Category Archives: Travel

Top New Travel Videos: “A Day In Toledo” Directed By Mattia Bicchi (2019)

https://vimeo.com/371851871

Filmed, Edited and Directed by: Mattia Bicchi

Explore at 8K resolution and through the Timelapse technique, the beautiful city of Toledo. A 3.000 years old city declared ‘World Heritage Site’ by UNESCO in 1986, also known as the ‘City of three religions’ in Middle Ages where Jewish, Muslim and Christian communities peaceful coexisted.

A Day In Toledo Spain Timelapse Video by Mattia Bicchi 2019

I spent 5 days exploring and shooting Timelapse and Hyperlapse, around this incredible city!

Many thanks to Hotel Santa Isabel (hotelsantaisabeltoledo.es) and Azotea de Carlos (carlosv.com) for the access to their beautiful rooftops.

A Day In Toledo Spain Timelapse Video by Mattia Bicchi 2019

Music: Jordan Critz – Hineni – musicbed.com/invite/ERraL

Website: https://www.mattiabicchiphotography.com/

New Travel Videos: “Never Stop Exploring” In Italy By Michael Cherkashin

“Never Stop Exploring” is a Cinematic Poem Short Film Directed By Michael Cherkashin.

Filmed, Edited and Directed by: Michael Cherkashin

Never Stop Exploring Cinematic Poem Short Film Directed by Michael Cherkashin 2019

Narrated by: Hollye Sangster

A visual ode to curiosity, to explorers and to the magnificent beauty of our world. Location is the Dolomites, South Tyrol, Italy.

Never Stop Exploring Cinematic Poem Short Film Directed by Michael Cherkashin 2019

Website: https://inhalefilms.com/films.html

Adventure Bicycle Trips: Touring In America On 1,357,430 Miles Of “Quieter, Unpaved Roads”

From a Wall Street Journal online article:

Patricia McNeal, a 58-year-old brain-aneurysm survivor from Panama City, Fla., is currently riding home from Seattle on her 2017 Trek Émonda SL 6 road bike. She’s improvising a route, but confessed she’d one day love to ride the Great American Rail Trail, a transcontinental route from Washington, D.C. to Washington state that’s now in piecemeal development.

A self-described “credit-card camper,” Ms. McNeal doesn’t rough it. She carries a single bag and sleeps at hotels and homestays arranged via warmshowers.org, a peer-to-peer cyclist’s site, as well as supporters who learn about her travels via the Black Girls Do Bike organization. Her necessities are padded shorts, a gel seat, chamois cream to help with chafing and some music. 

ACA Bicycle routes in U.S. Illustration by John S. Dykes Wall Street Journal

Bicycle touring in America is shifting gears away from that old school derring-do on skinny tires, when cyclists scraped by 18-wheelers on highways. Instead, the sort of protected cycling paths common in urban centers are now stretching tendrils over abandoned railroad lines to link cities coast-to-coast. Meanwhile, riders are joining mass multiday fundraising rides for safety in numbers, or taking to America’s 1,357,430 miles of quieter unpaved roads. For that, they ride increasingly popular “gravel bikes,” a toughened road bike designed for speed on off-road with added mounts for gear.

To read more: https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-right-bicycles-for-an-epic-ride-across-america-11573235337

Culinary Road Trips: Calgary West To Canmore, Banff, Lake Louise & Back Again (9 Days, 250 Miles)

From a Bon Appétit magazine online article:

Bon Appetit CanadaWhile the drive from Calgary to Jasper can easily be done in a day, I recommend taking at least a week to travel there and back. That leaves plenty of time to find adventure off the main road, spend some nights in the backcountry, and explore each town along the route.

When it comes to eating, exploring, and slumbering in the best log cabins, here’s a road-tripping itinerary that’ll get you away from the crowds and out among those big rocks.

  • CALGARY – DAY 1: Eat, shop, and stock up on snacks in a city nicknamed “Cowtown” – The bureka plate from universally adored Sidewalk Citizen (618 Confluence Way SE, Calgary, AB) is an ideal breakfast—the sesame-topped, feta-filled pastry is stuffed with a fried egg and served with a lemony cucumber and tomato salad, a hefty spoonful of hummus, and the housemade green or red harissa.
  • CANMORE – DAY 2: See how they do afternoon tea Rockies style – For dinner in Canmore, Where the Buffalo Roam Saloon (626 Main St. #2, Canmore, AB) is an intimate candlelit bar and restaurant popular with locals.
  • BANFF – DAY 3: (Safely) scale a mountain, then go back in time

To read more: https://www.bonappetit.com/story/canadian-rockies-road-trip

 

Cinematic Short Films: “The Heartbeats Of Memory” Directed By Nono Ayuso (2019)

Filmed, Edited and Directed by: NONO AYUSO

The Heartbeats Of Memory Cinematic Poem Short Film By NONO AYUSO 2019

The Memory: Roberta Coppa
VO Artist: Chloe Dunn

“It starts with a journey.
Imagine a film that captures every instant
And for each frame, a memory.”

