Category Archives: Travel

Adventure, Leisure, Reviews, Travel

Compact Camping: ‘2021 Toyota TRD-Sport Trailer’ “All-In-One Convenience”

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The TRD-Sport Trailer features a scissor-lift that raises an innovative rigid platform several feet out of the bed. There’s a Yakima four-person tent with an awning and fly fishing-pole holders, a custom-built toilet and trash can, a refrigerator, a hot water heater, a shower with curtain, a generator, an Optima Yellow Top battery, a 16-gallon fresh water reservoir tank, a 15-gallon grey water holding tank, and a slide-out sink and stove. And that’s just for starters!

Toyota, a brand known for its deep off-roading roots and rugged reliability, unveiled the TRD-Sport Trailer, a creative ‘basecamp’ solution concept vehicle allowing overlanding explorers to quickly set up camp and then continue on their remote adventure.

Overlanding is an extremely popular and growing trend, providing adventures in a year when many have faced challenges taking traditional vacations. The TRD-Sport Trailer’s inspiration began when Bob Kupina, Senior Program Manager, Toyota Motor North America Research and Development, saw a trailer made from a Toyota Tacoma at the Overland Expo WEST in Flagstaff, Arizona. Kupina and team got the ball rolling with a cool base concept, but then Toyota turned to Marty Schwerter and the team at Motorsports Garage to take the concept to the next level… and beyond.

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Buildings, Travel, Videos

Aerial Views: ‘Steinway Tower’ – 111 West 57th Street In New York City

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New York City has completed the world’s thinnest skyscraper, the 111 West 57th Street, which will soar above Central Park on Billionaire’s Row alongside the Central Park tower and other iconic supertall skyscrapers. 111 West 57th Street, also known as the Steinway Tower, is a supertall residential project by developers JDS Development Group and Property Markets Group in West Midtown in Manhattan, New York City. Located at 111 West 57th Street near Sixth Avenue, the development will be a combination of the original landmarked Steinway Building designed in 1925 by Warren & Wetmore, and a new tower addition on the adjacent site. Parkside Construction Builders is the general contractor. The world’s thinnest skyscraper will sway up to 5 feet during storms. The tower topped out in 2019 and is expected to open in early 2021. Steinway tower is one of the tallest buildings in the United States, as well as the thinnest skyscraper in the world with a width-to-height ratio of about 1:23.

Cities, Travel, Videos

Walking Tours: ‘Tokyo – Japan’ (4K HDR Video)

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Tokyo, Japan’s busy capital, mixes the ultramodern and the traditional, from neon-lit skyscrapers to historic temples. The opulent Meiji Shinto Shrine is known for its towering gate and surrounding woods. The Imperial Palace sits amid large public gardens. The city’s many museums offer exhibits ranging from classical art (in the Tokyo National Museum) to a reconstructed kabuki theater (in the Edo-Tokyo Museum).

New Year’s Day, 2021

Cities, Travel, Videos

Walks: City Of London’s Hidden Parks (4K Video)

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Filmed: Thursday 3 January 2021 – A tour of the City of London’s hidden peaceful parks and gardens from Millennium Bridge to London Wall.

Video timeline: 00:00 Millennium Bridge 05:35 Peter’s Hill 08:04 Sermon Lane 12:03 St Paul’s Churchyard 16:00 Cheap Side 16:48 Newgate Street 18:33 King Edward Street 19:31 Christchurch Greyfriars Church Garden 22:18 King Edward Street 23:48 Postman’s Park 28:11 Aldersgate Street 29:30 Museum of London 33:12 London Wall

Landscape, Travel, Videos

Aerial Landscapes: Mount Mitchell In Queensland, Australia (HD Video)

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An early morning night time hike to the peak of Mount Mitchell for sunrise, was met with spectacular views and amazing drone video footage.

Mount Mitchell, is a twin-peaked volcanic mountain with an elevation above sea level of 1,168 metres, located in the Main Range, is about 100 kilometres west of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia and immediately south of Cunninghams Gap. 

Adventure, Travel, Videos

Adventure Tours: British Photographer Qunitin Lake’s Walk Of 6830 Miles Around Coast Of Britain

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British photographer Quintin Lake decided to hike around the coast of Britain on foot, which took him a total of 11,000 kilometres to complete. 180,000 photos are testament to his impressions from this extreme tour.

Landmarks, Travel, Videos

Autumn Travel: Hyakusaiji Temple, Higashiomi City, In Shiga, Japan (Video)

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Hyakusai-ji is the oldest temple in Omi. It was founded by Prince Shotoku in the year 606, more than 1400 years ago. It was created at the mid-point of Mt. Oshitate (771.8 m) for the sake of visitors from the Korean kingdom of Baekje, and drew inspiration from a temple in that nation that was called Ryu’un-ji in Japanese. Hyakusai-ji is located along the 35th parallel north, facing west; 880 kilometers away in that direction, beyond the other temples of Tarabo, Hieizan, and Jirobo (Mt. Kuraya), there lay the kingdom of Baekje. Many Korean visitors are said to have prayed at the temple while thinking of their distant homeland. Furthermore, climbing the stone temple path leads to an appreciation garden known for its spectacular view out over the world below. This is also a famous spot for fall scenery, with the crimson leaves spreading across the mountains of Hiei and Suzuka creating a stunning backdrop.

Cities, Travel, Videos

Aerial Travel: ‘Ottawa – Canada’ (4K video)

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Ottawa is Canada’s capital, in the east of southern Ontario, near the city of Montréal and the U.S. border. Sitting on the Ottawa River, it has at its centre Parliament Hill, with grand Victorian architecture and museums such as the National Gallery of Canada, with noted collections of indigenous and other Canadian art. The park-lined Rideau Canal is filled with boats in summer and ice-skaters in winter. 

Cities, History, Profiles, Travel

Historic Villages: ‘Barnes – Richmond Upon Thames’ In Southwest London, UK

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Barnes played a role in everything from the invention of football to the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots. Carla Passino takes a closer look.

Toby Keel – January 6, 2021

Until an army of 19th-century engineers descended on Barnes to build bridges and railways, this was a world apart, a rural idyll preserved intact by the Thames that bounds it on three sides.

Mentioned in the Domesday Book, the village had made history even earlier, when it was granted by King Æthelstan to the canons of St Paul in the 900s. The link between Barnes and St Paul’s persists more than 1,000 years on, as the Dean and Chapter owns one of the local gems: 122-acre Barnes Common.

Today, its woodland and acid grass-land are an oasis for hedgehogs, bats, butterflies and Nature-starved Londoners, but, for many centuries, they were home to grazing cattle. The livestock even became embroiled in a dispute between Barnes and neighbouring Putney in 1589, when ‘the men of Barnes refused to allow the men of Putney to use the Common and impounded their cattle,’ reports A History of the County of Surrey.

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