Matador Network's Blog, page 765

Europe reintroducing lockdown

Although many countries around the world have been trending towards reopening amid COVID-19, several European countries are actually taking steps backward into another lockdown. As fall and winter approach, Europe has seen a worrying increase in cases that are prompting partial lockdowns and more social distancing measures.

The Czech Republic, for example, has one of the region’s highest new infection rates and will introduce a partial lockdown for three weeks where schools, bars, and clubs will be closed. The Netherlands also recently announced a partial lockdown, with masks becoming mandatory again in public indoor spaces. In Italy, a new decree is banning school trips, amateur contact sports, and parties over six people.

Hospitalizations are also on the rise in places like France. In Paris, 90 percent of intensive care beds may be filled by the end of next week, the BBC reports, and President Emmanuel Macron just announced curfews in Paris, Aix-Marseille, Grenoble, Montpellier, Toulouse, Saint Etienne, Lille, Rouen, and Lyon between 9 PM and 6 AM. London also moved from “medium” to “high” alert, meaning Londoners are now banned from convening with those from other households indoors, including at pubs and restaurants.

Even Germany, which has handled the pandemic well, is seeing a concerning rise in numbers, with over 5,000 new cases yesterday.

More like thisArt + Architecture40 European small towns that are straight out of a storybook

The post Several European countries are reintroducing lockdowns appeared first on Matador Network.

Photos of American life during COVID

During the first wave of the pandemic, photographer Brian Bowen Smith parked his car in the middle of the street in Times Square and spent 15 minutes taking photos. Anyone who has been to, or even seen an image of, New York’s biggest tourist attraction knows that what Smith did would have been unthinkable prior to March of 2020.

Smith set out from his home in Los Angeles at the start of the pandemic with the goal of capturing this moment in history. He drove from coast to coast in a 1958 Ford F100, stopping in small towns and major cities and photographing people and places along the way with his Leica M10 Monochrom. He counted Reese Witherspoon and Common among his subjects, but also dairy farmers and people just trying to get by.

Photo: Brian Bowen Smith

The project is far from Smith’s typical line of work. He’s made a living doing magazine shoots for the likes of Vogue and GQ, as well as high fashion ad campaigns. His subjects are typically stars like Dwayne Johnson, Miley Cyrus, and Christian Bale, but when the pandemic hit, this line of work dried up.

“I wasn’t working at all, so I had all the time in the world,” Smith says over the phone. There were many unknowns when he took off, from how long the pandemic would last to how safe it would be for him to travel. All he knew was that it had to be done quickly to document the day to day at a time when it felt like life itself was on pause.

Photo: Brian Bowen Smith

“I’ve never hit the road to do something creative as a photographer,” Smith says. “I’ve never had that luxury. I have to work, I have to feed my family, I have to stay busy. So I could never take off a month and a half and just go across the country. It was an opportunity that I knew if I didn’t do it right now, it was never going to be done by me.”

Smith, who is 51, wanted to keep a low profile and do a drive-by style series. The compact and fast M10 made that easier, and he stuck with one lens — the Leica Tri-Elmar-M 16-18-21mm — to keep things simple. The images were shaped into a book called Drivebys that’s available to purchase, as are select prints. It’s a look into the places that people missed as they stayed at home and tried to stay safe during the worst pandemic in recent history.

We caught up with Smith to learn more about the logistics of the cross-country trip and hear his stories of photographing the country in lockdown.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

What do you think black and white adds to the project?

It’s an important time to document what’s going on in the world. It takes away the distractions from all the different situations that I’ve encountered, and it’s more about the subject and the person as opposed to a nice backlight mid sunset glow.

Photo: Brian Bowen Smith

I needed something that would tie everything together, and black and white was the first thing I thought of. The Leica M10 Monochrom also has so much latitude — some of these things I’ve only got 30 seconds to shoot and you’re doing everything manual and on the fly, and this camera is easy to do that.

Photo: Brian Bowen Smith

What’s on the back of the display is what you’re getting. I can be quick and know everything is there, bump up highlights and midtones later, and make it look great without having to really take my time.

What planning went into this trip? Any special precautions?

To be honest, the planning was very minimal. I decided to do it, then four days later I was on the road.

I knew it was going to be tough and I was originally going to camp so I could social distance, because it was in the heart of COVID and the heart of the whole country being shut down. It’s not like I could ask people if I could sleep on their couch or get a hotel. That wasn’t an option.

Photo: Brian Bowen Smith

One of my assistants had a 1993 Winnebago, and so I put it to him and said, “Hey, do you want to join me on this trip and we can social distance in the Winnebago?”

He told me the next day, “Dude I’m in. I’m not going to miss out on this, let’s go.” So that was pretty much the planning.

Photo: Brian Bowen Smith

Then we very quickly learned we should have planned better.

How did you decide where you were going to go?

We kind of planned it when we were on the road. We didn’t really know where we were going, we let people from Instagram dictate the idea and then we’d follow them.