The Heartbeats Of Memory Cinematic Poem Short Film By NONO AYUSO 2019

Music and Sound Design: Paulo Gallo

Grading: Fran Cóndor
Compositing and VFX: Damian Todd
Graphic Design: Nico Ordozgoiti

Shot in Super 8 in Japan. April-June 2019.

The Heartbeats Of Memory Cinematic Poem Short Film By NONO AYUSO 2019

Website: https://nono.film/

New Art History Books: “A Month In Siena” By HISHAM MATAR Is A “Triumph”

From a Penguin Random House release:

A Month In Siena by Hisham Matar 2019Including beautiful full-color reproductions of the artworks, A Month in Siena is about what occurred between Matar, those paintings, and the city. That month would be an extraordinary period in the writer’s life: an exploration of how art can console and disturb in equal measure, as well as an intimate encounter with a city and its inhabitants. This is a gorgeous meditation on how centuries-old art can illuminate our own inner landscape—current relationships, long-lasting love, grief, intimacy, and solitude—and shed further light on the present world around us.

From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Return comes a profoundly moving contemplation of the relationship between art and life.

Listen to an excerpt below:


 
After finishing his powerful memoir The Return, Hisham Matar, seeking solace and pleasure, traveled to Siena, Italy. Always finding comfort and clarity in great art, Matar immersed himself in eight significant works from the Sienese School of painting, which flourished from the thirteenth to the fifteenth centuries. Artists he had admired throughout his life, including Duccio and Ambrogio Lorenzetti, evoke earlier engagements he’d had with works by Caravaggio and Poussin, and the personal experiences that surrounded those moments.

To read more: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/609913/a-month-in-siena-by-hisham-matar/

Top New Travel Videos: “Through Our Lens – Mongolia” Directed By Kay Van Huisseling

Director, CreGator, Editor: Kay Van Huisseling 

Through Our Lens Mongolia by Kay Van Huisseling 2019

Hero Traveler’s favorite places to visit and things to do in Mongolia include:

UlaanBatar, Gobi Desert,  Ugly City Eagle Hunters

“Through Our Lens'” celebrates the beauty of a destination through the point of view of one of our spirited creators. Come along with filmmaker and Hero Traveler Contributor Kay Van Huisseling as he takes us on a breathtaking cinematic journey through Mongolia.

Through Our Lens Mongolia by Kay Van Huisseling 2019

Website:  https://www.instagram.com/kayvanhuiss…

New Books: “Airline Maps – A CENTURY OF ART AND DESIGN” By MARK OVENDEN and MAXWELL ROBERTS

From a Penguin Random House review:

Airline Maps A Century of Art and Design Mark OvendenIn this gorgeously illustrated collection of airline route maps, Mark Ovenden and Maxwell Roberts look to the skies and transport readers to another time. Hundreds of images span a century of passenger flight, from the rudimentary trajectory of routes to the most intricately detailed birds-eye views of the land to be flown over. Advertisements for the first scheduled commercial passenger flights featured only a few destinations, with stunning views of the countryside and graphics of biplanes. As aviation took off, speed and mileage were trumpeted on bold posters featuring busy routes. Major airlines produced highly stylized illustrations of their global presence, establishing now-classic brands. With trendy and forward-looking designs, cartographers celebrated the coming together of different cultures and made the earth look ever smaller.

Airline Maps A Century of Art and Design Mark Ovenden Book Cover

A nostalgic and celebratory look back at one hundred years of passenger flight, featuring full-color reproductions of route maps and posters from the world’s most iconic airlines, from the author of bestselling cult classic Transit Maps of the World.

To read more: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/600815/airline-maps-by-mark-ovenden-and-maxwell-roberts/

Literary Destinations: The Faulkner House Bookstore, New Orleans

From an Atlas Obscura online review:

Faulkner House Bookstore New Orleans interiorInside, the small store has a good selection of literary fiction ranging from classics to current publications. There is also a great selection of books about New Orleans and local culture. There is, of course, a dedicated area, almost shrine-like, for Faulkner’s works, and the shop owner will let you take a look at those more expensive books, “if you want to get in trouble with your wallet.”

Blink while passing through New Orleans’s French Quarter, and you may miss this small, charming bookstore. But step inside, and you’ll steal a quick peek at the space where William Faulkner himself lived while in the city.

Though he later penned famous works like The Sound and the Fury and As I Lay Dying, Faulkner wasn’t much of anybody yet when he moved to New Orleans, and in fact published his first work in a local journal. There is a historical plaque outside the building that states that Faulkner wrote his first novel, Soldiers’ Pay, while in residence there in 1925.

To read more: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/faulkner-house-books?utm_source=Atlas+Obscura+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=5bf02e2e8b-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_10_31_02_06&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f36db9c480-5bf02e2e8b-63029309&mc_cid=5bf02e2e8b&mc_eid=9baf474570