A new indie-film set to be released on February 14th. The trailer doesn’t tell you much but you definitely get the idea. It’s got love, lust, and travel. The colors and sceneries shown in the trailer are beautiful. I’m looking forward to checking this out.

An American returns to his European homeland in search of his identity which is lost as a result of growing up in two clashing cultures. To make things more complicated, his heart is split between two women pulling him in opposite directions.

• Written and Directed by Tom Sokalski
• Starring: Marek Birner, Marika Tomczyk, Anna Karczmarczyk, Maciej Nawrocki, Stefano Terrazzino, Joanna Turkowska and Ela Pawlak
• Music (for the trailer): “Varning” by Tystnad
• Shot on location in Paris, Procida, Ischia, Amalfi Coast, Positano, Roma, Venezia, Warszawa and Chicago

This is the teaser-trailer for the film “Turysta” (2011) inspired by the short film, Turysta (2009) – no association to “The Tourist” (2010).

Film Feature: Turysta is a post from Art of Backpacking

 Did you know:

• The Peak District became Britain’s first National Park on April 17, 1951.
• The park covers an area of 1,438 square kilometres / 555 square miles.
• The area’s name comes from ‘peac’, an Old English word for hill.
• The symbol of the Peak District National Park is a millstone. These can be seen by the roadside on main roads as you enter the Park.
• I wouldn’t mind living near the Peak District National Park. More than 16 million people live within an hour’s drive.
• Or in! Around 38,000 people live in the Peak District National Park.
• The rocks of the Peak District are more than 300 million years old.
• More than 90% of the Peak District National Park is privately owned. Misleading since it’s called a national park.
• With over 2,000 farms, 86% is classed as farmed land.
• 10.1 million visitors a year.
• You can bike or walk 1,867 miles / 3,005kilometres for public use. That’s a long walk.
  To learn more, go to the Peak District official website.

Photos

Ladybower Reservoir & Peak District – by al_green on Flickr

Peak District Cottages by Leshaines123

The Peak District National Park – By CameliaTWU- Perfect for Peak District holidays

Autumnal walk – By tricky on Flickr

A hiker on top of the Catbells peak along the edge of derwent water in the UK Lake District, with bassenthwaite lake in the distance. – By Tricky on Flickr

‘Odd Formations’, England, The Peak District, Kinder Scout Hilltop by WanderingtheWorld (www.LostManProject.com)

It’s Never Dark above Ladybower by Vaidas M

Marsden Moor. Part way up the National Trust owned Pule Hill in the Peak District, with Marsden just around the corner of the valley to the right. – By tricky ™ on Flickr

Evening light on abandoned grindstones at Stanage Edge in the Peak District National Park. – By Earthwatcher on Flickr

Photo Essay: Peak District National Park, England is a post from Art of Backpacking

I was watching Braveheart a few days ago. Its been a few years since the last time I saw it and I still love it. In my opinion, one of the greatest movies of the 1990′s. Wikipedia tells us the story of William Wallace in the movie is almost entirely historically inaccurate. As I kept reading, I began to be really interested in their long history. One of the favorite parts of traveling is going back in time exploring ruins and imagining how it might have been during that time.

I like exploring pictures on Flickr of places I want to go to. It helps me paint a small picture of what it might be like and increases my desire to go. The pictures tell me Scotland is filled with natural beauty and enormous castles. With my love for history and open landscapes that make me feel small, Scotland definitely went up in my list of places to go to. The more I research Scotland, the bigger the desire becomes. Perhaps even check out a few highland cottages and stick around for awhile. I’m after all a slow traveler. I wouldn’t mind checking out edinburgh cottages as well.

Edinburgh looks like an awesome city. As a fan of festivals, I’d probably go during the Edinburgh Festival. I’d probably visit during the summer anyway. I’d drink to the festivities with Scotch Whisky and local breweries. I couldn’t leave Scotland without trying haggis as well.

What do you recommend I see, eat, and do in Scotland?

