Tag: Traveling

DALAT, VIETNAM: Weirdness at Datanla Falls, Part II

by Misadventurist MediaWorks, posted in Southeast Asia, Updates, Vietnam, World Travel

Scenes from the hike along the gorge below Datanla Falls, south of Dalat City, Vietnam.

Overlooking the lower falls. Image (c) 2014 Benjamin J Spen
Overlooking the lower falls. Image (c) 2014 Benjamin J Spencer
Butterfly at Datanla Falls. Image (c) 2014 Stacy Libokmeto
Butterfly. Image (c) 2014 Stacy Libokmeto
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Platform shoes. Image (C) Stacy Libokmeto
“Knock. Knock. Who’s there? Nobody!” A fake “minority” house Walt Disney would be proud of! Image (c) 2014 Stacy Libokmeto
Restricted Area. (c) 2014 Stacy Libokmeto
This is where I’m pretty sure the official told us to go. Maybe he was actually saying, “Only go there if you want to die.” We really need to work on our communication skills. Image (c) 2014 Stacy Libokmeto
Beej, happy to be alive! (c) Stacy Libokmeto
Beej, happy to be alive! Image (c) Stacy Libokmeto
Rapids at lower falls. (c) 2014 Benjamin J Spencer
Rapids at lower falls. Beej takes a moment from treehugging to take a phot.o Image (c) 2014 Benjamin J Spencer

 

They look plastic, but they're not! Really! (c) Stacy LIbokmeto
They look plastic, but they’re not! Really! Image (c) Stacy LIbokmeto

 

We got some swimmers! (c) Benjamin J Spencer
We got some swimmers! (c) Benjamin J Spencer
(c) Benjamin Spencer
Beej catches Stax secretly relaxing conveniently in front of his camera. (c) Benjamin Spencer

 

So Much to Do – So Little Time

by Misadventurist MediaWorks, posted in A Wedding of Cultures, Documentaries, Updates

Hello fellow Misadventurists,

We’re in the midst of a melee of preparation for our documentary.

If you were to come up a metaphor for our status, our company would be like a hot air balloon struggling to get aloft with a giant rhino charging toward us; but the basket is weighed down with ballast, and we’re furiously cutting loose ropes and throwing chests overboard to lighten the load.
Charging-Rhino-800x529
Image courtesy of 9wows.com

The ballast, of course, is all the stuff we’ve accumulated over our four-plus years here in New York City. Shifting operations overseas and becoming virtual expats, even temporarily, means reducing our overstock to nil. And you would not believe the amount of stuff that two people can hoard over four and a half years.

The charging rhino is our February 28 deadline, after which we’ll be flying to Oregon for a couple of weeks and then departing from Seattle/Tacoma International airport, ready or not.

By “ready”, I’m referring to externalities like immunizations, flight details, supplies, gear, visas (very important for China and Vietnam especially – luckily we can hop on a subway and apply personally at the Manhattan consulates for both countries, which speeds things up considerably). We have a likely fixer in Cambodia, a couple who is interested in being in the doc, and we even have some AirBnb bookings already (can’t wait to meet our hosts in Hong Kong, Kam and Eve.)

But that all said, are you ever truly ready for an adventure into the unknown like this? There are only so many contingencies you can plan for. Even with only a month to go before our departure from New York, – trading our view from this:
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Image courtesy of Bushwick Collective

to this:

Image By © Timothy Allen/BBC
Image By © Timothy Allen/BBC

– there are still infinitely more crucial details unknown than are known. But perhaps that capacity for surprise and serendipity – yes, even for catastrophe – is what draws us again and again to this field and these kinds of projects.

In all the current melee it’s important to remember that this kind of career is a great privilege, a privilege that so few around the globe can hope for. The possibility of complications and failure is balanced with this knowledge, and with the immense gratitude we hold for our opportunities and toward the people that have supported us.

So on toward the unknown….