Ideation, Travel and Energy

Ideation, Travel and Energy


Last year at this time, after making the difficult decision to leave the job that paid me to travel around the world, I had about a month free before embarking on a travel adventure for as long as I wanted anywhere in the world.

How I achieved this “freedom” to do as I wish is grounds for another story, firmly rooted in my life story of doing such repeatedly over the years, and I tell bits and pieces of it often when asked. That is what Hans World Travels is intended to be about, and my Instagram page has come the closest to achieving this goal, but I have a ‘mental’ problem and it’s called … Ideation.

Shortlink…. http://wp.me/pfF9G-Dr6

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Hitting the Travel Wall

Hitting the Travel Wall


Hey all, just a “little” update for those wanting to know about my three months of travel around Europe.

I just spent the better part of 6 days in Plovdiv, Bulgaria and now the past five days in Sophia at a family’s home… Mostly just enjoying conversation with interesting people I met at the The Crib Hostel or with the friends and family of a woman I met at the famous “beach beer garden” discovered in Bonn, Germany. I have increasingly shied away from meeting ‘travelers on missions to check off another city or country’, as the stories are mostly the same, just with different twists and turns along the way.  Stories I have fortunately lived in abundance over all the years of being addicted to travel.

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Why we travel…

Why we travel…


It’s a strange bit this traveling, just to travel, thing.

There’s a moment in The Motorcycle Diaries in which the Bolivian couple, struggling to find work and driven from their homes because of their political beliefs, ask Ernesto why [they] are traveling. The response, “We travel just to travel.” To which the reaction was a bit of shock, a bit of reflection and mostly an inability to understand this desire, craving and frankly, the luxury of being able to travel for no other purpose than to travel.

KennedyBridgeIn many regards I encounter this reaction often. In others, it is a bit of longing to do the same. And to those, whom share this condition, it is a deep connection where words are not needed, it is inherently understood.

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Wind pulling a fast one on us?

Wind pulling a fast one on us?


I recently responded to a post on LinkedIn in the “Energy Innovation by Statoil” group about wind turbines being “unappealing” visually within the discussion brought about by a completely wide-open question “How do you feel about wind farms?”

If you would like to share, shortlink here… http://wp.me/pfF9G-ak

Obviously, that is a subjective question, setting the stage for far ranging arguments lacking substantiated reasoning.  This being akin to the common misunderstanding of billowing exhaust plumes at power plants thought to be laden with green house gases, pollution and toxic chemicals.  The reality being, most of the visible “offenses” are waste heat removal through water evaporation cooling, not the invisible fossil fuel combustion effluent as commonly believed.

It was also stated, wind farms can be the cause of drought, which initially caught me off guard as I have lived and breathed water issues the past 20 years and it is a major determinant in my self assessed classification as “A Westerner”. Water is in our blood, both figuratively and literally. A transplant, to the western US, can be easily identified based on their lack of understanding and comprehension of where their water comes from and exactly how precious it is to maintaining our lifestyles. “Water Wars” are not just some future post apocalyptic scenario, they have been fought for over a century here in the United States.

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Participate in My European Energy Adventure, August 6 to November 4th


Shortlink: http://wp.me/pfF9G-ad

I will be traveling around Europe for 3 months starting August 6th. So it is not all “fun and games”, I plan to dedicate substantial time to a personal project focused on energy supply and need, Europe as a case study.

It centers around a theory linking the successes [and shortcomings] in the transition towards more balanced energy portfolios; including renewable sources, as fueled by a home grown cultural “energy awareness”.

This may seem a “no-brainer” to Europeans experiencing it, however it is a significant departure from the realities present in the US and struggling to be realized around the globe.

Feeding the demands of growing cities, this transmission line could be supplying electricity from a PV farm, wind turbines a 100 miles away, or the NG peaker 5 miles away.  One can never tell.
Feeding the demands of growing cities, this transmission line could be supplying electricity from a PV farm, wind turbines a 100 miles away, or the NG peaker 5 miles away. One can never tell.

I also see commonalities in regional scarcities experienced historically throughout the EU, as significant limitations & realities to developing/under developed nations worldwide.

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Validation of Thoughts on European vs US Models


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It is nice to see a little validation in what I feel I am battling.

Taking Climate Policy Inspiration from the Danish by Adam Tiffen

A nice highlight of some of the key differences between the US model and that of the Danes, although this could be said of the European models in general.

How long until we recognize a focus on communal efforts for collective gains as opposed to idolizing individual achievements results in better overall outcome?

What I have seen working with global leaders in their industries here in the US is more consistent with the European business and social cultures, a drive for efficiency and a greater prioritization on accountability.

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