Lofoten, Norge

Lofoten is the Norwegian archipelago along the north-west coast of Norway. Here it is in mid-August:

A Small Village in the Lofoten Archipelago. August 2021.

The ferry ride from Bodø to Moskenesøya:

The village of Å:

The Village of Å. August, 2021.

Hoárbma before Djupfjordbrua, Moskenes, Norway. August, 2021.

Nøkkeløya on the Left. View from the Road out of Henningsvær. August, 2021.

Early Morning View from the Hemmingodden Lodge, Ballstad, Vestvågøy, Norge. August, 2021.

Mosken and Værøy Islands, Lofoten Archipelago, Norway. August, 2021.

Time for Futbol!

Luleå, Sverige (Sweden)

My first time in Sweden outside of the Stockholm Arlanda Airport…

Downtown Luleå from the Banks of the Lule River. August 2021.

A Yellow Sunset on the Lule River. August 2021.

Walking Path Along the Lule, August 2021.

Stone Fishing Pier on the River Lule. August 2021.

Enjoy the long sunsets. More Sweden to come!

Vík, Ísland (Iceland)

I had an 18 hour layover in Iceland, so I took a 10 hour road trip along the southern coast.

Back in 2017 there was an ultra cheap Iceland-based airline called WOW Air. So cheap, in fact, that I scored a round-trip flight to Europe for around $250. And apparently so cheap that they are now out of business. But they got me to mainland Europe for the first time ever. RIP WOW Air.

Hekla Volcano, June 2017.

Volcanic Plains to the Southeast of the Keflavik Airport. June 2017.

After a lengthy 10+ hour flight, I arrived in Keflavik with an eighteen hour layover ahead of me. I rented a car for $18 and set off to the southeast, heading for a black sand beach near Vík. I didn’t have much of a plan past that. Pro tip: Google Maps allows you to download maps to your phone just in case you don’t have signal where you are going. Somewhere like the middle of nowhere on a tiny island in the North Atlantic Sea.

Keflavik is bordered by large volcanic flatlands to the southeast. It is a volcanic island, after all. Note: Some volcanic rocks can be very very sharp. So try not to stumble and catch yourself on pointy boulders and bleed in your nice $18-a-day rental car.

Seljalandsfoss, a Waterfall in Southern Iceland. June 2017.

Seljalandsfoss is a beautiful waterfall that you can walk behind and is right off the southern Ring Road (Iceland has a single road - Route 1 - that goes all the way around the outside of the island in a giant ring. I’m not sure where the nickname comes from.) I dodged a bus full of tourists and donned my water-proof coat for what would be the only time in my whole two-and-a-half week trip. Man it was fun lugging that heavy coat around in Granada when it was 101 degrees outside. But that’s another story.

There are thousands of waterfalls across Iceland. I saw at least a few of them.

Clouds Over Southern Iceland. June 2017.

Reynisdrangar, the Black Beach Near Vik. June 2017.

Made it to the black sand beach in Vík! Black pebble beach would be a better description. There was a cave! And geometric basalt columns! It was beautiful and cold. What may seem to be three large sea stacks out in the water are actually three trolls that were trying to drag a ship ashore and turned to stone at daybreak. So keep a wary eye on them.

Black Sand Beach and Columnes Reynisfjara. June 2017.

Green Peaks in Southern Iceland, June 2017.

When the Vikings discovered Iceland, they supposedly named it Iceland so nobody else would want to visit. Then they named Greenland. Vikings were the clear predecessors to internet trolls.

Alaskan Lupine and a Snow-Capped Volcano. June 2017.

A Small Village in Southern Iceland. June 2017.

12.30 am in Iceland, June 2017.

After all this driving I suddenly realized it was going on 1 am. This shocked me because the sun had barely even gone down. One of the reasons I was excited about visiting Iceland was the chance of seeing the auroras. Turns out you can’t really do that in the summer time and I am a big dummy.

Moon in June. 2017.

I had a very, very late night (still light outside) beer and “dinner” in Reykjavik and wandered around the city. I saw groups of legitimate children running around and playing in the parks. They must want to enjoy the long days and short nights as much as possible during the summer. Either way it was strange and surreal.

In the end, I hope everyone gets a chance for an Icelandic layover on their way to/from the European mainland. WOW Air is no longer a thing, but I know you can easily add a 1/2/3 day layover in Iceland if you book with Icelandic Air. If you have any questions, comments, or likes feel free to leave them below. And give Iceland a shot! It is one of the most beautiful countries I have ever seen, and I barely scratched the surface. I did scratch my hand though.

Vernassa, Cinque Terre, Italia

Vernassa, one of the five fishing villages of Cinque Terre in Liguria, Italy.

Vernassa From the Balcony, June 2021.

Sheltered Waters, Vernassa June 2020.

Vernassa’s Central Street. June 2020

Tower of Monterosso, Vernassa’s Neighboring Village. June 2020.

Colors of Vernassa, June 2021.

Austin, Minnesota

Welcome to Austin, Minnesota, home of the world famous SPAM museum and the fifth-ranked “Affordable Small Towns You Actually Want to Live In” according to a 2015 article on Realtor.com (written by Yuqing Pan no less).

The Entrance to the SPAM Museum. Austin, MN. July 2018.

Back in 2018 I was making my way from California to North Carolina, stopping to visit some of the most beautiful places in the United States. Yosemite, The Badlands, Craters of the Moon, and pretty much everywhere in Montana. Then I found myself in Minnesota for the first time ever. During a conversation with my dad where I was updating him on my cross-country progress, he asked if I was stopping to visit the SPAM museum. Amazingly, I had never even heard of it. So I punched Austin, Minnesota into the GPS and the rest is history. Thanks Dad.

So is it worth it? Depends on your travel preferences. Do you like stopping at weird tourist trap places like “The World’s Most Adjectivey Noun” (“The World’s Largest Spur” in Abilene, Kansas where I stopped with my brothers on a different cross-country trip comes to mind.) Then YES! You should most definitely add Austin, Minnesota to your trip itinerary. After all, SPAM is classic Americana. Just ask this Sir-Can-A-Lot (He eats ham and jam and SPAM-a-lot):

Sir-Can-A-Lot Statue, SPAM Museum. July, 2018.

Dover, United Kingdom

I didn’t even realize Dover had a castle. I was only heading there for the cliffs. Imagine my surprise when I rounded a turn into the town and glanced up to see a castle atop the next rise. Since my exploring policy mandates stopping for tall and/or shiny objects, I obviously needed to find a good vantage point for pictures of the castle. As it turns out, you can turn around and see it from the cliffs themselves.

There are several paths from the upper parking area along the White Cliffs of Dover. It seems I picked the skinniest of them all. With a sheer drop a few inches to my right and a steep cliff on my left, I made my way along the path to an outcropping in the failing light. The view was breath taking, so I snapped a few pictures and took in the view before making my way down to a flatter, more stable, area to set up the tripod I actually remembered to bring along on this trip.

The Port of Dover. March 2021.

The Cliffs at Dusk.

On the way back I picked a different path that was much more inviting and provided a little more forgiveness for missteps. Because by the time I was hiking back it was dark. And because this time I forgot my flashlight.

Oh and there were donkeys. Silent, assassin donkeys that you don’t notice in the dark until an inadvertent sideways glace finds a donkey face two feet away from your own.