Dahlia’s Second Life

The Great Balloon Adventure--Nautilus Book is Published!

2012-01-30T17:11:00.000-08:00

Open publication - Free publishing - More adventure

If you are a traveler in Second Life, this book may be of interest to you. The Great Balloon Adventure--Nautilus is the sixth in a series of books that chronicles hot air balloonist Dahlia Jayaram as she embarks on an ambitious journey to explore every continent in Second Life. This book details Dahlia's journey through the continent of Nautilus. Follow along with Dahlia as she discovers inspiring land and sea locations, gets kidnapped by a modern day pirate, and even gets issued a ticket by Amber Linden.

Balloon Update: The Start of Gaeta V

2012-01-22T01:55:00.000-08:00

Late yesterday I took off from Bottenford, Corsica and flew east through the channel of water that connects the continent of Corsica with the continent of Gaeta V--Second Life's seventh of ten continents. This marks my 202nd day of flying towards completing my goal to fly through and chronicle sights from each of Second Life's continents. I'm very happy to get underway on flying through Gaeta V, as it has always been a fairly easy continent to travel through--meaning fewer turbulent sim crossings, less congestion, ban lines, property security issues and the like. I feel it will be a pleasurable trip for the most part, full of decent sight-seeing.

Also in the news is that I'm nearly finished with my book covering my hot air balloon travels through Nautilus. I've just completed the cover (sneak peek above), so if you go to my little garden gallery in Lenora (63, 131, 21) or look in my profile for my link to all my books at www.issuu.com/dahliasweet, where you'll be able to read all my travel adventure books, including the soon to be realeased The Great Balloon Adventure -- Nautilus. I hope you'll like it. It is full of many things you've never seen before including a warning from Amber Linden...I guarantee it!

I spent my week in between finishing Corsica and beginning Gaeta V well by getting some good sleep, eating well, going to the gym, mowing, gardening, and working ahead on other projects, and finally, reconnecting with some of my many friends to wish them a happy new year (as I wish you all too!). So be on the lookout for me in the skies of Gaeta V, on the internet, or at my little garden gallery, Dahlia's Journey, in Lenora!

Balloon Adventure Update: Week 29

2012-01-09T10:16:00.000-08:00

It is with great pleasure and some relief too that I can announce that on January 7, 2012 I completed my hot air balloon tour of the continent of Corsica. Incredibly, the three weeks or 21 days it took me it took me to complete the journey began in August of 2010. The completion took place on the last day of Week 29, which was also Day 201 of the larger Great Balloon Adventure that began on January 1, 2010.

From here I have only four smaller continents to explore: Gaeta V directly to the east of Corsica, Gaeta I, which is north of Corsica and Gaeta V, Zindra to the far east of the Second Life world grid, and Nescera, the starter residential continent created for premium residents in 2010. As long as I can continue pressing forward on weekends, I hope to complete my hot air balloon explorations of these continents and the entire Great Balloon Adventure by the end of this year.

Corsica was certainly one large continent to fly through. Overall, there were some exceptional sights to see, but there was also a substantial occurrence of large tracts of open, unused land. It may be that ground level development occasionally lacked to allow for sky level development overhead, and, while there is plenty of sky development throughout Corsica, it is much less congested than other continents. Additionally, while coastal shorelines and associated property extending out over water areas in Corsica are generally well occupied compared to inland properties, the waterways generally aren't as overly congested as other continents. The incidence of property ban lines and security devices is also less frequent than on other continents I've passed through so far, much to my flying relief and pleasure. So kudos to Corsica for that!

In the next couple of weeks I'll be flying through Gaeta V while finishing work on my book covering Nautilus and the beginning of my work on the Corsica book. In the meantime, stay tuned to my blog after each 7 days (one week) of flying.

And for now, highlights from Week 29 of my final flying through the continent of Corsica!:

Toyland in Thumper: Toyland is an incredible property filled with oversized classic toys. If you ever visited the now gone Greenies property from long ago, you might enjoy seeing the oversized toys and games in Toyland. While I was there I met Eolene Uralia who makes some of the items there. She goes every day and works to make Toyland a fun, imaginative and brilliant place for everybody. Drop by and be amazed at how masterful they are in recreating toys at such large scales!

Ginza @ Tokyo 1930's in Mordreds Crossing:

Ginza is a town inspired from the look of Ginza Tokyo Japan in the pre-war 1930's. There are a large variety of low and high price retail shops selling kimonos, outfits, skins, original furniture, scripted items, freebies and more.

The ownership says: "Here is 1930's tokyo and there were many modern boys and girls walking. And as same as USA or other country, they could hear wonderful jazz music then. The age was most peaceful time in Japan I think. Please enjoy our good old time japanese town and have a good time in SL."

Mahoney City in Shipstone:

A wonderful looking residential community along the base of a steep hillside that has a small, country church at the top of it. Homes are for lease, access to the sea, surfable synchronized waves, windsurfing, Xploder, camping, and more. I loved a wonderful art shop that had easels out but no prints on display.

Inner Child Safe Haven in Delizmo:

A safe place for people who play child avatars and the adults who care for them to gather and have fun. We will have dancing, good music, contests, fishing, information to help you keep yourself safe as a child avatar and more!

Telling Stories Park in Krongower:

At ground level near to Inner Child Safe Haven is Telling Stories Park,

is a live music and public outdoors nature park that features the Telling Stories band from Austin Texas, Unites States. Relax, hang out, hike, explore trees, streams, and wildlife, download Mp3s, listen to music, and consider skybox rentals.

Bhaktivillle Mountain Temple in Archers:

Bhaktiville was created for the pleasure of Hare Krishna devotees. They have many things for your spiritual enjoyment, including: Sri Sri Radha Krsna are available for darshan any time of the day or night. Srila Prabhupada chanting japa is on the music channel and the sound on their video player media channel. Videos are available on their pier, as well as many free things to help with one's spiritual journey. A grotto is hidden on the grounds for meditation. A Greenhouse Cafe is available for relaxation and has many vegetarian recipes. Cows wander and float around Bhaktiville, and have a barn up the hill from the Greenhouse Cafe.

Metal Heart Project & Cyber Aquarium in Andresson:

One of my favourite spectacular structures, this property features an enormous transformer-like figure that stands over a sparsely used retail mall and club district. To further show a large difference in scale, a representative industrial park and airport are both reproduced in miniature. The Metal Heart Project was built in hommage to the struggling heavy metals industrial district of Tokyo, Japan, now in decline after creation of modernization technologies and the globalization of the world economy. This is one spectacular sight not to miss for the sheer enjoyment of building talent and humanitarian interest.

Dargo's Kart, Bike & Car road track (KJ Racing) in Wildfire:

Is a recreation rl buildings Cafe "Het vraagteken" & Garage "De Weer" and features "Dargo's Fun Zone," a collection of games, Kart, bike, cars and kart driving, a collection of carnival rides such as ferris wheel. There's also a bar, dance floor area and shopping.

A sky home in Wairbrow:

The "About Land" only says: Princess Venus. However, owner Sylar Shackleton was a member of a group named Venus Girl. It is a group for people interested in amputee and other disability discussion and roleplaying. Anyone with an interest in the area is welcome, whether disabled in SL or RL, or just wanting to meet people and talk. Location: Sylar Shackleton, Venus Girl, Roseland (160, 96, 452).

The Third Grid Project in Claressa:

Established in 2008 by Alias Piek, the 'I in 3D' digital art walk claims to be the longest in SL at one mile long and also offers jumps to a Water Gallery, a Sun Set View Gallery and offers a hypergrid link to Simulacron-1.com. A free miniature replica of A.M. Radio's is available well known sims also provides a link to his website.

Calvary Chapel Second Life Christian Church in Meldenrake:

The "About Land" says "Calvary Chapel is a real life church reaching into second life with the gospel of Jesus Christ, that as many might know of the love that took our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to die on the cross at Calvary to pay the price for our sins." It is a collection of a variety of nicely styled and integrated buildings that reside on the northeastern shoreline.