Edinburgh Old Town by Christopher Chan, on Flickr

Esplanade, Edinburgh Castle by Ipoh 子, on Flickr

Inverness Castle Scotland by conner395, on Flickr

'One of the Glens', Scotland, Highlands, Glencoe by WanderingtheWorld, on Flickr

'Scotch', Scotland, Glen Coe Valley by WanderingtheWorld, on Flickr

Eilean Donan Castle by jdiego_gr, on Flickr

It's Raining Again over Loch Maree by Vaidas M, on Flickr

Scottish Highlands trip by What's the rush, on Flickr

Buachaille Etive Mor by greenplasticdave, on Flickr

Glen Coe I by colinjcampbell, on Flickr

National Monument - Edinburgh, Scotland - HDR by Ben Christian Photos, on Flickr

by Ryo,, on Flickr

Why I Want To Visit Scotland is a post from Art of Backpacking

Michael: Welcome to Travel Talk with Michael and Stephanie. I’m Michael Tieso. I’m from ArtofBackpacking.com. I’ve traveled for the last two and a half years. I have been throughout Asia, Australia, and South America.

Stephanie: And I’m Stephanie Yoder. I run Twenty-SomethingTravel.com. I’ve been traveling on and off for the last five years, and I’ve been to five continents and more countries than I care to count. And we’re coming to you today from Villa de Leyva, Colombia.

Michael: So we’ve been getting a lot of e-mails lately asking for travel advice. So we thought instead of answering each one individually, we would do a video instead.

Stephanie: Yeah, it’s very time consuming for us to answer everybody’s e- mails one on one and give them advice. So, we thought it would be better to do a video, and that way we might be able to reach and help out more people. So, I’ll start with the first question which I think is a very common question.

Michael: This is an e-mail that I received.

Stephanie: Yeah. “I’m a freshman at a university. I knew before I decided to attend college that I wanted to learn by traveling the world rather than investing my money in education. My parents were not supportive of my dream, and I decided to give college a shot. My mind has not changed as this semester alone has put me in debt, all the while knowing that this is not what I want to do. What are the benefits of college before travel and vice versa?” So, I’ll let you answer first.

Michael: Well, the short answer is to definitely finish college first, and one of the reasons would be that you have many more opportunities after you finish school. With your degree you have more opportunities abroad. One of the options you might have with your degree is you teach English, or with any other job abroad, some countries may require you to actually have a degree. With that in mind, I would say to get that degree. If your passion is travel, you can also take courses within the school that you’re at right now. One of them is Spanish lessons, any kind of language lessons that you might want to go to. That way when you do finish college, you’ll be prepared to go travel around the world with your new language.

Stephanie: Yeah, and you might also consider majoring in something travel related if that’s really what you want to do, something like international relations or hospitality.

Michael: And one of the most important things to remember is that travel and school can never be compared.

Stephanie: The other thing I think it’s important to think long term. College teaches you a lot more than just things you learn in a text book or Biology 101. It teaches you about critical thinking and ways to interpret the world. I know personally that my college degree has helped me a lot just in understanding better the things I see when I travel.

Another thing I would point out is, from the letter, it sounds like it’s only your first semester, and I think that’s really too soon to be making any rash life decisions. You really haven’t settled into college yet. You don’t really know how the next four years are going to go. There are a lot of short-term things you can do as well to improve your situation. If you’re really worried about debt, you might consider switching to a cheaper school or maybe getting a part-time job to help you save money for when you are able to go travel.

Lastly, the last piece of advice I would give is to study abroad. It’s one of the best opportunities for students to get out and see the world. You can go pretty much anywhere in the world. I studied abroad my senior year of college, and it really changed my life and changed the way I look at travel. It really helped jumpstart this love of travel for myself. So I would definitely recommend looking at your school’s options for that.

Michael: Why do you think people would say that you learn more through travel than you would in school?

Stephanie: I think you learn different things in travel.

Michael: Yeah, absolutely.

Stephanie: You learn about the world around you and how to interact with people and how to read bus schedules and things. It is very enriching and fulfilling, but I don’t think that that diminishes the importance of the things you learn in college.

