Australian Gourmet Traveller - (12)December 2019 (1)

Ididn’tdoahugeamountoftravelling

asakid.I grewupinHamburginthe

northofGermany.If wewentonholiday,

wewouldalwaysdrive.Asa family,we

usuallyvisitedItalyorDenmarkandI

rememberdrivingforhours,sometimes

upto12,justtogetthere.Wevisited

Portugalonce,whichwasdefinitelyone

ofmyfavouritetrips.I don’tknowwhat

madeit sospecialforme,butI just

rememberfeelingsoexcitedbyit.Our

cardieda fewtimesalongtheway,which

wasentertaining,tosaytheleast.I also

rememberhavingoneamazingholiday

intheCzechRepublic.It wasjustafter

thewallhadcomedown,sodiscovering

theeastwaslikediscoveringa completely

differentplanet.Weweren’tusedto

thatside.It wasallsodifferent.

WhenItravelnowadays,it’susuallyfor

work.I dohavea placeinSpain,which

is myescape.I cangotheretorestand

relax.It’sa tiny,remotespotinthe

mountainsandit’stheperfectplaceto

balancetheintensityofBerlin,which

is whereI livenow.

ThelasttimeIcametoAustraliato

perform,Itravelledwitharound 50 cases

ofmusicequipment.It hadtobeshipped

becauseit’ssuchpreciousandheavy

cargo.SowhenwearrivedinSydney

everythingwasalreadythere.

Idon’tlikelisteningtomusicwhileI’m

travelling,andIneverwatchthefilms

theyshowonplanes.Beingsohighup

canplaytricksonyourmind.I callit

“theemotionalplaneeffect”,whereall

yoursensesareheightened.I don’twant

tobeblubberingwhenI comeoffthe

plane,I wanttokeepmyselftogether

andbefeelingfresh.

I’minspiredbyplaceswhereI’mseparated

frommusicandinstruments,likethe

mountainsthatsurroundmyhousein

Spain,orwhenI’mhikingsomewhere

remote.Listeningtomusicaffectsyour

desiretomakemusic.Whenyou’re

surroundedbynatureorsilence,it makes

musicmuchmorefascinatingandit

drivesyoutocreate.Travellingchanges

andinspiresyou,andalltheplacesI’ve

beentohavehadanimpactonmymusic,

somedirectlyandsomeindirectly.

I’mamaniacaboutgettingstoppedat

thegatesattheairport.I absolutelyhate

it,soI tryandtravelwithaslittlecarry-

onaspossible.Thebuzzerhasgoneoff

onmetoomanytimesandit’sthemost

frustratingthing.I basicallyonlycarry

someextraclothesforonedayandhardly

anytoiletries.I’vealsolostmychecked

baggageabout 50 or 60 times.It’salways

a nightmaretryingtogetit backbecause

NilsFrahmwillbetouringAustraliafrom

25 November.Formoreinformation,see

nilsfrahm.com

Nils

Frahm

The German musician on

crossing borders, the “emotional

plane e ect” and wanderlust.

TRAVELLING WITH

by the time they send it back I’m usually

somewhere else.

I’m longing to visit Tasmania. I have this

strange calling for it. In German, you

would call this “fernweh” which is almost

like the opposite of homesickness or

nostalgia. It’s a longing for places you’ve

never been to. Tasmania seems magical

and I can’t wait to go there.

Israel really caught me by surprise. It

was so strange. Don’t get me wrong,

travelling there was a great experience

• the people were so friendly and
  the food was incredible, as was the
  hospitality. But to me, it felt like a
  place of pain. I think the places that
  surprise you are where you form a
  truly meaningful travel experience. 

Just back from...

Düsseldorf.

That’s where my

last show was.

Next up... Auckland,

which is the first

stop on tour. Then

to Brisbane.

How I travel

34 GOURMET TRAVELLER

INTERVIEW GEORGIE MEREDITH. PHOTOGRAPHY GETTY IMAGES.