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Anjunadeep Explorations 2023
Note from the editor: Anjunadeep Explorations is an annual music festival and label showcase in Dhermi, Albania. Many dozens of artists — all associated with the label in some way — play sets ranging from two to twelve hours across five different stages. Monday: Here we are again, on the same SFO — Newark — Athens — Corfu itinerary as last year. An uneventful but long day. Tuesday: We meet up with Ville and Kristiina in the Athens airport and fly to Corfu. Once again, we head to Angsana Corfu for two nights to deal with jet lag, be pampered…
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Anjunadeep Explorations 2022
Note from the editor: Anjunadeep Explorations is an annual music festival and label showcase in Dhermi, Albania. Many dozens of artists — all associated with the label in some way — play sets ranging from two to twelve hours across five different stages. Monday: Started off the week right by getting on a plane to Europe. It only took me 40 years to get there! Tuesday: Pretty uneventful travel, other than the hassle to get a taxi from the airport to Angsana since there aren’t enough taxis to go around. Angsana is a beautiful property on the coast, with amazing…
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Fleet Week Air Show
In a sign that maybe the world is returning to normal, San Francisco this year was once again visited by sailors and ships during the annual Fleet Week. Planes and jets fly over the city and the bay four afternoons in a row and the Saturday air show is the highlight of the weekend. San Franciscans all over the city flock to their nearest rooftop day party for food and drinks in the beautiful weather and to watch the show above. Most people schedule their afternoon to be ready at 3:00, when the Blue Angels appear for about 40 minutes…
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Alaska
Back in 2018, when I went to Hong Kong by myself, I had gone on an Airbnb walking tour and met Jereme, a fellow American who was also traveling solo to see Above & Beyond at their annual milestone show. We each had traveled with our “real” cameras, so we bonded instantly over music and photography and traveling. (It also helped that we were the two oldest people in the tour group.) We kept in touch after that trip and met up in 2019 (with the girlfriends too) at The Gorge for another Above & Beyond weekend. Since that 2019…
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Taipei
We landed in Taipei on a warm Monday afternoon, took a taxi to our hotel in Ximen, checked in, and immediately set out to wander the neighborhood. Within the hour, we had gotten bubble tea at 50 Lan, bought a knock-off bubble tea carrier, eaten some incredible beef noodles at Lao Shandong Homemade Noodles, and played the first of many, many claw machines. The next morning, we stopped at Fong Da Coffee — a coffee institution since the 1950s — for strong brews and a little breakfast, then hopped on MRT to go to Taipei 101. The plan was to…
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Seoul
Several months prior to landing in Seoul, Lummi and I had considered a thousand different possibilities for our winter trip. Flights to pretty much anywhere were more expensive than the previous year, especially for trips that extended through the new year. We considered Mexico, South America, Southeast Asia, and East Asia for a variety of different timelines. Eventually, I discovered that traveling earlier than usual and returning before the end of the year was substantially cheaper. Lummi really wanted to visit Korea — especially so I could meet her relatives — and had seen photos and heard stories from my…
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Dharamshala
The next day we flew to Dharamshala, a small hill station in the very far north of the country, close to Pakistan and Kashmir, mostly known for being the home of the Tibetan government in exile and the temple of the Dalai Lama. After a long, winding, uphill taxi ride from the airport, we met the host for our Airbnb rental and he showed us around. It was a big, comfortable, gorgeous house, with a bunk bed fit for an adult and an “opium den”, perfect for our quiet stay in the mountains. After we dropped off our stuff and…
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Goa
The next day we flew to Goa for the second portion of the trip: palm trees, clean ocean air, fresh seafood, and lots of lazy beach time. We each had our own bungalow at Village Susegat Beach Resort on Morjim Beach, which offered us easy walking access to the beach, proximity to a few great bars and restaurants, a logo that would make a man-spreader blush, and the ominous sounds of crows day in and day out. It was perfect. After a great sunset walk on the beach, we walked a bit past our resort to Chia Lounge, one of…
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Delhi
The friends trip to India had been a long time coming, but 2019 was the year that it finally became reality. Mohit was planning to go back to India for several weeks for his mom’s 60th birthday party and to handle paperwork and other bureaucracy related to his work visa. The explanation I’ve been giving for how the four of us ended up going is that Clayton politely invited himself, which Mo was more than happy to oblige, and soon Erik and I followed suit. That seems about right. We bought our flights well in advance, Mo invited the three…
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Koh Lipe
Tucked away in the very southern portion of Thailand, near the border with Malaysia, lies Koh Lipe, a formerly hidden gem among Thailand’s world-famous islands. The island has seen an increase in development and tourism in recent years, but still retains its raw nature if you can get away from the tourist areas. Though the island is small, it still has all the things you’d expect from a Thai island getaway: gorgeous turquoise waters, long-tail boats with dark-skinned captains, pretty beaches with sunburnt tourists, plenty of water activities, fresh seafood, stray dogs, and beach bars along multiple coasts. The proximity…
