Spinealize This!

Urban Dictionary - 1. Spinealize Verb: To spinealyse When learning a skill the point where it is a reflex, comming from the spine Example: A: I learned to juggle today B: Did you spinealize it? A: Not yet, but I'm working on it Adventures...

[spinealizethis]

Jaw dropping. A few tunnels, pot holes, a dam crossing, and more snow with summer tires; we found this view a few kilometers after the previous insta-bloodyamazing view I posted. We were truly surrounded by this. A 360 experience of snow, lake and peaks. Insta-panorama doesn't exist yet so this is just an excerpt. I tend to forget how exciting snowy mountains make me, even small ones like this. While summer and ocean are always fun, looking at peaks covered in snow makes my heart pump like an adrenaline shot. I am so excited to hike and ski again soon! #snowyroads #beautifulplaces #montenegro #montenegro2015 #balkans #mountains #mysticalscenery #mist #snow #lakes #bluesky #sunlight #roadway #travel #traveling #travelgram #travelphotography #adventure #explore #experience #feelingalive #gearheadheaven

[spinealizethis]

Magnificent. The entrance to Monte-negro from Bosnia is an amazing experience. After an hour on a road designed by snakes and built by rock trolls, we crossed a rickety canyon bridge into Monte-negro and found this view waiting for us. It was one of these views that appears so suddenly it's shocking, a true "wow" moment on the road. We continued for hours through the tunnels and mountain-ways southward to the capital, and took about 300 selfies, all of which are ridiculous. #Balkans #roadtrip #montenegro #montenegro2015 #travel #traveling #travelgram #travelphotography #adventure #explore #fantasticfun#mountainss#rivers #snow #mist #mysticalscenery #beautifulplaces

[spinealizethis]

Downtown Tirana, Albania. Life since Iceland hasn't been the same for me. 4 months later I still feel the effects of the insane trip, and the adventures that immediately followed in Italy, Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia. Now, months later, I'm here in Tirana. Or was, until yesterday, along with every major city of the western Balkans. So now I will resume my travel story. Instagram will light up again with my explorations because hey, I like photos, and you like stories. ;) #thetravellerreturns #instaceback #newadventures #tirana #albania #balkans #westernbalkans #explore #supertraveller #travel #traveling #travelphotography #travelgram #lifeontheroad #7monthsrunning #packlight #clouds #palmtrees #mountains #city #green #mayfair

[spinealizethis]

An island of hidden and treasurable moments. Though unlikely to find it without a well placed marker on my map, this rift of earth is a fantastic find. Like much of Iceland, the earth is determined to show off its heated hardware, and by crawling down the cracks of this little canyon, a thermally heated grotto is to be found. Once the healing baths of locals, in the 60's surrounding volcanic activity raised the water's temperature to a scalding 46 degrees, so bathing is no longer allowed. That is, unless you're an old, hardcore Icelander with a traditions-complex in the middle of the winter. The grotto is serene, peaceful and warm, and a lack of traffic makes it an ideal place for quiet contemplation, even without getting in the water. And as you return to the sunlight, you are starkly reminded at the distinct variety and violence of he Icelandic landscape, leading to inevitably picturesque moments like this one. ;) #iceland #grotto #heatedpool #thermal #hotpot #cave #rift #landscape #intense #explore #travel #travelphotography #view #clouds #sky #mountain #canyon #rip #moments #instagood #beautiful #lovetottravel #solotravel #adventure #adventureland #funfunfun #ringroad

[spinealizethis]

Italy... I mean Austria... No wait! Yes it's Italy! Borders in Europe can often be a bit blurred, but in the pre-alps along the Italian-Austrian border lies a string of towns who are the literal mesh of both lands. Architecturally is one thing, but where both German and Italian are native, they speak each with the accent from the other. Perhaps a more impressive trait, however, is the ability to organize like a German, but on the timeline of an Italian. No one is ever "late", they just know it will be go slow. This year's European Juggling Convention was in Brunico, Italy, and I fully appreciated this place's quirks which resulted in a totally relaxed convention where everything was on time. :) A huge and warm thank you to the organizers. #ejc2015 #EJC #juggling #convention #italy #austria #architecture #sunset #church #border #blurredlines #tourism #organized #clouds #sunlight #graveyard #beautiful #beautifulevening #stonewalls #solotravel #travel #travelstories #travelphotography #explore #bruneck #brunico

