Cook Islands

Kia orana! 
(which means "hello" in Māori language)

Stop for a moment and admire this beautiful sunset in Rarotonga, Cook Islands:

http://weatherhopper.com/l.php?d=%2FRarotonga%2F7719%2F-21.20%2F-159.81%2F9%2F1474478%2F9519085

Little bit more comprehensive outlook...

It's time for more comprehensive outlook on our precious globe. 

The movie below was created with sequences of photographs taken by the crew of expeditions 28 & 29 onboard the International Space Station from August to October, 2011.

http://vimeo.com/32001208

Papua New Guinea

Enjoy pictures from marvelous land of Papua New Guinea:


http://vimeo.com/7937756

Hachijo, Japan

Just a random picture found using Weather Hopper.
Hachijo Island, Japan:

http://weatherhopper.com/l.php?d=%2FHachijo%2F6353%2F33.09%2F139.78%2F10%2F911625%2F27407330

I left my heart in San Francisco

Do you want to chill out after busy weekend? This short footage filmed in 1958 highlights San Francisco.

http://vimeo.com/6337228

It's a city of many icons: Golden Gate bridge, Alcatraz, hills, white houses, beatniks, hippies, cable cars, steep streets, memorable chinatown, fog and many more. 

Mild weather all year round would be perfect for visitor or someone looking for a nice place to live:

http://weatherhopper.com/l.php?d=%2FSan+Francisco%2F14245%2F37.76%2F-122.43%2F8

It's no surprise that Frank Sinatra left his heart there. And yes, I certainly did too.

Waiting for the sun...

Nassau, Bahamas: 
http://www.weatherhopper.com/l.php?d=/Nassau/2437/25.04/-77.46/9/31601/713146 

Tatry mountains sentiment

Do you miss Tatry mountains already? Here's a picture for you.
http://www.weatherhopper.com/l.php?d=%2FZakopane%2F4073%2F49.23%2F19.83%2F9%2F2973526%2F37854969

The Longest Way

Here's another Vimeo gem, motion picture story of wanderer who hiked for a year:
http://vimeo.com/4636202

Make sure to watch it in HD, full screen.

If you liked the music you can find some more on MySpace:
http://www.myspace.com/music/player?sid=68679405&ac=now

First winter Gasherbrum I (8068m) ascent!

Great news from Karakoram! Yesterday two Polish alpinists, Adam Bielecki and Janusz Gołąb successfully reached the summit of Gasherbrum I (8068m), previously never climbed in winter. 

Congratulations!

One of the best travelling books

What is your favorite travelling book? One of my top three would be "The Dharma Bums" by Jack Kerouac.

The action takes place in mid 1950's in USA and features some of the brightest beat generation characters (it features famous Alan Ginsberg reading of "Howl" poem).

It's a great dose of adventure, hitchhiking, nature and simplicity. Here's one of my favorite quotes:

"Think what a great world revolution will take place when … [there are] millions of guys all over the world with rucksacks on their backs tramping around the back country…"

Make sure to find some extra space in your backpack and take it with you! :)

Low impact wooden house

Shocking monday? You may consider moving a little bit away from noisy civilization ;) Here's an idea: 

http://www.simondale.net/house/index.htm

Long story short: guy named Simon and his father in law builds a low impact wooden house, it takes 4 months and £3000 and the effect is fantastic place to live which looks like hobbit hole. It has features like solar panels, fridge cooled by air coming from underground and water from nearby spring going down the hill.

Check out his website for plans, pictures and more info!

First saturday of March

Here's something really inspiring to begin your day with, just give it one minute: http://vimeo.com/27246366


By the way, it looks like the first saturday of March here in Warsaw is going to be beautiful! Just clear blue sky, full sun and a long walk.

Big Sur, the great south

Are you planning vacation in USA? You should definitely see Big Sur. It's a beautiful place with mild mediterranean climate, fresh air and lots of green here and there. Temperatures ranges from 16/6°C (60/43F) in winter to 25/10°C (76/50F) in summer, see Weather Hopper for details (http://weatherhopper.com/#/Big Sur/a1547921136/36.25/-121.78/9/1364216/11454602).

Supervolcano is taking a nap

March looks so much better than winter-like February, don't you think so? :)


Did you know that exactly 140 years ago Yellowstone National Park was established? This first national park in the world is well known for its geothermal features like hot springs (http://goo.gl/8xBxM), geysers (http://goo.gl/BYs3J), fumaroles (http://goo.gl/ndiZ9) etc.


Those geothermal remains are just blurry footprints of powerful supervolcano eruptions. Today Yellowstone Caldera (aka Yellowstone supervolcano) is still considered an active volcano. Could you image how another eruption would look like? (hint, caldera is about 34 by 45 miles, 55 by 72km).