Update: Balloon Adventure, January 1, 2012

2012-01-01T16:14:00.000-08:00

Hello explorers! I'm wishing you all a Happy New Year 2012 from the Citadel, in Uxeter (251, 146, 54), on the continent of Corsica! Although it isn't yet the end of a full week of flying, I wanted to wish everyone a great start to their new year.

Believe it or not, but I began my The Great Balloon Adventure two years ago on this day in 2010! At that time, I estimated I could fly the entire Second Life world in only 90 days. Well, I'm now on my 198th day of flying on my adventure. That is much longer than I would have ever imagined before I began. If I knew it would take this long, I might have been very tempted not to set out on such a lengthy journey. But I'm the kind of person who fully commits to a goal once I've set it. So if you're wondering if I will continue my journey, the answer is YOU BET! I'm still enjoying every day that I fly, seeing new things, and learning more about what is out in the Second Life world.

My most recent overnight stop at the Citadel in Uxeter has taken me to what I estimate is about the 80% completion of the mainland continent of Corsica. I estimate it might take me about 14 more days of flying time to complete it. Once finished, I'll write my travel adventure book covering my flight across this continent, just as I do with all the other previous ones. I'm currently working on writing and laying out the book that covers my travels through the continent of Nautilus. By the time I finish it, I suspect I might already be flying into my next continent of Geogeot V, which is just to the east of the Corsica continent. So never fear: I'm always working to further my flying progress and my book completion.

I'm not one to make new year resolutions or predictions, but if I were to make either, I would say that I anticipate completing The Great Balloon Adventure sometime during this year, 2012. Thats right! I know you must be happy with that news, completely tired of seeing all my maps and want me to get on to new things. So if you can endure the highs and lows with me through the smaller continents of Geogeot V, Geogeot I, Zindra, and Nescera, then we will have made it all the way together...and after that, a long break back to a mundane life again! I bet you don't believe that last part at all, do you? If not, I wouldn't blame you, considering all that I've done so far.

So until I finish with my current week of flying, here's to you...to all of us in Second Life and beyond. May all of 2012 bring you wonderful travels and memories to take into 2013. Signing off from the Citadel in Uxeter, Corsica, this is your pilot, Dahlia Jayaram!

Ballooning With Yordie

2011-11-29T16:42:00.000-08:00

Earlier last week I learned that my friend, Yordie, had moved from her wonderful zen garden—that she seemed to have forever—to a beach front home in Martha's Vineyard in the Second Life New England Estates sims. I had been past or to Martha's Vineyard a number of times on my way to a variety of New England events and knew the area well, so I called Yordie to enthusiastically congratulate her. I just knew she was going to love the island life in New England.

Yordie happened to be available when I called, and asked if I'd like to come see it. She didn't have to ask twice. I was eager to see how a woman goes from owning a large parcel with a zen garden to a beach home in a northern Atlantic coast environment. I already had in mind that the "zen" would come by keeping things sparse and tidy—which it was, I came to find when I arrived. Yordie gave me the small tour while we talked of the former garden, the new place, and how things had changed—and how we both anticipated she was going to simply fall in love with the New England lifestyle.

I asked if she had spent much time looking around New England yet, and to my surprise she hadn't, so I offered to take her to one of my favourite places in New England and, in fact, the entire Second Life world: Sudane Erato's Great Island in the farthest reaches of eastern New England where a finger-like stretch of beach reached out into the ocean all by itself, far away from everything else. From there, one could enjoy a great view of the sunset looking back towards Great Island.

The furthest-most tip of the stretch of sand is called Jeremy Point and is usually located in the Billingsgate sim, but when the ocean rises and submerges the sand, the "point" ends up being further west on Great Island. So if you fly to Billingsgate, do note that the sim with that name has migrated to a new position on the grid to fill in during lean times. When things get better, Billingsgate inevitably migrates back to its original eastern-most location in New England.

Yordie flew out from Martha's Vineyard, north over Marblehead Island, which plays host to public entertainment, gallery shows, and more recently, has been developed into a small retail area to help restore some of the commercial presence vacated by the submergence of Nantucket Village earlier in the year. From Marblehead, we flew east until we reached Tuckernuck Island, then hooked southward around its eastern side to admire the great waves that I've always loved sailing through. Yordie loved them too.

We crossed over into Great Island where I showed Yordie the low-lying bird estuary, then flew east, passing over Sudane's home and then Jeremy Point, where we watched the sun set. It was a moment of magic for me as it always is...for Yordie too, I'm sure. I'm confident Yordie will love New England, whether she lives there or not, but as long as she does, I'm extremely happy for her. Hugs, Yordie!

Balloon Adventure Update: Week 28

2011-11-27T10:58:00.000-08:00

Wow, what can I say? It has taken me since October 22 until November 25 to complete a full "week" (seven days) of ballooning over the continent of Corsica.I began this week of flying from Xobite Airfield in Xobite and ended at Toyland, estimating that I have completed about 70% of Corsica. When I first arrived at Xobite to end my 27th Week, I had stopped at an airfield. When I returned to begin my 28th Week, it was completely gone, replaced by a for sale sign in the water the airfield once inhabited. It had only been a week's difference in time since my last arrival. I decided to call the real estate owner, Ray Burdeyna, who purchased it. Ray didn't know who had previously owned the parcel or how long the airport had been there; he only purchased it when he saw the undeveloped was for sale.

This left me having to walk until I could find a new place to unpack my balloon. Eventually, I found myself at Dresden's Den in Oryx, SE of the former Xobite Airport location. There, I unpacked a new balloon and took off and flew east until I landed in Dallows where eleven free changing rooms were offered for public use at Private Dressin. They offered tips and rules in nine languages, and wonderful mirrors in each free-standing room to check your appearance in. I took the time to strike some silly, muscle flexing poses for a good laugh, then flew over the Forum Cartel Hangout next door in Allana where everyone is welcome to go hang out, dance and chat in a small club overlooking the bay waters in Corra, and Mermaid Beach in Binneed where rezzable submarines could take you down underwater to tour the mermaid world.

From there, I began to backtrack to the NW. I passed a wonderful nature area in the Kudosian Heights of BoShek where I took pictures of a variety of bears that inhabited the area until the sun started to set. I decided to overnight in a tent on the park grounds, then continued flying NW the next day past the Grand Army of the Republic HQ parcel in Bakura, then the WereWolf Empire HeadQuarters in Fontain, a wonderful Japanese residence called "Jimmie's Hideaway" in Saint Clair, and a game shop in Dixfield that advertised itself with a giant name 260m high in the air. I wonder if THAT was within the Linden's no-advertising rule?

Aside from the sims mentioned above, for those who might wonder what sims I passed through during this week, I continued on looking at properties and taking pictures at Gorlen Hill, Urcho Archo, Withernook, Birchwood, Jessgate, Bethymine, Mortons Gully, Motocyclone, Wet Hoof, Hawkpit, Underfoot, Besson, Ghoel, Yarna, Asha, Meewalh, Wave Paw, Naberrie, Cadborosaurus, Seadramon, Jormundgandr, Gorderonis, Iku Turso, Clockwork, Yacumama, Cinadr, Sawsnake, the Linden Memorial Park sims of Pinechapel, Inglewood, San Michele, Varna, Shrine of Rememberance, Rockwood, Toowong, Monument Highgate, Derran Moor, and Winterspire.. Leaving the memorial park island, I flew south through Arancione, Cradle, Almond, Kianthos, Rosewood, Banyan, and Thumper, where I took my rest in a bed that was in the room of a giant kitchen stove at Toyland. Now you know why it takes me so long to clear a full week of exploring!

So let's not delay any further. Here's some of my highlights from Week 28 of The Great Balloon Adventure!:

Private Dressin, Dallows: Need a free place to change your clothes? You can do it here at one of the privately owned Changing Rooms Group's 11 free-standing huts on the ground level. Rooms offer a mirror to check your look in, as well as good poses to try out while you check out your look. They even offer tips and rules in nine languages!

