General Travel / TravelShus Appreciates

Appreciating the Sky

There once was a little Russian mouse named Fivel who starred in the totally under appreciated kids movie An American Tale. This guy realized that the moon he was looking at was the same moon that his family was looking at. Wherever they were.

And such is the sky.

Sunset in Nelson New Zealand

Living in New York City makes it sometimes easy to forget to look upwards. We are so busy looking out for cars, avoiding a collision with another human on the sidewalk, and staring down at the mobile device du jour, we forget that the only piece of the natural world we can’t pave over is above us. Its the one thing on a busy NYC street that reminds us we live on a planet full of green plants and cute little animals.

The sky exists everywhere on Earth. Every second of our daily lives are affected by the way it looks and feels. And one of the coolest parts of traveling is seeing how normal everyday things (in this case the sky) are different in different places. When traveling through changing environments all over the globe, the sky behaves differently and shows us new tricks. Like morphing into a million shades of lavendar and orange. And sometimes, it shows you some good ol’ favorite tricks. Like pouring raining on you when you have no umbrella. Or clouding up on the only day you have to hike up a legendary mountain. The photos below are some of my favorite experiences I’ve had with the sky outside of my home in NYC. (Which by the way, if you are lucky enough to peel your eyes away from your iphone at the right time, has some pretty amazing sunsets of its own)

(The photo above was taken during the first rugby game after the Christchurch earthquake in 2011 in New Zealand. The game was rescheduled in Nelson at a small stadium near the center of town.)

Unique clouds above the Dawa Choling Gompa in Tengboche, Nepal.
The town sits in the Himalayas in an alpine area on the trail to Mount Everest.
Clouds Above Tengboche, Nepal

Sunset in Mykonos, Greece.
The entire island of tourists gathers at the small rocky beach in town to watch the sunset. Its an annoying spectacle, but clearly it became a thing for a reason.
Sunset in Mykonos, Greece

Sunrise in Queenstown, New Zealand.
This is taken from our cabin, on a hill above the harbor. After a month of camping, we could no longer sleep much past sunrise. It was a nice treat to see something so basic that we rarely see in our normal daily schedules.
Sunrise in Queenstown, New Zealand

Sunset over Nusa Lembongan and Gunung Agung in Indonesia.
Taken on our last night in NL while talking with an Australia surfer couple at a warung.
Sunset on Nusa Lembongan, over Gunung Agung

Sunrise over Lhotse and the Khumbu Glacier, Nepal.
This was taken on the final 2 hour hike to Everest Base Camp. The hike started in the dark and we reached basecamp just as the sun came over the top of Lhotse.
Sunrise at Mt Everest Base Camp, Nepal

Sunset at The Beach House, Koh Pha Ngan, Thailand.
This was the first sunset of 2011 and the first clear night we had in Thailand.
Sunset from Koh Pha Ngan, Thailand

Clouds over the Central Otago Wine Region, New Zealand.
This was taken on a perfect mid 60s day of wine tasting.
Sunny Day in Bannockburn New Zealand

Sunset on Castara Bay on Tobago, Trinidad and Tobago.
On a trip back in 2007, we spent a few rainy days on Tobago, drinking Stags while sitting on the beach watching the colors and the fisherman come in.
Sunset Over Castara Bay, Tobago

2 Comments

  • Appreciating Flowers « Travel Shoes.
    March 15, 2012 at 4:38 pm

    […] matter where you go in the world, there are certain things that are always there. Like the sky. Its comforting to see things that are reminders of home and reminders of places you love. One of […]

    Reply
  • Ariane
    July 23, 2012 at 12:27 am

    Those are some absolutely beautiful sunsets and landscapes.

    Reply

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