At 1;55 PM we take an 11 hour flight from Istanbul to Newark, followed by a connecting flight to Miami. Perhaps some good aerial shots of Eastern Europe and Newfoundland will be possible. Final Istanbul posts will come later this week. Also this week, ArcticTropic will welcome its’ first new members that we met at the ATTA Conference in Luzern two weeks ago.

This past June ArcticTropic and family took an extended Western journey covering California,Arizona and Nevada. One of our stops was Death Valley, the second hottest place on Earth – with an all time high of 134 degrees. In Libya 136 has been recorded, but Death valley has 130 + temperatures more often.

In general there is almost no vegetation. Years can go by without any significant rainfall. Water can arrive in the form of floods from far away cloudbursts or snow melt.

As it was only June the temperature was just 110 in the shade, 130 in the sun. This picture was taken at 8:30 in the morning.

The lowest place in North America, 282 ( 87 m) feet below Sea Level.

Dried up sea bed – all salt.

Those who don’t plan in advance will pay through the nose at the only gas station.

Skateboarding though Death Valley.

Onwards to the snowy Sierras !

In the next few weeks ArcticTropic will convert to becoming a more mobile friendly platform – suitable for iPad,IPhone and Android. We are interested in speaking to developers who might help us.

On Sunday morning , May 8th. I flew from Miami to Newark to board Continental Flight 99 – a 16 hour, 8450 mile flight to Hong Kong. The flight took off at 3:25 PM . Five minutes later we were over Lower Manhattan.

Less than two hours and and a thousand miles later we were over Northern Quebec – still frozen in May.

After cloudy Baffin Land ( Nunavut ) we cross Greenland.

Northern Greenland – only a few hundred miles from the North Pole.

A Frozen fjord. Note last year’s icebergs trapped below. The local time is close to Midnight.

We cross the Arctic Ocean and fly over the North Pole. Sunday becomes Monday. Above shot is Northern Siberia on Monday afternoon.

Over the Gobi Desert in Mongolia.

Final approach to Chek Lap Kok.

Beautiful Tropical Monday evening landing.

After check- in to the hotel, off to explore the busting streets of Kowloon.

Kowloon Dance Hall.

Delicious Spicy Crab Dinner ! ArcticTropic is back on the ground in Asia !

On April 3rd I will return to China , for the first time in a  little over a year. This time, the focus will will on South China, entering from Hong Kong and finishing in Shanghai.

After a short flight from Miami to Newark, I will board Continental Flight 99 – the 9th longest flight in the world. Flying time is 15 hours and 50 minutes for the 8055 mile / 12980 km distance. Leaving at 3:45 in the afternoon,  the 777-200ER  will fly northwest over New York State, Quebec, Hudson’s Bay,Baffin Land , and across the Arctic icecap within about 200 miles of the North Pole. Continuing in the same direction, due south, the plane will travel over Siberia,Manchuria and East China, before landing at 7:45 the NEXT night.Because the northern Arctic is in 24 hour daylight by April, all but the last hour or two of the flight should be  sunny – hopefully with few clouds – to enable aerial shots and videos.

ArcticTropic will be meeting with many South China adventure travel providers. If you would like to meet with us between April 4th to 14th please email  – travel@arctictropic.com

Newark is also home to the world’s longest flight – to Singapore – 9535 miles/15345 km at 18 hours 50 minutes !

Howling November winds, up to 20 knots, whipped Miami’s Biscayne Bay into a frenzy today, 11/21/10 .ArcticTropic is a member of a local sailing club , SailLaser Miami , where members always have great boats rigged up and ready to go. Lasers , Bahia’s and today – a Dart 16 – a small Catamaran- was ready to for us to hit the chop. The club is for serious sailors who do not want the headache of boat ownership.

Thanks to our Waterproof HD camera, this excellent footage was captured, even as I manned the tiller. The blur comes from the spray flying past us. Be sure to choose the 1080 setting for  highest quality.

Miami is a true Adventure City. While it is one of the largest Metropolis’ in the USA, it is close to Hi Speed Sailing,Big Game Fishing and Surfing. One can be in the Bahamas in two hours by boat , Cuba in a few hours more than that, and the Amazon is only 4 hours away by plane.

Yesterday’s Midwest Cyclone packed 70 mile per hour winds from North Dakota to New York State. Lake Michigan,home to the best fresh water surfing in the world,had waves approaching 12 feet. Ingrid Lindfors, a top surfer and professional photographer took these photos in her hometown of Grand Haven.

Grand Haven features many tournaments throughout the year.

The best way out to the waves. To see more of Ingrid’s photography visit her Website – Ingrid Lindfors Photography.

This morning, July 21,2010 , ArcticTropic will be featured on the Today Show at 9:36 AM EDT, replaying hourly across the US Time Zones.  Valarie d”Elia,  the Today Show’s Travel Expert will be speaking about “Cool Summer Getaways”. This summer’s record heat in the Northeast has many people thinking about skiing already. Thanks to overnight flights to Santiago, Chile , and a quick ride to Portillo – the premier Ski Resort in South America – there’s no need to wait for the next Northern Hemisphere winter.

Four and a half million people will be watching at that hour. Many thousands of interested, qualified leads will visit ArcticTropic for the first time.

Valarie is an expert travel commentator who appears on national and local media outlets including NBC’s Today Show, CNBC, Fox News and The Early Show on CBS. She is also a featured speaker at the New York Times Travel Show and makes numerous other public appearances. Every weekend, Valarie is heard fielding listeners’ questions as the host of The Travel Show on the WOR Radio Network.

On television, she is also   seen as the travel correspondent for NY1 News with her featured segments, Travel with Val.

Editor’s NOTE : Due to time constraints the segment did not air.

The drive from Los Angeles to Las Vegas takes about 5 hours – through extreme terraina nd climatic changes. When I left the tree-lined Boulevards of Hollywood about 7 AM , it was hazy and 63 degrees. Arriving in Las Vegas at lunchitime, it was 108 !

Kelso Road- Less than 50 cars a day sometimes.

On I-15 , crosssing from California.

Michaelangelo recreated at Ceasar’s Palace, above a high end shopping mall.Las Vegas is really the world’s largest mall, different in that it allows drinking,smoking and gambling everywhere.

One of two old Strip Casinos left. Still has $1 Blackjack.

One Armed Bandit nickel machine in Searchlight, Nevada.

Crossing the State Line from Laughlin,Nevada to Bullhead City, Arizona.

The temperature rose to 114 about 5 miles down the road – Arizona 95.

Looking across the Colorado River to Arizona,from Needles,California. I swam in the refeshingly cool clean water – runoff from snowmelt in the Rockies several hundred miles away.

Cross Country freight train nearing its’ destination.

Back on the Pacific – seeing the sunset before the flights back to Miami.