Kudosian Heights in Bo Shek: a wonderful nature area to explore and pass the time in. Be sure to enjoy the bear sightings! Stay the night at a campsite with a tent, fireplace and reading material.

Grand Army of the Republic Headquarters in Bakura: For Star Wars fans, lots of retail items and a link to role play Star Wars at www.grandarmysl.com.

The Lost Foundry at Gorlen Hill: Here, you can get an eBook eReader viewer system for reading in SL.

Wise Heron Newbie Mall, Saltwater Public Park, and Sweetwater Park, all next to each other in Urcho Archo: Has free and low-pay retail items for newbies, peaceful beaches to relax, dance, explore underwater and use 7Seas Fishing. Join the group to get notices about musical performances.

SHX Main Shop in Ghoel: If you need a company that creates and sells equipment for Djs and club electronics since 2006, you'll find it here in a building with multiple stupas. Has both freebie and pay retail areas, sells on the SL Marketplace, and also offers a website: www.shxmeta.com

Kids Place in Yarna: This is a big, free PG theme park from the Adoption Center that has been in operation since 2006. It offers a variety of things including fun clothes, skins, shapes, animations, gestures, swings and play sets for boys and girls.

McDonalds restaurant in Meewahl: Now gone--unless they are renovating--I was so happy to see the golden arches from a distance and land nearby to go have a happy meal!

The Linden Memorial Park sims of Pinechapel, Inglewood, San Michele, Varna, Shrine of Rememberance, Rockwood, Toowong, Monument Highgate, Derran Moor, and Winterspire: Linden provided land offering space in a public park for placing memorials to those whose time has passed on to another dimension.

Toyland in Thumper: You must see this incredible parcel of giant sized classic toys. It will remind you of the days when we used to go visit Greenies to look the size of a set of keys compared to a larger univers. Plenty of fun things to see, do, and shops to buy cool gadgets from while you're the size of an ant! I finished this week's tour by sleeping in a bed inside the Easy Bake Oven.

Balloon Adventure Update: Week 27

2011-10-24T16:33:00.000-07:00

I completed Week 27 of the Great Balloon Adventure in early October and am just now getting around to picking through my flight notes to post a blog that highlights some of the more interesting sights I've seen along the way. My summer and autumn have been extremely busy both in RL and SL, resulting in quite a challenge for me to find a decent block of time to concentrate on a focused flight. On occasion, I've even taken to flying during the overnight hours so I can make up for progress lost due to other activities. So it is with my apologies that I have taken from August until early October to string together a measly seven days of flying.

Nevertheless, in the seven days I HAVE flown, I can see now that I've covered roughly 40% of the Corsica continent...a greater distance than it ever felt like until looking at my progress map just now. Considering that, I've seen a LOT of interesting places to report on, so without further adieu, here is the cream of the crop of highlights from the western half of Corsica!:

> Baitoushan Intercontinental Airport is a large, Executive Class ground-level public airport residing on the southwestern shores of Corsica. It has two well lit 200mX30m runways, a few plane hangers for rental, a few shops, and a very large international airport terminal with a striking row of flags to places in the world your SL plane could never reach. Underneath the airport is a beach, marina and Second Life Coast Guard station. A spaceport 3000m above the airport can be accessed via a transporter located in the vendor area on the second floor of the terminal.

> Right next door to the north of Baitoushan IA, is the town of DeMortesville town in Tengchong. DeMortesville can boast to be one of Second Life's true full towns, complete with a multitude of services one would expect to find in RL. This role playing town has both commercial and residential tennants. After I had landed at Baitoushan International, I walked through the town to find a place to stay overnight. The town's mayor, Sandy Morlim, was kind enough to provide some background about DeMortesville and offered to check me in to the local hotel free of charge, which I appreciated very much! It was so nice to find a room with a hot shower and big bed to overnight in for a change.

> Skeptical Buddists Sangh in Railrider

Here you can walk the Virtual Buddhist Eightfold Path, an 8-fold path the Buddha taught recreated as a virtual path offering an explanation of the way Buddhists live all over the world. Plain English descriptions of the basic concepts of Buddhism are offered along the way, and you can even take copies of the banners if you like.

> Marina Sport Racer Sailing Club in Ghloogums. One of the rare northern sailing club and marina's beyond of the Blake Sea, this one still gets the job done with offerings for sailing, power boating, windsurfing, scuba diving water-Skiing, wake boarding, swimming, and team racing.

> RLetc at Gulf Of Moles in Lisselmain. Now, I have to admit that I seriously don't know anything about social gaming online, but RLetc sounded impressive in its description and worth mentioning for those who might know better than me!: "RLetc is a free online community dedicated to adult virtual worlds, both social and gaming, and those who spend time in these those worlds. Currently we have members using Second Life, Utherverse, Opensim, IMVU, Twinity, Startrek Online, Eve Online and just about any other worlds we stumble upon. Think of RLetc.com as being kinda like the Mos Eisley Cantina from Star Wars where world weary travelers from all points of the metaverse can kick back and shoot the breeze for a while."

> Twills Muse Group in Kierman: a really striking record player and records levitate at 450m up in the sky. Full of delightful musical and especially Beatles memorabilia, it offers "a great place to kick back, relax, just be. Explore the caves, romantic nooks, dancing, sail, elven drums othello, backgammon, meditation, ice skating, rodeo bull, love treehouses, rugs, gift boxes, baku boho, christmas, skirts clothes, fashion," and more.

> PUCP-Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru in Showashinzan: Reunión, trabajo formación. Auditorio Sandbox Idiomas Education Arte Español Educación Perú Peruano Enseñanza Aprendizaje Docencia Estudios Superiores University Spanish Art Learning.

> Temple of the Prim, Kwaito: this temple high atop a hill is owned by the Linden Department of Public Works and shows an old map from the early days of SL inside. Could there be some hidden secret or treasure around? It made me feel very "Indiana Jones" while I was there!

> Airport LaTour in Gorgonzola: the only airport in the north of Corsica continent. For medium and small planes, they have hangars and vendors available for rent.

> Waterfall by Vanity Mole in Evora. A wide and delightful waterfall that cascades down a rocky slope near Route 8. Very well constructed!

> Virtual Sayama City! in Exomorogon: An urban area with streets decorated by Japanese festival banners, Virtual Sayama Circuit is a go cart race course. I remember having been there on an earlier occasion during a Japanese holiday. During that time photos were on display of the holiday street festival processions and had explanations of what the many decorations were.

> Classy Village Commons in Zimnago and Norstrilia is a nice little village neighbourhood of homes nestled around and along the slopes of a towering hill of baren rock protruded upward, and topped with a small country church. Large letters spelling "CLASSY" are set along the hillside and reminiscent of the letters for HOLLYWOOD in real life. From the top of the hillsideone can look out over the southern aspects of Corsica and perhaps on a good day, even see the northern coastline of Nautilus.

> Suboceana in Wyrldmaker is on the southernmost island between Corsica and Nautilus. It provides a good central location for more than 30 connected ocean sims filled with sea life, treasure and many other surprising things! You can go scuba diving, sail boats, yachts, use Heps Virtual Dive Systems, rentals, scooters, and more.

> Degrand Info Hub in Degrand: If you ever started out as a newbie on a desolate island with seemingly no way off of it, this might be where you began your first day in SL! Degrand is in the southern sea of Corsica, about halfway between its far eastern and western continental shores. Within the past year, a new sailing route opened up between southern Corsica and northern Nautilus, not far from here. If only you had known, right?

Dahlia Featured in SL Newser

2011-10-23T14:41:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! Just to let you know that the Great Balloon Adventure is still underway. I finished my 27th full week of flying and am in the process of writing the Week 27 Update blog entry. I'm also working on my Balloon Adventure continent book #6 which covers Nautilus at the same time I'm flying through the continent of Corsica.

