Took Child to Iceland, Drove Hours from Anyone, Drove Across River, Rental Car Almost Floated Away. Don’t Tell his Mom.

On January 29, 2013February 4, 2015 By Karl GessleinIn Lifestyle and Health, Travel2 Comments

The trip to Iceland in 2007 was really something special. In 10 days Orion and I managed to work our way all the way around the Ring Road and back to Reykjavik. The biggest thrill of the trip was driving the jeep across a glacially fed stream and having the river so deep that there was water coming up onto the windshield. Considering that we had just driven about 4 hours without seeing another car it could have been very bad if the car had just floated away down the river. We also got to hike around on magnificent glaciers and ride really cool amphibious cars into big bays full of icebergs. There were countless hot springs, cauldrons and even a geyser or two. When we went whale watching on an old Oak ship we got within 50 feet of several Humpback and Blue Whales. The amazing natural beauty of the island was supplemented with frequent stops at geothermally heated swimming pools, which seemed to be located everywhere in Iceland.

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10 Days Of Epic Kiting In Panama Followed By $1500 Of Damage To A Helicopter

On January 29, 2013February 4, 2015 By Karl GessleinIn Kiting, TravelLeave a comment

I spent 9 days of kiting in very good conditions for 5-7 hours a day in 2007

I got to see over 30 stingrays flying through the water while kiting
I was stung by a couple of jellyfish
The stray dogs ate through my nice tent twice to eat my food
The same dog broke into the bathhouse and ate my soap twice, yuk!
On the last day I was there I broke the rear window of a very nice $500,000 helicopter and caused over $1500 in damage

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Lifelong Dream To Visit Chernobyl Reactor Fulfilled, And A Near-Deadly Encounter With Ukrainian Ranger

On January 29, 2013February 4, 2015 By Karl GessleinIn Lifestyle and Health, Travel1 Comment

Reading through my travel diary the most striking statement I found was the following,

“I don’t travel to see things, I travel because of how it changes me.”

For me traveling is more of a process of self-realization and actualization than it is a tour. Sometimes I need to remind myself of this fact when I get tired or sick or I am lost and confused. For me traveling is frequently all four of these things, as soon as I get comfortable in one place I want to move on to see more.

Started the trip flying into Kiev, that evening I could not find accommodation. This was especially bizarre because for the rest of the trip it seemed like I was the only resident in the huge 200+ room life-sucking soviet hotels. I ended up sleeping in Kiev proper behind an abandoned building. As I was trying to sleep I smelled something that smelled suspiciously like human crap. Turns out there are basically no public toilets in the Ukraine and I put my tarp and slept in the local crapper. That morning I washed off the bottom of my tent and went on the Chernobyl tour with about 80 other Scotsman who were here to see some big Football (soccer) game.

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Couldn’t stay away from the Dominican Republic, went back with Kevin Seaman author of “The Winning Mindset”

On January 29, 2013February 4, 2015 By Karl GessleinIn Lifestyle and Health, TravelLeave a comment

My last day out on the water has ended and I am remarkably sad to leave. I miss my son and his mother’s family and my family as well so I know that its time to return home. A big part of me wishes I was a beach bum that could just live somewhere for as long as I wanted to just kiting every day. I realize that I have a lot of responsibilities to my son, my customers and my family. The place we stayed while we were here is an ultra nice ultra new condo that Laurel Eastman purchased with a friend of hers Karen. It’s very cush and everything is very expensive, but there is still the constant reminders that you are in the DR. The power goes out at regular intervals and the water goes off as well. The first 3 days we had no hot water. Anytime Kevin and I got home and there was water, hot water and electricity all at the same time we were thankful and amazed. The people here steal electricity by wiring up their businesses and homes when the power is out. The only problem is that if they are messing with the cables when the power goes back on they get fried. The people here in the DR are just as friendly as I remember them. There are a few bad apples but for the most part people here are very easy-going and pretty friendly. I like the place we’re staying halfway between Kite Beach and Cabarete. Its a little beach called Bozo beach and the people here are super friendly. It’s also far less crowded than kite beach and there is little or no attitude. It’s only a 5-minute walk into the heart of Cabarete or to Kite Beach, which is nice.

