Kickstarter

My latest project as well as my first book, Reunion – A Travelogue is a humourous, introspective chronicle of a one-month rail journey through Germany, Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic, Italy, Spain, and France, which is slated to take place in Fall 2010.

Reunion will be as much about the spaces in between – the train stations and the trains – as it will be about the cities I visit. Often, the most interesting things – a bizarre layover, a chance meeting, a moment of sublime absurdity – happen on the way someplace rather than in that place. The travelogue will also look at the activists, old friends and new, and random conversations I encounter was I make my way through the continent.

I plan to release the English edition of Reunion in mid-January 2011.
Why “Reunion”?

I have chosen Reunion as the working title for this travelogue because my trip is, in a sense, a reunion, both with old friends and with the continent I have not seen since I had to leave Berlin ten years ago. It is as much about the memories of my last time living there as it is about the current experiences, as much about the people and experiences I encountered years ago as it is about the experiences of Fall 2010.
A Sample
The prologue to Reunion, which recounts an exhausting, fascinating, and at times utterly surreal trip I made from Munich to Berlin in December 1996, is being published serially to the book’s main website.

So far, three parts have been published:

Part I – Munich/Fieberbrunn, December 1996:
http://http//reuniontravelogue.wordpress.com/2010/07/02/foreword-part-i/

"In December 1996, I found myself standing in the main hall of Munich’s Hauptbahnhof (central train station). I had just returned from spending Christmas with friends in the village of Fieberbrunn, in the middle of Austria’s share of the Alps.

It had been a most instructive visit. Apart from doing some very important formative drinking, I learned that there are still people who decorate their Christmas trees with actual candles, and – as the ache in my left leg constantly reminded me – that “sledding” means different things to different people..."

Part II – Fieberbrunn/Munich, December 1996:
http://reuniontravelogue.wordpress.com/2010/07/04/foreword-part-ii-fieberbrunnmunich-december-1996/

"I had received an invitation from my friend Marek to spend a week with him in Berlin, and celebrate Silvester, as New Year’s Eve is called, with his family and friends. When I explained that I wasn’t sure if I could afford the tickets for such a trip, Marek told me about the Schönes-Wochenende-Ticket (Nice Weekend Ticket, aka 35 Mark Ticket), which, for 35 marks (about US$ 17.50), would allow the bearer unlimited travel within Germany for the entire weekend, starting Friday and ending Sunday night...."

Part III – Munich/Erlangen, December 1996:
http://reuniontravelogue.wordpress.com/2010/07/07/foreword-part-iii-municherlangen-december-1996/

"I would have to change trains six times: once in Nuremberg, once in Hof, once in Plauen, once in Lichtentanne, once in Leipzig, and once in Dessau. In Hof, I would have only two minutes to make my connection. In Leipzig, on the other hand, I would have fully four and a half hours to kill in the middle of the night.

My two wheel-less suitcases, vintage 1972, began to feel just a little heavier..."
Project Funding:

As it currently stands, I will be self-publishing Reunion. As such, the funding for the travel involved in the project will come from three main sources: my income from my translation/editing work, proceeds from pre-selling copies of Reunion at the discounted price of US$12.00 per copy, and donations from anyone interested in supporting the project. While my minimum fundraising goal is $1700 to cover airfare and a one-month Eurail global pass, I hope, all in all, to raise a total of US$ 5770.00 (current fundraising total: $144.00), which will cover:

* Round-trip airfare to Frankfurt/Main, Germany
* A one-month Eurail Global Pass
* A new camera
* Room and board for one month in Europe
* The cost of rail travel within Poland and other places not covered by the Eurail Global Pass
* Incidentals and emergency expenses

A copy of the book can be pre-purchased for US$ 12.00 at https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/5618/pledges/new .