In the meantime, until I get my my blog updated, I wanted to share with you an article that Netera Landar of the SL Newser wrote about me in the People section of that publication. You can find it here, and I hope you'll enjoy a little background information about my adventures!:

http://slnewserpeople.blogspot.com/

Balloon Adventure Update: Week 26

2011-08-24T02:57:00.000-07:00

Great news! On the last day of Week 26, I also completed my tour of the entire continent of Nautilus. I completed flying through the region in two weeks--15 days total--but it took me a few months of flying on weekends only to complete my entire tour.

The geography of Nautilus is unique, having almost equal large areas of both water and land making up the continent. This made for a nice variety of ever-changing scenery to keep me from getting bored of seeing only one or the other. It also helped to provide a relief from having to cross over or through problem areas full of ban lines or other property restrictions.

Combining Weeks 25 and 26 reinforced my opinion that Nautilus has its fair share of both interesting sights as well as uninspiring developments. I also noted a considerable amount of undeveloped properties for sale or rent--perhaps as a reminder of the poor economic times and high land/tier prices that still dominate the inworld news. Land must be so overpriced that--in an ironic twist--I've even passed over land that was abandoned by Governor Linden himself. Imagine that!

Week 26 had some wonderful highlights as noted below:

> Valentine's Little Slice in Kothar, Nautilus City: Check out this Governor Linden property 528 meters high in the air that has a small temple featuring a Hindi elephant fountain and a king cobra adornment on the top of a temple. Inside, a small, single apple sprouts from a tiny tree the size of a bonsai. Could it be the apple of eternal wisdom? Are you tempted to take it and bite it, or will you respect it as the property of another?

> The Citadel in Malchus: Boat along the channel waterway that disects the east/west halves of the Nautilus City island, then passes through an incredibly massive doorway into the inner waterway of the Citadel.

> The Temple in Hannibal: A giant pink lotus had light rays that radiated outward from it and passed through a circular opening in the roof of the Governor Linden building that housed it.

> Virtual Lepidoptera Research Institute and The Butterfly House Research Laboratory & Shop in Hannibal: Owner Nish Mip created a place to relax, unwind, read a magazine, see butterfles, birds, and occasional art, and the opportunity to buy odd bits of gadgetry.

> Zee West Airport in Gladzyck: I've known of Zee West Airport for years, but think this was my first visit there. It is a small airport with a simple runway to direct traffic out south into an unobstructed sea northwest of Nautilus City. Its location is great for serving traffic to Nautilus, Satori, and the more distant destinations of Corsica to the north and the Blake Sea to the east.

> Kingdom of Syldavia in Scroop: King Moroslav (moroslav.milodanic) set up a parcel for what appears to be for fighters. He sits somewhere in his property while large calibre canons positioned around his property shoot out at innocent passer-bys such as myself. I made the mistake of flying both into his air space as well as into adjacent parcels not owned by him. No matter where I was--on his property or not--as long as I was within range, his guns still shot at me. It seems there must be a law against that, but I don't know of one specifically. I encourage all role players to go see if they can infiltrate Moroslav's compound and neutralize this offensive man for shooting at innocent people outside of his property.

> Safe Waters Foundation Headquarters in Corinaldo: I came across the submerged Safe Waters Foundation, A Resource Location for Merfolk Life. If you're a merfolk, please feel encouraged to visit their group for more information (or go explore their club).

> Garden for the Missing in Remora: The Garden for the Missing features 200 posters of children and adults who vanished without a trace in the United States (of the 105,000 total missing there). Click on the posters to read about the missing people and their long-searching families. The Garden also serves as a resource for information about what you need to know when, and before, a family member disappears, including the teaching of coping skills to family members. They also post Amber Alerts for abducted children in the United States.

The Garden is generously supported by the proceeds of a variety of in-world stores owned by Ronnie Rhode, as well as her RL non-profit charity organization, Project Jason, that helps families who have someone missing in their real lives. Project Jason has even been reported on by CNN and the Associated Press. You can learn more by visiting http://projectjason.org and www.gardenforthemissing.org.

> The Pixel-Lab at Houlihan: A very interesting plant-like crystal grows high in the sky over a store and playground.

> Castle Valeria Infohub, Castle Valeria: The castle sits on an island to the northwest of the Nautilus mainland. There's not much there in the way of info--just the mere basics about hot spots. Not even any tutorials. I would call this an underdeveloped Linden property, but it is in a good location at the gateway of the straights between the continents of Nautilus and Corsica.

> Kinrara Island Airfield, Kinrara: At 534 meters in the Corsica sky I completed my pass through Nautilus and set myself up for my continued journey into Corsica.

Balloon Adventure Update: Week 25

2011-06-29T19:09:00.000-07:00

Completion of Week 25 was a long time in the making. It began in February and didn't conclude until June. It wasn't because the trip was so difficult or full of set-backs. No, instead, it was because I took a long break to concentrate on other events both in- and out-of-SL. I always felt guilty for not forcing myself to try harder to get up in the balloon, and hope I can be more diligent in the weeks to come.

While flying through the eastern half of Nautilus, I discovered that there are a lot of airports and airstrips. I knew there were many, but I'd also discovered some that I didn't know of. I even discovered an air museum!

WEEK 25 HIGHLIGHTS:

Elinor Airport, Bertaggia: Arriving late in the evening, I met airport owners Lynn Parkin and Dondy Carling. They shared with me information about their airport, inspired by the life and times of America's first female and black female aviator and stunt pilot, Elinor Smith. The airport offers an incredible assortment of interesting things to do besides serving as an airport, such as a full sim air race track and maneuverability course with timed gates, a carnival with rides, a sky diving elevator tower inspired by description penned by Arthur C. Clarke, a large Jules Verne Nemo exhibit, replica builds of Ford Island tower in Pearl Harbor and an LAX airport terminal. Not only that, but both Parkin and Carling are Second Life Coast Guard Commanders.

Crashed and hi-jacked, Dizadare and Skradski Coastal Waterway: I crashed and then swam to a small island fort in Skradski, hoping to find a place to unpack a new balloon. Unfortunately, it had no place to unpack, so I was facing another swim to continue my search when a sailor, elMegro Magic, offered me a ride on his large multi-sailed schooner, the TSS Brigantine. I accepted, thinking he'd drop me off at nearest stop, Tradewinds Yacht Club in Dex, but instead, he sailed us past it, south, all the way to the Santa Barbara sailing academy in the Blake Sea—but not before he shot his cannons off along the eastern islands of Nautilus.

Tradewinds Yacht Club, Dex: A very well known and traveled location for boaters. To take travel excursions from the island, you can touch three different posts: one to take a balloon tour to Barbarossa Island, one to balloon tour Tradewinds Yacht Club and one to rez a Nautilus City Tour Ferry.

Island with giant skeletal remains, Ahab's Haunt: a great little sandy island dominated by the giant skeletal remains of a dinosaur, over a central pool of water you can snorkel in to look at submerged shipwreck and aquatic life. The skeleton was so large that I could actually fly my balloon in one end and out the other!

Pirate Air Airport Casablanca in Antilaghi: Claimed by the airport group to be SL's best airport (not sure when or where that survey occurred, or who might have voted).

Received a Linden Lab warning ticket while in Balista: for having an advertisement on the side of my balloon while flying (I learned that the maximum height one can display an advert is 8 meters above ground, unless it is affixed to a building to identify the business). Who knew? If interested to know the rule, you can find it here: https://blogs.secondlife.com/community/features/blog/2008/09/13/more-information-on-ad-farms-and-network-advertisers

Ejected along Route 12: Due to a full parcel in Hardrada, I was teleported home during my crash, and when I arrived, I received a local chat message that said: "You died and have been teleported to your home location (from Hardrada/224/251/119)."

Airtol Hill Spirit Mountain, Airtol: A lot of educational organizations and retail companies geared toward meditation, spiritual observation, and the metaphysical healing practices.

Knaptrackicon Coast Guard Station: A resourceful station staffed with friendly people who provided useful information about the area and also agreed to escort me on a 44-sim distance swim event from the far eastern edge of SL to the far western edge.

Danshire Yacht Club, Knaptrackicon: Relocated and scaled down from its original location in Corsica.