Photo: Brian Bowen Smith

We originally had a plan to go through the southern route of the United States and come back across the country on the northern route. On day three that changed. We went from Las Vegas all the way up to the northern part of Oregon and into Washington. So that was 18 hours out of the way, but for a special shot.

And then we’re like, now what? People would message us “stop here,” and we’d look through Instagram and they would decide where we would go.

How did you find your subjects then with such changing plans?

Through Instagram. I wanted people to give me ideas that weren’t like, “Oh, I’m in my window. You can take a picture of me and my family.” That’s sad. I didn’t want to do that. I wanted to find someone I’ve never met who has never been told in their life that their picture looks cool, and then do something that’s fun for both of us.

Photo: Brian Bowen Smith

My first stop I got seven pictures. We were three hours from Vegas, so I Instagrammed “Who in Vegas is in town?” I got an Elvis impersonator who was like, “Dude what about Elvis in a mask?” It doesn’t get more Vegas than that.

The guy in Washington was like, “Hey, I set myself on fire for a living. I guess that would be cool, I could just set myself on fire.” And I was like, “Okay, what?” We googled him and thought, “Yeah, that has to be in the book.”

Photo: Brian Bowen Smith

I would filter through Instagram and find things, or someone would be like, “Hey this is our story: We’re a fourth generation dairy farm, and this is hitting us super hard and we’re having to dump out milk because we can’t stop milking our cows, but the demand isn’t up so no one is buying it. We run the farms ourselves so all the family is helping now. We had to let some employees go, so now we get up every day at 4 in the morning.”

This is important. This is part of what this whole thing is about. So we went and put a baby cow in the picture, and had an old school pail that you used to milk with so it looks like Robert Frank’s United States.

I thought the book was going to be 100 pages, maybe. But we shot over 300 people and went 11,000 miles.

Robert Frank’s America — was that a big inspiration? Were there others?

There were so many inspirations. Another was Richard Avedon’s In the American West.

Photo: Brian Bowen Smith

The people are the focus but there’s a lot of open road on that trip too. What came from those road shots?

I had the camera on my hip when I drove, and if I saw something I just, boom, snapped a picture of it. So every time I got in the car, if it was an overcast day, I set the camera up for situations and I put the camera on Infiniti.

Photo: Brian Bowen Smith

One of my favorite shots in the book is this strip club in Kentucky. As I’m about to take a picture of it, I see this muscle car coming down the street. I got the camera and I slowed down, but I see cars are coming up behind me so I can’t stop and I’m trying to time it right to get that muscle car with no other cars passing me in front of the strip club. So within a 20 second scenario that felt like 2 seconds, I miraculously pulled it off, but it wasn’t planned.

Photo: Brian Bowen Smith

I’m just constantly looking around for pictures driving that truck, which was part of the point of the truck in the first place. The windows are almost 360 degrees around. You can see out of that truck so nicely, it’s like watching a big TV. I wanted to find those places that have such good character that, even though it’s a landscape or an old closed shop, it looks really cool and deserves to be there in the book.

What impression did seeing these iconic places closed or empty have on you? Was it depressing?

Halfway through the trip, I was almost looking for that heartbreak. I was looking for that town that was all boarded up because I knew I needed to document it.

On one drive I busted out in tears and though, you know man, I can’t believe I’m doing this. I felt so sad for all those little towns and so sad for what’s happening, and I wondered, “Am I a scumbag for even taking pictures of this while people are losing their houses and losing their lives?”

Photo: Brian Bowen Smith

Rich people are going to be able to rebuild. Their insurance is going to pay for the damages. But when you’re living in a small town and you have a diner and 20 people that come there, when that goes away you don’t have anything else. Those people still have to pay their mortgage. They don’t own their houses. They can’t just say I’ll get another job because there aren’t any other jobs.

Photo: Brian Bowen Smith

When you go into those towns, you think, “How will they recover? How will this get fixed?” And then I think about the rest of the world.

What lessons do you want people to take away from this project?

The main takeaway is I want people to enjoy the book and enjoy the photographs. Then I want them to look at it over and over and form their own healing.

Photo: Brian Bowen Smith

I’m giving proceeds from the book to Feeding America, so I’m not trying to profit off the pandemic or profit off being able to do this. I want to give back. I want this to be good for someone else.

Anything else you’d like to add that we haven’t covered yet?

With a good idea and the right people, anyone can do anything.

Photo: Brian Bowen Smith

More like thisOutdoorPhotographer Chris Burkard on how to become an adventure photographer

The post This photographer drove cross-country to capture American life in lockdown appeared first on Matador Network.

What is seasonal depression

Summer 2020 was a non-event. By now, most of us will have come to terms with that, but for many who are about to endure a long and dark winter, this year’s lack of freedom to enjoy the warmer months will make the slow march into the cold particularly difficult.

Growing up in Scotland I remember shouldering winter through planning with military precision. During the week, we’d walk to school in the dark and return in the dark. Our lunch hour allowed for access to outside, but unlike our neighbors in Scandinavia, we were rarely dressed properly to make getting a dose of sunlight a pleasant experience. From the moment we woke our day was organized around making life in the dark more bearable, mentally and physically.

