Hiking

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Matera, Italy

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Photo taken from inside a cave that we reached by climbing down a mountain, crossing a ravine, then going up another mountain. Matera, Italy is incredible.

Photo by Pole Ninja Photography

Matera Italy Marlo Fisken
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#SessionsEverywhere
#SessionsEverywhere

I’ve learned a lot of things during my years on the road—and many of them stem from adaptability. Often, I need to have a little self-talk about accepting and embracing my circumstances. I know that if I’m caught up on my lack of "comforts," I’ll miss out on the details of the life around me.  This practice of acceptance also leads to creativity.

Romania
Romania

POLE NINJA PHOTOGRAPHY put together an incredible multimedia recap of our adventures in Romania.

Israel/Jordan
Israel/Jordan

My most recent tour included a few spots I’ve dreamed of for a long time. One of the most memorable was the Dead Sea. It truly exceeded my expectations.  I'd heard things like, “It doesn’t look like much," so I was expecting a big muddy lake/sea that you float really well in.

But WHOA. The colors of the place were divine. The air was perfect. Not only did I float, I felt like a baby seal --I ’ve never been so slimy, in a good way. For days after, my skin felt like I was 4 years old.

Plus, there was no one else there. We first went in Israel and said, “We have to go back.” So we did, in Jordan. And this time, I was prepared for a shoot.

The Catacombs in Paris
The Catacombs in Paris

I’ve been to the Catacombs of Paris museum twice. When it comes to cities, my favorite type of tourism is dark tourism. I like to see where the dreadful went down. And visiting a place that housed 7 million diseased bodies is pretty surreal. On the tour you learn that in fact these tunnels run all throughout Paris. Where there are buildings, there are underground reinforcements to prevent collapses. They don’t tell you about the illegal underground parties, war bunkers, breweries, movie rooms and communities. But they exist…

INSIDER Travel Feature on Visit to City Museum, St. Louis, MO, USA
INSIDER Travel Feature on Visit to City Museum, St. Louis, MO, USA

If I could gather everyone I know, and share one place with them, it would be the City Museum, St Louis, MO. I would take you there because it's a model for how art, play, learning, and challenge can convene in a single place. This place shows how the comforts and conveniences of our structures and systems have ruined our fitness and creativity. There are interactive exhibits of 50s nostalgia, a big ol' bug collection, a massive cave network, a tree climbing/crawling network, huge multi-story slides, urban archeology zones, epic contemporary sculptures, rooms that are self-playing instruments, human hamster tunnels and so much more. There is a circus school INSIDE where the kids get the chance to perform several times a day. At City Museum, the artists have run wild with what seems like little concern for 'safety' (I'm not talking about legitimate dangers, but the type of fear that conditions parents, leaders, and law enforcement to tell us not to climb, explore, and challenge convention). In no other museum have I laughed, sweated, cried, and used every possible primal pattern just to get around.

I want airports with open spaces and monkey bars, floor seating options in all restaurants and places like the city museum all over the world.

Lake Bohinj, Slovenia
Lake Bohinj, Slovenia

A few days ago we drove from Austria to Slovenia. We passed a beautiful lake and decided to take a photo. I didn't have the right outfit so I settled for a piece of red silk. I carefully walked into icy the water and waited to get the shot set-up. This is when I learned that silk floats and is water repellant (at least this silk is...). The result looks like I'm sitting on glass.

City Museum, St. Louis, MO
City Museum, St. Louis, MO

The best museum in the world hosts countless physical challenges. From climbing to crawling, and sliding to balance challenges, the City Museum, St Louis, MO is one of my favorite places in the entire world. Really. It is an interactive art exhibit/fantasy world with 50's memorabilia and insect collections. It's housed in a giant repurposed old building that forces you to explore numerous primal movement patterns just to get around. IT IS THE BEST.

Vail, Colorado
Vail, Colorado

For only a few days a year the trees in mountainous Colorado turn yellow. For a few minutes, I too turned yellow.

Milos and Santorini, Greece
Milos and Santorini, Greece

Thank you, Pole Ninja Photography and Cherry Li Photography for these photos.  :  )

If you're interested in booking a photo shoot with Pole Ninja Photography or for commercial shoot inquiries, you can contact him via MRBRPR.

Floor Flow Teacher Training - It's Go Time!
Floor Flow Teacher Training - It's Go Time!

It's Day 1 of the FIRST ever Floor Flow Teacher Training and I'm like....

AHHHH!!!!! weeeee!!!! wwoooohoooo!!!!

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Germany / Poland / Czech Republic / Hungary / Austria / Switzerland / France (Sept. - Nov. 2014)

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I started this trip teaching in Germany (where a good portion of my ancestry originates) and saw the youthful liberated energy of Berlin.  I then made my way through three cities in Poland: Gdansk; Warsaw; and Wroclaw.  I spent a week trying to replace all "W" sounds with "V" sounds in order to read anything.  I confirmed my love of Kielbasa and then passed through regal Prague and Budapest before spending time in Vienna.  The air, mountains, and elderflower juice of Innsbruck, Austria won my heart once again.  There is space to MOVE, the city encourages skateboarding (everywhere) and has organic markets.  Win!  I then made my way to Switzerland where I felt so safe I confidently took night walks through narrow streets of Zurich.  

Next up was France for the second time this year.  After a few days in Paris, I headed to Strasbourg, the heart of the Alsace region, for a day of workshops and a photo shoot with Haze Kware.  The first picture has been released and was taken in a Petite France, part of Grande île, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  More photos from this shoot to come....

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Colorado / Utah (June 2014)

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Oh Colorado, how I love you!  Every time I arrive I think, "How does the sky look SO much larger here?"  Against logic and any explanation of topography and human construction, I maintain that the sky IS larger in Colorado.  This was my first visit to Utah.  Growing up and going to dance competitions, the kids from studios in Utah were always technical beasts.  I wasn't sure if they came from some kind of dance commune where they were forced to train from the moment they could right themselves or if they just had great teachers.  I still don't know, but I loved my time there.

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Australia / New Zealand (January - March 2014)

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As an American, Australia is a wild experience.  In many ways, it is quite similar to the US: It has a comparable history and an equally diverse terrain, yet it is about as far as a landmass can be.  But it is what sets Australia apart that I love the most.  On this trip, I visited Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Ballaraat, Perth, and Cairns where I was able to dive the Reef and see giant clams large enough to sit inside (I did not try this since the clams were home).  In my third visit to Sydney, I happened across a modest little beach road called Marlo Road before moving on to New Zealand in the midst of the cicada apocalypse.  Queenstown, New Zealand is a powerful place.  It is an alpine town rich with Maori history and young adventurists.  I dodged insane downhillers while hiking the Tiki trail and toured Glenorchy (where Lord of the Rings was filmed).  New Zealand is pure beauty.