You may not end up in Guinness for it, but you’re sure to have a memorable experience.

Links to posts about each of these experience – as well as videos! – are included. Enjoy!  

World’s Most Dangerous Beach

We don’t normally think of beaches as being dangerous, but Sunset Beach in St Martin in the Caribbean will set your heart aflutter. It’s directly at the end of the island’s airport strip, and you can watch planes come in on top of you. Thrill seekers like to hold on to the fence at the end of the runway and be mangled by the prop blast as jets land mere meters away. (I settled for taking pictures from a mildly respectful distance).

The Most Dangerous Beach in the World

World’s Highest (Commercial) Skydive

As a skydiver with almost 300 jumps (from a life that seems lifetimes away now), I dropped my license when I started traveling full-time. But when I was in New Zealand, I was treated to a tandem jump that allowed me to experience the world’s highest commercial skydive, exiting the plane at 15,000 feet.

World’s Highest (Commercial) Fixed Line Abseil (Rappel)

This was an absolute highlight of all my travels. In Waitomo New Zealand, this full day event involved a 100 meter abseil (rappel) into a cave, followed by five hours of venturing through this extensive watery cave system. In our wetsuits, we squeezed, swam, jumped, and shimmied through this cave, and hung out with Waitomo’s famous glow worms (which have their own funny story).

Abseiling, Caving, and Spotting Glow Worms in New Zealand

World’s Highest (Commercially) Rafted Waterfall

New Zealand is home to all kinds of world’s [whatevers], and I experienced a lot of them whilst filming a tv show there in 2010. Even after a day of sledging (which is like white-water rafting on a glorified boogie board), I was shaking in my wetsuit in anticipation of the 7 meter (23 foot) drop that flips a good percentage of rafts. Ironically we survived the drop, and then almost sank the raft whilst caught in a rapid that is apparently more dangerous than the waterfall itself.

World’s Longest Train Ride

When I did the Ultimate Train Challenge in 2011 (30 days from Lisbon to Saigon, all by train), it included a solid week on the Trans-Manchurian between Moscow and Beijing. It’s better known as the Trans-Siberian, the difference being the particular route the train takes. Either way, it’s long.

A Week on the Trans-Manchurian Railway

World’s Fastest Train

Hot on the heels of the world’s longest train ride, I embarked on the world’s fastest train from Beijing to Shanghai. Watching the world whizz by at speeds close to what planes manage was an experience. And with stations on either side that were more like airports than train stations, at times I had to wonder if I was actually flying.

13 Random Experiences on Asian Trains

World’s Longest Wall/Biggest Ancient Architecture

You got it – this is the Great Wall of China. I’ve had the good fortune to have been there not once – but twice.

Beijing – Then and Now

World’s Shortest Ferry Ride

If you fly into Toronto’s Island Airport (officially known as Toronto City Centre Airport), a ferry will deliver you to the “mainland” downtown core of Toronto. It’s a whopping 120 meters (400 feet), and the ferry itself is about a third of the size of passage it runs.

World’s Most Isolated Major City

There are a few contenders for the world’s most isolated/remote major cities (depending on your criteria such as by population size or accessibility), including Auckland New Zealand, Honolulu Hawaii, and Iquitos Peru. Regardless of the measuring stick you use, I can say I’ve been to all of them.

But Perth Australia is most eager to wear this banner, and it’s an isolated city indeed. Bonus: it also boasts the largest inner city park in the world.

Perth in 24 Hours

World’s Most Dangerous Airport

When I was filming a television show in Nepal in 2010, we flew from Kathmandu to Lukla, which is the gateway to Everest and the Himalayas for trekkers. Tenzing Hilary Airport earns its moniker as the world’s most dangerous airport due to the short runway with absolutely no margin for error. The runway is on an incline so planes coming in can stop before hitting the mountain behind it, and so planes taking off can gather sufficient speed before the runway drops off into a valley of nothingness.

The other danger factor at this airport is the weather, which comes in out of nowhere. It took us two days of waiting at Kathmandu airport for enough clear sky to allow us to fly in, and we were stuck there for three days longer than scheduled waiting for the clouds to clear so we could take off. The only other way out would have been to hike for 2 days to the nearest city where we could catch ground transportation back to Kathmandu.

