made en route

We conquered jetlag (and saved on airfare) by spending one night in NYC on our way home, and after getting used to Berlin, NYC felt downright foreign - and not just because most of the chatter we heard on the airtrain was in various foreign languages. But we felt more and more at home as the familiar landmarks of Oregon came into view on our flight back to Portland - and when I arrived home a gathering of roommates & friends happened to be there to greet me! It was pretty much perfect. And although Max's back was still bothering him, we couldn't resist celebrating our return in the most Portland way possible: a visit to Cartopia.

And that's the last page! Thanks for reading my travel comics! I hope I'll have the opportunity to make many more in the future...

We finally got to spend some quality time with our busy host Lia on our last night in Berlin - but we stayed up so late chatting and packing that we hardly had time to sleep before catching our early morning flight to New York. Maybe that’s why Max’s back gave out during our sunrise slog to catch the first bus to Tegel (Berlin’s soon-to-be-defunct airport). It felt like a miracle when we made it to the bus stop just in time, but that magic feeling wore off as we wearily stood in line at airport security. Exhausted beyond belief, we might have passed out cold if not for the engaging company of a friendly gutter-punk couple standing ahead of us in line.

Here’s the song we were rocking on a tinny iPod speaker while packing our bags in a first floor apartment on that summer night in Charlottenburg, which now seems so long ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iTRRkOXIoI

Grunewald is a vast forest occupying a large part of the southwest corner of Berlin, complete with hiking trails, rivers and lakes, and nude beaches (nudism being relatively commonplace among Germans). There's even a giant artificial sand dune. And then there's Teufelsberg ("Devil's mountain") - you'd never know it, but this artificial hill is actually a giant mound of debris, and buried deep underneath are the remains of a never-completed Nazi military school. All the more surreal is the cold war era American listening station that lies abandoned atop Teufelsberg, now home to a small colony of artists. This pretty much sums up Berlin in a nutshell, now that I think about it.

Another epic day in Berlin, our second-to-last. The heat was sweltering so we planned to spend the whole day in museums, but the first step was to stand in a courtyard in direct sun waiting in a long line to purchase tickets. Somehow Max talked me into letting him sit in the shade while I stood in line. Anyhow, the wait was worth it. After marveling at the amazing antiquities of the Neues museum and the more modern but no less mysterious artifacts of East Germany at the DDR museum, we headed to Dolores, a taqueria offering "California-style" burritos. Then to kill time while our host did some late-night housework, we walked to Kreuzberg and shared dessert & drinks at a picturesque cafe beneath a willow tree right on the canal. It felt very much like a movie scene.

I may have entered catastrophe mode when we were running late on our way back to Lia's apartment, but it turned out alright in the end.

After cooking our customary Thai curry for our lovely hosts, we indulged Jen in her own couchsurfing custom: forcing her guests to play a round of Hip Flip, a strange game from the swingin' 60s in which players work together to spin a pendulum using strategic hip motions. There were tears and laughter and in the end we were victorious. A memorable end to our stay with Jen & Raymond.

Mauerpark (literally "wall park") is a public park located where the Berlin Wall once stood in the Prenzlauer Berg district. Every Sunday the park hosts a giant, eclectic flea market selling everything from overpriced souvenirs to affordable housewares. Mauerpark also offers free open-air karaoke on Sundays, drawing hordes of people from all over the world. This particular Sunday was sweltering hot, and there was hardly a square inch of shade in the whole amphitheater, but that didn't seem to deter the cheering crowds or the long line of eager performers (which included a seven or eight year old girl who just couldn't quite conquer her stage fright enough to sing us a song).

Classic tourist times in Kreuzberg, complete with my first-ever photo booth experience, at Berlin's hippest oldschool "photoautomat" at Kottbusser Tor.

This weekend's Portland Zine Symposium saw the release of "Friends from Far Away" vol. 2, a printed compilation of our travel comics covering Sweden & Denmark. If you missed your chance to grab a copy at the Symposium, never fear - drop us a line and we'll send one your way. :)

Traveling with a partner can get complicated, and it's important to remember that you don't always need to stick together. But make sure you take inventory before parting ways...

Our awesome day in Berlin continued with a visit to Renate Comics Bibliothek, a treasure trove of minicomics & graphic novels from all over Europe. We also discovered an art market offering the perfect gift for our hosts, and then there was Prinzessinnengarten, a magical community garden & outdoor cafe shaded by birch trees.

Hello friends! For the last few weeks we've been hard at work putting our travel comics into print, and we're excited to announce that the first installment will debut this weekend at Olympia Comics Festival! "Friends From Far Away" vol. 1 collects our favorite moments from the first leg of our journey, and includes some "print-exclusive" material. If you'd like a copy but can't make it to Olympia, drop us a line and we'll make it happen - even if you're halfway 'round the world. :)

This awesome day in Berlin started out with a haircut from a friendly and sarcastic Turkish-American immigrant. Then we took an art walk on Auguststrasse, home to some of the city's coolest galleries, and I almost felt hip for one fleeting moment in history.

After hitting a few more points of interest (including a truly incredible vegan supermarket) we wound up back at our new favorite restaurant, this time with Jen & Raymond, for a leisurely dinner. We did more dining out in Berlin than we did anywhere else on the trip, but the food is so good and the prices so low it was impossible to resist...

We spent the entire day at the Louvre, and man, that is a lot of museum.