Scotland’s winters are, of course, not as harsh as other northern countries, but they are a test of endurance and our daylight hours are short. This poses challenges to mental health, and many suffer from a seasonal pattern depression called seasonal affective disorder (often shortened to SAD, which is a little on the nose). This form of depression is common in countries in the northern hemisphere and can cause mood swings, low energy, and an overall lack of interest in life.

The exact cause of this seasonal depression is not completely understood, but it is believed that it is connected to reduced exposure to sunlight during the shorter days of winter. Light therapy is a very popular way to help the body and mind cope with the changing seasons, and in some cases, patients are advised to undertake talk therapy such as cognitive-behavioral therapy, or take medication. Although these seem to be the most popular ways of helping combat seasonal depression, there are other coping mechanisms we can learn from those who live through winter with the shortest daylight hours on the planet. Before we get to that, let’s look into what SAD is, who it affects, and what we can learn from Nordic countries to combat it.

Editor’s note: The author is not a medical professional. If you are experiencing depressive symptoms, please consult a doctor or mental health professional.

What is seasonal depression?

Most regard seasonal depression as a subclass of general depression, and its symptoms can vary hugely from what is often referred to as “winter blues” to an annual depression that can induce suicidal thoughts.

One of the leading theories of what causes SAD is that reduced exposure to sunlight — which affects the balance of chemicals and hormones in the brain — results in a change of mood and energy levels. Light is a stimulus for the hypothalamus, a part of the brain which controls your appetite, sleep patterns, and overall mood. The lack of light exposure reduces levels of serotonin and melatonin, upsets circadian rhythms, and messes with your biological clock. This can result in a feeling similar to jet lag.

“If someone’s biological clock is running slow and that melatonin rhythm hasn’t fallen, then their clock is telling them to keep on sleeping even though their alarm may be going off and life is demanding that they wake up,” said Professor of Psychology at the University of Vermont, Kelly Rohan to The Atlantic. And although it is still unclear exactly how tiredness directly triggers feelings of depression, a lethargic mood can produce some very negative emotional responses.

Who does seasonal depression affect?

There are several other theories as to why people experience this change of mood in winter, but most physicians and researchers seem to agree on one thing: Many people suffer from its symptoms, and it is very common. Emeritus Professor of Psychiatric Neurobiology at the Center for Chronobiology in Basel, Switzerland, Anna Wirz-Justice, shared with The Atlantic that most of us experience a low-amplitude change throughout the year with moods lowering in fall and winter and improving come spring. There also seems to be a consensus that bright light therapy — specifically undertaken first thing in the morning — can relieve symptoms.

What is light therapy treatment?

Also known as phototherapy, light therapy is a treatment in which the patient is exposed to artificial light from a lightbox. There can be variations in what kind of light source and strength is used, but most commonly it mirrors natural light. Session times also vary, depending on the power of the lightbox and how the patient handles the treatment. You can purchase a lightbox for your home, but it is advised to talk to your doctor before undertaking treatment. It is also suggested that for those suffering severely that light therapy is only successful in addition to other therapies and/or medication.

How do people treat seasonal depression in Nordic countries?

Photo: Shutterstock/In Green

Since 2013, the World Happiness Report has seen an annual high ranking of Finland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Iceland in the top 10. Nordic countries have occupied the top three leading spots in 2017, 2018, and 2019. That begs the question: Why is it that we continually see these countries topping the list when they have some of the most grueling winters with the shortest days in the world? And if indeed SAD is directly linked to a drop in sun exposure, how is it possible that the most sun-deprived people have the highest overall level of happiness on the planet? As well as utilizing light therapy there are some techniques that have been built into the culture of the part of the world that seems to dramatically help their citizens mentally cope with the change of season. Here are some of the ways Nordic countries combat seasonal affective disorder.

Having a diet of oil-rich fish

The dietary staple of oily fish in Nordic countries could be pertinent to helping support mood regulation. Research into mood disorders suggests that consuming a balance of omega-3s to omega-6 fatty acids is beneficial for fighting depression. Oil-rich fish such as salmon, smoked herring, mackerel, and sardines are commonplace on the Nordic table and, as well as providing a good source of omegas, fish oil also gives you a dose of the “sunshine vitamin,” vitamin D. Vitamin D is concentrated in the liver of a fish, so taking a cod liver oil supplement is the best way to get your daily dose.

Getting as comfortable and cozy as possible

Photo: Elena Elisseeva/Shutterstock

There has been a lot of conversation about the benefits to well-being by adopting the cozy Danish lifestyle of hygge over recent years. Hygge is such an important part of Danish culture that Meik Wiking, the CEO of the Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen, proclaimed in his book, the lifestyle is “a defining feature of our cultural identity and an integral part of the national DNA.” Norwegians refer to their version of this lovely sounding lifestyle as koselig — but it’s a very similar way of thinking. Basically, these nations gravitate towards anything that is comfortable and cozy.

