Matador Network's Blog, page 1314

Southwest is having a Fall sale

Summer is flying by. Before you know it, it’ll be Thanksgiving and you will have missed out on some pretty great Fall travel deals. To make sure that doesn’t happen, take advantage of Southwest Airlines’ four-day sale, with one-way flights priced as low as $45. Take a round-trip vacation between Long Beach and Las Vegas for just $89.96, but be sure to browse the full list so you really know your options. Some particularly great values include Las Vegas to Phoenix for $79, Boston to Atlanta for $75, and Boise to Spokane for $54.

To get yourself a great deal, book your flight before midnight on June 29th, for travel between August 12th and December 19th. International trips are limited to flights taken between September 5th and December 5th.

H/T: Thrillist

More like this: The 7 coolest airplane liveries in the world and the stories behind them

The post Southwest’s Fall Sale is here, but not for long appeared first on Matador Network.

Try a bungee jump off Orlando Towers

Anyone who has driven through Soweto — a township in Johannesburg, South Africa — has seen the Orlando Power Station. An area filled with mostly small, one-story homes, these twin towers (as they’re often called by locals) dominate the skyline. And if the colorful works of art painted on the sides weren’t enough to grab your attention, the people jumping off the top of it certainly will.

These decommissioned cooling towers from the original coal-fired power station are now a bungee-jumping destination operated by Skyflyers. Thrill-seekers take a rickety elevator up the structure, walk across a narrow bridge, take in the sweeping views of Johannesburg, then bungee jump from 33 stories up between the towers.

The towers were built in 1951, and the entire plant was shut down in 1998. For two decades the buildings remained abandoned. Today, the towers are vibrantly painted — one serves as a billboard and the other provides the backdrop for the largest mural painting in South Africa. In 2009, local company Skyflyers turned the deserted towers into an adventure facility.

Bungee jumping isn’t the only adrenaline rush offered at the Orlando Towers. From the apex, you can power swing, rap jump, and abseil, but one of the craziest experiences is the SCAD freefall, which happens inside the tower. SCAD stands for “suspended catch air device,” and this freefall happens without any attachments. The faller gets into a cage, is raised up by a winch to 230 feet (70 meters), then dropped from the platform and caught by a suspended net, feeling no impact at all. So if you’ve ever wanted to jump off a building with no adverse consequences, this is your chance.

Each activity has a different entrance fee, but bungee jumping is R480 (about USD35); if you just want to go for the view and not the jump, access to the viewing platform costs R60 (about USD5).

What to consider:

The Orlando Towers are open year round, but the activities are subject to weather — specifically wind.
Bungee jumpers must weigh between 35 kilograms and 115 kilograms (77 and 253 pounds, respectively).
If you’re under 18, you need parental consent.
The towers are open Thursday-Sunday, and each event has a different fee.
There’s a restaurant and beer garden at the base of the towers.
If it’s too windy to do the bungee jump, the SCAD freefall is a great alternative.
You can get professional pictures and videos taken for a nominal fee.



More like this: The highest, most terrifying bungee jump will soon open in China

The post You can bungee jump off of Johannesburg’s iconic, 33-story Orlando Towers appeared first on Matador Network.

Peru is an underrated surf spot

It may have something to do with the fact that its best surf spots are hard to get to — or that the water is cold, or that people equate it more with mountainous Inca trails — but when surfers are planning their trips, Peru doesn’t often come to mind.

But look at a map and you’ll see a coastline longer than the US’s entire west coast. From the capital to distant fishing villages, Peru has gentle rollers, Pacific monsters, and every type of wave in between. While Peru is not on most surfers’ radar yet, it’s bound to be soon. Here’s why it’s the most underrated surfing destination we know.

1. Peru has the longest left-hand wave in the world.

Photo: marcosvelloso/Shutterstock

Chicama, the one spot in Peru all diehard surfers have heard about, is a surf break by the nondescript fishing village of Puerto Malabrigo in northwest Peru. It’s at the top of the cold Humboldt current that flows north from Antarctica. The current is so cold it rarely produces rain clouds, making the coast here one of the driest places on Earth. Over millennia, the northbound swell and wind have eroded the dusty landscape into miles and miles of barren cliffs.

When that swell hits the shallow waters near Chicama, it turns into a wave so long you can’t see the whole thing from the beach as it wraps around behind each bend in the escarpment. You can see it by boat, though, which is really the only way surf it, since paddling back out to the line up would take an hour. During low tide, you can walk most of the way, but why not spend $20 to hire a captain and boat for a two-hour session? The money spent will pay for itself in waves ridden.

In 2015, Peruvian surfer Cristobal del Col set a world record of 34 carved turns on one wave, about 10 times as many as you could get on most waves. It’s true that Chicama’s four separate sections don’t connect all the way through unless you have at least a six-foot swell, but even when they don’t connect, you’ve still got one heck of a long ride.

2. And plenty more waves than that — like Máncora up north.

Photo: Fotos593/Shutterstock

Chicama is just one part of the Peruvian surf scene. North of Chicama, the shoreline is pocked with coves and points holding reefs and beach breaks that tempt surfers with everything from easy breakers to steep, fast crests.

