Hello, My Name is Kevin Schwarm
A free spirit's take on work, life, travel, & consumerism

This blog post is a compilation of photos I took in Munich, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, and then back in Munich in October of 2025. Some commentary is provided. MUNICH Getting ready for Oktoberfest in Munich. The weather is cool and rainy, but nothing is preventing me from wearing this outfit to Oktoberfest. Enjoying Oktoberfest, finally! Large pretzels, shared among friends. As the beer flows in the Oktoberfest tents and facilities, pretzel sales skyrocket. BERLIN Biking west of

Europe The driving age in Germany is 18, but you can drink beer at 16. In Germany, they learn to drink and then drive. In the USA, we learn to drive and then learn to drink. Many Germans will greet you with a “hallo” or “Guten Tag,” but rarely ask how you are doing. That’s too formal and typically done among friends and family. Americans are more friendly but superficial, and usually assume that “how are you?” means you’re just saying hello. Europeans may ask about your trip

This article describes how my musical influences have changed over the years.

The Biltmore House and Garden Tour. I had the opportunity several weeks ago to tour this special place, which is outside Asheville. I've included some notes and photos gathered during my visit to the Biltmore Estate.

About a week ago, my wife and I took our first trip (7 days) to Iceland. We were interested in learning more about their farming methods,...

In early December, my wife and I booked a 6-day resort stay in the Dominican Republic at the Zoetry Resort, Punta Cana. It was booked...

My wife and I booked the sunrise bike tour through Original Sunrise Summit Bike Tours, $200 per rider. I’ll refer to them as the Summit...

My second visit to Berlin although it's actually my first visit since the unification of Berlin as well as Germany about 30 years ago....

Here's a picture of Michael Carrick, former Man United and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, current Manager of Man United. These two former...

(It's not always about how you start, but to be successful, you have to finish strong.) MICHIGAN VERSUS OHIO STATE A few days ago, in Big...

Gulf of Mexico Waves Over the years, I’d probably visited Florida's Gulf Coast at least 6 times and during each visit, the Gulf was quite...

Introduction Part of our family has decided to quarantine in Clearwater Beach since December 14th. Coming from Chicago, we’re fortunate...

Gardening Another hobby or fitness activity during these challenging times is getting on my hands and knees and start digging. It’s dirty...

I just returned from an 18 day vacation in Europe and wanted to share some thoughts and pictures with my readers. Some of these thoughts...