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Did The Homeless Theme-Park Circuit With Small Child In Tow, slept in Rental Van.

On January 29, 2013February 4, 2015 By Karl GessleinIn Lifestyle and Health, Travel1 Comment

It amazes me how I can go out and kiteboard for 10 hours on the lake and feel totally energized, yet every day after theme parking with Orion in 2006 I was always totally exhausted. It must take a lot of energy to ride that many roller coasters. How can a 6 year old out-endurance me is a complete mystery.

The first night we got in and drove to LA to hit Disney and stayed in a nice hotel, which cost a bizillion dollars. I decided to go to Target and buy a couple of pillows and an air-mattress and Orion and I spent the rest of the vacation sleeping in the back of the minivan. He loved it and it was way cheaper than spending $100-200 a night for just a bed to sleep in. Disney was great, so we spent 2 days there instead of one. There were actually two separate theme parks. You could easily do both in one day and see pretty much everything. Orion was very brave and went some pretty crazy rides, included the Twilight Zone tower of terror which flew pretty fast up 200 feet then opened up the elevator doors and dropped you really quick. Orion really liked the moderate roller coasters that didn’t have loops in them. He was a real sport and we rode many ride again and again and again until I felt like I had been run through a blender. The high point of the trip was getting stuck in it’s a small world after all for about an hour. Most of the parks we hit on the weekdays, which meant no lines, the zoos, and water parks we hit on the weekends.

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Snowkiting In Switzerland. A Chilling Tale Of High Mountain Adventures

On January 29, 2013February 4, 2015 By Karl GessleinIn Kiting, Travel1 Comment

My trip to Switzerland in 2006 was amazing. It was interesting to see the vast startling contrast between America and the Swiss, which was exaggerated by my choice for departure from JFK. JFK is in a serious state of disrepair, it always feels like a war zone down there. The people who work there have seriously negative attitudes and I can only imagine what most of the airlines that fly through there think. Case in point our departing plane had been at the gate all day, but no one had some to clean it so we were 30 minutes late in boarding. Once we boarded there was no ground crew to see us off, so there was another hour we had to wait. This was a huge international flight as well with maybe 200 people on it, not just a puddle jumper. Everything in Switzerland was very nice and new and clean. The public transportation was amazing, I never found myself waiting more than 10 minutes for a train or a bus and the buses were all free. When I got back to NYC and had to get in my car and drive through rush hour NYC traffic you really start to appreciate how different America is from other countries in the world.

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Ate Insects and Arachnids, Attacked by Poisonous Snake & Visited Ancient Angkor Wat Temples

On January 29, 2013February 4, 2015 By Karl GessleinIn TravelLeave a comment

For 3 weeks I traveled around Thailand, Cambodia and Laos. I tried to push myself to see as much as I could and experience as many things as possible. I ate every manner of worms, larva, grasshoppers, frogs and even two scorpions. There was 3 different times I got sick, even though for most of the trip I was taking antibiotics. Few of the places I stayed had any amenities like hot water, a flushing toilet or even toilet paper. I was constantly uncomfortable, traveling on the back of motorcycles, in school buses with wooden floors, in Tuk-tuks, taxis and trains. A poisonous snake attacked me while I was trekking in the jungle and I got stuck in a hailstorm where the hail was the size of golf balls. Through all the discomfort, confusion and unpleasantness I managed to create a truly unique experience, which was my own. I will carry these memories and experiences with me to the grave. This document is intended to inspire others to get out in the world and travel, and get more of the same kind of experiences. Leave the comfort of your feather bed and your espresso maker. Get out in the world and see what it’s all about.