Near the Ecuador border, Máncora feels like a classic beach town with loud nightclubs, a few restaurants, petite boutique accommodations, and a main street teeming with tuk-tuks, those motorcycle-rickshaw hybrids imported from Thailand. The town’s main beach has a chill left-hand wave that’s popular with longboarders.

Drive south from Máncora along beige, furrowed mountainsides and you’ll reach Cabo Blanco, Lobitos, and Piscinas. Lobitos has transformed from a remote petroleum town to a low-key surf community with a handful of spartan accommodations rimming an ultra-wide beach. You’ll still see the offshore rigs in the distance, but the intensely blue water in front of you and clean, fast waves (all lefts) peeling their way across it are what will get your attention.

3. It has surf breaks near Lima, too.

Photo: terekhov igor/Shutterstock

The streets of Peru’s capital city are so congested that the ten-mile drive from the airport to the leafy neighborhoods of Miraflores and Barranco can take over an hour. But those neighborhoods border cliffs that look down on a vast ocean streaked with lines, which surge and break into consistent waves when they reach the shore. Surfers carve up those waves at multiple surf spots. Miraflores is the best-known spot among them, complete with board rental kiosks and all the surf accoutrements you’d expect on a tropical isle, not a city of 10 million residents.

The waves here aren’t all lefts, either. Pico Alto, literally “tall peak” in Spanish, is Lima’s top spot for colossal waves, and the rights on it outshine the lefts. An hour-plus drive south of Lima is Punta Hermosa, a former fishing village that is now a summer vacation spot. A huge rock mound in between two beaches pushes the waves in left- and rightward directions. Beyond that you’ve got San Bartolo, a C-shaped cove lined with inexpensive summer apartment rentals. Surfers use a big rock jetty jutting into the water to access the take-off points on either side.

4. The waves are uncrowded.

Photo: fboudrias/Shutterstock

There are plenty of other surf spots in Peru, but one thing they all have in common is how blissfully uncrowded they can be. On a May visit to Peru’s surf locales, one of the most remarkable things is the lack of people. Driving a van onto the beach at Lobitos and finding literally no one else on the sand is an unusual experience, and an awesome one at that.

Near to Piscinas, you’ll be happy to find a lone concrete building amid the cacti and brush. The building, painted with a groovy mural, holds a restaurant serving up tasty veggie burgers (lentil or quinoa, but they also have beef) with slabs of avocado on toasted bread, prepared by the long-haired expats who temporarily call this place home.

Even at busy Máncora, you can avoid the crowds on a Saturday morning. Get in the water by 6:00 AM, something Hawaiian surfers do every day, and you’ve got yourself a good hour and a half before any locals show up. Then grab a strong cup of coffee and some eggs at Giovanni’s, a no-frills hotel right in front of the break.

5. Peru has produced world-class surfers, and some of them are women.

Photo: Proyecto Sofia Mulanovich/Facebook

Given how many Peruvians live so close to incredible surfing (after all, Lima holds nearly a third of the nation’s residents) it’s no surprise the country has produced world-class surfers who compete on the international scene — among them Cristobal del Col, the surfer who made 34 turns on Chicama.

In 2004, Sofía Mulánovich became the first Peruvian, and South American, surfer to ever win the World Surf League World Championship tour. The Punta Hermosa native is the first South American, of either sex, inducted into the Surfers’ Hall of Fame.

6. Peru’s surf scene is one of the chillest in the world.

Photo: Noelle Alejandra Salmi

The surf scene spans different age ranges, too. At San Bartolo on a foggy weekday morning, grey-haired codgers will paddle out on longish, but still short, boards. At the Máncora’s beach break on a Friday evening, you’ll see as many pre-teen girls in the water ripping it up on shortboards as boys. And they’re into it. The sun may have set, each wave barely discernible in the distance, but you might find two energetic girls still in the water, holding out through the last possible glints of light, so they can get just one more wave.
7. The water isn’t really that cold.

Photo: Noelle Alejandra Salmi

It all depends on your expectations. Sure, you need to wear a full wetsuit along much of the Peruvian coastline, but a 3/2 mm thickness will suffice most of the year. If you’re coming from Northern California, where a 4/3 is a must, the 3/2 feels positively liberating.

Also, 200 miles north of Chicama, the continent bends and the Humboldt current meets up with the Panama current, where the water is a whole lot warmer. By the time you reach Lobitos or Máncora, you’ll be wearing a spring suit or even, at the height of summer, no neoprene at all.

Máncora also has more vegetation, a result of the warmer ocean current. Even though a massive El Niño storm caused severe damage a while back, the area still doesn’t get a lot of rain, another bonus if you’re planning a surf trip. The likelihood of getting rained out anywhere on Peru’s coast is crazy low. In fact, Lima gets so little rain that city streets have no drainage system at all.