During winter months they surround themselves with warm knits, light candles and fireplaces, and enjoy the comfort of a warm bowl of soup. They find pleasure in small things and snuggle down for the season, and with that comes peace of mind. It has been argued that it is partly because of Norway’s gravitation toward creature comforts that the nation enjoys a high level of year-round happiness. For example, recent research by health psychologist Kari Leibowitz looked at the psychological effects of life during the Polar Night — a time of the year where the sun does not rise above the horizon — in one of Norway’s darkest places, Tromsø. Her yearlong study indicated that by opting for simple pleasures, winter months were more bearable, and thus the rates of winter depression are much lower than what would be expected for the islands northern latitude and long winter.

Psychological acceptance and going outside

But don’t let these concepts of cozy living let you think people from Nordic countries during winter are at all lazy; in fact, the overriding themes of resilience and acceptance are prevalent in their cold-weather culture, activities, and attitude. Outdoor life in the north does not grind to a halt with shorter days, and research conducted in communities close to or above the Arctic Circle has concluded that this positive mindset and their acceptance of the environment results in physiological health and balance.

A huge part of Leibowitz’s research findings indicates this to be true, and after being surrounded by Norweigan positivity during the winter months of her study, she stated that her mindset began to change towards the season. “Most people don’t realise that their beliefs about winter are subjective,” shared Leibowitz. “They feel like they’re just someone who hates the winter and there’s nothing they can do about it … But once you put it in people’s heads that mindsets exist, and that you have control over your mindset — I think that that’s tremendously powerful.” So it seems that having a positive mindset, accepting that winter is coming, and indeed celebrating it plays a huge part in supporting your mental health during the season.

More like thisWellnessA therapist’s guide to boosting your mental health when you’re socially isolated

The post What Nordic countries can teach us about combating seasonal depression appeared first on Matador Network.

What is frog eye salad?

With Thanksgiving around the corner, you might be perusing the internet for dessert recipes that go beyond the tried-and-true pumpkin pie, and in the course of that journey there is a chance you will come across a dish called frog eye salad. If you grew up or live outside of the Western United States — specifically Utah, Colorado, Idaho, or Wyoming — you’ve likely never encountered it before.

Forget everything you know about dessert, salad, and pasta. You know what, forget everything you know about frogs, too, while you’re at it. Because while frog eye salad might share similarities with its distant cousin ambrosia (sometimes also known as Hawaiian salad), this dish is an altogether different variety of the slice of American cuisine known as the dessert salad.

Where frog eye salad comes from

Though there’s no hard evidence that points to the exact origins of frog eye salad, the general consensus is that it was most likely invented in the kitchens of Mormon housewives. In fact, it’s still one of the most popular dishes among the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints community. In 2010, The Atlantic published a guide to Mormon cuisine that included frog eye salad, and the Temple Square Temple blog explicitly calls frog eye salad a “Mormon recipe.”

That being said, it’s popular throughout the region, and it’s likely to pop at family reunions, potlucks, and funeral repasts. Its moment in the spotlight really arrives on Thanksgiving, though, when it’s often the centerpiece of the dessert spread. In 2014, the New York Times found that it was the most-searched-for Thanksgiving recipe in Colorado, Idaho, and Wyoming. And in case you need more evidence that frog eye salad is a signature Thanksgiving dish, Rachel, the popular blogger behind Eazy Peazy Meals (who, coincidentally, attended the LDS-affiliated Brigham Young University) says it’s her “go-to Thanksgiving side.”

It has a long history outside the LDS church, too. Sarah, who runs the recipe blog Vintage Dish & Tell, includes some fascinating history on the origins of frog eye salad’s popularity in the midwest: Sarah first came across frog eye salad in a recipe book from 1992, pulled together by congregates of St. Philip’s Lutheran Church in Plymouth, Minnesota. She managed to track down the lady credited with adding frog eye salad to the recipe cook, one Marlene Roberts.

Roberts recalls first spotting the recipe for frog eye salad on the back of a box of Creamette Acini Di Pepe pasta, and that her mother made the dessert in the late 60s and 70s, too. In the St. Philip’s cookbook, Roberts writes that “This is a family favorite for large gatherings, e.g. baptisms, confirmations, graduation, etc.”

How to make frog eye salad

Unlike traditional ambrosia, which is a combination of marshmallows, whipped cream, and canned fruit, frog eye salad is technically a pasta salad. The central ingredient is acini di pepe, a style of pasta similar in shape and size to couscous (the Italian name translates to “seeds of pepper”). Acini di pepe also explains the odd, potentially off-putting, name of this dish because the cooked pasta looks like frog eyes in the final product. The pasta also creates a texture similar to rice pudding or tapioca pudding.

To make this salad, you first have to make a custard, which is sometimes flavored with pineapple juice. Once it’s been refrigerated for at least two hours, you add your toppings, which is where the fun begins. Most folks add the classic standbys like canned mandarin oranges, pineapple chunks, and Cool Whip folded into the custard, but it’s easy to customize with banana slices, mini-marshmallows, coconut flakes, and maraschino cherries. There is no lettuce, and definitely no frogs, required to enjoy this salad.