Sparrow Field, Knaptrackicon: One of the more well-organized and represented airfields in Nautilus--particularly geared toward retro-era planes. It even offered two mini WWI prop fighter planes to visitors for free.

Makkov North Channel: While carrying two passengers, we were all ejected from the balloon and landed in the water halfway between Blung and Xinnt. Fortunately, there was an overturned row boat that we were able to swim to. Unfortunately, it was also being prowled by a few sharks.

Nautilus Byth: The City Alliance provided a small floating landing pad that encouraged residents to explore Nautilus Underwater. To facilitate that endeavour, they offered a map, instructions, and a rideable dolphin.

A tired Dahila--didn't even bother to take off her back pack

and camera after arriving back home after a day of flying.

Balloon Adventure Update: Week 24 (including Nautilus)

2011-03-12T13:25:00.000-08:00

The conclusion of Week 24 of The Great Balloon Adventure found me pulling into Elinor Airport, in Bertaggia, Nautilus with passenger Mandor Darkwatch. The six days before, I wrapped up my extraordinary flight through the Blake Sea & Island Communities when I touched down on Spyglass Island—and it was from there that I began my first day of flying in Nautilus.

Blake Sea & Island Communities was a dream adventure, filled with beautiful open skies, interesting people, and a reminder of how ever-changing the landscape is in our twin life existences. While I flew by day, I wrote my book by night and was keeping good pace with my actual progress on the map. And while I wrapped up writing and fact-checking what I could for the book, I continued my flying into Nautilus.

So here is my last installment of highlights from the Blake Sea & Island Communities region, and my first couple for the next flying adventure covering the continent of Nautilus:

> New England Village sims and New England Island Estates One of the biggest developments still in the process of being sorted out during my expedition was the fate of the New England Village sims. With its tier not having been paid for months, its seven sims were on the verge of collapse and sinking back into the Linden off-grid seas. I waited for a couple of weeks after completion of Week 24 to include in this blog highlight their fate, which was to in fact be removed from the grid during the first week of March, 2011. The New England Island Estates—not part of the New England Village Estates—were to then be moved down into the space vacated by the Village sims in order to maintain a link to the mainland grid.

> Sea Plane Base, Aurora If you have a sea plane, then this airport is perfect for you! A great location for reaching points north and south along the eastern island communities and still be in a nice central location to fly westward into the greater open air of Blake Sea.

> The giant stone aqueduct, Mare Nostrum Rising high above the sea, this aqueduct is dedicated to the memory of a famous Italian architect, and delivers water to the neighbouring Greenhouse atrium. The aqueduct has three sets of high arches that tall masted boats can pass through...even hot air balloons. I was graced with the video taping talents of Roberto Highfield to film my daredevil stunt flying under these overpasses just to prove that it could be done!

> The atrium and surrounding sights of Greenhouse Learn about mangrove ecology inside the impressive botanical atrium, enjoy the delightful flower field and trees, see the art gallery offerings, row a boat around the island.

> Foliage Airport, Foliage A delightful little airport with a beautiful art deco terminal building. Still one of my favourites to fly into due to the sounds of bustling passengers inside the terminal...and now with a little bar too!

> Jeremy Point, Billingsgate

My favourite mainland beach to get one of the most scenic, expansive views of the sea and New England. Some of the best sailing too!

> Tugyby League match in Santa Rosa If you like rugby and have a tugboat, you can play "Tugby"! Go check it out sometime. It looks very interesting and unique!

> Hollywood Airport, Santa Catalina I would be remiss to not mention this, the busiest airports in the region, if not all of Second Life.

> The Lighthouse, Blake Sea Crows Nest No landmark stands out quite like the Crows Nest lighthouse. Topping out at 85 meters high above the surface of the sea, it is a gigantic magnet for eyes from as far as three sims away. It was one of the first locations I knew of in the Blake Sea and it continues to be one of the most iconic of all in the region.

> Spyglass Island This mysterious looking half-bowl shaped island is surrounded by high mountainous walls on three sides and opens up on the fourth to a small bay with a short dock. If you pass through the foliage, you'll find a small camp site and if you're really paying attention, another surprise or two! I also met resident, Jeri Pinion, who frequently organizes parasailing flights starting from the area, so give her a call if you'd like to join in the fun!

> Elinor Airport and Marina, Bertaggia I met the owner, Lynn Parkin, who was very kind to tell me all about the airport she built in honour of Elinor Smith Sullivan, an aviatrix who who flew under all the bridges over the east river in New York, back in the 1910's, in the same era as Amelia Earhart flew. The airport has a great variety of things to see and do, such as the historical control tower, based on the Ford Island tower in Pearl Harbor; an LAX terminal building; a carnival; a large Jules Verne Nemo exhibit 4000 meters in the sky; and an air race track and maneuverability course complete with timed gates.

Now Published! The Great Balloon Adventure - Blake Sea & Island Communities

2011-03-06T12:47:00.000-08:00

At last!...the latest edition of The Great Balloon Adventure series is now available!

The Great Balloon Adventure ~ Blake Sea & Island Communities flying expedition was completed at the end of January, and the book published the first week of March. The book was actually ready before March, but I wanted to wait to see the outcome of one especially important issue: the fate of the New England Village estates. With that issue now aside, the book has now been published on www.issuu.com/dahliasweet, along with my entire series of hot air balloon adventures.

The balloon adventure began 1 January 2010 and follows a course to explore each continent in the order in which they were created. Blake Sea & Island Communities is part of the fifth region and is the fifth book in the series.

With it having taken a year to complete touring five continents, one could assume it might take an entire year more to complete the last five. I would like to think that would be the case, but my schedule and progress constantly fluxuates, so we'll just have to see what kind of progress I can make now that I only fly on weekends--and share my time flying with other activities as well.

For now, at least, I'm very happy to have completed this book; it was the one I most looked forward to writing. So please feel very welcome to take a look, read what interests you, and leave a comment to say anything you wish.

In the meantime, I've already crossed over into Nautilus airspace and am working hard to make steady progress. It has been a challenge, but exciting things have already happened, so stay tuned to my weekly* updates!

(*Weekly updates are posted after seven days of flying have been completed, not seven consecutive calendar days.)

A Long-Distance Swim Challenge, 5 March 2011

2011-03-05T18:37:00.000-08:00

Sometimes big adventures have to be peppered with smaller adventures. With this in mind, this weekend I embarked on an adventure I'm sure few—if any—have ever tried in the history of Second Life: I swam non-stop from the furthest sim east to the furthest contiguous sim west.

I had wanted to take this long-distance swim challenge for a long time. The question had been eating a way at me for months: how long would it take to swim the full distance? I simply had to find out for myself—wouldn't you? Well, okay...maybe only someone as crazy as me.

Fortunately, I felt fairly comfortable to do this. I had recently finished The Great Balloon Adventure ~ Blake Sea & Island Communities flight and book; the region was fresh in my mind; and I had a perfect early morning to spend to find out.

In my preferences, I set my "busy" message to let people know what I was doing if they called, and in my "communications contacts" I set the "eye" icon so that anyone who wanted to could track me as I swam. My friend Nya Silverfall called only moments before my toe entered the water, so I returned her call and, as it turns out, she was very kind to act as my witness and spotter for the majority of the endeavour.

My starting point was from the dock of an island in Lewis Rock, and my finish point was to be the shoreline at Mbocomu on the continent of Satori. I swam east to west, passing Race Rock and Bull Rock, through the Watch Hill Passage, through the dangerous pirate zone of Treasure Cove and Hawks Nest, past Sailors Rest and into the vast, open waters of Blake Sea. After crossing Blake Sea, I continued through the Nautilus/Satori passage, rounded the peninsula of Thallo in NW Satori, and then angled my way SW down to where the water terminated on the shores of Mbocomu.

I was very fortunate to not encounter any boating traffic or sea life that disrupted my swim. I did bump into the edge of the off-grid sea just passed Honah Lee Surf, and caught air a few times while crossing sim borders, but nothing impeded my progress.