[spinealizethis]

As my time in Iceland came to a close, every moment became more special. In the rush of cities, in the rush of life I tend to lose hold on those moments where mere observation and a deep breadth are the only items on my to do list. Having now left Iceland behind I find myself back in the rush of things, heads down, photo snapping, chatting, on the move. But because of my time in Iceland, I catch myself. I snap the photo, go to move on and stop myself, to look back, to enjoy the very thing I felt worthy of a photo but had neglected to take in. Iceland taught me a whole new appreciation for travel. I just let it happen. And it wasn't Iceland as specifically as it was my mindset. I gave myself time. Unrestricted, unplanned time, to experience what a place had to offer. We read travel journalism by famous vagabonds who talk of their adventures and happenstance. Or we read the OCD inducing lists of things we MUST DO accompanied by addictive photos. Regardless of where your inspiration comes from, I would ask you to ask yourself a very important question: "Why do you travel?" And be honest, think it through, and train and plan and prepare according to why you truly want it rather than the idealisms of posts like this one. Travel is something different for each of us. Being a tourist can be exciting for many, where wandering on one's own, far from humanity, is for others. Both sides, and the in betweens are important. Both sides need to respect one another, and stick to the rules of their kind: for saftey, for the protection and sustainability of the places we visit, and for our own needs as discovered by answering that question, "why do I travel?" #travel #travelstories #travelphotography #solotravel #adventure #adventuretravel #explore #worldtravel #travelphilosophy #happytraveler #newviews #iceland #clouds #mountains #sunlight #crepuscularrays #road #ontheroad #beautiful #mylife #approach #lifegoals #livewell #tourism #tourist

[spinealizethis]

Scarier than it looks. While this photograph might articulate the insanity of a steaming pile of rocks, it's missing one element: The noise. The tortured scream of escaping steam, like the spout of an earth sized tea pot. The hot springs of the east island come with more than their fair share of impressive sights, sounds, feelings and experiences. A 5-day hyper-jaunt around the ring road of Iceland proved worth it, as even sites directly next to the road were plentiful and amazing. While of course my battery was dead for the entirety of the glacier lagoons, there were many moments like this one worth sharing. More soon. #screaming #kettle #worldonfire #steam #steaming #stories #travel #travelstories #travelphotography #clouds #redearth #rocks #hotsprings #iceland #ringroad #beautiful #scary #impressive

[spinealizethis]

As surreal as it looks. The waterfalls of Iceland are countless, and mindlessly beautiful. With such variety in shape, size, power, and landscape, choosing one's favorite waterfall would be like choosing one's favorite place to travel, an impossible feat as each provokes a new or different emotion. This fall, Detifoss, is heart stopping. The most powerful waterfall in Europe, the sheer explosion of the fall's impact at 48 meters cloaks the surrounding canyon (yet another striking event of Icelandic landscape in mist. Most shocking perhaps is the ability to stand right next to it. Right up to the water's edge where it flows off and down to the explosion below. #epic #waterfall #detifoss #iceland #ringroad #beautiful #powerfull #daystoremember #travelphotography #travel #travelstories #ontheroad #farout #amazing #incredible #stupifying #dangerous #adventure #adventureland #explore #extreme #experience

[spinealizethis]

Sailing on a bed of lupines. I walked past this every day for a week, and took countless photos until settling on one that encompassed my feelings and experience. It's difficult to put the visceral experience of places into words and photographs. Moments like this one, important to me, are near impossible to capture and share; one more reason I respect great photo journalists so deeply. My time in Thingeyri was very special; a 1.5 week long result of just letting things happen: I found myself wrapped in the warmth of a coffee house and it's small volunteer community in an old fishing town with a population of just over 230. In between work and projects with the owners of said coffee house, I mountain biked, hiked, drank lots of coffee and rode horses. All pretty excellent ways of spending one's time. I'll miss it for exactly what it is: a temporary home and family that I can rely on always being there and always being different. Thanks again to Simbahollin and the lovely people in and around it. #Thingeyri #Iceland #westfjords #fishingvillage #lupines #boats #oceanofflowers #beautifulevening #beautiful #travelstories #travel #travelphotography #solotravel #darksky #dayallday #daystoremember #home