So does it taste good?

Many blog posts refer to frog eye salad as some variation on a “super old school” classic that showed up at all sorts of family gatherings. That, or a “staple” that aunts and moms brought to potlucks and holiday dinners. But it’s worth pointing out that opinions are mixed about whether or not it’s actually a beloved holiday dish.

One message board for people who no longer practice the Mormon religion confess that they ate frog eye salad throughout their youth but never enjoyed it. (“As for frog-eye salad, I’m not a fan. I remember eating it in [third] grade when my teacher, Mrs. Weisner, brought it for a treat. Because I was a child and didn’t know any better, I thought it was good at the time. A few years later I wised up,” writes one user). However, one of the Mormon bloggers behind Six Sisters Stuff writes that frog eye salad “is my all time favorite food.” The blogger behind This Is How We Bingham put her devotion to frog eye salad in even stronger terms: “I feel like this is a recipe I will be making until I die,” she wrote.

It’s safe to say this whipped delight is divisive, but the best way to find out for sure is to try it for yourself before you dismiss it completely. And you certainly don’t have to be a member of the LDS church to appreciate frog eye salad. In a short essay for The Mormon Times, writer Melissa DeMoux put it best: “From the dinner table to the serving table iconic Mormon foods show up everywhere. Some are fabulous, some are just plain weird, but there is a special place in our hearts — and stomachs — for each of these dishes.”

More like thisFood + DrinkHow fried bull testicles became a Colorado delicacy

The post Frog eye salad: a classic Western Thanksgiving dish explained appeared first on Matador Network.

Wildfire on Mt Kilimanjaro

A wildfire on Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, began on Sunday and has since burned over 10 square miles of land. More than 500 volunteer firefighters have been deployed on Africa’s tallest peak to battle the fire. It was contained earlier in the week but erupted once again on Wednesday morning, spreading to 12 homes, two bathroom facilities, and two solar panels, reported Tanzania National Parks today. Currently, the fire is about halfway up the mountain, from about 8,850 to 12,100 feet.

Different scenes regarding fire outbreak on Mount Kilimanjaro. Efforts are underway to contain the fire. We have deployed about 400 pax to counter the outbreak by @PASCALSHELUTETE #TANAPANEWS pic.twitter.com/aVPEGJnKij

— Tanzania National Parks (@tzparks) October 13, 2020

According to Tanzania National Parks, the fire likely started at the Whona area, a rest center for climbers.

Pascal Shelutete, a park communication official, said at a press conference, “There could be more to this fire but preliminary evidence points to Whona where visitors were warming their food. As you know, this is a dry season and fire spreads very fast.”

The fire is likely to damage flora and fauna on the mountain, though ecologists don’t believe any endemic species will be wiped out completely. The increasing number of fires on the mountain recently, however, is cause for concern.

More like thisLanguages6 Swahili phrases you’ll learn climbing Mount Kilimanjaro

The post Wildfire burns over 10 square miles of land on Mount Kilimanjaro appeared first on Matador Network.

How to visit Chernobyl

Darmon Richter is Chernobyl-obsessed. He took his first trip to Chernobyl in 2013 as part of a licenced tour, and has been leading and designing tours of the Exclusion Zone since 2016. In total, he’s visited Chernobyl 20 times on multiple day trips, including once illegally with a “stalker” — as those who visit the area illegally are known — as his guide.

“After that first visit, I don’t know if I necessarily would have wanted to go back to Chernobyl again,” he explains during an interview with Matador Network. “The tour experience that I had wasn’t mind-blowing. It was quite sensational. We had a large group of 30 people being rushed about to rooms and abandoned buildings with various dolls, gas masks, and all these props set up that felt somehow inauthentic.”

Photo: Darmon Richter

But after spending more time in Ukraine and getting to know people who work in the tourism industry in Chernobyl, he got increasingly interested in the past and present of the evacuation zone. Throughout the years and the many visits, he gathered enough expert knowledge to write Chernobyl: A Stalkers’ Guide, a recently published photo guide-cum-travelogue that takes readers way beyond the clichés most of us have of the area.

Photo: FUEL Publishing

Taking an licensed tour is an exclusive experience reserved almost entirely to foreigners who don’t think twice about dropping $100-$200 for a day visit. And they do it in larger and larger numbers each year; in 2019, 124,000 visitors took an official tour of Chernobyl. But for the less-financially privileged locals whose country has been forever changed by the nuclear accident, and who grew up in the shadow of Chernobyl, there’s one much more affordable way to see this place for themselves and witness their own history — hopping the fence.

“If anyone has any right to be curious and to want to see this place first hand, it’s the people living immediately around it,” explains Richter. “For a lot of young Ukrainians it becomes almost like a rite of passage. There’s a huge draw [for them] to engage with this place and, for many, it’s easier to sneak in than to pay for a tour.”

