My friend Taeko was nice enough to come meet me in Tokyo, and after spending a few days there, her and I met up with another friend and the three of us set off by car down to Yokohama.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jamfan2/9524467827/in/set-72157635097383903
More vending machines for ordering at fast food joints!
Chinatown in Yokohama
My favourite drink!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jamfan2/9527257278/in/set-72157635097383903
Our hotel by the beach..
This past weekend, my siblings Jill and Jason and I took a quick road trip from our home in Boulder, Colorado down to Telluride, Colorado. Getting there, we did a one-way car rental to Montrose. From Montrose, we picked up my truck, and then went in to Telluride. Returning, we drove my truck back to Boulder, for the parents to use. A few pics from our great road trip!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jamfan2/8168255208/in/photostream/lightbox/
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Loveland Pass
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jamfan2/8168232761/in/photostream/lightbox/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jamfan2/8168264016/in/photostream/lightbox/
Tacos in Leadville, CO. Previously, I wrote about Leadville when I did my Wilderness First Responder training with NOLS-WMI
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jamfan2/8168271312/in/photostream/lightbox/
Lake Dillon
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jamfan2/8168607560/in/photostream/lightbox/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jamfan2/8168615928/in/photostream/lightbox/
Hiking to Hope Lake
To start off my summer, after departing from NYC back home to Cincinnati for a few short days, I made the drive from Cincinnati, Ohio out to Denver, Colorado. I’ve done this drive many times before, always on the straight shot I-70, through Kansas and Missouri. It’s a good, efficient drive, but since I’ve done it a few times, a bit boring. This time, I decided to take the northern route, across I-90. Here’s the rough itinerary, with associate posts and photos:
See this image in my Flickr Photostream.
During my recent expedition across Iceland, I had the opportunity to venture northwards towards the North Pole to the rock island outpost of Grimsey. Read about my complete Expedition Around Iceland
Grímsey is a small Icelandic island, 40 kilometres (25 mi) off the north coast of the main island of Iceland and straddling the Arctic Circle, which shifts northward by about 14.5 meters per year. In January 2011 Grímsey had 86 inhabitants.[3] Until a vote in 2009 to amalgamate with Akureyri,[4] it constituted the hreppur (municipality) of Grímseyjarhreppur, part of the county of Eyjafjarðarsýsla. The only settlement is Sandvík.[5]
ContentsGrímsey is the northernmost inhabited Icelandic territory; the islet of Kolbeinsey lies further north, but is uninhabited. The closest land is the island of Flatey, Skjálfandi, 39.4 kilometres (24.5 mi) to the south. The Arctic Circle runs through the island, while the entirety of mainland Iceland lies south of the Arctic Circle. There are steep cliffs everywhere except on the southern shoreline. Grímsey has an area of 5.3 square kilometres (2.0 sq mi), and a maximum elevation of 105 metres (344 ft).[6]
A few photos:
This past July, 2010, I explored Iceland with my Finnish friend Sari Laukka. We rented a car in Iceland’s capital Reykjavik, and drove a complete lap around the country on Route 1. Route 1 is the only road that circumnavigates the entire country, and passes through an incredible amount of different terrain. Overall, the trip took us a full 7 days, and we drove almost 2000km in our small Ford Ka.
Blog Posts from Iceland
While we were traveling, we stayed with friends on couches, camped out at some excellent campgrounds, and even stayed in a hotel made out of metal shipping containers. We likely averaged about 2.5 or 3 hours of driving per day, and the rest of the time we spent exploring everything we possibly could. We ripped through our Lonely Planet Iceland guidebook cover to cover, as well as went through other guidebooks, pamphlets, and most importantly, the excellent advice and guidance from locals and other fellow travelers.
During the trip, I kept both my Apple iPhone 4 and my Canon EOS 5Dmk2 cameras close by. The iPhone4 has an excellent 5 megapixel camera in it, geotags each photo, and is small and pocket-able – it was perfect for carrying around everywhere and pulling out in any situation – especially when being discreet was important for getting the candid shot. The Canon 5Dmk2 was also a pleasure to travel with. I had the somewhat large Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L lens on it, as well as my Benro carbon fiber travel tripod. As large as it was, it’s surprisingly easy to travel with, and very durable – it held up perfectly to the rigors of being knocked around daily, slung over my shoulder, and dangled into volcanic fissures. I synchronized the clocks on each camera before departing, so the photos in the overall photoset should be sequential, no matter which camera was used to take it.
Finally, while traveling, I used my iPhone4 with the WordPress application, coupled with the bluetooth Apple wireless keyboard to write brief blog post updates at the end of each day. I also carried with me a SPOT Satellite Messenger, which was used to “check in” with friends and family to let them know we were ok once in the middle of each day, and once at the end of each day after we have successfully secured night time accommodations and security.
Below is an index of the blog post from the field and a slideshow of all of the photos. If you’re interested in hearing more about the trip, or Iceland in general, let me know!
For that last 10 days in July, I’ll be taking a road trip around Iceland. My friend Sari and I are flying into Reykjavik, renting a car, and driving a full loop on Iceland’s Route 1. During the trip, we’ll be staying on couches, in hostels, B&B’s, Hotels, on farms, and in tents.
I’m bringing along my iPhone 4, and will be hopefully posting daily updates to my blog, Jeffilla. All Iceland Road Trip posts will be tagged with “Iceland2010“. Stay tuned!
I’ll also be updating my location in the field with my Spot Satellite Messenger – Track me!
More reading on Iceland: