Uploaded January 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Sea lions run things around here. This island in the Galapagos is accessible to only a few humans a day.
Sea lions run things around here. This island in the Galapagos is accessible to only a few humans a day.
![Flyboarding in Curacao - Be an Aquatic Superhero
Flyboarding in Curacao is about as close as it gets to having superpowers, and just about anyone with $140 to spare can become an aquatic superhero at Jan Theil Beach.
Wim van Gilst, the owner of Zapata Flyboard Caribbean, takes time to go over the basics with new riders. In simplistic terms a flyboard is a type of water jet pack that’s attached to a watercraft, in our case a WaveRunner. The WaveRunner’s rebuilt engine propels water through a hose, a force that can thrust the rider nearly 50 feet above the water.
Of course, you’re not going to be doing anything that crazy your first time. The focus of an intro lesson is learning how to balance on a flyboard. I listen to Wim’s advice to keep my feet balanced and unwavering and find myself up in the air on my first attempt.
Our lesson gradually gets more challenging as Wim teaches me fundamentals such as turning. By bending one knee, the flyboard starts to push me in a circular motion. I slowly begin to turn in the direction of my bent knee.
Another building block for new riders is the art of dolphin diving. If you begin to lose balance, you can turn your fall into a dive and pop right back up.
Of course, my performance today was not without rookie mistakes.
I might not be an aquatic superhero, but trying something so curious in an extraordinary destination like Curacao is probably the next best thing to having superpowers.
Zapata Flyboard Caribbean operates year-round in Willemstad, Curacao. Each session includes a 15-minute briefing with an instructor and about 45 minutes in the water. At the end of the lesson, your instructor will treat you to a beer at the nearby beach bar. Cheers!
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Executive Producer: Skye Mayring
Editor: Gerardo Jaquez Lechuga
Music courtesy of Killer Tracks [BMI]
Name of Song: Infiltrated
CD Number: SLAM076
Track Number: 12
Name of Song: Ibitza
CD Number: SA033
Track Number: 1
Name of Song: Letting Go
CD Number: ATMOS344
Track Number: 6
Name of Song: Get With It
CD Number: CM105
Track Number: 4
Name of Song: Miami Mix
CD Number: SLAM76
Track Number: 7
My trip to Curacao was made possible by the Curacao Tourist Board. Views expressed are my own. Flyboarding in Curacao - Be an Aquatic Superhero](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/jgb3_V_bOFc/mqdefault.jpg)
![Dog Sledding in Kirkenes, Norway
Dog sledding is a quintessential winter activity in the North of Norway. Travelers come from near and far to see the Arctic tundra firsthand and to experience it in a completely different way. But mostly, they go on a dog sledding excursion to see the region’s hardest-working pups, the Alaskan husky.
Alaskan huskies are primarily bred as working dogs. They love to roam, and they go crazy with anticipation when their mushers prepare for take off. As soon as we depart, and the dogs get what they want, which is to run, it becomes almost jarringly silent and serene.
The first two dogs, called lead dogs, are intelligent, strong leaders who steer the whole team. The two dogs behind them are known as swing dogs. They are often younger, smaller dogs that motivate the team, create more speed and allow the sled to take the corners with more agility. You can think of them as lead dogs in training.
The huskies in the middle are called team dogs, and the huskies in the back are known as wheel dogs. They are typically heavier dogs that help to counterbalance the weight of the sled when the team takes corners.
My musher at the Kirkenes Snowhotel, like so many others, fell in love with the dogs and never looked back.
“I took a holiday to Tromso, about three years ago now. And much like you, I was doing the dogsled trip and I liked it so much that I asked for a job. And the rest was history,” said Kirkenes Snowhotel musher, Josh Persello. “My education is not with animals. It’s like bio-medical science. But yeah, [this is] much better.”
Dog sledding tours in Kirkenes typically last two or four hours, including enough time for you to play with the dogs, take photos and check out their living quarters. And if you end up falling for your new furry friends, set a little extra time aside. Who knows? You might find yourself checking with the crew to see if they’re hiring.
If you value experiences over consumerism, if you think theres more to life than the 9-5, if you want to travel to every country in the world before you die, subscribe to my channel, and let’s see where we end up next: http://ow.ly/Vx3Xs
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Executive Producer: Skye Mayring
Editor: Gerardo Jaquez Lechuga
My trip to Norway was made possible by Hurtigruten and Visit Norway. Views Expressed are my own. Dog Sledding in Kirkenes, Norway](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/k8e7DndhGX4/mqdefault.jpg)


![Northern Lights Hunt With Hurtigruten
Northern Lights hunting through the fjords of Norway with Hurtigruten.
A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to witness the Northern Lights attracts me and many others on a weeklong Norwegian coastal cruise with Hurtigruten. Guests have come all the way from China, Japan, the U.S. and Europe—united by a common goal.
So what does it take to see the Northern Lights, exactly?
“As long as we are north of the Arctic Circle, the only conditions we need to see the Northern Lights are clear skies and darkness,” said Bjørn Lemcke, assistant expedition leader on Hurtigruten’s Nordnorge. “We get many weird questions from guests about the Northern Lights. I always joke that I turn them on around midnight, and that I have a switch under my desk.”
