Author: Karl Gesslein

Forced 8 Year Old To Hike 10 Miles In A Foot Of Snow In Crocs, With Plastic Bags On His Feet. Then Witnessed An Avalanche.

On By Karl GessleinIn Lifestyle and Health, TravelLeave a comment
Avalanche!
Avalanche!

Reading through my travel journal and downloading photos from my camera gives me such a rush. Did I really go all that way? Did I really see and experience all these amazing places. The memories flood my brain and I remember the epic trip that was our latest adventure.

There was a close call or two with a charging Buffalo, insane hikes up snow-covered mountain passes in Crocs, enormous avalanches, as well as the typical Eye Dissections and Owl pellet dissections. The trip was made up of countless hikes and bike rides and night after night of camping out in new and amazing locations. Once we met up with my sister in Yellowstone the weather took a turn for the worse. We spent a week in hail/rain/snow storms which I was really unprepared for, yet somehow managed to enjoy myself in. After 3 weeks on the road we had run out of food, money and clean underwear so we made a beeline back home.
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Hatteras NC, The Best Place I Know To Be Endlessly Harassed By Gun Toting Government Officials

On By Karl GessleinIn Kiting, Travel1 Comment

This trip down to the outer banks in 2009 could not have been more different from the solo trip I took down there about a month ago. A month ago I was incredibly emotional driving down there and it seemed like I could not stop crying. When I finally got there even though it was windy I didn’t want to ride. I finally forced myself to get up and go out and ride and then that place worked its magic on me. The cold water and wind was refreshing and soon I found myself remembering who I was. That whole week I spent alone drawing, reading, kiting and generally working on trying to improve myself and my outlook on life. The rangers harassed me constantly; they even went so far as to ask me if I had any weapons or drugs in the car. I thought it would be funny to reply “What do you need officer,” but decided against it. Everywhere I went the rangers would show up, it got to the point where I didn’t even want to talk to them; it was like a game, they would pull up in their big ranger truck and wherever I was at I would just leave. Feeling totally emotionally volatile and extremely vulnerable the last thing I wanted to do was deal with the law or get a ticket for something stupid, so I kept moving, never staying in one place for very long, riding when I could and hanging out in the van when it was raining.

Ride every day.
Ride every day.

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Wintertime Got You Down? Drive As Far South As You Can Before You Hit The Ocean.

On By Karl GessleinIn Lifestyle and Health, TravelLeave a comment

Coming home from a great trip always makes me feel more than just a little bipolar. While traveling I am so incredibly happy and centered and when I return back home to my comfortable house with the nice heat and fuzzy bed I am so completely and utterly miserable. Looking over the photos from this 2 week trip in the winter of 2008 with Orion filled me with memories of excitement and wonder, he travels so much better than any child I have ever met. I feel so incredibly blessed to be able to spend this time with him as he grows up.

The first day we went to Smithsonian Museum of American History in DC. There was a hands-on exhibit with Elie Whitney’s cotton gin, and another really great exhibit on inventions that I really enjoyed. The next day we drove to Charleston, SC which had an excellent aquarium there. We went on a behind the scenes to see the Sea Turtle hospital. Had a couple of giant
300lb Loggerheads and some smaller green turtles. We also took a trip to historic Fort Sumter which was a National Monument. It was insanely windy, on the boat on the 2nd story it was hard to stand up. Orion got a Jr. Ranger program completed, I made him do all of it for his homeschooling. It was pretty cool being at the place where the civil war started.

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Bushwacked My Way Through The Jungle With Kite, Found Only Thai Man With Machete And Loincloth

On By Karl GessleinIn Kayaking, TravelLeave a comment
The secret spot
The secret spot

Although I generally avoid going to the same country twice, Thailand was beautiful enough and the food is good enough to visit it a second time. This time instead of traveling around the entire time I was there I was lucky enough to settle down for over a week on the island of Koh Phag Nan and kiteboard for most of my visit.

Getting there was a little tricky, not once but twice we boarded a flight then were kicked off due to technical difficulties. In all my years of flying this has never happened to me even once, so it was something of a shock to have it happen twice on the same trip in different cities. Many other travelers were quite disheartened but Sun and I did a good job of taking everything in stride. The airport put us up in Tokyo in a very nice hotel with an amazing breakfast buffet. We were amazed by the efficiency of the Japanese and their very nice flush toilets with 15 different buttons for assorted butt-washes, deodorizers and even a fake flushing noise.

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Honduras Is More Than Just Awe-Inspiring Temples And Great Snorkelling

On By Karl GessleinIn Lifestyle and Health, TravelLeave a comment

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There are precious few moments in our lives that we truly cherish and strive to remember throughout our lives. The first time we kiss the first woman we truly love, catching our children as they are first brought into this world, and the passing of loved ones. For me there were many moments on my trip to Honduras in 2008 that were really moving. I had been trying to introduce my son to snorkeling for the last 3 years to no avail, but on this trip he finally did it. He didn’t want to stop, for 3 days straight he explored the magic of the seas snorkeling side by side with me for almost 3 hours a day. When we would return to the hotel he would even practice his snorkeling in the pool. That feeling of holding his hand and exploring the wonders of the reefs was one that I hope to never forget.

That was really just a small part of a much larger trip. We explored the Mayan ruins at Copan, did a jungle zip line canopy tour in La Cieba and then snorkeled in Utila. I was able to kiteboard one day for about 4 hours in Utila which made lugging my kiting gear across Hondoras worthwhile. I met an amazing German woman who lived in Utila most of the year teaching kiteboarding. She lived on a sailing ship with her dog and sailed back and forth to shore in a little dingy. I could see myself living like that when Orion is off to college, sailing to the Caribbean and teaching kiting to foreigners.

