Mr Silla / Múm

Finally I had a minute to edit the interview I made with Mr Silla in the Icelandic band Múm. We went to her friend's gallery and had a chat about dreams. Enjoy!

Múm official website

Múm on MySpace

Mr Silla on MySpace

The Big Sur experience

California Dreams

Started the day with a fatburger and fat fries, then some strawberries and apples for desert, followed by some airplane food and airport food and you get the idea of a perfect California dream.

The cat has a blog!

Can you believe it, after all this fuss about that cat, I realized he has his own blog! So now we're blogging about each other. Pip's blog - click here!

...and woke up with him in my bed.

When we arrived to the Golden Gate Hotel in San Fransisco late at night, this cat met up with us in the reception. The hotel in general has a really personal feeling with mismatched furniture and old pictures all over the walls. The bathroom behind the reception is an event in itself and the elevator is an original from 1913. Anyway, this cat followed me to the room, and I was told that every night he choses a guest to stay with, and then he sleeps in their room. Apparently I was the honored one. When we woke up this morning he went back to the bathroom like the night before and stared at the sink until I put on the water so he could drink. This dude owns this place!

I let this guy sleep in my room in San Fransisco...

He was really thirsty so I let him have a drink and now he's sleeping in my bed. And he's even on the website: www.goldengatehotel.com

Pump it up

It's hard work roadtripping. My brother and Philip did this all the way from New York to San Fransisco, I only had to do it the last two days, but it was really sweaty.

Yosemite Waterfalls

My friend Philip Treutiger made the incredible hike up to the Yosemite Waterfalls (I think it took like 10 minutes, at least).

Things I heard by chance

American at Post Ranch Inn, Big Sur;
"Look at that condor (gigantic prehistoric bird with a 3 meter wingspan) - I thought it was a pigeon."

"Wow you're from Sweden... Is that close to Europe?"

"One monk please" (Me at McDonald's)

And this one; My brother rented a surfboard, and the rental dude asked for his drivers license to take his personal details. On the rental contract it said - First name: Körkort, Last name: Sverige
(First name: Drivers license, Last name: Sweden)

Finally arrived

Has been in transfer and on the road with no Internet for two days, but will be connected tomorrow in San Fransisco. Until then a text update.

Was picked up in LA by my brother Erik and his friend Philip who're on a road trip from NYC to San Fransisco. I joined in and we went on the pacific highway to the infamous hippie village Big Sur. We arrived in the middle of the night to "Big Sur Campground and Cabins" clueless about what place it was.

The next day we woke up by steaming sun in our sleeping bags in a simple tent cabin next to a mountain river. Good start of the trip! Then we had the most wonderful quiche and omelette at the Big Sur Bakery, before having the best massage of my live at the Esalen Institute (more about that soon). In the meantime the guys drove to the beach to find a surf spot, but instead got a puncture on one of the tires, so we have to drive superslow with the new tire.

Now we're in a motel, half way to Yosemite nature reserve that we're going to visit tomorrow.

Apparently you can watch a tv-show while getting gas here. Sorry for the bad quality of the clip.

Maja from Chiang Mai

Thanks Maja! I really appreciate your comments and your clip! I'd love to hear more about Chiang Mai from you. Keep in touch! Åsa Maja's message

Transfer Transfer Transfer

So, now I'm on my way from Iceland to LA - staying one night in Sweden (!) at my parents house. In the meantime I'll show you my rough travel plans - but be aware - anything can change...;)

ICELAND 23-26 JULY
Se blogposts.

LA / BIG SUR / SAN FRANSISCO 27 JULY – 9 AUGUST
Hang out with my best friend Kristopher in West Hollywood and to lots of stuff, visit my friends bar & restaurant Speranza, do some parachuting with the stuntmen from 'Point Break', might drive up the Pacific Highway with my brother Erik and his friend Philip - Erik & Philips Travel Blog , and on the way get one of the best massages in California at Esalen in the old hippie village Big Sur. (Update Mon July 27: Hmmm or maybe not, seems like my brother already left).

HAWAII / KAUAI 9-16 AUGUST
Learn how to surf (well, at least stand on the board...), hike the Napali Coast - one of the Hawaiian islands most stunningl nature reserves, stay one night at the perfect Hawaiian dream; Hanalei Bay Resort - where I used to work as a poolguard, do some snorkling, visit the Olokele vulcano and possibly swim with dolphins!

WESTERN SAMOA 17-23 AUGUST
Half way between New Zeeland and Hawaii I will stop by the Samoan Islands. I wanted to go there for a long time, after reading the book from 1920 called 'The Papalagi'. The book is written by a tribal leader of the Samoans who leaves his island in the Pacific and comes to Europe to "study" the Papalagi (the white man). He writes his observations in a book intended to be read by his tribe members. This book is a stunningly accurate study on western civilisation. The book might be a hoax, but nevertheless I'd like to find the place were this supposed tribeleader lived. And the plan is of course also to dive, dive and dive - Western Samoa has some of the best diving sites in the world.

TOKYO 24-30 AUGUST
Still working on the Tokyo plan. What I know for sure is that we'll enjoy a crazy week were we will discover the food, the fashion, the tech, the people, the design - the future. I might hook up with a photographer who've been following 'homeless' people who live under the tunnels in Tokyo, but nothing is set yet.

CHIANG MAI / THAILAND 31 AUGUST – 6 SEPTEMBER
Visit 'The Land' where my friend CM von Hausswolff built a quite...strange house. The Land is a village built by artists from all over the world, merging of ideas by different artists to cultivate a place of and for social engagement. Visit www.thelandfoundation.org We're also going to visit one of the foremost spa's in Thailand, The Amaravati, where we'll get an ancient Ayurvedic treatment.

LADAKH/INDIA 7-13 SEPTEMBER
I always wanted to visit Ladakh after I interviewed Helena Norberg Hodge who lived with, and helped, mountain people in Ladakh for years. The people from Ladakh is supposed to be the happiest people in the world, I want to discover why. I'm also going to visit a buddhist monestry and stay a night in New Dehli. For more than a decade, Helena Norberg-Hodge has been helping Ladakh, an isolated Himalayan culture, to preserve its strengths and choose carefully from the West as it modernizes. In 1986 the Ladakh Ecological Development Group (of which she is the director) was awarded the Right Livelihood Award, also known as 'The alternative Nobel Prize', in recognition of their remarkable work.

VENICE 14-16 SEPTEMBER
We'll end the trip by visiting the 53rd International Art Exhibition in Venice, titled 'Making Worlds', this time directed by Swedish Daniel Birnbaum. And of course enjoy the magic of Venice...

Day 3 - Gullfoss waterfall, Iceland

Erna Omarsdottir

Thanks to my friend Bjarni, who told me to 'just check out a performance at Boston bar before I leave', I saw one of the most amazing pieces of modern dance in my life. A woman crawling on the tables, sweating on top of the bar with a cloth over her head, shaking in the windows, falling on the floor, screaming, crying - Erna Omarsdottir, a world class artist, was dancing amongst the crowd in this tiny bar in Reykjavik. She's collaborating with Björk, Portishead and others, not surprisingly at all. www.ernaomarsdottir.com

Afterwards she made a songnumber which I recorded. It's really crappy and you can't see her, but wanted you to hear it a little bit anyway;