8. It has good food and good booze.

Photo: Larisa Blinova/Shutterstock

At dawn and dusk in Máncora, you can sit on your surfboard and watch dozens of thin silver fish called lisas leap up to 18 inches out of the water to catch tiny insects. Unlike surf spots in Indonesia where waters are tragically overfished, northern Peru’s seas still teem with sea creatures, and beachside restaurants find plenty of ways to prepare them. The seafood stews are rich and filling, as are the causas, which are like mashed potato pies filled with tuna, chicken, or other goodies. And, of course, there’s ceviche. Even if you’re vegetarian, mushroom ceviches have all the zesty flavors of the original.

Let’s not forget Peru’s firewater, pisco, and tangy pisco sours with their velvety heads of whipped egg whites, as well as the plenty of other pisco drinks you can sip on. Even Peru’s local beers are a cut above your ordinary brew. When you’re sitting in the hot tub at your Chicama hotel after a day in the water, just you and some of the many Brazilians who’ve discovered Peru’s surf charms, a cold cerveza Cusqueña goes down well.

9. The country is simply fascinating.

Photo: sharptoyou/Shutterstock

There are a whole lot more reasons Peru’s surf scene is begging to be discovered, but one that stands out is the country itself. It’s a fascinating place with thousands of years of culture and history, and we can’t get over how incredibly welcoming its residents are. If you can get off the beach at all, stroll the streets of Lima’s hip Barranco neighborhood or visit the city’s pre-Inca museum. Better yet, take a few days to discover Cusco, a grandiose 16th-century Spanish city built atop structures from the Incan Empire. From there, take the train to Machu Picchu, which — crowded or not — is a magical place, as awe-inspiring and powerful as any Pacific wave.


More like this: The most badass female surf communities around the world

The post Why Peru is the most underrated surfing destination appeared first on Matador Network.

How to be a polite air traveler

Manners and common courtesies are magnified when dozens or even hundreds of people are confined to a tight space. Multiply that tenfold when that tight space is about to hurdle at 500 miles per hour through the air, most likely with an ocean or unforgiving mountain range sitting 30,000 feet below. Flying requires a good amount of keeping it together, so for the benefit of everyone, including yourself, don’t let the social rules that are otherwise second nature slip away just because the process of ‘getting there’ is all that stands between you and your epic trip. Here are the ways you’re potentially being rude while boarding a plane, and how to avoid doing so, so that you’ll be that much more relaxed while sipping a poolside cocktail with a clear conscience.

Crowding the gate when you’re not anywhere near the first boarding groups

Boarding a plane, and the flying experience in general, is a source of much anxiety for many travelers. This is understandable, even justifiable. But congregating around the corridor in front of the gate long before the attendant announces pre-boarding is doing nothing but exacerbating the problem. All you’re doing is spreading your anxiety across everyone else waiting to board, which inevitably leads to more congregation, which then leads to mass confusion as members of the panicked horde forget their zone numbers almost without fail. Many never quite manage to recover, instead remaining idle like a deer in headlights as those who followed the instructions on their boarding passes attempt to join their fellow zone members in some semblance of a line. The end result is that the entire process is slowed down.

Be cool and remain seated near your gate until the attendant pages your boarding zone. The staff knows exactly how many flyers have checked in for the flight, and they won’t shut the doors until after they’ve paged anyone who failed to board — you’re going to get there just like everyone else. Even if you are among the final few to board, think of it as less time sitting in your seat alternating between eyeing the airline magazine and hopelessly staring out the window.

Pushing from behind when people are loading luggage

The aisles on the plane are meant to hold exactly one person abreast at any given time. Just like you, those in front of you in line need a few seconds to safely stow their carry-ons in the overhead bin. This is going to cause a continuous and unavoidable snaking of the line as passengers are stopped by those in front of them getting to their seats. There is no avoiding this. Pushing, walking right up against the person in front of you, or, god forbid, placing your hand on that person’s shoulder and attempting to squeeze by them, are among the most unforgivable boarding sins. No one that saw you commit one of these atrocities is going to forget about it. Wait your turn — the guy seated ten rows in front of you isn’t going to steal your overhead storage space.

Harassing people to change seats

Flying in the cheap seats comes with its fair share of sacrifices, especially if you forgot to check in right away. Occasionally this means you’re not seated next to your bro or girlfriend, which is always a bummer but one of those things you’re much better off accepting and moving on from than raising a fuss. No one wants to trade seats with you. Even if someone agrees to do it, they’re certainly not happy about it and are only doing it to shut you up. We’re all in this together — let the seated remain seated.

Standing up as soon as the plane lands

Unfortunately, airplane rudeness tends to extend throughout the flight, often carrying on to the baggage-claim area. Yes, I’m looking at you, guy who stands up the second the fasten seatbelt sign clicks off at the gate. You’re 32 rows back, man, and the poor people in the seats directly behind you now have the pleasure of staring at your sweaty ass for twenty minutes while first class and those seated in the remaining 31 rows in front of you slowly make their way to the exit. Sit back down.


More like this: How to be a more sustainable traveler when flying

The post You’re being rude when you board an airplane. Here’s why. appeared first on Matador Network.

7 backpacks for summer expeditions

This summer’s wilderness trail explorations are bound to open up the world ahead of you. Enjoy star-filled nights or live that refreshing skinny-dip lifestyle at an alpine tarn. Let your mind recover and benefit from the break you’ve earned while you stare up at a massive rock wall or take in spectacular views while trekking up a mountain.

