I recently got contacted by a publishing company because they wanted to use one of my pictures for a book. They said it is going to be used in a re-edited version of Roadside Americana.

Roadside Americana is a beautiful 130-page, color, hardback coffee table book that features dozens of quirky and offbeat places and events in the United States and Canada. This book inspires curiosity and a taste for adventure! Our travel books in general are big, coffee table titles that display beautiful imagery and lively write-ups.

Pretty cool if they end up using my picture

The picture above is from a road trip I took in the fall of 2005. I rented a car and in four days drove the 2000km around Lake Michigan. The trip brought me through some of the more remote areas of Michigan and Wisconsin and in the middle of nowhere I saw this huge chainsaw. It turns out that it is (supposedly) the biggest running chainsaw in the world – 7 meters long and with a V8 engine inside.

I made the trip alone and it was fun doing a real road trip in a brand new car. It was a great escape from daily life in Ann Arbor were I lived in a house with 20 people with constant partying. So four days of solitude on the road was welcomed. Here is a couple of the other pictures from that trip:

The highlight of the three weeks was without a doubt the four days we spend in the island of Kauai. Kauai is the oldest islands of Hawaii and also known as the Garden Isle because of the flourishing nature found here. Its one of the wettest spots in the world and the massive amounts of water has shaped the rock into what is called pali in Hawaiian. On this picture you can see the palis:

Fernando had gotten hold of permits for us to hike the Kalalau Trail. The trail follows the the massive windswept Na Pali coastline overlooking lush green valleys and towering rocky cliffs that rises almost 1200 meters to the deep blue pacific below. The trail is 11 miles (18km) long and winds it way along the cliffs in a very varied landscape with rain forest, desert and rocky cliffs. The trail is almost never straight but moves up and down, in and out. The view is spectacular and around each corner awaits new wonders.

It was hot and humid to do the hike so we drank a lot of water. Luckily there are plenty of streams and creeks on the trail so we could refill our bottles.

Also there were plenty of guava trees and a few mango trees so we could get some fresh fruit as we walked.

It took us 8 and a half hour to walk in and the reward was amazing. I was very busted and enjoyed just chilling on the beach for the rest of the day.

We had our camp in shade of trees close to the waterfall were we got fresh water and showers when it got to hot to sit in the sun.

And the beach was of course beautiful.

We spend a day on the beach and the hiked back the next day. Here was what we looked like after having walked back to civilization.

A truly amazing trip.

Im back in Prague after three fantastic weeks in Hawaii. We did a lot of different things over there. I took about 350 pictures that I am working on uploading and tagging plus some videos which I might edit together. There will be a couple of posts about the trip coming up later.

I went over to visit friends from IAESTE Michigan 2005-2006. Here is the gang we got together, from left: Alberto, me, Ivan, Femi and Fernando (who got a job in Hawaii and hosted us).