Photo: Darmon Richter

When Richter, a British writer and photographer, decided to take an illegal tour of Chernobyl, it was not to seek an adrenaline rush or to be rebellious — he wanted to get a better picture of the place.

“[The Ukrainian Exclusion Zone] is a huge area. It is around 1,000 square miles and there used to be almost 100 villages within it, but after looking at maps while designing tours, I realized that the area where the tour buses go is tiny, so I got curious.”

Photo: Darmon Richter

Richter was able to find someone to take him on an illegal visit to the Exclusion Zone through a friend of a friend, but even without that connection, it would have been easy enough for him to find a stalker to guide him. There are public blogs with accounts and photographs of unofficial visits online for everyone to see, and many of those bloggers are open to chat about what they do. The person with whom Richter went has a website on which they sell illegal tours.

Surprisingly, those very public stalkers are confident Ukrainian authorities do not check their online goings-on. “They’re trying to catch people in the act rather than stop them before they transgress. It’s a very outdated model, though with the increased attention on Chernobyl today, it now seems to be changing — the Ukrainian government is currently discussing new legislation, which would change trespass in the Zone from a civil, to a criminal offence.”

Currently, the consequences of being caught without authorization in the Ukrainian evacuated zone are milder than one might imagine. If authorities catch visitors on foot, wandering around with a camera, exploring for the sake of sight-seeing, the fine is akin to a slap on the wrist — $25 and a drive back to the checkpoint is hardly a deterrent. (Richter mentions that for those who roam the area in order to loot metal, poach animals, or cross the unmanned Ukrainian-Belarus border, it’s another story — the punishments are much more severe.) However if this new legislation passes, the fines will go up by a hundred times, and those caught will receive a permanent criminal record — which for Ukraine’s stalker community, is liable to feel like the end of an era.

And contrary to what most of us think, the evacuated zones, whether in Ukraine or Belarus, are not heavily guarded. The tourist entrance is highly secure, with a fence and checkpoints where armed guards check visitors’ passports and tickets, but there are many places where there are no barriers and entering undetected is easy.

During his one and only illegal visit to Chernobyl, Richter penetrated the Exclusion Zone by wading through the Uzh River which forms a natural border with the rest of Ukraine. And while it was easy enough to enter, once inside, it was no picnic. For four exhausting days, Richter and other stalkers slept roughly in small disused houses during the day and hiked throughout the nights; they constantly hid from people and checked for radiation levels; they worried about getting caught; they were scared of falling through the floors of the abandoned buildings they explored, and getting attacked by the wolves who live in the zone today.

“I would not do it again,” says Richter, “and I certainly don’t want to encourage people to travel to another country and break the law. They are many things that could go wrong during an illegal tour.”

Photo: Darmon Richter

Not all licensed tours resemble the one Richter first took and despite what the title of his book might suggest, he does not believe that an illegal tour of the Exclusion Zone is the only or best way to see Chernobyl in an interesting, novel light. As a tour organizer, he thrives to take visitors further afield and find unusual lodgings, canteens, and places to see such as log cabins, beautiful abandoned Orthodox churches, murals, inhabited villages, WWII memorials, etc. He wants to show visitors that Chernobyl should not be restricted to the morbid appeal of the former control room or Pripyat’s rusty ferris wheel — he wants to make sure everyone knows that it was an interesting and beautiful place way before 1986 and that it continues to be so.

Photo: Darmon Richter

“Did you know that tourists only account for five percent of the total human traffic into the zone?” Richter asks during our conversation. “You have thousands of people working at the power plant, and many more working in forestry, conservation, construction, etc. and many of them come in by train into the zone. The place is a hive of activity.” Then he mentions that there are helicopters, small planes, and kayaking tours of the Exclusion Zone before explaining that Chernobyl was home to a large traditional Hasidic Jewish community before the horrors of the Shoah.

These are the kind of golden nuggets of information you get from Richter, who has become an expert on Chernobyl, and there’s plenty more to learn in the 40,000 words and over 100 beautiful photos that comprise his fascinating book. So, before you make any decision on whether or not you want to visit Chernobyl, and how you want to do it, pick up Chernobyl: A Stalker’s Guide and dive into the wealth of revelations and adrenaline-inducing narratives he’s packed in it.

More like thisCultureHow to visit Chernobyl safely and legally

The post This photographer took an illegal tour of Chernobyl. Here’s what he saw. appeared first on Matador Network.

Honk4Hope cycling project

Patrick Diederich is currently cycling alone across the US for the suicide prevention charity American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. His journey will take him 4,000-plus miles from New York to California. Diederich is already over 1,900 miles in and is wearing a t-shirt encouraging passers-by to honk their horns. He says, “There’s a sign on my back saying, “Fight suicide, Honk 4 Hope.”

But Diederich is not in this completely alone; he’s invited us all along for the ride. His journey is being live-streamed via Reddit and Facebook, so dial in and send him a “honk” and give support online. “I’m not stopping, I’m not stopping, I’m peddling, I’m hitting the pavement,” Diederich proclaimed to his supporters via the stream. Currently, he is riding through Florida and you can also follow his route via Ride with GPS.