Finding the right way to haul your gear can make a big difference by reducing backaches and making you feel more lively when you arrive at your destination, allowing you to make the best of your outdoor time. Here are our recommendations for the best backpack for every type of outing this summer.

1. Easy walks

Photo: tentree

The feel-good factor is high with the tentree Renu 24L Day Pack, made from 30 recycled plastic bottles. The design is simple: the mesh water-bottle pocket and easy-access zipped enclosure for essential items make this pack a no-brainer for short walks from the car to well-maintained, low-impact park trails. Now there’s no excuse to stick to scenic drives this summer.

2. Day hikes

Photo: Osprey

On a day hike, all it takes is a couple hours of effort for a magical payoff. Osprey’s Hikelite 18 will take care of storing what you need for a one-day trip. There are no frills here, just features that matter, like a well-ventilated back panel, fitted shoulder harness, and quick-access side pockets. It fits a thirst-quenching hydration reservoir, with the added nice touch of a hiking-pole attachment strap system.

3. Weekenders

Photo: Mystery Ranch

If you’re embarking on a two-night journey, the Mystery Ranch Ravine Pack blends key needs that hikers will happy-dances over, thanks to its painstakingly good design, fit, and low weight. It’s a given considering the company’s pedigree that this pack entails high-quality materials and is built to withstand years on rocky trails.

4. Multi-night wilderness journeys

Photo: Gregory Mountain Products

When you’re heading out on a long trail, the Gregory Deva 70 delivers elements that count — not only the needed form fit but also a hip-belt and shoulder harness that are meant to handle heavy loads. This pack is a big bonus when you’re halfway down that wet, rut-filled mud track since the material dries quickly and reduces hot spots.

5. Hot steps

Photo: Patagonia

Lightweight yet able to take a sand-storm pelting, Patagonia’s Nine Trails Pack comes complete with a must-have sleeve to fit your hydration bladder and easy-access pockets for key items on ultra-hot treks, like sunscreen and energy bars. You’ll appreciate that mesh on your back, too. Amen for air flow.

6. River and ocean trips

Photo: Outdoor Research

The Outdoor Research Dry Payload Pack has deluge-proof bomber construction, which is perfect for taking a beating on day hikes during multi-day river journeys, or walks into the gully-washer rainforest of British Columbia’s coastline. Don’t worry about your valuables getting soaked: this pack will keep your devices dry, so it’ll function just fine for capturing the moment a rainbow peaks through the storm clouds.

7. Trail runs

Photo: ARC’TERYX

Go ahead and hit your dirt-track stride this summer with the ARC’TERYX Norvan 14 Hydration Vest, designed to carry what you need but not interfere with your step. With room for all the essentials, this pack has a form fit that prevents pack sway and provides ease of access to snacks when you’re about to collapse.

More like this: The ultimate summer backpacking gear guide for newbies

The post The 7 best packs for every type of summer expedition appeared first on Matador Network.

How to drink like a local in Italy

In recent years, the Italian pre-dinner Aperol Spritz has skyrocketed in international popularity. Many think this alcoholic drink is ubiquitous throughout the Boot, and order it while in Italy in an attempt to look local. In fact, just like food, each region, city, and sometimes even town, has its own traditional drinks, from aperitif to digestif. On your next visit to Italy, try these seven traditional beverages — from coffee to booze to a delectable mix of both — and you’ll look like a local in no time.

1. When in Venice, order an ombra.

Photo: Dreamer Company/Shutterstock

Real, hardy Venetians might be a rarity these days as tourists flood the city, but they can often be found in one of the tiny local bars, called bacari, with an “ombra” in hand. An “ombra” (“shadow” in English) is a small glass of red or white wine that can be bought for as little as one Euro. The origins of its poetic name are still unclear, but many say that it came from bars in St Mark’s Square, which used to move their chairs and tables around the square throughout the day, following the shadow of the Campanile to keep customers and the wine cool. You can go to bacari throughout the city to try an “ombra,” or even do a bar crawl down the Fondamenta della Misericordia and enjoy your wine while sitting by the canal.

2. When in Turin, don’t stir your Bicerin.

Photo: Caffè al Bicerin/Facebook

In the northern city of Turin, the cafés serve Bicerin, a warm, rich combination of espresso and hot chocolate, topped with a layer of thick, cold cream and served in a little wine glass. It’s thought that it originated at 18th-century institution Caffè al Bicerin, where the baristas will explain that the proper way to drink Bicerin is not to stir the layers of chocolate and cream together, but instead to appreciate the contrast between the bitter, warm chocolate and the cool cream. For around six euros, you can sample this traditional Turinese, dessert-like drink, which shouldn’t be confused with a liqueur of the same name made from gianduja, a mix of chocolate and hazelnuts.

3. When in South Tyrol, drink Bombardino as your après ski.

Photo: alenacepl/Shutterstock

“Bombardino” is an Italian-style eggnog that is traditionally found in ski resorts across the Alps and in any self-respecting Christmas market. This bright orange “bomb” is a mix of equal parts advocaat and brandy, warmed up, with a generous swirl of whipped cream on top and a dusting of cinnamon. It is the perfect pick-me-up after a chilly day on the slopes, or any other winter activity. For a couple of euros you can furnish yourself with a shot of this strong winter warmer.