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Went To Nassau And Wanted To Kite But Mostly Flailed Around And Lost My Kiteboard

On January 29, 2013February 4, 2015 By Karl GessleinIn Kiting, TravelLeave a comment

As I got off the plane in Nassau in 2005 and was going through a motorized revolving door it abruptly came to a halt and I walked right into it. It took me a minute to realize I was bleeding all over the place from a cut on my head. This was pretty indicative of how the entire trip was going to go. John and I arrived early enough to head out on the water, the winds were marginal so I took the 17 Speed and the Flydoor. The winds were so marginal I got blown downwind for about 3 miles. There was not enough wind to jump so I just rode as best I could. John tried to go out on his 9 foil but there was not enough power to get up. At one point he crashed the kite into the middle of the road and the cars honked at him. I walked for about an hour then caught a ride back the last mile or so with a pickup truck full of construction workers. The buffet dinner at Orange Hill was spectacular even though the breakfast and lunch was pretty nominal. It was all you can eat for $20 and John and I gorged ourselves and went to bed at 7:41PM.

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Fought In Thunderdome, Rode The Roaster Coaster & Found My REAL Home – My First Burn

On January 29, 2013February 4, 2015 By Karl GessleinIn Lifestyle and Health, Travel1 Comment

The following is a recounting of my first experience at Burning Man in 2004. I have been back many times since then, but that first trip was the most magical.

As I sat quietly tears streamed down my face. All around me thousands of people sat quietly humming in different low harmonious tones. The heat from the flames of the temple was so hot it was quite uncomfortable. Although we were seated over 300 feet away the 80′ Temple of Honor burned with an intensity I have never seen in any structure fire in my 4.5 years as a firefighter. I big part of me was glad to see it burn. I have been to visit the temple 8 times in the last 3 days and each time it brought tears to my eyes. I have traveled across a great deal of the planet and the temple was one of the most beautiful places I had ever seen. The love and tremendous amount of energy that was put into the temple was staggering. It made me realize that once you see what’s possible you’re no longer interested in what’s probable. For the temple the gift was in the giving. I thought about the huge amount of resistance I had put up in switching over to the Burning Man gifting economy and I realized that a great deal of that was the difficulty I was having in seeing that the gift was in for the giver, not the receiver. There was a big part of me that was glad to see the temple go and another part that was just beginning to appreciate the transient nature of life. All the work that had been put into that temple that was only around for a week made me realize that no matter how hard I worked or how much I accomplished that it wouldn’t change the fact that even if I lived for 100 years that it was still a brief glimpse of time when compared with the timeline of the universe, the earth or even mankind. It was sobering in a deep and meaningful way. The night before we had burned the 40′ neon blue man at the center of the city and the atmosphere had been a world of difference, there was hooting and hollering and dancing. The burning of the temple was a far more solemn occasion. There was so much emotion in that place, frequently visitors made no attempts to hide their tears. The energy of the place was so intense it was hard not to feel sadness.

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Went To Jamaica During A Hurricane – Trashed Rental Car & Fell Off A Mountain Cliff

On January 29, 2013January 29, 2013 By Karl GessleinIn TravelLeave a comment

Blue Mountain Peak in Jamacia (2004)

I’m finally here in Jamaica and am working at overcoming my fear of this place. There is far more poverty than I had expected, Jamaica is a third world country. Everyone here drives like glue huffing maniacs. The people seem to be reasonably friendly, although most of them are preoccupied with the coming hurricane. Ivan is scheduled to whack the center of the island tonight at midnight. Sometimes I find it hard to believe that 240Kph winds will soon be destroying most of the shantytowns in this country. Right now it’s so quiet and peaceful. I’m here by the pool villa and the peepers are unusually noisy. I keep forgetting why I’m here, I don’t feel safe and I want to feel safe. Jamaica has the highest murder rate per capita of any country. Everyone tells me not to go to Kingston, but Kingston has been evacuated. Where have all the gang members in Kingston gone to? Here in Negril perhaps? Negril is nice, it’s on the West coast. It’s a tourist town with everything but the tourists. Everyone here expects a tip and my rental car has no reverse, or at least it takes me 5 minutes of messing with it to get reverse to work. I should have kept my reservation with Hertz. I don’t know what I was doing trying to save $60. The hotel was also $60, which is too much. I should have paid with a credit card though and I choose to pay with cash. Soon all the power in the island will be down. There is so much poverty here I can sense a criminal element here in Jamaica not far beneath the surface. That brings up fear for me. It’s funny how I know so many drug dealers and violent people and I don’t really fear them, but then when I go to another country that is foreign I do.

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