Author Archives: inasearchofbalance

thirty below or climbing denali (6,190m)

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  Let me start with the end — I didn’t make the summit. I reached 5,900-something meters, around a couple of hours or so from the top. And turned back, despite having plenty of fuel in the tank. Do I have regrets? Perhaps. Mostly because I’m positive I would have made it on the next …

scratching the surface of india

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  I’d been looking for an excuse to go to India for a while. Between work and various other trips though, the timing never really worked out. Until close friends of mine announced they’d be getting married in Mumbai. Bam! That was the opening we’d been looking for — tickets were booked quickly 🙂 Now, …

incredible norway

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  One would think that, given all the amazing imagery and stories out there, I would have found my way to Norway earlier. We were debating making the trip last year, but with the Mont Blanc climb, there just wasn’t enough time. You hear it often described as a mix between Scotland and New Zealand …

the welsh 3000s

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  In preparation for Mont Blanc, a couple of friends and I decided to take on the Welsh 3000s challenge. In essence, that means climbing all 15 mountains in Wales over 3,000ft in under 24 hours, without using any transportation means. Luckily, all fifteen fall within 3 mountain ranges (so we had to do 3 …

sofia lightning storm

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  I’ve been waiting for a chance to shoot lightning for years now. It’s not as easy as it sounds — you want to be at a safe distance and ideally not get rained on, but still close enough to the action with a good vantage point. Well, I finally got lucky a couple of …

nasir ol molk, the pink mosque

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  One of the most well known architectural sites in Iran has to be the Nasir-Ol-Molk in Shiraz, commonly referred to as the Pink Mosque. From the outside, it looks fairly similar to other places of worship in the country, but there’s more to it than meets the eye. The facade of the mosque features …

the curious case of japan

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  Japan is certainly an interesting place. You won’t get quite as lost in translation as you would have 15 years ago, but the country has managed to retain a lot of its idiosyncrasies and cultural traits despite the obvious influences from the West. And there are so many! From the simple ones like no …

dar es salaam, tanzania

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  I can’t believe it’s been just over 3 years since our trip to Africa. In a lot of ways it still feels very recent, yet a lot’s happened since then. I realized recently that there are photos sitting unshared from Tanzania which is a waste. So here we are 🙂 Dar es Salaam often …