Michael: You just learn different things.

Stephanie: Yeah.

Michael: The two can’t be compared, like I said before.

Stephanie: Yeah.

Michael: Well, thank you for joining us and thank you for sending in the question. Please feel free to send in more questions. We’d love to do this more regularly. My e-mail is questions@artofbackpacking.com.

Stephanie: And you can reach me at questions@twenty-somethingtravel.com.

Michael: Thank you again and see you next time.

School VS Travel – New Video Series by Michael and Stephanie – Episode 1 is a post from Art of Backpacking

Tajikistan is one of the few remaining truly off-the-beaten-track travel experiences left in the world. This corner of Central Asia was wracked by civil war for many years but is now stable and open to tourists.

Travel south and east from the capital of Dushanbe along the M41. In the lush Wakhan Valley Afghanistan is at times only a stone’s throw away across the river. Then it’s up across a 4,655m pass onto the breathtaking Pamir highway. You’ll find ancient otherworldly landscapes, ancient rock drawings and geoglyphs, semi-nomadic herders with their yurts and Soviet-built wild east towns.

The Farsi-speaking Tajiks are curious and welcoming of visitors and I encountered some overwhelming hospitality. Here is a photo essay representing some highlights of landscapes and people:

The M41 "highway" through the Wakhan follows the Panj River that forms the border with Afghanistan.

One of the many families who took offered hospitality in their homes on the journey.

Children in the Wakhan Valley who begged me to take their photo but were then overcome with shyness.

At last the high Pamir plateau, like another world.

The spectacular lake of Yashil-kul, ringed with snowy peaks.

Children in the isolated village of Bulunkul.

The exquisite clear water spring of Ak-Bkyl beside the Pamir highway.

A Kyrgyz man in the town of Murghab.

Small herds of yaks and sheep are run by Kyrgyz semi-nomadic herdsmen who live in yurts during the summer months.

Lake Karakul, on the last leg of the journey through Tajikistan towards the border with Kyrgyzstan.

Natasha von Geldern is the Wandering Kiwi, a travel blogger, writer and editor who is passionate about discovering and covering the world, inspiring online travel lovers everywhere.

Tajikistan’s Wild East | Photo Essay is a post from Art of Backpacking

I’ve been playing with my new Canon T2i these past several weeks and it’s been a lot of fun. I keep the camera on manual but I still feel slow about my reaction and understanding of light, colors, and depth of field. I don’t quite have the fast reaction that pro photographers have. They see a perfect picture and immediately know all the correct settings and angles to take it in.

Bethany from Beers and Beans sent me her new eBook called Getting Out of Auto. This came in at a perfect time since I had just received my new 50mm f/1.8 lens and after playing around with it, I didn’t feel comfortable enough to know how to properly use it.

I read through the entire eBook in one sitting. I was hooked. The design of the eBook was easy to follow and the examples were easy to understand.

So I decided to take the lessons learned from the depth of field section and put it into action. After reading the eBook, I can definitely say I feel more comfortable with what I should be looking for and getting that faster reaction time. I think with practice, I’ll eventually get to the level of taking shots faster.

I took a friend with me out to the park to do some experimenting. I’m still quite new to photography so I’d love some feedback on your thoughts on the photos below. I learned just how important the aperture was for a large or shallow depth of field. In effect, I had to pay more attention to just how much I wanted the background faded while also adjusting my shutter speed. I know I have a long way to go but I do have a better understanding now after trying out what I learned.

Thanks to Bethany from Beers and Beans for sending me her eBook! It’s a great eBook for anyone wanting to better photos who is stuck on auto settings. The eBook is also great for point & shoot users!

I did receive the eBook for free but all opinions are my own.

Getting Out Of Auto eBook: Depth of Field is a post from Art of Backpacking

Bangladesh is one of the most fascinating countries I’ve ever visited. It’s truly off the radar of even the staunchest of backpackers – and that’s truly a shame – because the country has so much to offer the adventurous sort. With some of the friendliest locals on the planet, Bangladesh rivals only Thailand (in my opinion) as the friendliest country in Asia.

