Early life in Germany

I grew up in the Black Forest, a rural area in Germany, building tree houses and setting up camp fires. The summers I spent on my grandpa's farm at Lake Chiemsee keeping myself busy with horseback riding, milking cows and chasing cats.

At some point I went to school, but I soon figured out that I wouldn't learn anything useful there. So I quit and started to work as a car mechanic. That was at least interesting, but after a couple of years I knew everything I wanted to know so I started to study Electrical Engineering (what a stupid idea) in Ulm. I soon noticed that professors aren't as smart as they claim to be and most engineers are just like car mechanics, but with an academic degree to show off.

At least I met some cool people there and I got the travel bug. I took every chance I got to travel. First Europe, then the United States and finally world wide. Chile, South Africa, Egypt, ... I also got into CouchSurfing which made traveling not only affordable, but also gave me the opportunity to meet a lot of like-minded people.

San Francisco, California

After spending two years at university I got bored again. I just wanted to leave Germany and combine the useless school education I had soaked up with the way more beneficial experience you get from traveling the world. I somehow managed to get involved with a team at the Stanford University and Volkswagen to participate in the DARPA Urban Challenge 2007 [video]. So I moved to San Francisco. And that was one of my best life experiences so far. A great city with a diverse social and cultural life. Besides work and study I went rock climbing in the Yosemite, snowboarding in Colorado and started kiteboarding in Mexico - the best thing I could have ever done. From that point on I was hooked.

Maui, Hawaii

I was so addicted that I, after my student visa expired, escaped to Vancouver just to re-enter the United States with a fresh tourist visa. But this time it was Maui, Hawaii. One whole summer of kiteboarding, diving, waterfall-jumping, fresh mangoes and bananas and finally kiteboarding again. Wohooo! That's life. I planned on working there, but I figured that spending all my savings is more fun.

Edinburgh, Scotland

But as a matter of fact every summer ends at some point and the US authorities wanted me to leave their beautiful island. But what now? Back to Germany? No way! So I looked around for alternatives and an opportunity at Edinburgh Napier University in Scotland came up. I visited my parents for a week and then moved up north towards the highlands. Edinburgh is a vibrant city with a huge historic old town and tons of international students. In fact more than 1/5th of the cities population are students.

Barcelona, Spain

But I was spoiled already. Scotland was a nice experience, but I needed to live in a warm place again with sandy beaches, warm water and a city where life takes place outside rather than inside. So I decided to hit the road again, starting in Scotland heading south through England, the Netherlands, France and Germany. Crossing the Alps in Switzerland and cruising along the Mediterranean coast in Italy, France and Spain. Spain ... that is where I got stuck. Mesmerized by a beauty called Barcelona. Now living in a cozy, modern flat with a gorgeous sea view right on the beach in Barceloneta, enjoying the Mediterranean lifestyle. Here I started to get into mobile application development and created the iPhone and Android version of bliquo - a mobile guide for urban leisure - and later in 2010 I joined the British start-up Siine, where I'm currently the Head of Engineering, responsible for designing and building the next generation communication interface.

~ Stefan