I was a little exhausted by the time I arrived at Honah Lee Surf; it had taken me half an hour already and I wondered if I would be able to make it all the way within the time I guestimated it would take: 1 hour was my target, but having never swam it before, it was a guess completely out of my imagination.

When 1 hour came, I was nearing the red and white checkered lighthouse just past the peninsula of Thallo. I knew I was almost finished, and sure enough, moments after passing the Talakin boatyard, I arrived at Mbocomu. I was elated, but also very happy to have made it and be finished.

Total time: 1 hour, 7 minutes.

If you would like to try it sometime, let me know. I would like to reach my goal of 1 hour or less someday. Maybe with others to swim along!

Below is my route. If you try it, tell me how you did!

Writing the BS&IC book...over half way done!

2011-02-04T16:40:00.000-08:00

Just to let everyone know that I'm busy working to finish my book, The Great Balloon Adventure ~ Blake Sea & Island Communities. I finished flying my tour of it and have continued on into my next stage, flying in Nautilus. Meanwhile, in the evenings, I work on completing the BS&IC book. Sometimes I work offline while on my bed, other times, I work while I'm still in-world. In the picture above, I'd gone to work on my book over at my little garden gallery in Lenora.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Lenora/12/157/21

Feel welcome to drop by anytime, whether I'm there or not. Pillows await for anyone wanting to sit and relax while looking at the garden, the photos on display, or the books laid out on the tatami mat. And if you like, listen to the sound of my relaxing wind chime too!

Meanwhile, I'll keep flying by day and writing by night in hope to finish in the next couple of weeks. It's going to be my favourite book of the series so far--hopefully yours too! =)

Balloon Adventure Update: Week 24

2011-01-30T11:36:00.000-08:00

NEWS FLASH: ANOTHER REGION COMPLETED, ANOTHER ONE BEGUN!

On my 166th day of flying The Great Balloon Adventure, I completed my tour of Blake Sea & Island Communities and began my tour of the continent of Nautilus on the following day.

If there was ever a stage in my tour of all of Second Life's continents and regions that I wished could have lasted longer, this would have been it. I blew through the region in only 13 days and wished it could have taken twice as long. Forget having a schedule! This is the kind of region that makes you want to linger. It had the most beautiful views of any region I had flown through and suspect no other future continent will even be able to come close matching it for sheer beauty and ease of transport.

Oh, and did I mention ease? Despite sim border crossing complications that sometimes leave boats lagging, jerking, or worst of all FLYING out of control across them, I had almost no perceptible complications in the balloon. I'd noticed a minor lag bump here and there, but beyond that no issues to report. And best of all, in my 13 days of flying in the region I only had four flight disruptions—FOUR! That's surely a mark that will be difficult to beat for the remaining continents.

I finished my tour of Blake Sea & Island communities on the sixth day of my 24th week. The seventh day marked my first day of flying in the Nautilus continent. The BSIC highlights were modest in comparison to some continents, but none with as much impact or suspenseful drama as news that the New England Village properties teetered on the verge of collapsing back into the Linden off grid sea due to a multiple-month lapse in tier payments being paid by the region owner for reasons unknown by most residents—even those directly affected by the turn of events.

The situation, a potential resolution, and the risk of being reclaimed by the sea continues at the time of this writing, but there are signs that some form or level of support by both new and former resident and commercial supporters may keep the properties afloat—at least temporarily. As is often the case, the Lindens are either non-responsive to inquiries, or non-commital to guarantee any future actions or agreements. So stay tuned as the drama over New England Village continues to unfold in weeks—maybe even months—ahead.

The New England Village sims are comprised of: Sag Harbor, Mystic, Nantucket, New England, Block Island and Boston Light. Boston Light is the only link through which people can navigate to get to these sims, as well as the other multiple New England Island sims. Without Boston Light, this segment of the region would be cut off from the mainland.

So while that big news plays out, please enjoy more of my highlights from Week 24 of The Great Balloon Adventure:

> Mar Menor: On Christmas Day, I performed a series of daredevil stunt ballooning by flying under the great stone aqueduct overpasses three times! I had the pleasure of flying with my co-pilot, MsPaddles Ninetails (aka Jackie) while the talented videographer, Roberto Highfield, recorded the effort. Due to technical difficulties, Rob missed the first successful series, so I went back and did it again. Rob managed to save some usable film to produce a short video which can be seen here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/31969140@N06/5317183714/. My thanks to Rob for all his selfless efforts and hard work! And oh, the third time I performed the stunt was immediately after Jackie and Rob left. I picked up another passenger who I told I had just completed the stunt, and so to show how it went, I did it again rather than explain the entire thing with only my words. =)

> Jeremy Point, Billingsgate: I arrived here at one of my all-time favourite locations to relax and take pictures of the beauty of the natural environment. Billingsgate, along with the adjoining Lands End and Point of Pines are home to my friend, Sudane Erato. I always love to stop by whenever I'm in the area, and by calling in advance to receive her blessing to enter her home, I'm always happy to sit at her kitchen table to sample her latest sumptuous roast pork meal. Like almost all properties in New England, the sims are open to travelers, but if you plan to stop by Sudane's home, please do the courteous thing to get permission to enter her home in advance...and don't forget to knock the sand (or snow, in my case this time) off your shoes before you enter!

> Boston Light: A whale breeched right next to the balloon basket and sprayed me and my passenger, Maysha Xenga, as I skimmed near the surface of the water where a statue of a mermaid marked the location where humans could come sit to wait and hopefully meet mer-people as they surfaced from the depths of the sea.

> Nantucket Village: As described earlier above, but also because the village is full of all kinds of little shops for retail products or services. There's even a place to get information about the Galaxy luxury cruise ship, and a dock where a free-to-use pedal boat awaits guests. You can actually pedal the boat as far away as six sims...maybe more!

> Santa Rosa: "Tugby" league match play. Got a tug boat? Like to play rugby? Put the two together, and you could play Tugby! Teams chase a big container of coal around the watery field much in the way rugby or field hockey is played. Looked like a lot of fun to me, so if you got a spare tug boat in your garage maybe you'll like to put that work boat of yours to do some real work!

> Holly Kai Three: Here you will find the Bettie Page Island—a clothing-optional island just east of Hollywood Airport. I wondered how many accidents have been caused by boat and airplane pilots not paying attention to where they were going because they were distracted by naked beach goers there!

> Blake Sea Crows Nest: Blake Sea's iconic lighthouse resides here. It is a natural focal and turning point for traffic. If you want to see something exciting happen in Blake Sea, this is one of the best places to go.

A Video of My Island Home at Crossing Currents

2011-01-23T17:01:00.000-08:00

This week as I turned to the Crossing Currents Island Flickr group album I was treated with the latest jewel of videographer Roberto Highfield. Rob has graced Crossing Currents yet again with his artful eye and ear to produce a lovely and inspired video of the island. Of note is how expertly Rob captured the light and motion of waves that surround the entire island.

This is an island that is incredibly true to life--and Rob's talented vision and film making experience only makes it more so. So thank you very much Rob for creating this really exceptional masterpiece of a video to show and remind us of just how beautiful Crossing Currents is.

You can see the video here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/31969140@N06/5381831934/in/pool-1375178@N21

Balloon Adventure Update: Week 23

2010-12-24T06:39:00.000-08:00

Nobody has to tell me how far behind schedule I am on my adventure; it has been a long time coming, I know. But at last, my first full week of flying through the Blake Sea / Island Communities has been completed. Days 154 through 160 took me from outside of the Blake Sea region, starting at my finishing point on the Satori continent at Susie's Little Ferry Service headquarters in Pelvoux and ending on a small public boating dock on the island of Guataloupe in the southern islands.

Oh, in case the map is confusing (and I can see how it could be) I flew from Satori over to Honah Lee Airfield (the yellow dotted line) where I planned to begin my Blake Sea/Island Communities adventure. Once at Honah Lee Airfield, I was treated to a tour blimp flight by Gossem Hinterland (the white dotted line). Then I began my trip in earnest (the red line is my finished travels) which loosely follows my intended flight route set in advance (the light blue dotted line).