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If My Sister Really Loved Me, She Would Have Never Tickle Tortured Me As A Child…

On By Karl GessleinIn Lifestyle and Health, TravelLeave a comment

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After 3 weeks on the road my return home is hard. Everything has its place, everything is organized and there is stress around that need for organization. I was so much happier sleeping in my van on the side of the road near abandoned diners and in rest areas along the freeway. I forgot how hard it was to live in one place … everything is like a dream. I know what I’m doing and what I’m supposed to be doing but so much of it feels like I’m sleepwalking.

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Traveling across America in 2008 was amazing, I remembered why I’ve done it so many times in the past. With Orion in tow it was even more fun. We surfed down sanddunes on our bellies under a full moon, we rafted down raging rivers in Colorado and climbed the huge alien like rock formations at Joshua tree for hours on end, even at night. I saw a lot of beauty that I didn’t know existed in the US. Huge windfarms with the dancing blades of 200 foot high towers as far as the eye could see. The hoodoos of Bryce were the most amazing and beautiful rock formations I had ever seen in my life. It was fantastic wandering into Bryce canyon with no idea what to expect only to be amazed beyond belief. The hike up to Angel’s Landing at Zion was breathtaking and frightening at the same time. It was amazing to watch Orion carefully and successfully navigate it with me nervously holding onto a rope tied around his waist. I knew if I fell I’d have to let go quickly and if Orion fell I’d have to hold on for dear life. Orion was amazing and added so much to the adventure for me. To watch him grow and learn was the greatest reward of all. He was very interested in the Jr. Ranger programs, which added so much to the trip for him he achieved at least 8 Jr. Ranger badges! I flew my sister in from Oregon to Las Vegas to camp with us for a week of our journey and it was so special to be with her. I can’t imagine the trip without her, she was so amazing with Orion and they have such a nice relationship even though she lives thousands of miles away.

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Who The Hell Is ‘Baksheesh’ And Why Does Everyone In Egypt Keep Mistaking Me For Him?

On By Karl GessleinIn Lifestyle and Health, TravelLeave a comment

Orion and I spent 2.5 weeks traveling around Egypt in 2008. There were many parts that were memorable, the Egyptian people there were warm and friendly and genuinely welcoming. The police were terribly corrupt and the people who made their living off the tourists were positively terrible. It seemed like the scams in Egypt were endless, the Egyptian people after centuries of practice had perfected the art of extracting every last penny from every tourist who happened to wander into their country. For such an amazing country with so much to offer it was sad to see the dishonesty and the blatant corruption of many of the police, taxi drivers and many hotel owners. The ones that were honest really stood out as shining examples in a land of socially acceptable corruption.

Cairo was frenetic and totally insane, just crossing the street is more extreme than any extreme sport I have ever done. There is the standard dual pricing here for tourists which is endlessly frustrating and anything you want to do you have to haggle like crazy with the locals or they will charge you 5 times what stuff is worth. That gets old really fast but the Egyptian people are warm and friendly. Having Orion around really makes people even warmer and friendlier than they usually are.

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Pickpocketed By Bald Weightlifters And Attacked By Subway Doors In Russia

On By Karl GessleinIn Lifestyle and Health, TravelLeave a comment

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My trip to Russia in 2007 was the hardest trip I’ve taken in my life. Between dealing with pickpocketers and the guillotine doors of death on the Moscow subway I also got to bribe train conductors and get harassed by police. I spent most of my time lost, waiting or confused. Most days I was able to walk 20 or 30 km but most of what I saw was more of the same crumbing infrastucture and a total lack or respect for nature. In some ways it seemed almost like there was just downright contempt for anything involving the environment. For most Russians drinking seems to be the national pastime. Everywhere you look people were drinking, on the trains, in the streets, in line at the grocery store. Since cigarettes were less than a buck a pack almost everyone everywhere seemed to smoke. You begin to realize how far the US has come with advancement in non-smoker rights. In Russia the nonsmoker has no rights and people seem to smoke most everywhere.

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Am I in an Oven? Nope Just at Burning Man Yet Again

On By Karl GessleinIn Lifestyle and Health, TravelLeave a comment

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I got back for a week then turned around and flew out to Nevada to camp in the desert for a week with my son and my good friend Eric Skawold in 2007. The Burning man trip was even more intense than Russia had been. The first day the thermometer said 100 degrees in the shade. I was totally overheated and could barely function. The first day I thought I was going to die right there in the desert. Once I stopped moving and just laid and sweat in the shade I started to feel better again. Orion had a fantastic time and most of my energy was spent trying to help facilitate him having a good time. Someone set the man on fire early, which to my great surprise actually made national news. The art installations were amazing and intense as always. The heat and dust storms were pretty intense, and trying to camp in a tent didn’t help.

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More Traveling In The South With The Best Kid Ever

On By Karl GessleinIn Lifestyle and Health, TravelLeave a comment

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Orion standing tall in the beaches of Alabama.

This is about my 4th trip down to Hatteras in 2007 to hang out with Greg. He’s still in Chemo so he has one week of chemo and feels like total crap then he can kite for a week before he has to go back and do the chemo treatment again. His recovery from cancer has been amazing everyone including the doctors and myself.

I found a really cool dead sea turtle on the beach that was the biggest one I had ever seen. I grabbed the skull and soaked it in bleach. It will be the perfect skull for my new Honda Minivan I plan on traveling with Orion around the US in. Got stuck in traffic for 2.5 hours in Dover because there was a race there. Ended up running a tollbooth because I was so pissed off. The worst part is the PT cruiser is having overheating problems so I had to crank the heat while sitting in traffic on hot summer days.

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