I got blogtagged

I got blogtagged by Ike then by Jörg!
OK, here i go ...

1. In 1981, after graduating as an Engineer, my father gave me a “reward” of 10.000 Belgian franks (€ 250 – but with inflation this is probably more than € 500 now) and i went on my own to Iceland with my rucksack, sleeping bag, a stove, my tent … very beautiful country, lovely people. And … i met an Australian guy there, and we travelled, hiked and camped a week together. This guy had been travelling for 3 years without interruption mainly in Asia and Europe. I thought: WOW!
2. In 1983, after working as a researcher at the University, i took my rucksack, bought a one-way ticket to Lima, Peru, and started my “World Tour”, hereby copying the idea of my Australian friend, with whom i kept contact. No internet, no Skype, therefore i phoned about monthly to my parents. In the local phone companies i had to ask how much the call would cost, estimate how many minutes (and dollars) i wanted to spend, pay before calling (like Skype!), wait for the operator to make the connection with my parents, and then we talked x minutes until my credit was gone. I took my time, and visited Peru, Bolivia, Chile (Pinochet was still there), Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay (In Asunción i played chess during one month with an American guy) and Brasil. I even crossed the border between Paraguay and Bolivia with smugglers, for my second visit to that country (and climbed a 6000 m mountain with Israeli friends). I stopped travelling after one and a half year after meeting my future Brazilian (and now almost former) wife on a beach! My trip didn’t last as long as the Australian friend however. But, it still is the best and most enriching period of my life!
3. I’ve lived and worked as an expat in Ecuador (1987-1990), where two of my 3 sons were born, and also in Tunisia (1992-1995): without internet, long before the Skype era, so phone calls were expensive. I remember they installed next to their TELEX machine their first FAX machine at the factory shortly after i arrived in Ecuador in 1987: WOW, we could send a handwritten message or a drawing! My best Ecuadorian friend (Carlos) and my best Tunisian colleague (Adel) are now in my Skype contacts.
4. Yes, I smoke, quitting for several days, weeks or
   
   months and starting again. Not good for my health and with negative consequences on my sport, i know. I drink alcohol too (mainly wine and beer, sometimes cachaça, when i have it), and i eat everything that other people dare to eat, even poisonous Finnish mushrooms when prepared correctly.
5. If nothing “wrong” happens in the meantime, in July i’ll go hiking and camping in the Swiss Alps with my Friend Fabio … the Australian guy: we made the appointment through Skype!

Now, whom to tag? Difficult, most people i know have been tagged. I will however also tag somebody who was tagged also by another person, but perhaps this will "awake" his blog. Here they are: Mark O'Neil, Kevin Delaney, Jan Geirnaert, Hudson Barton, Johan