4. When in Val d’Aosta, don’t drink your coffee alone.

Photo: OkFoto/Shutterstock

Eating and drinking in Italy is primarily a social experience. This is especially true when drinking this pepped-up version of coffee in Val d’Aosta in the northwest of the country. Coffee, sugar, grappa, and lemon zest are combined together and served in a coppa dell’amicizia, a carved wooden ‘friendship cup’ with multiple spouts to drink from. The rim of the cup is sprinkled with sugar and grappa and then set alight and allowed to burn until the sugar is caramelized. Once the flames are extinguished guests take turns drinking from the spouts.

5. When in Tuscany, drink vin santo with cantucci biscuits.

Photo: iuliia_n/Shutterstock

The most traditional dessert you can have in Tuscany is a glass of sweet, rich dessert wine, called vin santo, and a plate of crunchy biscuits for dipping. This Tuscan wine is made from drying grapes on straw mats in order to allow the moisture to evaporate and the sugar to be more concentrated. After fermentation, the wine is aged in small barrels, sometimes for as long as 10 years. For a true Tuscan experience, find a little local trattoria and finish off your meal with crispy almond cantucci biscuits dipped and steeped in a glass of DOC (origin controlled) vin santo until soft.

6. When in Bassano del Grappa, drink a mezzo e mezzo.

Photo: Mirko Scotti/Shutterstock

Bassano del Grappa, in the Veneto, has its very own, one-of-a-kind, aperitivo drink: the “mezzo e mezzo.” It is rarely found outside of Bassano, let alone the bar where it was invented. Nardini Bar, also famous for its grappa production, lies just off Bassano’s most famous monument, a wooden bridge originally designed by famed architect Andrea Palladio (but rebuilt many times). Each evening a crowd gathers outside, queuing to get their pre-dinner mezzo e mezzo. The name means ‘half and half’ because it is made from one part “Nardini Rabarbaro” and one part “Nardini Rosso,” which are both bitter aperitifs. It’s topped up with soda water and garnished with a lemon peel to serve. In typical Bassano fashion, it should be drunk standing on the bridge with a view of the sun setting over the river.

7. When in Italy, drink your coffee ‘corrected.’

Photo: Ekaterina Pokrovsky/Shutterstock

If you really want to blend in with the locals all over Italy, no matter where you are, then order your end-of-meal coffee ‘corretto,’ i.e. spiked. Typical corrective additions to espresso are grappa and Sambuca. Italians swear by a coffee and a high-alcohol ‘digestivo’ to help them digest after a big meal, so caffè corretto kills two birds with one stone!


More like this: The 9 desserts you need to try in Italy that aren’t gelato

The post How to drink like a local in Italy appeared first on Matador Network.

9 lighthouses you can stay in

Finding the right accommodation can make or break a vacation, but it’s rare to come across lodging so cool you’re compelled to plan an entire trip around it. Lighthouse hotels are that cool. Location is an obvious draw: designed to help sailors find safe passage through rough or rocky waters, lighthouses occupy precious oceanfront real estate where the view is unobscured and mind-blowingly wild. For a truly singular getaway, head to one of these nine lighthouses across the globe that you can actually sleep in.

1. Clare Island Lighthouse, Ireland

Photo: Clare Island Lighthouse/Facebook

If you like the idea of sleeping in a lighthouse but generally like a bit of luxury, this is the accommodation for you. The beautiful property overlooks Clew Bay and has been gussied up to give guests a more glamorous experience. The rooms are sleek and clean, but the common areas are what really stand out at Clare Island Lighthouse. There are books, games, and even a piano over which guests are encouraged to mingle. A minimum two-night stay is required with rooms starting at $525 per person for both nights.

2. The Lighthouse on Cape d’Or, Canada

Photo: Dennis Jarvis/Wikimedia Commons

Booking a stay at the Lighthouse on Cape d’Or is like getting a VIP pass to the Bay of Fundy, one of North America’s natural wonders. The lighthouse keeper’s quarters have been turned into a four-bedroom inn (guests can reserve individual rooms for $125/night or rent the entire property for $435/night) and a neighboring restaurant. Guest rooms are simple, yet comfortable, and the breakfast and dinner offerings are the bomb. The only hard part about staying at the Lighthouse on Cape d’Or is trying to decide which is more breathtaking: the view of the Bay from the tower or the panorama of the lighthouse set against the craggy Nova Scotia cliffs.

3. Heceta Head Lighthouse, Oregon, US

Photo: Kyle Kephart/Shutterstock

Lighthouse keeping can be a lonely lot, which is why many lighthouses constructed large keeper’s houses so that the person running the light could invite friends who wanted a place to stay. At Heceta Head Lighthouse, the house has been turned into a bed-and-breakfast with six rooms that can accommodate up to 15 guests. Price starts at $199/night for two guests in one room during the low season. The views are stunning, set atop a cliff on the Oregon Coast where waves crash against the rocks as you enjoy dining al fresco on the house’s front porch. The lighthouse still operates, and the light has been described as the “strongest in Oregon.” So, if you’re looking for a well-rested weekend, maybe pack a sleep mask.