World’s Most Expensive City

Oslo Norway takes this prize, and spectacularly so. I went to a middle-of-the-road thai restaurant for lunch and paid almost $50 for a green curry and a glass of wine. This was pretty average for my meals in Oslo. Now, if you live in Oslo and earn money in the local currency, you can get by pretty well. But with Norway’s strong currency, visiting there with foreign currency in your pocket will result in your pockets being empty pretty quickly.

Travel Lessons and Surprises: Oslo

World’s Top City for Cyclists AND World’s Happiest City

Again there are a few contenders for this title (not the least of which is Amsterdam), but the prize – for both bike friendly city and happiest city – goes to Copenhagen Denmark. I don’t know that bicycling and happiness are related, but there you go.

Copenhagen: A Modern-Day Fairy Tale

Largest Beer-Producing Area in the World

If you think Germany takes this cake, think again. When I was in Boulder Colorado, I learned that it’s part of the largest beer-producing triangle in the world, with micro-breweries at every turn. Boulder tops a bunch of other lists (in America) mostly in the realm of being active, bike-friendly, dog-friendly, rich, and skinny. Guess you have to burn off the beer somehow, and with the Rocky Mountains at your doorstep it’s not too difficult.

A Curious Bubble in Boulder, Colorado

World’s Largest Techno Party

The annual Street Parade in Zurich Switzerland is actually officially billed as a political demonstration (dating back to its humble beginnings in 1992 as a demonstration for peace, love, and tolerance. Back then there were 1,000 attendees; now it sees about a million attendees, hitting the streets to party, show off their costumes, and get their groove on.

The World’s Largest Techno Party: Street Parade in Zurich

World’s Highest Bungee Jump

The world’s highest bungee jump is currently the Macau Tower at 233 metres. However in 2005 when I was in the Western Cape of South Africa, I took a leap (a few, actually) off Bloukrans Bridge which was at the time the world’s highest bungee jump at 216 metres. So considering this is a list of my own world [whatevers], I think it still counts. So there. Bite me, Macau.

World’s Highest Navigable Lake

Lake Titicaca (bordered by Bolivia and Peru) is the largest lake in South America, and the highest navigable lake in the world. I spent a few days on Isla del Sol, and even though I live at an incredibly high altitude in Peru, I marvelled at just how close to the sun this island really was.

Visiting Isla del Sol on Lake Titicaca, in Bolivia

World’s Longest Standing Protest

Since 1972, a small fire has been burning in front of Australia’s parliament building. Along with the small collection of derelict looking tents off to the side housing anywhere from a few to a few hundred Australian Aboriginals who tend to the fire, this is the world’s longest standing protest. Stumbling on to this with a friend while walking around Canberra one afternoon led to one of the most enlightening days I’ve had in all my travels.

The Australian Aboriginal Tent Embassy

World’s Worst Smelling Food

This prize goes to Surstromming, a canned fermented fish that is popular in Sweden. It’s a love-it-or-hate-it kind of food, that actually doesn’t taste nearly as repulsive as it smells. (There. I’m sure you want to try it now, don’t you)?

Northern Swedish Delicacies, Including Surstromming

Do you have any World’s fastest, highest, longest, smallest, deepest, craziest WHATEVERs in your travel repertoire?

This post 18 of the World’s Fastest, Highest, Longest (etc) Things to Do appeared first on The Professional Hobo. Please click through to read it in full!

This post was originally published in 2011. It has since been updated for accuracy of links and content.

But not all of these Swedish delicacies are what people would refer to as “enjoyable”.

Let’s start with the unanimously agreeable delicacies and work from there, shall we?

Berries in Sweden

Berries of all sorts are rampant in northern Sweden. Lingonberries (little red circular berries) make great preserves to go with meat or yoghurt, and Cloudberries (resembling yellow raspberries) are rightly referred to as “gold of the forest”.

Berry picking verges on a national sport here. Empty cars regularly line the highways, its occupants on a berry-picking mission. At dinner the other night, it was announced that some friends of my hosts had just picked 40 litres of lingonberries (all for personal consumption no less). It doesn’t matter who owns the property either; you can pick berries/fruit off any property as long as you’re not within sight-lines of the home.

Blueberries grow wild in many places around the world, but not as prolifically as I found in northern Sweden. They’re everywhere – and they’re delicious! I could have been stranded in the forest and happily survived for quite some time on blueberries alone.

