Here’s my new blog about my Sabbatical Experience, becoming a Volunteer National Park Ranger in Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island of Hawai’i. I was forced a bit into having a blog, and here it is. I will keep you updated about my activities and of course feature the latest pictures and videos of my tours and hikes.

For a sneak preview, find the following travel itinerary:

Southwest: I just discovered with horror that I shouldn’t have pre-planned too much of my accommodations – while initially planning to revisit Yosemite and then head up north along the Sierra Nevada, I just realized there is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be part of the upcoming Solar Eclipse of May 20. This means I am adjusting my travel plans now to a site with more blue clear sky guarantees, and that most likely will be in the “Southwest”, somewhere in Utah… so:
ZRH – SFO on May 17
SFO – pick up rental car and head to the Southwest Region for a good venture point of the Eclipse
Utah – California: Return up north towards the Sierra
May 25: Prepare for departure to Hawai’i

Volunteering at HAVO: SFO – ITO flight on May 26. Take 4 days to get used to the Big Island again. Start of volunteering program at the Park’s headquarters on Jun 1. So far I understand the official training sessions will start on June 4, by my birthday (June 7 – I do expect some presents from you!) I will more or less have had my first public talk about “How it all began” with the Volcano, and after 2 weeks of exercise and teaching, we are mostly ready to go and will learn much more of course on the job. I anticipate that we will be about a handfull of international volunteers and do hope there are people other than Swiss coming 😉

Enjoying the Hawai’ian Islands: End August through early September: Some relaxing on Maui and O’ahu before returning back to San Francisco.

San Francisco: Enjoy the city and the relaxed West Coast life before preparing for my drive across the country to the East Coast.

Across the US: Avoiding major interstates and too much tarmac and high-quality but high-boredom roads, I will try to make it across the US from West to East in approx. 3 weeks to visit my family. Along the route, I hope to cover Yellowstone National Park, the plains of Montana and Wyoming, some of the more famous National Landmarks in North Dakota before hitting the Great Lakes areas and enter Canada for some Visa regulation issues (I have to leave the US latest 30 days after the program has ended, and that inevitable is Sept 30) and then to be on time (hopefully) for the foliage experience in the New England area.

Return home: My flight back from Boston is due on October 15, arriving at ZRH on the 16th. Let’s see what happens…