4. Cape Otway Lightstation, Australia

Photo: superjoseph/Shutterstock

Cape Otway Lightstation is the oldest working lighthouse in Australia, though you’d never guess that the bright white landmark dates back to 1848. Guests get their pick of accommodation between the Lightkeeper’s Cottage, Lighthouse Lodge, and Lightstation Studio. There are several possible sleeping arrangements depending on party size — the Lightkeeper’s Cottage alone can hold up to 16 guests — so nightly costs range from about $250 to $350. Worth visiting in its own right, Cape Otway Lightstation is also a top attraction on the Great Ocean Road, making it a perfect pit stop for anyone driving along the Victoria Coast.

5. Rua Reidh Lighthouse, Scotland

Photo: ChrisAndF/Shutterstock

Rua Reidh Lighthouse sits at the mouth of Loch Ewe in northwest Scotland, facing the Isle of Skye and Outer Hebrides. Built in 1912 and still operational, the lighthouse doubles as a popular backdrop for wedding photography, as well as a special place to hang your hat for a night or two. The lighthouse keeper’s and assistant lighthouse keeper’s houses have been converted into a guest house and self-catering apartment, which sleeps up to five. The accommodations have been made warm, cozy, and colorful touches like embroidered rugs and small artworks have made the place really shine. Room rates start at $126/night.

6. Roter Sand Lighthouse, Germany

Photo: Kirstin/Wikimedia Commons

Roter Sand Lighthouse is as remote as accommodations come. It sticks out of the North Sea off the coast of northern Germany and provides the most insane view from the top of the tower. It’s a rustic experience — there’s no heating or electricity, and guests are expected to bring their own sleeping bags — but the minimal furnishings don’t equate to a small price tag. The base rate for a one-night stay at Roter Sand Lighthouse is $728, giving you something to save up for.

7. Porer, Croatia

Photo: Anton Unkovic/Shutterstock

You don’t just get access to the lighthouse when you visit Porer — you get an entire island, granted one that only takes a minute or two to circumnavigate. Porer sits roughly a mile and a half off the southern tip of Croatia, so visitors get an eyeful of the Adriatic Sea at all times. There are two, four-bed apartments on the ground floor of the lighthouse, both of which are outfitted with fully-equipped kitchens and modest decor. Apartments go for around $80/night during the low and off seasons and $150/night between June and September. If you love a good sunset but don’t feel like sharing the view, Porer should be next up on your to-stay list.

8. The Lighthouse in Island Bay, New Zealand

Photo: Airbnb

It may not be the tallest or oldest lighthouse, but this Island Bay fixture is not without its charm. It’s located in a suburb of Wellington and comes well-equipped with a kitchen, bedroom, and lounge area, which has killer views of both the South Coast and South Island in the distance. Better still, the lighthouse sits just ten minutes from downtown Island Bay, so guests always have something to do, as well as somewhere to escape to. You can rent a room with breakfast for $200/night between Monday and Thursday or splurge on a Friday or Saturday reservation, which costs $230/night with breakfast.

9. Haig Point Lighthouse, South Carolina, US

Photo: Haig Point

This lighthouse sits in the swanky golf resort at Haig Point, where guests can spend their nights before hitting one of the top golf courses in the state. The lighthouse was built in 1873 not far from Hilton Head, originally constructed to help guide ships safely between Point Royal Harbor and the Savannah River. Now it serves as a two-story guest house, complete with a modern kitchen, air conditioning, two bathrooms, a powder room, and two bedrooms with views out over the water. Price starts at $499/night for four guests. You can’t get up into the actual light tower, but the large front porch makes up for it. When you’re enjoying twilight with a cold beer in a rocking chair, looking out over the water from an historic lighthouse, antique details like old lamps only add to the experience.


More like this: The tallest hotels around the world with jaw-dropping city views

The post 9 lighthouses you can actually stay in appeared first on Matador Network.

How to take pictures of the ocean

For the upper half of the world, it’s summer, and that means basking in the sunshine at pristine beaches, or seeking solace from the heat in the sparkling ocean. We often take a camera along, whether a proper, professional one or just our smartphones, in order to capture the perfect beach snap that’ll have everyone jealous on Instagram. But if you’re just clicking the shutter without a second’s thought, it’s no wonder why your basic pictures haven’t cracked the double digits on “likes.” Step up your photo game this summer by following these 13 tips from a professional photographer on how to make those ocean snapshots more powerful — while having fun, and getting a little wet in the process.

1

Straight horizon

Always, always straighten that horizon. A tilty ocean photo makes your viewer feel wonky and is the first amateur red flag. If there is no horizon, you’ll have to eyeball it for a sense of feeling upright. This scene in the Philippines was a bit tricky to get perfectly straight with so many craggy cliffs dotting the horizon, but I focused on the little bit of horizon showing, and eyeballed the cliffs for when they felt straight up in the frame. You can correct the horizon after the fact, but you might end up cropping out something important; it’s way better to do it from the get-go. Chances are your phone and camera have a “grid” overlay to help with this, and composing in general.