[spinealizethis]

An Icelandic horse has 5 gaits, instead of 3. It's like driving a nippy Miata versus a large tractor. A large part of my last two weeks was dominated by views like this one, from the back of an Icelandic horse. Pictured here is these horses lovely trainer and patient teacher, Asta; who I owe countless favors to in exchange for her wisdom and willingness to take me along almost every day for a ride. I've never personally been much for horse riding; my past experiences a combination of intense and uncomfortable. And then I road an Icelandic horse. It's apparently not uncommon for people to ride an Icelandic horse and never go back. I can see why. Let free to roam wild for half the year, these horses have real personality, real character, and are a completely different riding experience than anything I've ever been on. Not to say that the massive and impressive horses of the western world don't have character, but this is a different story. Riding an Icelandic horse is like like an intense discussion with someone about personal values; getting to know them and learn how they think, what they do and do not like, how the feel about terrain, weather and their horsey friends. It's like being a psychologist, except that if you fuck up the horse might just take you in a sprint through terrain you would be terrified to take a western horse even near. Through these horses I've learned to love riding. I hope to do much much more of it in the future. An immense thank you to @Simbahollincafe and all their help and friendliness. I had a magnificent time. :) #Iceland #horses #riding #wildlife #wild #wildanimals #westfjords #westtours #explore #extreme #experience #adventure #adventureland #clouds #sky #oceanside #trainer #teacher #travel #travelstories #travelphotography

[spinealizethis]

On the subject of birds... This one will attack you like it's Hitchcock horror night at Disneyland. No seriously, this one had just dove right at me. On exactly May 14th every year, the Krea (known to us non-Icelanders as the Arctic Turn) land on Iceland, and bunker down for several months of breeding and recovery. These birds fly from North Pole to South Pole and back again Every. Bloody. Year. Us frequent flyers are of course wondering how on earth a Krea cashes in on that kind of mileage... Jokes aside though, these birds are incredible with a diversity of survival skills that truly does make the common pigeon seem like a bum. And they will attack you, vehemently, if you come to close to their nests. This would be funny if it weren't bloody terrifying. #Krea #Iceland #whenbirdsattack #birds #wildlife #mileageplans #northpole #southpole #roundtrip #nesting #beautiful #latrabjarg #trekking #travel #travelstories #travelphotography #solotravel #hiking #impressed #attack #wings #sky #blue #amazing #explore

[spinealizethis]

I nick named him Marco Polo, as we searched the horizon together from the most western point of europe. Puffins are hilarious. Puffins are cute. Puffins are awesome. Between these guys and the Krea, Icelandic birds are among the toughest in the world, with global migration patterns and thusly a diverse skill set for survival. Puts robins to shame really. Here at Europe's most western point are the "bird cliffs" of Iceland. A phenomenal stretch of vertical rock that rises from 40 to 440 meters, straight up from the ocean. Both the birds and the cliffs would be an impressive experience on their own, but together they made for an epic morning; a hike that just kept going and going, along incredible views and funny experiences: like my friendship with Marco here. #Iceland #puffins #birds #birdcliffs #latrabjarg #marcopolo #adventuresatsea #adventure #adventureland #cliffs #explore #experience #goodfind #instawonderful #beautiful #amazing #hiking #solotravel #travel #trekking #travelstories #travelphotography

[spinealizethis]

