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3 Insane Hotels You Won’t Believe Are Out There

August 21, 2013 By Danny

According to Jake Bush, a Braun & Steidl hotel architect and developer, anyone who makes it their business to craft a hotel considers the following: “who is the guest, and why are they here”. With that in mind, it’s easy to understand why hotels across the board vary wildly—each one is trying to accommodate a specific kind of traveler.

For the most part, hotels are trying to cater to the business traveler, the luxury vacation traveler, and the budget-friendly traveler. However, there’s still another kind of traveler out there that some very unique and utterly strange hotels try to cater to, which is: the adventurous, experience-seeking, explorer.

These travelers want accommodations that are nearly the polar opposite of all the others—they want intrigue, danger, and a unique experience they can’t get anywhere else in the world—plus, they’re often willing to sacrifice a substantial amount of comfort, just for the experience. For every other kind of traveler, comfort is the last thing to be sacrificed when it comes to hotels. You can find out more at Accor, http://accorhotels.com.au/.

So, what kind of hotels does this kind of traveler frequent? Here’s my top picks for the world’s most insane, strange, and quirky hotels—some, you just won’t believe actually exist!

THE MIRRORCUBE | Location: Harads—Sweden

What is This Place? Well, The Mirrorcube is exactly what it sounds like, actually; it’s an extremely lightweight aluminum box (4x4x4 meters) with one-way mirrors for walls.

Accommodations: At most, it can only accommodate two guests at a time—imagine the waiting list! However, the interior—albeit small—provides a double bed, a living room space, a bathroom, and the exterior roof provides a nice roof-tip terrace.

What the Adventure-Traveler Loves: Per the description thus far, The Mirrorcube might not seem that interesting, but I haven’t mentioned yet that this mirrored box is actually camouflaged within a tree canopy, suspended above ground, around a tree trunk that shoots up through the center.

How the world do you get in?! By way of a rope bridge, connected to a neighboring tree!

Fun Fact: Since The Mirrorcube is located in a tree canopy and is made of mirrors, occupants are provided a 360-degree view of the surroundings. Sounds cool, right? Well, to local wildlife—specifically birds that might fly right into it—it’s not so cool. To handle this concern, all of the reflective glass is embedded with an ultraviolet color that only birds can see.

ICEHOTEL | Location: Jukkasjarvi—Sweden

What is This Place? Again, the name really is what it is—it’s an entire hotel made from snow and ice! Apparently, it’s the largest in the world, which sparked this comment from me: There’s more than one?!

Accommodations: While the beds—as well as the furniture and fixtures—are made of solid ice, they’re covered in the finest, warmest, furs. From what I understand there aren’t individual rooms; guests enjoy a more of a community experience—sharing body heat probably helps!

What the Adventure-Traveler Loves: It’s a hotel made of ice—what wouldn’t an adventure-seeker like about that?! With temperatures never rising above minus 5 degrees Celsius, adventure travelers will have a wonderful time walking around in snow pants and furs, while enjoying the company of other like-minded travelers.

Fun Fact: The ICEHOTEL only exists in the winter months—it melts after that! Every year, in November, the ICEHOTEL architects get together and design a whole new structure. Several hundred tons of ice is used in the process and it provides return guests a different experience every year!

KAROSTAS CIETUMS | Location: Leipaja—Latvia

What is This Place? It’s a prison—no, really, it’s actually a prison. Well, a former one, anyway.

Accommodations: It’s not terribly dressed up from being anything other than a prison. Guests sleep on grungy prison bunks, eat prison food, and even take a substantial amount of abuse from the guards—I’m assuming they limit that to verbal abuse. I think even the adventure-traveler draws the line at paying for physical abuse from the hotel staff.

What the Adventure-Traveler Loves: “A good hotel has got to be safe, clean, and have a good staff,” says our hotel developer Jake Bush, so the adventure-traveler loves that this hotel does all of the opposite. Karostas provides an experience—one that you can’t typically get unless you commit war crimes for a living.

Fun Fact: As a former military prison—constructed in 1905—Karostas imprisoned Stalin-era war criminals, revolutionists, and even KGB operatives.

All photos courtesy of the respective hotels.