2

Avoid high noon

Harsh sunset casts a bright white reflection on the ocean and typically dulls the true color. High noon or the brightest daytime hours also make it pretty much impossible to take a long exposure (more to come on that). Yet another side effect of high noon is parts of the scene will be very, very bright, and any shadows will be extremely dark, and your camera will struggle to balance that. So instead, sunbathe and nap during the bright daytime and take photos either in soft morning light or the approaching sunset. Even if not true sunset, light will soften as the sun goes behind the horizon.

3

Keep the sun to your back

Put the sun at your back and photograph the elements the sun is lighting up. This is not the only way to photograph a scene, but it is the easiest way to balance the light and avoid harsh shadows for beginners. At sunset or sunrise, the scene you’re facing may glow orange. At high noon, it will at least be well lit - just avoid including your own shadow. Shooting into the sun is a more advanced move as it requires experience with balancing the exposure. For example, in this diptych from Mexico, while it still looks pretty bright, it was actually taken at 5:00 PM - you can imagine how intense it was at noon.

Intermission











Sponsored

5 awesome ways to experience Virginia Beach

Matador Team
May 1, 2018












Sponsored

3 incredible ways to experience Kissimmee, Fla., as a family

Jacqueline Kehoe
May 17, 2018












Travel Photography Tips

This couple takes utterly romantic self-portraits around the world (and you can too)

Lynn and Keith Lewis
Feb 14, 2018












4

Follow the clouds

If you get a cloudy day, all the usual rules go out the window, including shooting at noon. Clouds block the harsh sun and soften the light, so while you may lose a bit of the ocean’s color, you should gain balance in your light. You can shoot in nearly any direction when the sun is blocked. Even better if you get stormy clouds rolling in. Bonus tip: When the sun is setting or the light is just really good, find a puddle and get low. See if you can double down the light or reflect something cool like clouds or a bird by getting it just right in the puddle. Circular polarizers can help with this too, as was the case with this photo in Hawaii.

5

Shoot in RAW

Your smartphone probably can’t do this one, though that is changing with new technology. Your camera, though, has a few file formats. Most common is JPEG. While JPEGs are smaller in size, they also toss aside a lot of extra information about the image, which you could use later to make more powerful edits. If you’re shooting in fantastic light and loving the results, you could stay in JPEG and be stoked, or you could switch to RAW at any time if you wanted to play with post-production. Shooting in RAW is especially useful when you’re working with harsh light of any kind. It will give you a lot more wiggle room to adjust the light, colors, tones, sharpness, etc. In post-production, though, you will need a program that can open RAW files to begin. When you finish editing and export, it’ll export as a JPEG that you can upload anywhere.

So for example, this young man I met on a Kenyan beach was standing in super harsh, high noon light, so I quickly switched to RAW to give me a fighting chance at balancing the shadows later. It’s not perfect, but it helped me save a shot that otherwise might have been a completely lost cause. Is this an ocean photograph, by the way? I say yes. The ocean is the second major element in this frame, after the man himself, and adds to the story of the fisherman.

6

Add a human element

The human eye is totally biased and loves to see other humans. In an entire image complete with lots of cool stuff to look at, like this one, chances are your eyes will immediately check out the human figure first and then the rest of the scene. So, it’s a powerful way to add layers to an image. It also adds a sense of scale, as seen here at Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland.

7

Use a polarizing filter

If you’re working with a legit camera (sorry, no smartphones), a circular polarizer filter cuts through reflections and adds depth to the colors of the water. There’s a catch: to really work, the sun needs to be about a 90 degree angle from your camera. So, essentially, on your right or left. It won’t work shooting into the sun or if the sun is behind you. You spin your CP on the front of your lens until the scene lights up with color and the reflection is gone. Or, if you’re like me, you accidently buy the wrong size and just hold it in front of your lens as you go - watch out for those fingers sneaking into your scene.

8

Play with long exposure

There’s a dozen different ways to arrive at a long exposure, but you definitely need: low light, or a filter that blocks light (Neutral Density); a tripod (in a pinch you can use a sweater, picnic table, or anything flat; additionally, you can get small travel tripods that aren’t cumbersome); a two second delay or a trigger; low ISO (ISO often works against long exposures but there are exceptions); and above all else, a slow shutter speed. Shutter speeds show up as fractions: 1/60, 1/500, 1/4000. The higher the lower number, the faster the shutter speed, and the more action in your scene is frozen. If you want blur or motion, you need a lower fraction like 1/20, 1/10, 1/2, or even into full numbers like 1”, 5”, or 30”, which indicate full seconds. Most cameras cap out at 30 full seconds. Just how long you are able to get exposure depends on how much light; the more light, the shorter the shutter speed. So this is best for very cloudy days, sunsets, sunrises, etc. My suggested shortcut is to go T or Tv or S, on your camera which means either Time or Shutter Speed, and tell your camera 1/20 or lower. See what you get and play with the fraction as you go.

