Seek The Substantial

1. Ever heard of Phang Nga Bay? Me neither. You’ve probably seen pictures of Phang Nga Bay because it looks amazing and probably the set to some James Bond movie. The translation to Phang Bay apparently means “heathen, pagan, primitive people” as the area was originally inhibited by aboriginal people.…

1. Ever heard of Duino? Me neither. Duino is in the far northeastern portion of Italy, darn near in Slovenia and Croatia. In fact, the primary language was Slovenian up until the end of World War I. You can also pretty much walk the coast on the Rilke Trail, where…

1. Ever heard of Mpumalanga? Me neither. It’s a province in South Africa that means means, “where the sun rises” which is awesome. Mpumalanga (/əmˌpuːməˈlɑːŋɡə/) borders Eswatini and Mozambique and we’ve talked about the Drakensberg and that’s part of that as well. Photo by Nadine Venter on Unsplash 2. The…

1. Ever heard of Flamborough Head? Me neither. Flamborough Head is in Yorkshire, England and one of those cliffs with pure white cliffs. Flamborough Head is also famous for a battle in September of 1779 where John Paul Jones, fighting for the Continental Navy, and a few British escort vessels.…

1. Ever heard of Passy National Nature Reserve? Me neither, but it is a 4,240 acre park in eastern France. Actually, if you travel to Samoens, which is a commune in the French alps, an has a large number of limestone quarries and this area of the world is known…

1. Ever heard of Val Gardena? Me neither. Val Gardena is a valley in the Dolomites of the Tyrol region in Italy. This scene is fairly iconic I think, it’s one that I’ve seen a handful of times, the sheer of that mountain that just drops off is quite the…

1. Ever heard of the Lofoten Islands? Me neither. But I’d guess you’ve seen commercials or pictures of this place. Lofoten is in Norway and inside the Arctic Circle, and they are a small archipelago surrounded by these huge mountains. I think there’s a Volkswagon commercial or something that shows…

1. Ever heard of Na Pali? Me neither. It’s part of the coast of Kauai in Hawaii. According to the state park website, the “pali” are cliffs that run along the coastline. Breathtaking to say the least. 2. This Twitter thread about Bulgarian soccer is a terrific look at what…

1. Ever heard of Maroon Bells? Me neither. Well, maybe you have. The Maroon Bells are near Aspen, both fourteeners, and this shot, the one in the header, is one of the more photographed shots of the Maroon Bells peaks. It’s so popular, that I think that you have to…

1. Ever heard of Aitutaki? Me neither. It is one of the islands in the Cook Islands chain and is the second most populous of the Cook Islands with about 2,000 people. It’s a bit weird in that the island has an atoll that basically goes around the island like…