Gentleman Adventurer

Take your time ... for some really special places ...
(here: Hotel Arena City, Grozny, Chechnya)

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Arriving at The Royal Horseguards Hotel in London with a particular history from World War I to James Bond location.

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Proud to be featured in the "Hall of Fame" of Most Traveled People (click)

and in Jorge Sanchez' new book "Meetings with Remarkable Travelers" (click)

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My goal is to visit all 193 countries (now 170) on the United Nations list www.un.org/en/members/

then all 320 places listed by the Traveler's Century Club www.TravelersCenturyClub.org

and then most of the 872 items on Charles Veley's list www.MostTraveledPeople.com

On average stayed more than 30 days in each foreign country.

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A Hideaway from Drug Cartels and Active Volcanoes at Hacienda San Antonio, Colima, Mexico

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I like travel in style, even in rough places, but with minimum (hand-) luggage only.

Joe Shmoe, public transport, backpacks, shorts and sandals make me seesick.

Seeing reality beyond TV and meeting people with powerful stories drives me forward.

On the way, I collect my trophies: the world's most charismatic hotels.

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With Libyan Freedom Fighters in front of the Tibesti Hotel in Benghazi (Arab Spring, May 2011)

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Early on, I learned to enjoy the history and social magnetism of "Grande Dame" hotels in major capitals.

Then I started loving the aesthetic experience of Ian Schrager Hotels, Hip Hotels and Designhotels.

The serenity and service of the Amanhotels in Bali addicted me to become an "Amanjunkie".

Adventure lust took me further to Wilderness Safaris, Explora, Oberoi, Taj, CC Africa & Beyond.

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In the Footsteps of Treasure Hunter Howard Carter at the Winter Palace in Luxor, Egypt

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My ultimate joy, however, became reaching the refuge, social intensity and relative luxury of hideouts in conflict zones.

As a collector of hospitality experiences and a connoisseur of "les émotions fortes" all over the planet, please see my

"Spy - War - Dangerzone Hotels"

"Trophy Hotels"

"Formula 1 Hotels"

"James Bond Hotels"

"Wherever you go, try to stay at the most famous hotel!" Aristoteles Onassis
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Room with a view at a "top address": Atlantic Beach Hotel, United Nations Drive, Mamba Point, Monrovia, Liberia

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Favourite Hotel Groups:

Red Carnation Hotels
Orient-Express Hotels
Serena Hotels
Sofitel Legends

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Heavy (!) Security at the Hotel Waldorf-Astoria Qasr al-Sharq in Jeddah (Note: me in WHITE shirt ;-)

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Sitting in the lobby of the local Grande Dame hotel with a "Romeo & Julieta" cigar,

I like to meet people with powerful stories, learn from their first-hand accounts

and to capture the spirit of places ...

In particular, I want to get my own view on cultures, countries and conflicts without any distortions.

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Voodoo valet service at the most charismatic of all dangerzone hotels, the Oloffson in Haiti

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One of the benefits of "country collecting" is to learn about the existence of "unrecognized" territories, like

Transnistria, Gagauzia, Adjaria, Apsny (Abkhazia), Nagorno-Karabakh, Nakhcevan, Karakalpakastan, Gorno-Badakhshan, Aksay Chin, Sahrawi, Ambazonia, Somaliland, Puntland, Cabinda, ...

... and to test the accuracy of Western media reports or official travel warnings about so-called "dangerous places".

Good article by Jonny Bealby in "The Telegraph" (please click):
Some travelers are "sceptical of media reporting and need to see things for themselves. "

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Travel Warning: The Foreign Office advises against overland drives, in particular at night ...
(here: near the Zambia - Zaire border)

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... or in rather shady neighbourhoods ...
(here: Angola)

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... and avoid picking someone up at the roadside.
(here: South Sudan) 2 fotos

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Don't talk to strangers ...
(here: Nagorno-Karabakh)

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... beware of IEDs, RPGs, STDs, second hand smoke and sunburn ...
(here in Beirut, source: lebanonmatters.com)

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... and prepare for medical emergencies.
(here in a Sofitel (!) shuttle bus in the USA ... "Body Fluid Clean-Up Kit" ... Hello DSK :-)

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Tread carefully: there's wild animals flat out ...
(here in the Brazilian Amazon)

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... even in unexpected places ...
(here in an oligarch's office in Moscow)

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... so make sure you fight in the same weight class.
(here with Wladimir Klitschko and Sheikh Maktoum's hunting falcon in a UAE desert camp]

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Try to blend in with the locals ...
(here: Dakota ... pardon me ... Dagestan)

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... and dress to the occasion.
(here in Colombia with a bulletproof vest)

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Respect is always a good security concept.
(here: Somalia)

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But nothing beats good contacts ...
(here with best friend Harald at President Kadyrov's Palace in Chechnya)

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... especially friends in the right places ...
(here: MI6 Headquarters, London)

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... and a smile remains your most valuable weapon.
(here with Adnan Kashoggi in Rome)

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"The average man, who does not know what to do with his life, wants another one which will last forever." Anatole France

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Please click here for TABLE OF CONTENT of all my trips or below for next page ...

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