Living History While Traveling in Trabzon Turkey

August 1, 2013 By Danny

It about three years ago when we found ourselves traveling through Turkey during Ramadan. Turkey itself is a wonderful place to travel but what we found difficult was that as we headed further east, to the more religious parts of the country, we encountered the Muslim holiday of Ramadan. During the holiday, Muslims traditionally don’t eat during the day and instead pig out at night. Trying to be sensitive, and challenged by what food options were available to us, we tried to do the same which left us hungry during the day and awake at night as our busses made frequent food stops.

This past week we read an article in The Economist detailing how a Byzantine Monastary was being used as a Mosque to celebrate Ramadan. The article took me back to that time on the trip, travlling through that very city during this same very holiday. Although we didn’t visit this specific site, The Hagia Sophia of Trabzon, we were passing through during Ramadan and did visit another Byzantine Monastery, the Sumela Monastery. The site was itself quite beautiful and, as a tourist site, made a nice reprieve for us from the restrictions of traveling during Ramadan. Reading the Economist article I am left to wonder if it may to find a day when its own purpose is changed to another religion. This is something that happens all the time, especially in the Middle East, but I just can’t help to wonder what the future holds for sites such as this.

I intend to offer no opinion regarding the cultural and religious politics of that region of Turkey, but instead just want to offer a few photos from the Sumela Monastary

Five Places to Re-visit in Europe

March 13, 2013 By Lauren

I’ve been traveling for ten years, and the number one question I get is “Where’s your favorite place?”

My answer differs depending on my mood. Some days, it’s the Galapagos. Others, it’s Cambodia or Australia.

But quite frankly, Europe will always have my heart.

These days, I hear more about Southeast Asia and South America as backpacker destinations, and it’s true that these regions are much easier on the budget. Although Europe costs a little bit more, it is still a traveler’s dream.

Because of Europe’s many options, you can tailor your trip to suit your budget and time frame. You can travel by bus, train, budget airline, and even ferry. You can sleep in bare bones hostels, fancy hotels, or seek out a vacation apartment through Go with Oh. You can eat at markets, sidewalk cafés, upscale restaurants, or shop at supermarkets.

I can’t pick my favorite European cities, but I can tell you about five places I’d definitely go back to. They’re not off the beaten track. They might get crowded. You might not agree with me. But they’ve still got that European magic.

5. Croatia

I can’t say enough about how gorgeous Croatia is, only that I could have stayed much longer than the eight days I spent there, sailing down the coast. The white cities feel ancient and powerful, and the coastline is craggy with clear, salty water.

4. Greece

Mykonos, Greece — Wouldn’t mind seeing this again.

I went to two places in Greece: Athens and Mykonos. Somehow I suspect that there’s more to it than a famous capital city and an overrated party island. If I ever get back, I’m heading for the volcanic island of Santorini. And I’m eating way more Greek food. And not drinking any ouzo, because it tastes gross.

3. Turkey

Istanbul, Turkey — Next time, I’d go inside instead of being too lazy.

Five days in Turkey, regrettably, is not enough. You could easily spend 5 days in Istanbul alone, let alone tackling the rest of the enormous country. I’m tempted by the fairy chimneys of Cappadocia and the Mediterranean coast.

2. Berlin

Berlin, Germany — Regrettably, this is the only photo I could find from my trip to Berlin.

I would happily return to all of Germany, but Berlin really knocked my socks off. I wasn’t expecting it to, but it did. It was one of the first times that I felt history come to life – all that we’d learned about WWII in high school suddenly seemed shockingly relevant, from the remains of the Berlin wall to walking gingerly through Sachsenhausen, a Nazi work camp.

1. Paris

Sacre Coeur, Paris — The Sacre Coeur in Paris.

Many people don’t like Paris. That’s okay. I get it.

Okay, I don’t get it. It’s PARIS. The city of love. The city of lights. The Eiffel tower, crepes, baguettes, the Seine. I’ll love Paris until the day I die, all based on my first trip abroad when I was 12. That’s when I learned that the French language was more than just 7th grade French class – it was a door opener to a whole new foreign culture.

What do you think – agree or disagree with my choices?

What European cities most appeal to you?

Dealing With Travel Envy

December 17, 2012 By Lauren

I was scrolling down my news feed on Facebook when I saw a photo my sister had posted. She was on vacation with her boyfriend at a beach house in North Carolina, and the scene was pretty flawless:

Instantly, I was insanely jealous. I wanted to be at the beach house! I wanted a Corona on the deck!

The weird thing? I was in a hotel room on the shores of Lake Titicaca in Bolivia, as part of a four-month journey through South America. Some of my Facebook friends probably envied me.

