every now and then in a non professional environment it should do the job. For electronic music an external sub is needed and for street musicians who want to play for a longer time, an external power source also recommended.
Hitchhiking from Mulhouse to England
03.05.2024
I was never that kind of person asking somebody for a help or even a ride, so that concept of hitchhiking was kind of weird to me. But then some years ago I took strangers with me on the highway in Germany the first time and it was incredible. Nice conversations, thankful people which I never saw again but we had good times. My girlfriend Mathilde already did hitchhiking by herself and so she convinced me to do hitchhiking from Mulhouse in France to England. The first time I had to put the thumbs out it was a weird feeling but then it became routine and we bumped into a lot of nice people along our way to England. I was able to cross out some stuff on my lifetime bucket list, for example I went for a helicopter flight from Penzance to the Island of Scilly. Also cracked my iPhone display while hiking, losing my nerves by taking the wrong busses or waiting on the wrong bus stop to be then welcomed by a lovely old men with a cup of tea when finally reaching the campsite. I am glad we did this experience together even we went to some highs and lows and to be honest after 3 weeks I was more then glad to be back in France. The comfort of an own Camper is something what we use to forget real fast. Great adventure and I want to come back to UK, I really liked the people (food was ok.).
Video of the helicopter flight:
The worldwide firefighting family.
While traveling, sometimes it can be hard to connect to people, especially in countries you are not familiar with the culture. So I am glad to be a volunteer firefighter. Since you have fire stations all over the world, there are always people with the same passion around. Even while not speaking the same language, I made the experience that I was always welcomed and people were happy to show me around, asking questions and just chatting about work and live conditions. You would think that firefighting works the same everywhere, having the same concept of putting out fire with water. But each country has its own strategy, even the equipment can be different. Different hose connectors, different trucks, even different siren sounds. Sometimes I even had the chance to exchange patches for my collection. For the moment, I visited forestations in the following countries: France, Spain, Germany, Portugal, Australia, Sweden, The Netherlands, Croatia, Finnland, Estonia, Lativa, Poland, Austria, Irland and the UK.
Bad Kreuznach – a new view.
Just went out in my hometown Bad Kreuznach for a short trip in the night, inspired by a video of Evan Ranft. He talked about how to think about photography in your hometown, if you have trouble to find interesting places or you are thinking its not worth to go out and search for it. He ended up by mentioning that everything is up to yourself and even if you’re not living in a huge city with a kind of cultural aspect, it is possible to take shots, searching for the small things. So I just went out without any expectations and searched out. Thanks man! The next days there will be some content, made in Bad Kreuznach, found some nice places.
Evan Ranft
www.evanranft.com
Johanninger
Some weeks ago I got in touch with that lovely group of people who are so passionate in what they doing the best: winemaking! The winery is located in Biebelsheim, part of Rheinhessen which is one of the most important regions for winemaking in the southwest of Germany. While meeting up Paul when he was working in the winery, I felt directly the special atmosphere in that place, with the old houses on the edge of the village, surrounded by vineyards. There are three families involved in making wine, sharing their lifestyle and offering their ideas to others. Especially the fact that all generations work and live there together makes that place so special. During my visit, they asked me if I could imagine to do some photography for them, I was directly excited about that idea. Beside taking shots, I had quite a nice time over there. Definitely a place to meet interesting people and excellent wine!
Weingut Johanninger
www.johanniger.de
Paul Krahl
”Art that is tastable. That is what winemaking is all about.”
P.Krahl
When I first met Paul, he was standing in front of my door of my flat, introducing himself, because he applied for the shared flat I’m living in. Originally based and grown up in Frankfurt, he decided to start an apprenticeship for being a winemaker in a village around Bad Kreuznach. We directly had a good connection and when later, he moved to the flat, I recognised that I found a beautiful open mind and good friend in him. I’m impressed about the way he things about the important topics in our generation and i’m still able to learn a lot of him.
We both share the enthusiasm for good taste and quality. He told me a lot about his work in the winery in Biebelsheim at Johanninger. When he is talking about wine and the way to produce it, you can really feel that this is his real passion. For the moment he is into the creation of his own wine and I try support his idea by giving some ideas about labelling. It’s also a new experience for me, starting from zero and growing up with every idea little by little. For the future I wish him all the best with his idea and passion, hoping to be able to report from his work and creating new stories together. Keep on the spirit of your passion!