What will happen is the ocean keeps moving while your shutter speed is “open,” allowing motion to be captured. It can smooth the ocean out entirely so it looks like silk, or just add flowy texture vs harsh droplets (fast shutter speed for that). And yes, chances are your smartphone can do this one too, you just need to toggle from Auto to “Advanced” or “Manual” or some similar kind of name in your settings, and use a tripod just for phones.

This diptych from Kenya shows the difference between two seconds and 30 seconds. One has a bit of motion and the other looks like fog, not even like water anymore. Cool, no?

9

Capture action

The opposite of a long exposure. Just flip everything I said above and try to get a very high fraction like 1/500th or 1/4000th, and set your ISO to auto so it can keep up accordingly. As a general rule, objects that move along the horizon (from your right to left, for example) are easier to freeze than anything moving towards you. I was sitting on the beach in Portugal waiting for just the right surfer to zip through my scene and fired away.

Intermission











Sponsored

5 senses of Leavenworth, WA: A summer travel guide

Jacqueline Kehoe
May 29, 2018












Sponsored

6 awesome ways to experience Aurora, CO

Tim Wenger
May 31, 2018












Travel Photography Tips

Travel photography according to Wes Anderson

Jens Lennartsson
Dec 13, 2016












10

Let the ocean be the subject

It depends where you go, but having something else going on and the ocean as a backdrop turns a photo of the ocean into an ocean scene. A palm tree, beers in the sand, a person, a pile of rocks, a crab, or, maybe, an old car in Havana just trying to get through the waves coming up and over the Malecon - all can work well.

11

Get above

We go to the beach generally to be on the beach. But ask yourself if there is anything to climb and look down from, to give yourself a different viewpoint. In the case of this photo, being on the beach just didn’t do justice to the solitude and eeriness of this shipwreck in Portugal, so I scaled my way up a clayish wall and tried this little composition. On the flipside, don’t be afraid to get really low either, like a bug’s view of the ocean, as that can also add interest to the scene.

12

Anchor your shot

Having a strong foreground is usually recommended. There are exceptions, of course, but when you’re just beginning, it’s good to have something of interest near, mid, and far in a proper seascape image. Your foreground doesn’t always have to be your subject, so much as lead you into the photo. In this case, the boat is clearly the subject but the anchor leads the way and draws us in.

13

Play

Just play. Crack some beers and play around in the sand and waves. Watch the light change. Play with your settings. Play with where you stand. Sit back and look around. For me, I love to play with panning - a long exposure where I whip the camera from right to left. There’s no one perfect way to take a photo of the ocean, so make it your own.

More like this: Photographer takes incredible photos of “frozen” waves

The post 13 ways to take stronger, more powerful images of the ocean appeared first on Matador Network.

Longest Blood Moon to come in July

Eclipse fans, mark your calendars. On the night of July 27th and morning of July 28th, people in the Eastern Hemisphere will have the chance to see the longest lunar eclipse that has occurred so far in the 21st century. According to astronomers, the total eclipse will last one hour and 43 minutes, with the partial eclipse — occuring before and after the total eclipse phase — lasting for three hours and 55 minutes.

A lunar eclipse is caused by the direct alignment of the Sun, Earth, and Moon, when the Moon’s orbit brings it directly into Earth’s shadow. Since the Moon is set to pass into the darkest region of the Earth’s shadow, known as the umbra, this particular eclipse will also give the Moon a reddish color, making it a “blood moon.”

The July eclipse will also happen at the same time as the Moon’s apogee — when the Moon hits its furthest point from Earth in its monthly orbit. This means that the moon will take more time to pass through Earth’s dark shadow, making the eclipse last longer.

The total eclipse will begin at 7:30 PM UTC and end at 9:13 PM UTC, with the peak occurring at 8:22 PM UTC. And if that wasn’t enough to satisfy your thirst for astronomical phenomena, just a few days after the eclipse, Mars will pass by Earth at its closest point since 2003 and will be visible to the naked eye on July 31st.

H/T: Insider

More like this: The next 10 total solar eclipses around the world

The post The longest “Blood Moon” of the 21st century is coming in July appeared first on Matador Network.

Japan has a Hello Kitty themed train

One of Japan’s most recognizable cartoon icons will now grace the side of a bullet train. A white and pink Hello Kitty-themed bullet train is about to begin a three month run between Osaka and Fukuoka on Sunday. The West Japan Railway hopes the use of a famous local character will boost tourism. Hello Kitty branding will appear on the windows, seat covers, and flooring.

The train will be unique in other ways, too. The first carriage, for example, will have no seats, but will allow passengers to buy regional goods and foods from western Japan. Another carriage will have a giant Hello Kitty doll, where fans can pose for photos. If it sounds more like an amusement park than a train — that’s part of the plan to attract tourists.

The Hello Kitty character was created in 1974 by Yuko Shimizu, and has since become a wildly popular brand worldwide — but especially in Japan — worth billions of dollars.

We certainly expect to see an influx of Hello Kitty-themed Instagram posts coming out of Japan, as more and more tourists discover this new photo opportunity.

H/T: BBC News

More like this: The 11 most beautiful train stations around the world

The post Japan has a new Hello Kitty themed bullet train, and it’s adorable appeared first on Matador Network.