the sea is my brother,
inviting me on spontaneous travels as the true counterpart in freedom
late nights in port-side pubs and apartments immersed in hilarious conversations
gusty, salty air at daybreak
the recurring urges to escape from high civilization
and the beautiful, melancholic thievery of solitude
(inspired by Kerouac)
San Francisco’s iconic fog
Ocean Beach
Wind Surfing, Crissy Fields Beach
Pacific Coast Highway 1, Big Sur
This is one of those journeys that you wish you’ll have a chance to complete.. because it is exactly that: a journey.
A journey not only through territory, but through your own limits: clearly separating needs from wants.
It’s incredibly tough and trying; it allows you to test your limits as not only a traveler, but also a human on the fringe of civilization.
At one point it becomes a lot more (or less, depending on your viewpoint) than adventure – it’s pure survival.
Why would this appeal to anyone..? It shapes you as a person and as an explorer.
You grow and learn, about yourself and the state of the world. Without modern comforts and social advances, we are more in touch with nature and ourselves, in our raw state.
It’s important to think in those terms because we never know when we might need to rely purely on our inherent survival skills. We become more creative, more intuitional.. we function better, everything’s in tune.
I love this article from the Guardian as it is like a fairytale, very Moby Dick. Brilliant prose
Of all the deputations from the deep, a beached whale is the most astounding. Not just because of its size, but also because of the terrors it holds for the humans who may confront it.
A stranded whale was once regarded as an ill omen; a right whale that stranded in the Thames in 1658 was widely seen as an augury of the death of Oliver Cromwell.
Too fast for 19th-century hunters of Herman Melville’s era; only with the invention of the grenade harpoon did these speedy cetaceans (the name for this suborder) come within reach.
This particular animal probably died as a result of a shipstrike in the Bay of Biscay – where lucky ferry passengers may occasionally see these leviathans swimming across the bows.
The skeleton of one such casualty, found in Andalucia, was used by the contemporary Mexican artist Gabriel Orozoco in an installation in London’s White Cube gallery in 2006.
Extraordinarily, a still extant 14th- century edict determines that any whale, dolphin, sturgeon or porpoise washed on to English shores is the property of the monarch, a relic of an age when a whale represented great wealth.
More at the guardian.
Home (2009) – by Yann Arthus-Bertrand
Humanity has barely ten years to become aware of the full extent of its spoliation of the Earth’s riches and change the patterns of consumption.
Official collaborators on the project include UNEP, WWF, actioncarnone.org and goodplanet.org, and for some reason a crowd of fashion designer houses…
Overall, the documentary is very informative and insightful, the imagery hypnotically beautiful, although the accompanying monologue makes it feel like a geography class. And the narrator seems to be selling the idea.
Photo: © Vladimir Vujovic
Many labels come to mind when thinking of Venice: magical, mysterious, one-of-a-kind, legendary – it is not an easy task to define it.
On my first visit, in scorching midsummer many years ago, I wandered the dark narrow alleyways intrigued. I wondered if anyone actually lived there??
At the time, I thought it lacked character as I found it too touristy. This was based on a 2-day ‘hit-and-run’.
Some years later, one late-September day, I was knocking on heavy gates of Palazzo Zorzi, smiling and a bit dazed, ready to call this quirky island my new homebase.
~
I could often, later, imagine Venice becoming an open-air museum.
Years down the road, to preserve the cultural and natural splendors of this unique setting, residents would almost entirely move out, hotels and businesses would close, daily visits would be limited to a low volume, and an entrance fee would be charged.
Only museums and exhibits would serve as entertainment, with a select few chic souvenir shops and restaurants scattered around the neighbourhoods; all the tacky touristy ploys and clutter would be eliminated, just pure and simple la Serenissima remaining.
La Serenissima is its locally used designation, meaning the most serene.
That is just an idealistic illusion of mine that would emerge at times of frustration with the tourist invasions.
Although, I must admit it was rather surreal living in such a place, almost like living in Disneyland, where everyone was always on a vacation – the streets laced with enthusiasm and joy, the song and lazy smiles from the Gondolieri, and lo spritz was always flowing.
rastaman positive vibrations
sagesse
your mind is confused with confusion..
wanna be a buffalo soldja, dreadlock rasta
it’s all about the Jah
Zermatt and Mattervispa
To be perfectly fair, it isn’t the most fashionable resort in the Alps with rivaling Chamonix and Verbier nearby, but Zermatt is feisty. So, people here don’t ski on Dolce&Gabbana skis like in Cortina d’Ampezzo, but this is a resort for the true athletes and those aspiring athletes in a naturally spectacular dramatic backdrop.
Perpetually snow-capped peaks link up thousands of meters above the village in a ski area called Matterhorn Glacier Paradise.
The heights and unique orography ensure consistently favourable conditions for skiing from late fall up until summer months, and glacier skiing in the summer. Springtime weather and snow conditions are especially good.
Reaching Zermatt is not easy either, which means it isn’t on everyone’s pathway, making it slightly mysterious and desirable.
Due to its sheltered position, tucked away in the snare of Alpine precipices and reachable only by limited transportation, it doesn’t fall victim to the swarm of weekenders.
The most interesting aspect is its enviable car-free transportation concept to and through the village – namely, no vehicles are allowed past Tasch, a small town located on the ascend to Zermatt, where you can leave the car for the duration of the stay. From Tasch and through Zermatt there are electric taxis and buses, keeping the town happily green and fume-free, a relief at present as nature conservation becomes one of the primary concerns. Electric taxis humming through the town and the local electric bus on its circular course are adorable and always on schedule (Swiss time precision).
In addition, there are still a few horse-drawn carriages and sleds – to top up the romance.
Alternatively, a frequent regional choo-choo train connects the centre of Zermatt to Visp, and Visp to other towns and cities in Switzerland, Italy and beyond.
The authorities hope that such directives will keep the region pollution-free, offsetting the effects of global warming, striving to prolong and preserve this ski haven.
The surrounding air is so refreshing that it’s not uncommon to see people slurping cold water off the cascading icicles!
Pop it into your drink! This is a 007-style Alpine adventure.
words & photography © Deja Dragovic, for National Geographic Traveler Footprint, May 2009
Sometimes, I admit, I really love primitive scenarios of writing on a type-writer in a secluded spot somewhere, away from the society and all that it entails.
There is something so liberal about that idea.
And if I could make it work that way for me, for some period of time, I would..
Last summer in Greece, by chance, I found a perfect little white-washed house right above a simple beach away from Mykonos town hoopla.
I could very distinctly and lucidly visualize myself there, in solitude, exercising my creative and literary liberties, extracting inspiration from the simplest things like the palette of the Aegean and the types of wind lashing around..
I think that fantasy is just going to hunt me until I make it a reality.
Aegean is magic
on route to paradise known as Psarou beach
sunset row
The Bay of Kotor, UNESCO World Heritage Site
A newcomer on the tourism scene, the eastern Mediterranean destination emerged after years of isolation, but with a powerful potential. Its punch-line “Wild Beauty” accentuates the pursuit of nature-based tourism, still largely untouched by mass tourism.