Along the way, I had the pleasure of flying with my trusty co-pilot, MsPaddles Ninetails, as well as with guest passengers Maysha Xenga, Nya Silverfall, and Timo Gufler. I also enjoyed being a passenger on Gossem Hinterland's blimp, part of a tour blimp service being considered for the Blake Sea region and based at the Honah Lee Airfield in Surf.

Just as I expected, the Blake Sea / Island Communities have provided the most scenic and worry-free traveling of all the regions I have flown in yet. Prelude day aside, I only had one crash so far. And as far as ground and sky clutter goes...there isn't any! It is a traveler's dream. As for the view, part of the trip had islands covered in a wintery blanket of snow, while others were still tropical and balmy. Be prepared to dress for both from November until probably March!

Locations of note that I'd like to highlight include:

> Blake Sea - Siren's Isle: where we could see resting on its shore was the downed large twin turbo prop bi-plane belonging to Governor Linden.

> Blake Sea - Indian: Three picket-sized welcoming and courtesy to passing boat signs were driven into this closet-sized sandbar that rose up out of the water.

> Blake Sea - Honah Lee Airfield in Surf: now the undisputed southern-most airfield in that general area, after the Honah Lee South Airport closed shop, possibly as long as a year ago!

> Sailor's Rest: a nice location to take a break or stop overnight. Accommodations include docks to park at, indoor/outdoor seating, a bar, group join boards and even a free sailboat.

> Blake Shore: Fort Sumter is a heavily fortified military stronghold on watch for pirates.

> SS Galaxy: a three-sim long passenger ocean liner with every amenity you could think of, including rooms for rent, marriage facilities, dining hall, a dance ballroom, indoor and outdoor pools, exercise and sauna facility, beauty parlour, even dining with the captain!

> Sailors Cove: a well-maintained community that hosts public social and boating events, retail shopping, church and more.

> St. Martin Airstrip in St. Martin: a short runway with access to the southern islands, and an inlet bay that can accommodate boat docking for short periods. Also has a small tiki hut with a hammock to relax at.

> Gaudalupe Island: a small public boat dock to take a break at in the far eastern southern islands.

The Great Balloon Adventure ~ Satori is Published!

2010-10-30T16:27:00.000-07:00

Open publication - Free publishing - More travel

Whew! It took some extra effort, but my battle with the continent of Satori is finally over and published in my new book, The Great Balloon Adventure ~ Satori! You can read it for free here:

http://issuu.com/dahliasweet/docs/thegreatballoonadventuresatori

Satori was both full of exactly what I expected and more. Satori raised the bar on the number of crashes and flight disruptions that I think no other continent will surpass. Not only was the number of crashes the highest in my journey through all the continents to date, but it also broke my laptop monitor and set me back two months for repairs! These two things alone may give you a better idea why Satori is my least favourite Second Life continent of all.

Bad points aside, there were some really memorable moments on the good side too, like arriving at Yordie Sand's home and public gardens in Nishijima...or returning to see dogs being taken such good care of by Vitolo Rossini in Dogland in Rhoda--one of the most heart-felt and inspirational sims you could imagine visiting. There were plenty of airports to visit too--that is, if you could move well enough to get to them. Littlefield Airport in Littlefield was so buggy that I could never land, but others were quite well done and problem-free.

Everything is worth exploring, if you have the patience. Satori, however, will require extra reserves, that's for sure.

In-world, you can always find links to my books in my profile, and my in-world books also can take you to the website for reading on the internet with a simple touch of the book. Let me know if you would like one for your home or office. Happy reading and let me know what you think of my book!

Dahlia's Help People Island Travel Display

2010-10-17T16:11:00.001-07:00

One day after putting up the Winter by Balloon photography exhibition, I installed another display, this time at the Office of Tourism on Help People Island.

Owner, Aullere Ocello, invited me to create a display that promotes travel and exploration of Second Life, using The Great Sailing Adventure and The Great Balloon Adventure books as a basis for such promotion. I was very thrilled to be a part of something that helped inform and encourage residents to get out and explore all of what SL has to offer.

I had created two different concepts, then my friend Trill Zapatero suggested a third idea that I really liked. It involved using multiple tv monitors to flash--in differently timed intervals--images taken during my travels. I loved the idea so much, I had to rush home to make the third concept before showing Aullere. I added the multiple monitors to the already existing part of the concept that displayed my (now five, soon to be six) adventure travel books that are already published on www.issuu.com.

When Aullere came to see the ideas the next morning, she loved the third idea too, so we packed it up and took it over to Help People Island to see if it would fit properly in the Office of Tourism building. It fit like it was built right there in the room...like a glove! So, now it is in place and although it is basically set, we will continue to tweak it over time--adding new items to keep it fresh and updated as we also continue on our own journeys through SL.

I hope you'll stop by to see it. If you do, let me know what you thought!

Dahlia's New Photo Exhibit, 21 Oct -- 23 Nov

2010-10-16T15:21:00.000-07:00

THANK YOU for your interest in Dahlia Jayaram's travel photographs.

Dahlia would like to thank Carly Frequency, owner of Gallery 4 at La Strada Marketplace in Just Like Heaven (143, 81, 1501) for the invitation and privilege to exhibit images from the WINTER BY BALLOON photographic series.

Images from WINTER BY BALLOON were shot from January to February 2010 while flying through the Snowlands region of the Sansara continent.

These and many other images are part of Dahlia Jayaram's efforts to chronicle her hot air balloon journey through all 10 of Second Life's continents. The journey began in SL's oldest continent of Sansara on 1 January 2010 and continues until it's completion, which will be in SL's newest continent, Necera.

**********

DAHLIA'S FREE TRAVEL BOOK SERIES

Images from Dahlia's travels are included in her adventure travel books and posted online to read for free at www.issuu.com/dahliasweet. Upon completion of each continent, a book will be produced that describes Dahlia's trials and tribulations as she navigated through the continent, and will point out the many interesting sights seen along the way.

At the time of the WINTER BY BALLOON exhibit at Gallery 4, the following books are already available for reading:

The Great Balloon Adventure ~ Sansara

The Great Balloon Adventure ~ Heterocera

The Great Balloon Adventure ~ Jeogeot

and soon to be published, The Great Balloon Adventure ~ Satori

Additional books, including Dahlia Jayaram's ABC Alphabet Choice of Landmarks ~2010, and The Great Sailing Adventure ~ 2009, are available for free reading as well.

If you would like an in-world book that, when touched, launches these books in a website browser automatically, please send a message or note card to Dahlia Jayaram with your request. The books are free, however, contributions are always welcome no matter how small.

**********

THANK YOU SPONSORS!

Dahlia would also like to thank the following sponsors of her Great Balloon Adventure voyages for their generous support and encouragement:

Alina Animations

Belle's Breath of Lust Designs

Bitchwear / Diva Wrestling

Dogland

MnM Designs

If you would like to be a contributing sponsor, kindly let Dahlia know of your interest to be included in the programme.

Lost Air Time, But Exciting Days Ahead

2010-10-10T15:46:00.000-07:00

My apologies for not having an update to my balloon journey in a few weeks. I have not had a chance to climb into the hot air balloon basket for three weekends now, and expect to miss another weekend coming in two weeks. You might think that I have just been laying around, enjoying lazy moments in the sun such as above, but it is hardly the case.

Just when I think I've got a clear schedule for the weekend, something would inevitably come up that inhibited me from taking time to fly. So far, I have completed only one day of flying into the Blake Sea region from Satori. My plan is to have this portion of the journey be the prelude to my official start in the Blake Sea / Island Communities for the next book. The official take off will be from Honah Lee Surf Airport, where M. Linden is skewered on a stake, roasting over an open flame. I expect Blake Sea and the Island Communities to provide the most beautiful scenery and easy flying of all the regions, so it might actually go by fast once I get going!

