Berlin

How do I even begin to write this?

My time in Berlin was full of ups and downs. But lets not get ahead of myself.

First of all, the city of Berlin is absolutely enormous, and full of diverse life; it honestly felt a little overwhelming when I first arrived. I’m used to Boston, where an afternoon's walk can easily take me around the entire downtown area. Here, that's simply not possible. Walking from one side to the other will easily take you 4 hours. 

Luckily, I stayed with my distant cousin Micha and his girlfriend Lena. I only realized they even existed about a month ago! He is a full-time UK garage and techno DJ (about as Berlin as you can get), and they were super helpful in giving me the lay of the land and some cool places to check out. Staying in their flat was a great change of pace from the hostel life of the Netherlands. Not having to share a room with strangers for a few nights felt heavenly, and having easy access to a laundry machine was such a luxury. Staying there, I did miss the social aspect of the hostels, but I know I'll be back in them soon so I'm savoring the private time I have now.

My first day in the city, I got thrust into Berlin culture faster than I expected. They brought me to their favorite Döner Kebab shop. Apparently, due to the large Turkish and Arabic influence, the Döner Kebab is a Berlin staple. Kebabs here are the equivalent of burritos in Boston, at least for me. A cheap, tasty takeout option. It was only 7 euros for a massive meal, so you'd best believe I went to that exact shop twice more during my stay.

That night, I went with them to a live DJ set and party in a barbershop. So random. I must say, before this I hadn't ever been exposed to the electronic music scene - I didn't even know half the genres - but now that I've chatted with a ton of DJs, I can safely say I'm acquainted. I felt out of place at first, but they were all super nice. Spending an evening talking to artists around my age, even though we work with completely mediums, was a pretty inspiring experience.

After the set, I joined my cousin and a few of his DJ friends on a late-night walk through the city, where we ended up at a little hole-in-the-wall bar. I know it's obvious, but if you're a beer person, Germany is definitely for you. However, I opted for a spiked Club Matte - a first for me. A time was had. 

Cheers! Or as the Germans say: Prost!

During my stay I also learned I had other family, this time on my dad's side. Stefan and Katrin. I'm not even going to try and describe how exactly they're related to me, just know that they're very distant.

So one night I made my way across town to the upscale district of Charlottenburg to have dinner with them. It was nice chatting about my family history, and a warm home-cooked meal is always pleasant when I'm out traveling on a budget. Turns out Stefan is a professor of Arabic and Islamic studies. I guess it’s good there’s so much Arabic influence here! Hopefully he likes Döner :)

Honestly though, the way I’ve grown more comfortable with the city has been by spending my days walking the streets. Like I said, Berlin is unlike any other city I've been in. It can be cold and foreboding, but also charming and picturesque. A perfect blend for street photography. From protests to furry conventions to high contrast silhouettes to late-night DJ photoshoots, find all of my photography from Berlin on my Instagram.

I spent a total of 6 nights in the city. That's a relatively short time in the grand scheme of things, but it was enough time for me to grow comfortable. However, it was also enough time for me to start feeling restless and lonely. 

During the middle of my time here, around day 10 of my travels, I started feeling extremely alone. I expected this - solo traveling is an inherently lonely activity - but I found myself spending my days wandering aimlessly, feeling uninspired and wishing I had someone here traveling with me. I even went out to Potsdam - which has this cool palace - just for something to do, but I just ended up taking a nap on the grass in the manicured gardens. 

For a day or two, I lounged around in the flat doing not much of anything. I felt terrible, like I was wasting the precious time I have abroad. What I realized, however, was that this is normal, and taking some time to relax is vital for keeping the momentum of travel rolling. Though I am alone, I have met and will meet people all around Europe that care for me and help make my time memorable. So, while I did feel lonely in Berlin, that feeling passed, and now I'm excited to be back on the road again, heading towards new experiences. 

There's a saying that I think really applies to what I'm doing now: 

Better to do it alone than to not do it at all.

I am confident that my traveling will be worth it in the long run. Somber days will come, but there are always new things to see, and I know that the travel bug will never leave me.

So yeah. Berlin was interesting. 

• Visiting relatives I didn't know existed, and learning new things about the history of both sides of my family.

• Discovering Döner Kebab.

• Tapping in to the techno DJ scene.

• Learning a lot about the ups and downs of traveling alone.

Ultimately, I will look back fondly on my time here, and the people I met, but I'm super excited to get to my next stop: 

Paris. 

That's all for now. 

I spent so long trying to come up with a title for this blog, but I'm stumped. So don't judge me for the lack of creativity there.

Again, to see more of my images from Berlin, make sure to follow my Instagram.

Stay tuned for big things to come!

Mark

Berlin

September 5, 2025

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