• Home in prague. Finally5:30 PM Aug 23rd, 2007
• Its 2 am in warsaw – dont really know what time my brain think it is. We hope to get on a train at 7am so another 5 to go. Out drinking…2:07 AM Aug 23rd, 2007
• In warsaw now after going through LA and paris. Last leg of the trip is a train to prague. Luggage still in paris – that sucks!10:08 PM Aug 22nd, 2007
• Our trip is over and we are on the way back to prague. The total travel time will probably be 40 hours. Damn. We’ve reached LA so far.3:10 AM Aug 22nd, 2007
• Yesterday we went to Volcanoes National Park and saw how the Big Island is still growing as the lava continues to pour out.8:20 PM Aug 18th, 2007
• We made it to Big Island picked up a car and have just arrived at our camp ground.6:54 AM Aug 16th, 2007
• Just got up. Its raining this morning. We are on our way to the Big Island today.7:14 PM Aug 15th, 2007
• Category 2 hurricane flossie is heading to hawaii. Most likely it will stay 50 miles off so we should be safe.10:56 AM Aug 15th, 2007
• Sunset beach all day. Chilled. Got drunk. Swam. Chilled. Life’s good.7:16 AM Aug 15th, 2007
• Yesterday ivan arrived from minneapolis. Good to see him and now we are five 7:46 AM Aug 14th, 2007
• Kalalua beach is a paradise. A big beach, camping in the shade of trees and a waterfall for fresh water and shover. Mountains surround t …7:29 AM Aug 14th, 2007
• The hike was awesome. Hard but awesome. After 11 miles of walking up and down valleys along the shore we came to the kalalua beach.7:19 AM Aug 14th, 2007
• Back on oahu after four days on kauai hiking. Gotta sleep10:55 AM Aug 13th, 2007
• Found an Internet cafe today – lovely!2:08 AM Aug 10th, 2007
• Went to pearl harbour today to see the Arizona battleship. The ship got a direct hit and sunk with more than 1100 of its sailors7:02 AM Aug 9th, 2007
• Went to kaulai today and rented sea kayaks. Sailed not to some islands. Nice day.10:07 AM Aug 8th, 2007
• Spend the day yesterday at waikiki beach. Beautiful place.8:04 PM Aug 7th, 2007
• I bought a new camera today. Its another canon – those guys seems to work for me. Look out for pictures when i get online (that could be …6:42 AM Aug 6th, 2007
• Yesterday we went to waimea beach on the north shore of Oahu. During winter this is one of the best surfing spots oh the world.5:13 AM Aug 6th, 2007
• Today has been chilled. We went into chinatown for breakfast and went to the market to get some fish and seafood for tonight.4:49 AM Aug 6th, 2007
• Jetlag got me us at 5.30. After breakfast we took a trip around oahu and ended up at a beach were we hung out the rest of the day.8:54 AM Aug 5th, 2007
• Finally we got out of the airport. Of course our suit cases was not there. But fuck that we are hitting the bars now B-)10:20 AM Aug 4th, 2007
• After 24 hours, 11 time zones and maybe 2600 miles we are in hawaii. Aloha!8:37 AM Aug 4th, 2007
• Oh Its great to be back in US. We are still only in seattle airport but still its great to be back in The Land Of The Free.1:33 AM Aug 4th, 2007
• Chasing the sun around the world. Left paris at 13 in seattle at 15. Hope they got good coffee here12:02 AM Aug 4th, 2007
• Oui oui we are in paris. Airport food is robbery.12:00 PM Aug 3rd, 2007
• Two days ago was the anniversary of the warsaw rising. The citizen stood up and fought the nazis. Intersting history6:41 AM Aug 3rd, 2007
• Yesterday gosja gave us a tour of the town. First on foot and them driving at night. The city grew on me. Like to check it out again.6:39 AM Aug 3rd, 2007
• I meet gosja a couple of weeks ago on the canoe trip. She is a graphical designer studying tv production.6:33 AM Aug 3rd, 2007
• Rise and shine. Its 4.30. After a couple of hours sleep we are back up ready for the big travel day.4:37 AM Aug 3rd, 2007
• Cruzing warsaw. Cool place but not much different vibe than prague/cntr europe.10:18 PM Aug 2nd, 2007
• We are staying im warsaw for the night. Flighing out tomorrow at 7 5:27 PM Aug 2nd, 2007
• We arrived im Warsaw. Gosja picked us up from the station and we are on the way to her place.5:19 PM Aug 2nd, 2007
• Hunter s. Thompson: The Rum Diary is my literature for the ride as we cross the border to poland1:21 PM Aug 2nd, 2007
• Yesterday i went with the IAESTE gang. A couple of them are leaving prague and will not be there when i get back. Goodbyes are always a  8:37 AM Aug 2nd, 2007
• First leg of the travel is from Prague, Czech Republic to Warsaw, Poland. An 8½ hour train ride.6:40 AM Aug 2nd, 2007
• The bags are packed. Tomorrow (Thursday) morning at 8 we are taking the train to Warsaw and the day after (Friday) we jump on the plane.11:36 PM Aug 1st, 2007
• Hawaii is approaching way too fast. I’m not ready! Leaving for Warsaw in 30 hours!12:44 AM Aug 1st, 2007

I participated last year and will try to see if I can produce another 7 videos this week. Some of the videos will probably be old material but I promise that it will be material that I havent published before so hang in there this week and enjoy

The first video is from the start of a roadtrip I did with my parents a year ago. The trip went from Wisconsin through Michigan to Niagara Falls. My plan was to making a movie about the whole trip but I ended up just taking photos instead. But here is the first (and only) episode of our travelougue.

My blog posts about the trip are here (all in Danish):

• Det gode skib Freedom
• Livet på landevejen
• Michigan og Canada

Technorati Tag: videobloggingweek2007, vlogging,videodk

Tirsdag mødtes jeg med Julianna, som jeg havde mødt til Baltimore-konferencen. Hun tog mig med på SFMOMA, en Titanic udstilling og til Chinatown.

Og så blev det tid til fodbold! I huset hvor jeg boede var også Fernando fra Brasilien, og han fik det hele gjort klar til en stor fest på terrassen.

Moster mindede mig om at Maja var i byen, og det lykkedes at fange hende og Bodil den sidste dag jeg var i byen.

Torsdag tog jeg med Julianna til Sacramento, hvor jeg hoppede på en Greyhound bus til Salt Lake City.

Click here to go to Google Vide to see this clip.

Technorati Tag: videobloggingweek2006.

Det kan være det bare er mig, der er god til at undgå mange af stederne, hvor der bliver julet, men lørdag tilbragte jeg i byens store mall, og jeg så ingen julemand sidde med skrigende unger på knæet.
Jeg er på ingen måde en shopper, og fordi vi her i huset får bragt råvarer udefra undgår jeg normalt behændigt supermarkeder, storcentre og andre steder, hvor handelsfolk forsøger at proppe julehumør ned i halsen på mig. Så ingen Wham, BandAid eller andet kvalm julemusik har endnu nået mine ører – og sådan må det godt forblive.

Det er ikke fordi, jeg ikke glæder mig til jul – for det gør jeg. På fredag lejer jeg en bil og kører over til Myrtle og Gene for at fejre jul derover, hvilket det glæder jeg mig umådeligt til. De får besøg af meget af deres familie så huset bliver fuldt af mennesker.