So with increasingly blue hands and tongues, we helped ourselves to an appetizer of blueberries on the trail before finding the perfect spot for a picnic lunch, where we enjoyed some more Swedish delicacies:

Kaviar

“Ick! You told her about what?!” was the response of a friend we had dinner with in Stockholm when my Swedish Squeeze relayed his fondness for kaviar to me. “That stuff is full of junk! Ah well; give it a try I guess,” she said as she put some on the table with some Tunnbröd. I thought it curious that despite her reaction, she had it in her fridge nonetheless.

As it sounds, kaviar is a derivative of caviar – fish roe. But this popular incantation is doctored up with a bunch of preservatives and sugar and made available as a sort of paste in a tube. Despite the sugar content, kaviar is extremely salty, and at first I didn’t like it. But when the palate is properly prepared for it, and it’s served correctly (my favourite being with a hard-boiled egg), I learned to quite enjoy it.

Messmör

“Now if you want to try something nice, try Messmör,” said the same Stockholm friend. And out of the fridge came this margarine-like substance, also meant to be spread on Tunnbröd (but not with kaviar). This mildly sweet spread reminiscent of caramel with hints of vanilla was immediately enjoyable. Despite its sweetness, it can be served at any time of day (along with Tunnbröd, which appeared at almost every meal I ate in Sweden). It is liberally spread on breads and enjoyed much the way you’d enjoy butter or margarine.

Messmör is basically whey (the liquid leftover when you make cheese), boiled and boiled and boiled down to a paste, then sweetened with a hint of vanilla. Although it tastes a little too good to be healthy, apparently it’s relatively guilt-free.

When we moved from Stockholm to Örnsköldsvik – the town with three ski jumps in the middle – in northern Sweden, the household didn’t have any Messmör. Knowing that barring a return trip to Sweden this was likely my only chance to enjoy it, I humbly bought some at a grocery store and presented it at dinner one night. Everybody laughed, and I became playfully known for my love of Messmör, but I’ll note that I wasn’t the only person to enjoying it at most meals for the rest of the week!

Tunnbröd

Tunnbröd literally means “thin bread”, and these thin hard flatbreads can be (and in my experience were) served with every meal. Eat it plain with margarine, or add some cheese, sliced meat, tomatoes, or Messmör. Eat it open-faced, or snap it in half to enjoy it sandwich-style. Anything goes.

Although I’m not much of a bread fan (and can count the number of times I had wheat-based products during an entire summer in Canada on one hand), I found Tunnbröd quite addictive.

Surströmming

All of the above Swedish delicacies are well-accepted parts of Swedish culture and ingredients found in most Swedish kitchens. Surströmming, by contrast, is a love-it-or-hate-it sort of food, and I would wager that a good percentage of people who love it do so because it’s so easy to hate.

Literally meaning “sour strömming (herring)”, it’s fermented herring (fish). (Fermented ultimately being a euphemism for rotten, I think).

(And yes, I even tried some. More on that shortly).

In the video below, I tell the story of how Surströmming quite accidentally came to pass in the 1800s, at the hands of a bunch of Swedish sailors.

You’ll find cans of the stuff in the grocery store (alongside other types of herring, mostly pickled – which is delicious), and some cans are literally bulging at the seams. This is because the fermentation process continues beyond the canning, and in fact many airlines ban Surströmming because of the possibly explosive side effects at altitude.

And when you’re talking about rotten fish, explosions can be quite disastrous.

In fact, the Japanese released a study that cites the act of opening a can of Surströmming to unleash the worst smell of food in the world. This is a title I had formerly understood to be held by durian fruit, but after having the full Surströmming experience, I’d have to agree that it blows durian out of the water.

Despite this less-than-favourable introduction, Surströmming is nonetheless considered a Swedish delicacy, and if some people enjoy it, then I simply had to see what the appeal was. This experiment in trying something new turned into a family affair with my hosts pulling out all the stops to make this an experience for me.

Did I make it past opening the can? Could I manage to get past the smell to try it?

Watch this video to find out!

Click here to watch the video on YouTube. 

This post Northern Swedish Delicacies (Including Surströmming) appeared first on The Professional Hobo. Please click through to read it in full!

This post was originally published in 2011. It has since been updated for accuracy of links and content.