Sometimes the activity is strongest late at night, when guests are fast asleep. If you value seeing the lights over your beauty sleep, Bjørn suggests turning on the “info” button inside your cabin so that you can hear announcements about sightings on deck.
“When the announcements are made, it’s crazy. Everyone will get up in the middle of the night if they haven’t seen it before,” he said.
Not all the excitement takes place in the middle of the night, though. You might choose to spend the day admiring the Art Nouveau architecture in Alesund or walking up some 400 odd steps to the top of Mount Aksla. Perhaps you’ll try dog sledding at dusk in Tromso or take a winter walk in Bodo, through Viking graves and an ancient village.
My favorite daytime excursion with Hurtigruten was a trip to the North Cape. A 1,000-foot cliff overlooks the northernmost point in Europe, and the untouched, barren landscape really makes you feel like you’ve reached the end of the earth.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Did you see the Northern Lights or what, lady?
Well, the conditions were not in our favor for the majority of the cruise, with rain, snow and overcast weather. However, on our very last night onboard, after much perseverance and hours spent on deck, I finally caught a glimpse of the Aurora Borealis. Though they were not shining as brightly as they could have been, I was able to get some decent photos on my digital camera thanks to some handy tips provided by Bjørn and the rest of Hurtigruten’s Expedition Team.
Whether you see the lights or not, a trip along the Norwegian coast with Hurtigruten is filled with eye-opening experiences, cultural programming and striking scenery— leaving you with a new appreciation for the way Norwegians see the world.
If you value experiences over consumerism, if you think theres more to life than the 9-5, if you want to travel to every country in the world before you die, subscribe to my channel, and let’s see where we end up next: http://ow.ly/Vx3Xs
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Executive Producer: Skye Mayring
Editor: Gerardo Jaquez Lechuga
Music courtesy of Killer Tracks [BMI]
Name of Song: Ibitza
CD Number: SA033
Track Number: 1
Name of Song: Clutching Tight
CD Number: CM 105
Track Number: T33
Name of Song: Dimensions
CD Number: ATMOS 344
Track Number: T8
Name of Song: Talk about it
CD Number: CM 107
Track Number: T11
Name of Song: Crazy Parade
CD Number: MAT 264
Track Number: T16
Name of Song: Change
CD Number: BER 1245
Track Number: T58
My trip to Norway was made possible by Visit Norway USA and Hurtigruten USA. Views expressed are my own. Northern Lights Hunt With Hurtigruten](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/mIxylUbNa1w/mqdefault.jpg)

![Art of Winemaking in Germany
People don’t usually equate great wines with Germany, but they should. Winemakers here utilize the same soil and sun as France, but they have one major advantage on their side of the border: German engineering.
It just so happens to be harvest season in Stuttgart, Germany, so I spend the day collecting grapes with local vintner Michael Warth, whose vast experience in winemaking spans several countries, including New Zealand, South Africa and the U.S.
Michael now runs the family business in Stuttgart. Remarkably, his family has been making wines in Germany for more than 800 years.
You heard that right—800 years. This is a guy who bleeds wine.
The previous night, Michael and just one other employee worked late into the night pressing grapes, and he’s back at it again this morning, working the harvest with both of his parents.
“That’s different to America,” says Michael, vintner and board member of Weinmanufaktur Untertürkheim. “We try to work in all areas, including the vineyards, the cellar and the selling. It’s the only way to see what you can sell, how to produce, what you need in the cellar. It’s end to end.”
Michael only has 10 employees, which means that the majority of people participating in the harvest are co-op members.
“The [co-op members harvest] in their free time, and it’s a tradition that they get wine in exchange for the picking the grapes. So they drink all year long for free,” he says. “All of them say, ‘each evening, when I open a bottle, I always think about the hard work I’ve done.’”
A low overhead also helps the company to keep costs down. Michael tells me that overall, wines in Germany are incredibly affordable. Most of his wines retail for around $10 a bottle—and they are really good.
“I like the white wines,” says Michael. “For me, Germany is the perfect place to produce white wines, and I think we produce Rieslings better than everywhere else in the world.”
Stuttgart’s climate of cold nights and sunny days is ideal for the Riesling grape because it creates a longer period of ripening—approximately 100 days. Harvesting the grape at just the right time not only allows apple and tree fruit notes to develop but also ensures that the winemaker is getting the right balance of acidity.
Notice, too, the lack of irrigation systems. In Germany, vineyards are positioned on hillsides to allow an even distribution of rain. Natural rainfall is thought to be the only way for the vines to retain its terroir characteristics.
Without question, winemaking in Germany is authentic and very DIY. This is the kind of craftsmanship that we just don’t see enough of in this day and age.
“We produce wines with our heart. So we don’t care if you earn one euro more or less—it’s the tradition, the heart and the family,” says Michael. “In America, and I think all overseas, it’s just a production, just a company and just the earning of money. They are interested in the interest. We are very interested in the quality.”
My trip to Stuttgart was made possible by the Germany National Tourism Board and Weinmanufaktur Untertürkheim. Views expressed are my own. Art of Winemaking in Germany](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/mezA9BqZIH4/mqdefault.jpg)