It looks fake, but it isn't. I've been in Iceland for several weeks, but every time I turn a corner I still feel like I have arrived somewhere new. Compared to the mountains and snow of my recent photos, to arrive here a day later was a stark and startling contrast. Unlike the black and stormy beaches of the south, the beaches of the west fjords are isolated strips of red and white sand, full of sea life and tidal pools like this one. The optic effect is incredible, not only in this photo, but in deceiving you of its breadth: where in person I thought it was a 10 minute walk across this to the beach, it took us 40 minutes. It was just one of many incredible sights of an exciting day traveling with new friends. A truly vagabond adventure. #reflections #beach #redsand #Iceland #hitchhiking #adventure #explore #expansive #clouds #skyporn #oceanside #daystoremember #adayatthebeach #travel #travelstories #travelphotography #funinthesun #icelandsummer #newfriends #travelbuddies #newexperiences #solotravel #seaside #stories #sightseeing

[spinealizethis]

Things you don't expect in be middle of a snow field. And what you don't see is the flying ice pellets I'm shooting upwind towards... While I'm sure this loosely marked part of the route is a glorious summer trail during the real summer; this is what it looks like I'm early July after a late winter. And I wasn't kidding about the ice pellets. I am literally hiding behind a thin wooden (broken off) sign post to take this photo, as the wind was blowing so hard these pellets would sting even through my pants, much less my bare face. It's funny in retrospect how calm and comical this photograph looks when I consider the intensity of the moment it was taken in. As be snow melts, is blown around and refreezes, it creates sleet like pellets that in high wind becomes a wall of high speed ice. The only escape is past the snow field itself, a stinging sprint. I guess that's one reason why no dogs would be allowed...? :-p #Iceland #ice #nodogsallowed #adventure #mountaineering #laugevegur #hiking #highlands #highwinds #longwalks #intensemoments #signs #funnythings #explore #extreme #experience #travel #trekking #travelstories #travelphotography #painful #snow #beautiful

[spinealizethis]

Filtered, but not photoshopped. Those colors are real, and though I've enhanced them with the power of Instagram, I'm trying to relate to you the intensity of the moment. These abrupt and burnt rocks along the trail blow steam across a valley of volcanic shrapnel. Which concluded my 2.5 day sprint of the extended Laugevegur. It is, even in bad weather, a stunningly beautiful hike, and I'm elated that I completed it, on pace, in a blizzard, crossing snow fields, and witnessing amazing moments like this one. These hot springs are all over Iceland, a land renowned for its geothermal activity, and the ability to harness in. Often in the snow fields high up you will stumble across a large hole in the snow, where meters down a hot spring hisses and steams away. It is both scary and beautiful. #hotsprings #landmannalauger #laugevegur #hiking #trekking #adventure #travel #travelstories #travelphotography #explore #volcanic #geothermal #red #intensemoments #steaming #incredible #amazing #iceland #beautiful #longwalks #fun #daystoremember

[spinealizethis]

Oblivion. Weather on the snow fields of the Icelandic highlands was to intense for photos, but I would occasionally be afforded brief moments of respite behind the abrupt structures left behind my centuries of volcanic activity. You can see the gray line a few hundred meters in front of me-the oncoming torrential downpour and high winds behind it. I barely had time to get the phone back in my pocket before the battle continued. #sidewaysrain #adventure #highlands #iceland #downpour #stormy #highwinds #oblivion #nowhere #adventureland #volcano #explore #extreme #travelstories #travel #travelphotography #hiking #trekking #beautiful #laugevegur

[spinealizethis]

Lava madness. The variety of Iceland's landscape is incredible. Oh have I mentioned that already? Oh wait.... THE VARIETY OF ICELAND'S LANDSCAPE IS INCREDIBLE! This day alone (and many since) were full of experiences and vistas so stark by comparison you might think you've walked across several countries rather than simply a few mountains. This volcanic madness was my view from a small but perfect cave where I spent the night. It was the first time testing a new pack set up, and the first time I've ever slept in just a bivy sack in the cold. On all accounts it was a huge success, and tired and knee-sore though I was, Day 1 of my trek was adventurous and exciting the whole way through. #thorsmork #skogar #hiking #lava #volcanic #scenery #crazyplaces #Iceland #beautiful #latenight #beautiful #trekking #travel #travelphotography #travelstories #solotravel #adventure #explore #camping #snow