Circadian reset

It was already dark by the time train 499 reached Halmstad last night, so after commenting on a few student papers and taking some melatonin, I fell into a dreamless sleep, only to be brutally awoken by my Suunto watch at 6 a.m. After an epic struggle to get out of bed, I had no choice but to cut my planned run to Jansa Brygga short and instead go for a quick bread run to the local Bärlin sourdough bakery.

Under beautiful blue skies, I then did my best to get as much sunlight as possible between classes, and back home the tinted glass cast beautiful reflections on the wall, a promise of what is to come. Still, with the jetlag monster never far away, I headed out for five more kilometres at sunset to help further reset my circadian rhythm.

Seeing the images coming in from the Artemis II mission, showing the Earth from the far side of the Moon, certainly puts my own jetlag struggles into perspective. Instead of the mere twenty-two thousand kilometres that I have travelled over the last week, the Artemis crew will have travelled millions of kilometres by the time they splash down in the waters outside San Diego tomorrow. Like so many times before, space exploration points to what humanity could become if we directed our energies outward, toward building rather than destroying.

Approval

Far from snowy, Munich was almost as sunny as Imperial Beach (above) when Johanna and I landed after eleven long hours in the air. Having been spoiled beyond words on the way over, Premium Economy on the A350-900 still felt like a substantial upgrade, with plenty of legroom, a brand-new cabin, and external cameras showing the red desert in all its grandeur. Sadly, Lufthansa once again proved a little hit and miss on the culinary front, reminding me just how much Turkish Airlines is in a class of its own.

Before leaving the Americas, Johanna’s and my application to the Swedish Ethical Review Authority was approved, which felt fantastic given that it is my first time as a PI. With the formal approval now in place, we will try to get the quantitative survey done before the end of the spring semester so that we can do some analysis over the summer holidays. As for the two months that remain until school is out, I will be splitting my time between Zoom classes in Gothenburg and computer lab sessions in Halmstad, with a fair amount of X2000 commuting in between. In terms of bigger trips, however, the only thing I have planned this year is a conference in Naples in mid-June, so after the recent global whirlwind, the blog will probably feature more lake runs and dog hikes going forward.

Rental car return

After 1,023 kilometres on the roads of California (and more than a couple stops at Chipotle), it was finally time to return our Genesis G70 to Hertz. As Hyundai’s premium brand, the white Genesis was a pleasure to drive on the mad highways of L.A., but slightly less suited to our desert adventures. In any case, we made it back without a scratch, and that is what counts at the end of the day.

Now checked in with Lufthansa to Munich, I wonder whether snow will await on the other side, as it did twenty years ago when my flight from Hong Kong landed in Bavaria. After the upgrade bonanza on the way over, I am still happy that Lufthansa accepted my upgrade bid to Premium Economy, which I think will be more than enough on the spiffy new Airbus A350-900.

3x San Diego

Washboarded

Driving along dirt roads into Cleveland National Forest, Johanna and I had ample reason to research the phenomenon known as “washboarding”: the series of regular transverse ripples that develop on unpaved roads and make them resemble laundry washboards. With squirrels constantly crossing the road and breathtaking views of the surrounding mountains, taking it slow was, in any case, the right approach.

Once at the trailhead, we started our hike down to Three Sisters Falls, which still had plenty of water after the winter rains. We saw lots of lizards, but the rattlesnakes, despite plenty of warning signs, were luckily nowhere to be seen. With a few other hikers around, we skipped a swim in the ponds, which was probably wise given the existence of brain-eating amoebae and other entertaining microorganisms in California’s waterways, though the risk, in all fairness, is extremely low.

As so many times before, California simply blows one’s mind with its natural scenery and wildlife. Leaving the mountains behind, we drove down to La Jolla for some beach time, which almost felt cruel after reading all the weather reports from Sweden. Jumping into the Pacific, we then finished the day, all salty, at our motel in Point Loma.

Ranchita

With Guy Clark singing “If I can just get off of this L.A. freeway / Without gettin’ killed or caught”, we checked out of The Fig and followed the I-10 into the Inland Empire. Stopping for an Impossible Burger and one more iced americano somewhere south of Riverside, the dizzying midday heat made the scene feel picture-perfect as the coastal mountains gave way to shrubland and then the salt flats of Borrego Springs.

Now in our A-frame house, waiting for the stars to come out, this trip has already exceeded our wildest expectations. With two more days left to explore Southern California, and with storm “Dave” ravaging southern Sweden, it has been worth every dollar, even if it means instant noodles for the rest of the month.

Breakfast at the Griffith Observatory

Hotel Figueroa

Colloquially known as The Fig, Hotel Figueroa first opened in 1926 as a space for professional women travelling alone. With its Mediterranean Revival architecture, I instantly fell in love with it when I discovered it a few months ago.

Staying for two nights on the twelfth floor, the hotel has truly been an oasis here in downtown LA. While the nightly rate itself was surprisingly affordable, the now familiar trend of adding arbitrary “resort fees” and prohibitive parking charges makes it less of a steal, to put it mildly. In any case, it was absolutely lovely to go for a refreshing swim in the saltwater pool after yesterday’s race, followed by a few more laps this morning under the fig tree.

Sky Duster

Jumping up at 3:30 a.m., Johanna and I hit the I-5 south, leaving the city behind as we made for the mountains and our long-awaited trail race. Unlike in 2023, when I ran the 50k Diablo Trails outside San Francisco, today’s race was only 27 kilometres, which felt more than enough as we drove into the imposing Silverado Canyon.

Running into the sunrise, we climbed “The Motorway” up to Bedford Peak which, at 3,760 ft, offered expansive views across Los Angeles, with the Santa Monica Pier clearly visible in one direction and the Inland Empire in the other. Just as on Gran Canaria, uphill running proved to be my true strength, and I soon found myself in the leading pack. With aid stations every five kilometres, the race felt superbly organized and, with the sun rising higher and higher, I needed every centilitre of water I could get.

Passing the half marathon mark in 2 hours and 35 minutes, I still felt strong, but the last fifth of the race turned into a true quad-buster, with hundreds of metres of descent for every kilometre. Ultimately, finishing fourth among the men, I was very happy with my performance, even if I was an unbelievable forty minutes behind the winner and twenty minutes off the podium.

Having forgotten my phone in the car, I was grateful that Johanna stopped to take photos along the course. Sadly, she did not happen to cross paths with the grey fox I had the good fortune to say hello to. Once we had both finished, we were shuttled back to our car in an iconic green 1974 Toyota Land Cruiser and, in no time at all, were back at Hotel Figueroa for a Sky Duster West Coast IPA by the pool.

WPSA 2026

After a history of epic highs and lows, WPSA 2026 is off to a fantastic start as our morning panel on “Green thinking: Ideologies and Environmental Political Thought” went really well. Overlooking the Pacific from the 32nd floor of the Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego, I presented the chapter that Jon and I started drafting last summer when I was in Stockholm. Briefly mentioning nuclear energy in my presentation, it was fascinating to see how many in the audience were nodding along, and how fundamentally the discourse has shifted in favour of a more science-based approach.

Then, determined to defeat the jet lag monster head-on, I traded the conference lunch for kayaking with Johanna and dozens of sea lions in Mission Bay. With pelicans wheeling overhead, I got a lot of exposure to our nearest star, so I suspect I will look plenty guilty of mischief at tomorrow’s panel, where I will be presenting my aviation article.