BEAUTIFUL TIME TRAVEL NOW

Beautiful journeys can go back in time and space, soar ahead, or offer you a new grounding. We’ve got one of each kind to share with you today. They are all new places to explore.

One of the great joys of travel is to see the beauty historic places -- to appreciate the art, architecture, and craft of times gone by. We particularly treasure buildings and their contents that have been preserved or restored carefully, so that they are in as new condition as possible, while being faithful to their original vision and aesthetic. We marvel at original detail and technique.

Photo: Jan Bommes. Urban Exploration of an abandoned hospital in Kiel, Germany.

But we’ve recently come to find beauty in journeys to abandoned places, where everything is in a state of advanced decay, and forbidden places that are not intended for public consumption. These hidden places offer unexpected beauty in unusual forms.

Photo: Jan Bommes. Urban Exploration of an Abandoned Waste Incineration Plant in Kiel, Germany.

An underground trend, double entendre intended, has been building over the past few years, to travel to see places most people don’t know about or, even if they did, most would never want to go. Sometimes called Urban Exploration, UE, UrbEx, Infiltration, and Reality Hacking, it is all about going into places you are “not supposed" to be.

Photo: Paul Clarke. Bryngolau Farm, Pontypridd, South Wales.

These forbidden spaces can include maintenance or service areas, utility tunnels, abandoned buildings, and abandoned properties. You can visit decaying churches, hospitals, train stations, mental institutions, power stations, schools, factories …. the list is endless.

Photo: Joey Lax-Salinas. Urban Exploration in Gary, Indiana.

You have only to look at the photos taken in these places to see why some alternative adventure seekers are attracted to them. While they offer no creature comforts, and often present dangers, they do offer an amazing array of colors, textures, shapes, and light.

 

They are filled with stories, memories, and ghosts.

Photo: Jan Bommes. Urban Exploration of an Abandoned Waste Incineration Plant in Kiel, Germany.

They merge human artistry with that of nature --  as one constructs, the other deconstructs. And each side of the creative partnership contributes to the aesthetic.

Photo: Courtesy of Adventure Seeker. Urban Exploration of abandoned building.

As paint peels, metals rusts, wood rots, masonry crumbles -- as water seeps in, animals and plants reclaim territory -- as new humans redecorate, with wild graffiti masterpieces --  a new kind of life picture emerges.

Photo: Bradley Garrett. Handstand in Metro line 4 in Paris.

Of course, this is not for the faint hearted or the frail. You’ll want to make sure you are amply protected from the hazards these places hold. Sturdy boots, helmets, thick gloves, and masks are some of the standard equipment required. And you are urged to leave things as you found them. Take photos. Leave no footprints.

Photo: Courtesy of Adventure Seeker. Urban exploration in an abandoned building.

Ninjalicious, is considered to be the spiritual "father" of urban exploration. His writings and photographs can be found on www.infiltration.org (the zine about places you're not supposed to go), and in his book, Access All Areas: A User's Guide to the Art of Urban Exploration.

Photo: Courtesy of Amazon. Forbidden Places.

A new book, “Forbidden Places, Volume 2: Exploring our abandoned heritage”, by Sylvain Margaine (Jonglez Publishing, 2013), presents gorgeous photos of the insides of abandoned relics.

 

You’ll see the glorious guts of the legendary Battersea Power Station in London, a sublime abandoned villa in Tuscany, forgotten thermal baths in Spain, a deserted workers’ village from the Italian cotton industry, a dilapidated hospital in New York City, an amusement park shut down in Bali, Antwerp’s spectacular stock exchange, rusting helicopters in Belgium, and more. Margaine has been exploring forbidden places like these for over 10 years.

 

Also check out Margaine’s first book, published in 2009.

Photo: Courtesy of Virgin Galactic. SpaceShipTwo.

At the other end of the spectrum, you can zoom off into the future with Richard Branson. Book a trip on Virgin Galactic. The new airline is expecting to begin their commercial trips into space in Mid 2014.

Photo: Jeff Foust. Underside of SpaceShipTwo and WhiteKnightTwo.

SpaceShipTwo, the shuttle, is carried up to 50,000 feet by its carrier aircraft WhiteKnightTwo. When the shuttle is dropped, it falls for a few moments and then engages rockets to make it into space.

Image: Courtesy of NASA.

Your thrilling trip will only last for 4-6 minutes -- just enough time for you to see a spectacular view few have ever witnessed personally: the entire planet earth from above.

 

Virgin Galactic has been working on the world's first private-sector space plane since 2004. Branson's Virgin Group and Abu Dhabi-based Aabar Investments have put hundreds of millions of dollars into the development project.

Photo: Courtesy of Virgin Galactic. SpaceShipTwo and WhiteKnightTwo.

So far, SpaceShipTwo has been flown through more than two dozen glide flights — plus two rocket-powered test outings, in April and September. Another powered test is expected within a month.

Photo: xjohnpaulx. SpaceShipTwo attached to WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft.

Only six passengers can travel at one time. Expect to pay $200,000 to $250,000 per seat. About 640 customers have already signed up. Some celebrities have already made their reservations for the ride, including Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Leonardo DiCaprio and Ashton Kutcher.

 

If you don’t want to pony up the bucks, you can vie for a freebie on a new NBC reality TV series titled "Space Race."

Photo: Karunakur Rayker. Himalayan Mountains.

If you want a brand new kind of journey that is possibly a bit more grounding, as it takes you to new heights, check out the virgin territories of over 165 mountain peaks in the Himalayas, where intrepid travelers have never ventured before.

 

Photo: Shirshasin Ghosh. Mt. Kachenjunga and surrounding mountains.

 

Now, for the first time, you can climb to a whole new perspective. New vistas and panoramas await you.

Photo: Shirshasin Ghosh. Mt. Kachenjunga and surrounding mountains from afar.

Of the over 1500 Himalayan mountains with snow coverage, only 326 of them are open. Due to overcrowding on Everest which has led to some conflict, Nepal is opening these new territories to ease the pain of clashing cultures, pollution and other woes.

Photo: John Town. Everest and, to its left, Lhotse

 

 

As of this coming spring, 2014, you can climb to these newly accessible spectacular virgin tops of the world.

 

Read more about Beautiful Journeys, as they relate to Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact in our posts throughout this week, including Beautiful Journeys in Film Now, Epic First Ever Journeys, Juniper Journeys, and The Art of Journey Continues.

 

Get busy and enter the BN Competitions, Our theme this week is Journeys. Send in your images and ideas. Deadline is 12.08.13.

Photo: Courtesy of InterActiveMediaSW.

Also, check out our special competition: The Most Beautiful Sound in the World! We are thrilled about this effort, together with SoundCloud and The Sound Agency. And we can’t wait to hear what you’ve got!