The problem is, it keeps happening.

I read someone’s tweet about the fun they’re having in Europe, and the envy kicks in. Until I remember – wait, I’m uploading pictures from Peru.

Machu Picchu — Meanwhile, I’m posting pictures like this. I know. It’s messed up.

Sometimes it makes sense, like when I see friends in a tropical location wearing clean clothes, makeup, and sporting impossibly glossy hair. That, I can understand; I haven’t used a hair dryer in three months and I don’t consider my clothes dirty until I’ve worn them a minimum of six times.

Then my travel envy got worse. I started getting pangs of jealousy when I saw that people were in places I’d recently been. Places I’d just left a few weeks ago.

Once I thought about it, a few things became clear about the cause of my particular green-eyed monster:

I spend waaaay too much time on the Internet.
I’m a naturally jealous person, even though I don’t like to admit it.

But I also worked out the triggers.

#1: Friends and Family

I travel with my fiancé, and he is unfailingly my #1 choice for a travel partner. But I will always wish that we could share our travels with the people we love. When I see other people in front of the Eiffel tower with their friends, I wish that I could be on more trips with my friends, too – nothing beats meeting your friends and family in a location that is new to all of you.

#2: The End is Near

As for being jealous of people who were in places I’d just left? I figured that out, too. We’ve been on the road for 3 ½ months. In less than two weeks, I’ll be saying goodbye to South America. Even though it’s been a perpetual challenge, I’m sad to see this experience come to an end. So when I see other people on their own, similar adventure? I remember how it felt to be there and I miss it. Essentially, I’m jealous of myself.

Which is, admittedly, kind of twisted.

#3: Total Relaxation

Travel is not easy. You are forced to make multiple decisions on a daily basis: get in the dodgy-looking taxi or stay on the street as the sun is setting in an unfamiliar neighborhood? Stay in the dungeon-like hostel room with exposed wires over the showerhead or keep trudging around, looking for something better? Eat the mouthwatering street food and risk explosive diarrhea or go for the safe (but boring) supermarket option?

In short, travel is exhausting. So when I see the edited version of someone’s trip on Facebook, I envy the ease with which they’re conducting their vacation. Even if I know it can’t be carefree 100% of the time.

Fortunately, the prescription for dealing with travel envy is pretty simple.

First, log off of your computer, especially if you’re already traveling.

Then? Plan your next trip.

Maybe I’ll start by googling ‘beach houses in North Carolina’.

What causes YOUR travel envy?

Kangaroo Crossing in Australia

September 19, 2012 By Lauren

While backpacking Australia, I pitched in with three other backpackers and bought a car. It was a 1981 Peugeot named Albert, and the former owner gave it to us for 1000 bucks. The car overheated during long drives. There was no air conditioning. The windows got stuck if you tried to roll them down.

Welcome to South Australia — Bonus of having your own car – yelling “Pull over now!” and the driver actually does.

But it was our car. It took us from Coffs Harbour to Sydney, all the way through Melbourne to Adelaide, then back to Coffs. I drove it to Brisbane when I needed to renew my tourist visa and to Dorrigo National Park when my family visited. In the six months I was co-owner of the car, it covered over 5,000 kilometers – not bad for a car that had been born in the same year I had.

Dorrigo National Park Australia — Dorrigo National Park in New South Wales.

Buying a car in Australia opens up new possibilities and can bring about some uniquely Australian adventures, particularly when it comes to the native fauna. Late at night, Albert’s lights were often the only ones on the road, restricting our visibility. The four of us were extremely startled when, suddenly, a kangaroo appeared about ten meters in front of us, illuminated by the headlights.

It froze. We screamed. The driver swerved. There were two small bumps as the car ran over its tail, which prompted a new round of shrieks.

We were lucky; the kangaroo, not so much.

Kangaroos in Australia — This one was fine, though. Mother and baby spotted at Emerald Beach, near Coffs Harbour.

Shortly after I returned to America, Albert was sent to the junk heap, where he was compressed into a tiny hunk of metal. I like to think we gave him a good last hurrah, a nice wind down to a long life spent ferrying travelers around the beautiful countryside of Australia.

Minus that business with the kangaroo, that is.

3 Insane Hotels You Won’t Believe Are Out There

Living History While Traveling in Trabzon Turkey

Five Places to Re-visit in Europe

Dealing With Travel Envy

What causes YOUR travel envy?

Kangaroo Crossing in Australia

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