Paul Krahl
Apprentice in winemaking
Turning a Mercedes Vario into a Camper
During our trip in France in 2020 with the T4 model, we got in touch with a guy who bought himself an old Mercedes 609 model, turned it into a camper and living full time in it. I was totally impressed about the size of this car, because its offering the possibility to stand in it, sleeping 90° to direction of travel and featuring a high payload (2t in the case of the 609, 3,3t in the case of our 815). Since I finished my truck driving licence in 2018, I was always fascinated about buying a truck like these and now I had the Idea of the perfect car in my mind: a Mercedes T4 Modell or a more recent Vario model. It was hard to find a T2 model in good state since Mercedes has some serious problems with rust on their car bodies. Finally I found a Vario 815 from 2001 next to Bad Kreuznach, the seller gave me the chance to test the car more than one week. It has a maximum weight of 7,5t, a 4,5l diesel engine with 156 hp and the middle wheel base. So I finally bought the car, removed the rust via sand-blasting, repainted it and doing some isolation work. For the moment we are finished with the kitchen and the bed part, also the water including a 280l tank and electronic system is already running. For the moment, we are doing a test trip in France to know, which systems we could improve and also to collect some ideas during the test. What I can say for now: It is a great feeling to be that independent with the car, especially in times of corona.
Mercedes Benz E63 AMG
I have got a friend which is totally crazy about cars. He changes the cars like other people would use to change underwear. I already took pictures of his Audi TTS, this pictures actually are used for a classified ad to sell the car. Hopefully the new owner will have as much as fun as we had during taking this pictures.
Christina Dhom/Weingut Dhom
The first winery, I got in touch with was the winery Phillip Dhom. I can remember driving there together with my dad during my childhood, he used to buy ”Federweißer”, early fermented wine. He grew up with Phillip Dhom, who is now the head of the winery. Later on, for many years, I was living nearby the winery, just a couple of meters away. So I bought my wine there as well and I got in touch with the family soon. So when they asked me, if I could take some pictures for the new wine line of Christina Dhom, it was a pleasure for me to work on that. She finished her first own wine line this year and I have to say, she did it quite nice. A enjoyable fresh wine with a young spirit. All the best for the future! Just visit them on instagram and ther website:
Weingut Phillip Dhom
www.weingut-dhom.de
Christina Dhom Weine
www.christina-dhom-weine.de
Sauvignon Blanc!
Everything began with this idea in Pauls’s mind: making his own wine. After a long period of woking in the vineyard for months, the big day came: harvest time! And for me, it was an honour to be part of the team at this important day. With the help of family and friends, the Sauvignon Blanc which grew in four rows was picked and carried to the winery in the early morning. For me, it was the first harvest of my life, even if I grew up in a region where winemaking is the most common agriculture. I’m excited about, how the wine is going to develop in the next few months and how we going to deal with the design of the bottle, label and so on. If you’re also interested in how the story will continue, just visit the instagram account of Paul.
Paul Krahl
Apprentice in winemaking
Photowalk in Mainz
Mainz is the head city of the district Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany and next to my hometown. I appreciate the spirit of that city with all the students and the cultural offers. Some time ago, a friend of mine offered me to have a small photowalk through in that city, it was a nice afternoon taking about photography and having some beers.
Volkswagen T1/T3 Model
A friend of mine is really passionated about volkswagen T models, he owns a T1 and he also recently bought a T3 model from the local office of disaster control in perfect state. He offered me to have a small ride out with the T3 Modell and we used the nice weather conditions to take some nice photos of these beautiful cars. His T1 was a delivery car for Bosch service in his first life, before Steffen found him, doing a full restoration.
Rock in die Ferien
The first time I got into touch with doing photography on a concert was complete spontaneous. I was joining some friends to a holiday opening concert in Windesheim, a small village near Bad Kreuznach. I did not expect that much from that evening, finally it turned out that the music performances was on a high level. The Bands were composed of pupils and teachers. The weather conditions in early summer were perfect, so the evening became magical and it was special experience for me. Thanks to the guys from the Alfred-Delp-School in Hargesheim who are organising that small event every year.
Rock in die Ferien
Marius Petry 