After having friends and family be affected by mental health issues and having been laid off from work this year, he decided to hit the road for a charity that is so vital to us all but so underfunded: the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. The project Honk4Hope’s page opens with the following facts, “Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the US. In 2018, 48,344 Americans died by suicide. In 2018, there were an estimated 1.4m suicide attempts.”

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention provides round the clock support through its crisis line. It offers ongoing support to anyone suffering from mental illness and supports those who are worried about someone or who have lost a loved one. It also offers resources on treatment and support groups and has a bucketload of educational tools.

In addition to raising awareness for the cause, Diederich has also set a target of raising $10,000 for the charity. At the time of writing, Diederich’s already fundraised over $7,600. If you want to support him by purchasing him a hot meal during his journey you can do so by sending money to his Venmo @Pat-Diederich. Diederich is mainly camping, but if you have a warm bed and would like to open up your home, send him an email to Honk4Hope@gmail.com. And don’t forget, if you are on his route, get on your horn and give him a massive honk of support.

Editor’s note: If you or someone you know may be considering suicide, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (en Español: 1-888-628-9454; deaf and hard of hearing: 1-800-799-4889) or the Crisis Text Line by texting 741741.

More like thisCyclingBikepacking is the coolest new way to get outdoors

The post This man is cycling over 4,000 miles across the US for suicide prevention appeared first on Matador Network.

Manhattan Roosevelt Hotel closing

New York City’s iconic Roosevelt Hotel is the latest casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic, now being forced to close for good. The hotel first opened its doors in 1924 and has since been a Manhattan landmark hosting presidential election events, New Year’s Eve parties, and film productions. The devastating financial effects of the pandemic, however, proved too much for this stately property, and it’s now slated to close permanently before the end of 2020.

In March, around 500 hotel employees were furloughed due to the pandemic’s impact on travel. The decline in bookings over the past several months, and subsequent financial consequences, has been too much for the hotel to handle.

In a statement to CNN, the hotel said, “Due to the current, unprecedented environment and the continued uncertain impact from COVID-19, the owners of The Roosevelt Hotel have made the difficult decision to close the hotel and the associates were notified this week. The iconic hotel, along with most of New York City, has experienced very low demand, and as a result, the hotel will cease operations before the end of the year. There are currently no plans for the building beyond the scheduled closing.”

The Roosevelt served as the election headquarters for Governor Thomas Dewey’s 1948 presidential election campaign and has starred in movies like “Wall Street,” “Maid in Manhattan,” “Men in Black 3,” and “The Irishman.”

More like thisWhere to StayThe 8 best boutique hotels in NYC

The post NYC’s historic Roosevelt Hotel is closing permanently due to COVID-19 appeared first on Matador Network.

Berlin ad shows woman flipping off

In Berlin, ads aren’t pulling any punches over public health. Taking a very direct approach, the Berlin senate placed an ad in local papers showing an elderly woman giving the middle finger to the camera, beside the words, “A finger-wag for all those without a mask. We stick to Corona rules.” It’s a clear message to those who still resist mask-wearing, or question its seriousness, that the Berlin government isn’t messing around.

Photo: Visit Berlin

Visit Berlin, the tourism agency that developed the campaign, said to The Guardian, “We wanted to use a language that suits the Berlin character and that underscores the dramatic pandemic situation — and that we managed.”

The broader campaign, which launched in September, featured a series of posters in German, English, Turkish, and Arabic with slogans that similarly encouraged mask-wearing. One of them read, “Mask on. To keep the lights from going off.”

While this tone certainly gets the message across, some have criticized the senate for their crassness. The general secretary of the Free Democratic Party, for example, said the ad was “neither funny nor unconventional but arrogant and offensive.”

Regardless, there’s no doubt it achieved its desired effect in drawing attention and eliciting a reaction.

More like thisArt + ArchitectureWhere to discover the best street art in Berlin

The post New Berlin ad features woman giving the middle finger to anti-maskers appeared first on Matador Network.

How to see Olive Ridley sea turtles

In Spanish, the term arribada means “the arrival.” No word better encapsulates the majestic journey undertaken by the threatened Olive Ridley sea turtle to return to its nesting grounds on Escobilla Beach, in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. A 9-mile expanse of wave-pummeled sand on the Pacific Ocean near the popular surf destination of Puerto Escondido, Escobilla Beach is famous among turtle aficionados worldwide. And just my luck, I had arrived in time for one of the largest arribadas of the last few years at one of the top five beaches in the world to experience it.

As I made my way over the ocean ledge that opened onto the wide expanse of Escobilla Beach, I drew in my breath. What appeared to be large boulders covering the entire mass of the beach were actually thousands of female sea turtles in the throes of the intense and beautiful process of beaching themselves to lay hundreds of eggs before returning to the ocean from where they had come — a coordinated mass nesting. You too can experience this. Here’s how.