Whether one just wanders down the side streets of Old Dhaka or musters up enough courage to take a rowboat ride along the Sadarghat amidst large vessels, there are adventures to be had in a country that receives hardly any tourism. The following is a photo essay capturing Old Dhaka and a Sadarghat river cruise:

Man carrying basket on his head – Old Dhaka, Bangladesh

Rickshaw riding for the whole family – Old Dhaka, Bangladesh

Smiles between friends – Old Dhaka, Bangladesh

Grinning rowboat captain – Sadarghat, Bangladesh

Rickshaw Repair: father & son – Old Dhaka, Bangladesh

Boy posing for the camera – Old Dhaka, Bangladesh

Cute boys making silly faces – Old Dhaka, Bangladesh

Man playing badminton – Old Dhaka, Bangladesh

Distinct Paddler – Sadarghat, Bangladesh

An ecstatic lady smiling and waving – Old Dhaka, Bangladesh

Boys carrying sacks and munching on snacks – Sadarghat, Bangladesh

Passing another rowboat with passengers – Sadarghat, Bangladesh

Boat scene along the hectic Sadarghat – Old Dhaka, Bangladesh

The captain of the boat gliding – Sadarghat, Bangladesh

Man paddling in the small vessel – Sadarghat, Bangladesh

Small craft versus Large craft – Sadarghat, Bangladesh

Man sleeping on the street – Old Dhaka, Bangladesh

Man previously smiling from ear to ear suddenly becomes serious for the picture – Old Dhaka

Group photo of Bangladeshi men – Old Dhaka, Bangladesh

Man posing for a portrait – Old Dhaka, Bangladesh

Rickshaw scene down a busy side street – Old Dhaka, Bangladesh

Candid moment over a cup of tea – Old Dhaka, Bangladesh

Man carrying heavy load on his rickshaw – Old Dhaka, Bangladesh

Candid shot of a man squatting and talking on his cellphone – Old Dhaka, Bangladesh

Men hauling heavy loads – Old Dhaka, Bangladesh

Distinct Faces of Bangladesh | Photo Essay is a post from Art of Backpacking

Here’s a video series by comedian and filmmaker Mark Malkoff.

Watch more of their videos on the VisitHolland YouTube channel.

With a proposed ban on pot in coffeeshops for tourists on the table, comedian Mark Malkoff goes to the Netherlands to find 101 Other Things To Do In Holland.

Video Series: 101 Other Things To Do In Holland

http://www.markvisitsholland.com

Starring: Mark Malkoff
Producer: Steve Lawrence
Writers, Editors, Cameras: Joe Pickett, Nick Prueher

Sponsored Article

Film Feature: 101 Other Things To Do In Holland is a post from Art of Backpacking

Stephanie and I are huge fans of The Office (American version), so being that we were so close to Scranton, Pennsylvania – we had to go there. It was a totally unexpected beautiful city that’s not shown at all in the TV series. The city has an old fashioned colonial look to it. Its been a city since 1866 and still holds many historic landmarks and attractions that made the city so famous back then because of its iron and coal production.

If you’re looking to party, Scranton holds the second largest parade in the US for St. Patricks Day.

Photos: Scranton – The Electric City is a post from Art of Backpacking

The Amalfi Coast is situated in southern Italy between Sorrento and Salerno. This breathtaking stretch of coastline with its picturesque towns, sloping hills and sheer drops offers the most spectacular views in southern Italy. While approaching the Amalfi Coast by boat is awe inspiring, making the trip along the coastal highway by car or scooter, is an experience not to be missed. While not for the feint of heart, this drive along the narrow curving highway is a feast for the eyes and the senses. With the sparkling waters below and the deep blue sky above the expansive vistas are spectacular. You can do no wrong in planning a visit to the Amalfi Coast.

Photos: The Amalfi Coast in Italy is a post from Art of Backpacking