Arriving in Sweden

I was thrilled to return to Europe after my whirlwind adventures here last year. And despite the reputed high cost of living and traveling in Scandanavia, I figured that in the company of a few locals like my online colleague Lola Akinmade (thanks again for lunch!), and some friends of friends who offered up wonderful slice of Swedish hospitality, I could make a go of it – Professional Hobo style!

Immediately on arrival in Stockholm, I loved the vibe, the architecture, and the people. Almost everybody I spoke to had a fairly good command of English, since my Swedish skills left something to be desired. Even in stores far of the tourist trail, I overheard flawless conversations between English-speaking customers (who I assumed to be ex-pats) and the staff.

Kultur Festival

Mid-August is a great time to visit Stockholm, with lots going on. The Kultur Festival was a real highlight for me, with live events going on throughout the city every day – most of them for free. Variety shows with international acts, dance performances, and musical concerts (with world-renowned artists like Buena Vista Social Club) were everywhere, along with buskers, art exhibitions, theatre, and street shows.

It was while walking through the square outside the central train station that it happened. Pink aliens invaded.

Alien Invasion

This was one of my favourite Kultur Festival events, and one that kept the audience hopping (literally). The Kultur Festival website best describes the chaos and fun I saw:

Every alien character has its own story, its own ways of communicating and challenges the public in a different way. The aliens have a special sensibility, seeing the world around us as a completely new and exciting place. In search of a new home, they try to integrate into our society.

The INVASION is examining questions of multicultural societies and the conventions of behaviour in the public space. The audience is invited to react spontaneously, become part of the story and join the performers in exploring the border between fiction and reality to establish theatre as a game, a ritual and a social event.

I had just as much fun watching how people reacted to and interacted with the aliens as I did watching the aliens’ antics. With a pre-conceived notion of Swedish people being fairly reserved, I was thrilled to see playful and outgoing interactions all around.

Other Stockholm Highlights

Boat Tour

With only a few days to enjoy the city, I had to pick and choose what I could do. Since the city is comprised of 14 islands (the outer area comprising 30,000 islands and archipelagos), it’s a water-friendly place and a boat tour (there are plenty to choose from) is a great way to gain a sense of the place.

I was amazed to see beaches right in the middle of the city action, and people jumping off docks and rocks into the waters of the Baltic Sea and Lake Malar.

City Hall (Stadshuset)

A friend with inside connections also showed me around Stockholm city hall (locally known as Statshuset), where annual Nobel Prize banquets are held. (Interesting fact: Stockholm is home to Alfred Nobel, who invented dynamite. However all good things must eventually come to an end; sadly he accidentally blew up his studio – and himself in the process).

Skansen Open-Air Museum

You’ll see locals and tourists alike wandering around Skansen – the world’s oldest open-air museum. It’s a historical look at Sweden with hundreds of historical buildings having been moved here from all over the country, and costumed staff demonstrating traditional handicraft and folklore. It’s also a zoo, featuring all kinds of animals indigenous to Scandanavia.

Gamla Stan

You can lose hours (days, in fact) wandering around Gamla Stan – the old town. Since Sweden wasn’t involved in either of the World Wars, this remains one of the most in-tact and historical areas of Europe, some parts dating back to the 13^th century. I’m always amazed at how such old buildings have remained in good form, and continue to be actively used and incorporated into daily life. This is such a novelty to a Canadian like me, where a really old building might be 150 years old, the average structure tending to disintegrate after about 50 years.

Seeing it With the Stockholm Card

If you want to cover a lot of Stockholm in a short time, the Stockholm Card is excellent value. It provides free public transportation, tours, and admission to over 80 museums and attractions.

There are so many places I missed on this trip to Stockholm; so many in fact that I’m sure I’ll return at some point. But alas, I had a date with a northern Swedish town well off most radar screens and a hospitality exchange with a Swedish family (some members of whom spoke almost no English; talk about alien invasion! Stay tuned for more about that experience in a future post).

Many thanks to the Stockholm Visitors Board for providing me with discounted accommodation, a Stockholm Card, and press package. I’m also quite impressed with the Stockholm Visitors Board website – it’s a great place to get information and ideas about your own trip to Stockholm.

This post Kultur Festival – Aliens Invade Stockholm! appeared first on The Professional Hobo. Please click through to read it in full!