Witnessing the arribada first-hand

Photo: Ocea Jacobs

From July to January (peaking in September and October) Olive Ridley turtles arrive in numbers of up to 90,000 over 3-5 day periods, often coming in from the ocean near dawn, on a high tide and a full moon — all elements that add to the magic of the experience.

Olive Ridley turtles are one of the smaller of nine kinds of sea turtles, though they can still reach up to 110 pounds in weight and often stretch over two feet in length. After years of reckless turtle egg harvesting and hunting, the Olive Ridley’s breeding grounds are listed as endangered and are now protected by the Mexican state. Escobilla Beach, home to the nesting, is fiercely guarded against poachers.

To understand the journey that these sea turtles make to return to Oaxaca to lay their eggs is to understand the importance of protecting them. The Olive Ridleys who I watched crawl relentlessly out of the crashing waves this fall were born on this very beach at least 15 years before. The scientific community has yet to prove or entirely agree on how the turtles accomplish this incredible feat, but it is certain that the female sea turtles have some sort of honing mechanism allowing them to return to this spot where they hatched years later once they reach sexual maturity. The turtles may nest every year or even twice a year, and will always come back to this same spot, making Escobilla Beach, now protected as a sanctuary, a shoo-in for viewing these en mass nestings if you’re in Oaxaca during the right season.

Experiencing a magical moment at the end of a long journey

Photo: Ocea Jacobs

I was struck by the sheer size of the space occupied by the female sea turtles, as far as the eye could see in all directions. Moving through the area I chose my steps carefully and deliberately — not wanting to disturb the gentle dance of egg-laying, a slow rocking back and forth of the turtle’s body. The turtles, excruciatingly focused on the task at hand, paid no attention to the few onlookers that were there.

An air of slight discomfort and intense focus permeated the beach. My first question to my guide, who, like everyone at the beach witnessing this large and unabashed natural event, had tears in his eyes, was, “Does it hurt them?”

He replied that yes, the process can be painful to the turtles.

The turtles’ distress was intensified by the appearance of their own “tears” which actually helped to wash the sand from their eyes during this process. The first turtles I came upon had halfway completed their journeys and reached the more painful act of actually laying 80-150 eggs deep in the sand. Though I was able to witness the turtles participating in every element of the arribada simultaneously, it was then that I took in the entire process and route that the turtles had made to get to this point.

From ocean to nest, the turtles travel what could be thousands of miles back to their native beach. Escobilla Beach features large, surfable head-high waves crashing into its shores, filled with turtles slowly but steadily making their way to land. From my perspective, the appearance was of hundreds of surfing turtles. It was hard not to imagine their shells cracking in the crashing waves, but they managed to pass to the beach quite artfully.

Once on shore, the turtles travel up the beach until they find an open space where they use their flippers to dig a deep hole called a “body pit.” This process involves a lot of movement and convulsing by the turtle, often kicking up sand and eggs laid by other turtles perhaps days or even hours before. Once the nest is prepared to her liking, each turtle begins the intensely focused process of laying her eggs, the slow and gentle rocking I had come across. After the turtle has released all of her eggs, she again uses her body and flippers to fill the hole with gently packed sand and flatten the area so that it once again becomes just a part of the beach.

After her nest is covered and packed with sand, the turtle wastes very little time making her way directly back into the waves from which she came, disappearing into the blue ocean until she is ready to return to lay her next batch of eggs. Each turtle is on their own journey, and while these generally solitary creatures all come together for the mass-nesting, they enter and exit the ocean on their own. Because of this, if you sit still on the beach during an arribada for an hour the nesting begins to look like an orchestrated dance — each turtle playing her part, room for all. The idea that these creatures know where they come from and innately choose to recreate and honor that tradition is astounding to witness.

Reflecting on the experience

Photo: Ocea Jacobs

As I sat on Escobilla Beach I felt small — but I also felt a part of something. There seemed a beautiful order to the world that I didn’t fully understand and perhaps had no name. But like the turtles, I was a part of it. The continuity of knowing where you are from, leaving home, and ultimately returning spoke volumes about my own life, and I could not help but be emotionally affected by the journey of these thousands of turtles and honored to witness so intimately such an intense moment.

In roughly 45 days, the eggs will hatch nearly all at once and come pouring out of the sand like a swarm of bees, dark blue-black against the subtle browns and tans of the rocky beach. The birds will swarm and feast, and only an estimated 2 percent will make it to adulthood. Yet I had witnessed more turtles than I could ever have imagined laying their eggs and those turtles had survived the arduous process of achieving adulthood. If you have the opportunity, I highly recommend taking the time to witness this natural phenomenon up close. A lot can be learned from watching an arribada — it has taught me to have great respect for the journey and stamina of the Olive Ridley female sea turtle.

More like thisWildlifeWalk with the turtles at this sea turtle hospital in Florida

The post Witness the stunning beauty of thousands of nesting sea turtles on Oaxaca’s Escobilla Beach appeared first on Matador Network.