Vi har ikke fri tirsdag-torsdag så jeg tager tilbage til Ann Arbor mandag. Nytår havde jeg ikke tænkt på før i går. Men Femi tager over til hans bror i New Jersey, så med mindre der kommer andre geniale ideer tager jeg med derover. Jeg ved ikke hvordan det er at komme til Manhattan fra hans brors sted, men det kunne være supercool at være på Times Square i New York kl. 23.59.

Vi startede torsdag aften efter arbejde, pakkede Chris pickup truck og vendte snuden sydpå. Første aften kørte vi indtil midnat, hvor vi fandt et motel for natten. På billedet herunder er Femi og Chris igang dagen efter med at pakke trucken. Som I kan se er der ikke meget plads til den tredje person, men der kan altså sidde en bag sæderne på et lille taburet-agtig sæde.

Første mål var Four Roses Distillery i Kentucky. Ifølge hjemmesiden er destilleriet en smuk bygning opført i spansk stil anno 1900-og-et-eller-andet, beliggende ved en lille sø etc. I virkeligheden var der ikke meget at se Bygningen var en kedelig grå bygning, søen lignede mest af alt en branddam og den tour vi troede vi skule have (med prøvesmagninger ) var ikke på programmet for deer-season var lige begyndt. Her er et par skud fra destilleriet.

Skuffede drog vi videre til North Carolina. Men inden da kom vi forbi den originale Sanders Cafe. Manden og stedet der startede KFC.

Ved byen Asheville, North Carolina ligger der et college ved navn Warren Wilson College (WWC). WWC er et lille college/universitet med omkring 800 studerende. Langt de fleste bor på skolen, og som en del af uddannlsen skal de arbejde 15 timer om ugen. Arbejdet er indenfor forskellige faglige grene og giver mindsteløn. Lønnen bliver så fratrukket ens tuition (betaling for skole).
På skolen gik Laura, en af Femis venner fra Belfast, som var der for at studere et år. Fredag, hvor vi ankom, var de allerede igang med at feste, da vi kom, så vi gjorde hvad vi kunne for at indhente dem. En herlig aften med nogle hyggelige mennesker. Man må ikke have hund eller drikke og ryge på skolen, men det er der tilsyneladende ikke mange der lytter til. Her er det et billede fra en af skolens fællesområeder.

Lørdag startede vi med at se sæsonens sidste college football kamp på den lokale Hooters (desværre ingen billeder, drenge). Om aftenen var vi en flok der tog på japansk steakhouse, som er en type restaurenter, hvor de tilbereder maden foran dig. Super lækkert mad som kokken her er igang med at forberede.

Søndag vendte vi tilbage til landevejen og fortsatte sydpå til Atlanta. Her boede vi to dage hos Jason en af Chris venner fra high school. Jason arbejder for den lokale division af Google, så hans lejlighed var fyldt med en masse Google merchandise.

Mandag formiddag mødtes vi med Louise, en af hum.inferne fra ålborg, som tog til Atlanta et semester på udveksling. Hun blev hængende herovre og er nu igang med et masters program i psykologi som sikkert ender med en Ph.d. Vi havde en hyggelig morgenmad på et lokalt bageri. Ud over Andreas (som rejste for 3 måneder siden) er Louise den første dansker, jeg har mødt siden jeg kom herover, så det var fedt at snakke dansk igen, selvom vi skiftede mellem at snakke dansk og engelsk, så de andre også kunne være med. Jeg tænker og drømmer ikke altid på dansk længere, men det er vel hvad der sker når man ikke længere få brugt dansk udover på skrift.

Resten af mandagen i Atlanta så vi Martin Luther Kings museum, gravsted og fødested og sluttede dagen af på Jasons stamsted.

Dagen efter gik vi op på Stone Mountain lidt udenfor Atlanta og tog derefter hjem til the Bradfords.

Paul og Elaine Bradford er gode venner af Myrtle og Gene og sidste gang vi var her i 2000 boede Christian og jeg en uge hos dem. Det var hyggeligt at se dem igen og onsdag tog Paul os med til hans lokale morgenmadssted.

Huset deres datter og svigersøn havde ved Lake Lanier sidst vi var her, har de solgt. Istedet er de ved at bygge et nyt $1m hus i Vickery. Deres svigersøn har stor success med at lave skoleuniformer, så de mangler bestemt ikke penge. Vickery er et såkaldt Self contained community, hvor de bygger et helt nyt samfund. Self contained community er den nye måde at bo på med egen skole, swimmingpool butikscenter etc. behøver beboerne ikke bevæge sig ud i de stadig større forstæder. Vickery er en af de mere anderledes forstæder i Atlanta så vi fik Paul til at give os den store tour i det hus svigersønnen er ved at bygge, samt et af de andre huse i landsbyen.

Dette indlæg bliver skrevet i bilen på vej til Chapel Hill i North Catlina, hvor vi holder Thanksgiving i morgen.

To be continued