So have no fear...the journey lives on. I have not lost interest in my goal to complete flying through all 10 of Second Life's continents. On the contrary, I'm energized at the progress I've made. While out of SL, I've been busy laying out and editing the Satori book. I'm about half way finished with it now and enjoying it thoroughly.

As mentioned in my last post, I'm also in the process of developing a display kiosk for the Help People Island to promote travel and exploration of Second LIfe. This is in thanks to the people who manage and volunteer at Help People Island who approached me, asking if I would be interested. How could I not be? This is really an exciting thing for me, and I hope for people everywhere who can be inspired by my travel adventures.

For those of you who also like to follow my photography exhibits that show images taken from my travels, you might also be interested to know that I will be having a gallery exhibit of my works at Gallery 4 from 21 October through 23 November. In this exhibit I will be showing images from Winter Ballooning. If you've not seen or experienced ballooning in the winter time, it can be both beautiful and dangerous at the same time. Come and see what I'm talking about when it opens!

Interesting News for Travelers!

2010-09-26T10:25:00.000-07:00

I've been contacted by the people at Help People Island to create a display that promotes travel and exploration of Second Life. I was really honoured to be considered, and so of course I've said YES. I'll include a place for all of my travel books to be displayed for visitors to touch to open up and read for free on the internet, as well as have posters with my personal saying about my travels, and possibly more things to share too, like maps of the journeys, and landmarks to my photo gallery, or other places of interest. We'll see as it develops more!

Launching Into Blake Sea & Island Communities!

2010-09-12T20:25:00.000-07:00

Woot! Congratulations to me! With the help of many people, I have finally completed my tour of the ever-challenging continent of Satori! I'd like to thank my flying buddy and 1st Mate, MsPaddles Ninetails for never losing her enthusiasm to fly with me despite all the crashes and pauses to take pictures, record notes and figure out other numerous technical difficulties. I'd also like to thank all my friends who have encouraged me to keep charging ahead, despite technical troubles and the many, aplenty obstacles I've encountered in the skies. And thanks too, to my corporate sponsors, Alina Animations, Belle's Breath of Lust Design, Diva Wrestling & Bitch Wear, Dogland, and MnM Designs!

I completed my tour of Satori on the last day of Week 22 and am now heading into my 5th flying region, the Blake Sea & Island Communities (technically not a continent, but the 5th stage of my "10 Continent" flying adventure. It will take me approximately 7 weeks to complete this stage of the trip, flying approximately only once per weekend, now that I can only return to SL on weekends. So bear with my progress update delays!

The map above shows my intended route through the Blake Sea & Island Communities region. As always, at the conclusion of each week (7 days of flying) I'll post an update to my progress. Stay tuned for more highlights as the adventure continues!

The Great Balloon Adventure ~ Jeogeot Book is Published!

2010-09-12T19:37:00.000-07:00

At long last, after some technical delays due to a broken laptop (2 months!) I was finally able to complete the writing and development of my latest book, The Great Balloon Adventure ~ Jeogeot. It is now published to read for free at www.issuu.com where all my travel adventure books are located. Please feel welcome to read anytime and leave a comment if you like. You can always find the link to my books listed in my inworld SL profile.

Balloon Adventure Update: Week 22

2010-08-22T17:59:00.000-07:00

Completion of Week 22 marks the mid-week resumption of my hot air balloon journey after my balloon was grounded due to a mechanical failure. The computer screen of the laptop I use to record my progress malfunctioned during the first week of June and it took until the second week of July for me to finally get the part and have it repaired.

I also use the laptop to write and produce my books, so unfortunately, I couldn't even use the time to catch up on writing while I was grounded. Instead, I caught up on other more recently neglected RL and SL duties, making the time well spent even if I was itching to get back to the balloon.

A personal highlight that occurred for me during this "grounded" time was that I finally found a new RL job which is great news for me, but it also means my flying time will have to be reduced to weekends only from now on. Even then, my flying will have to compete and share time with some of my other SL work duties for other companies. So do expect my future progress to be significantly reduced in comparison to the speed and completion of my first few continents.

As for calculating my progress weeks, I will now have to wait until I complete 7 non-consecutive days of flying before I can record a complete week and then update my blog. Until my laptop failed, I flew every day, so my weeks matched the calendar perfectly. But from here forward, one SL week of flying will now take the better part of an entire RL month, so bear with me as I log my hours!

The greatest thing about completing Week 22 is that I finally completed my tour of Satori. This is a big relief for me because I hated to have my progress stopped while in the middle of a task. But things are better now that my laptop is repaired and I'm happy to be moving on to my next stage: touring the Blake Sea and related island communities.

So without any further adieu, here are the long awaited highlights of Week 22:

> Campus of Free-Ed.Net, in Richfield: The InWorld Technical College of Free-Ed.Net offers free courses in Literature, Language and Linguistics, Grammar & Composition, Journalism & Media Studies, Public Speaking, Photography & Photographic Arts, Graphic Arts, Cinema & Cinematography, Dance, Theatre & Drama, Art & Art Appreciation, Music & Music Appreciation, and study resources to help you build your Real Life. As they say, it might very well be the most significant freebie in Second Life!

> Wisteria Hill Gypsy Village & Market, in Maplegrove: A fun and safe fantasy haven for lords and ladies, gypsies, elves, fae, and all folk of magic and mystery! Caravans, cottages, castle apartments, treehouses, and tents are for rent, as well as retail shops. Low rents and equal prims! It's hard to beat that!

> Dogland Park, in Rhoda: Vitolo Rossini owns and operates SL's impressive service to residents who have quide dogs. Training lessons are offered, a shop that sells low-cost pets and pet items, a memorial wall provides a space for residents to pay tribute to their beloved pets who have passed on to their next lives, and much more awaits you at Dogland!

> Yordie's Zen Garden in Nishijima: Resident Yordie Sands has a really lovely complex of Asian styled buildings, pathways and gardens. If you love tranquil, natural surroundings, bamboo forests, Asian music, and tea ceremonies, this might just be the place for you.

> The NEW JBT Airport Corp. in Kangchenjunga: This is the second JBT Airport I have encountered so far in my travels, the first being in southern Jeogeot. This airport is even bigger, with more runways and hangers for use. The passenger terminal may even be bigger too, but lacks the metal detector security I saw in the Jeogeot terminal.

> The Battle of Britain Airfield, RAF Biggin Hill, in Gurla: Refight The RAF's Battle of Britain, against a Luftwaffe Base. Authentic 1940's Vintage period build. Depart and land on two grass runways and enjoy the classic WWII period stylings.

> Little Susie's Ferry Service Pier & Bar in Pelvoux: My long awaited return to my starting point for Satori ended in quite a shock. When I arrived back at Little Susie's Ferry Service, her parcel of beach had been stripped bare, save for a small boat up on blocks and a sign in front of it that said "Susie's Little Ferry Service is Temporarily Closed. Be Back Soon." There were no trees, no pier and no bar. I sure hope owner Susie Chaffe was ok or would be soon. If you have ever used a LSFS boat, perhaps this is a good time to send her your fan mail. =)

Just Call Me "Miss 900"!

2010-08-01T19:57:00.000-07:00

Above: Flying past Bitch Wear fashions early in 2010.

In January 2010, I launched my Great Balloon Adventure on Sansara, the first continent ever created in Second Life. Along the way, I passed many interesting places and met many interesting people...people such as Rikki Reichmann, who owns and operates a wrestling group for women. On the day I met her, Rikki was looking for a ride 300 meters up into the air where her fashion shop Bitch Wear and her wrestling empire awaited her for one of the weekly dance events held in Grant.

I was happy to give her a lift, and from that moment forward Rikki has been a wonderful supporter of my balloon adventure and related travel books and adventure photography. Likewise, I enjoyed going to her club on occasion too to see the wrestlers perform in the ring. They were always entertaining and I always learned something more about the intricacies of being a wrestler when I went. Rikki asked me on a number of occasions if I would like to join her wrestling group, but I never fancied myself as a wrestler and always had a full house of 25 groups I was a member of, so I had to decline each time. Instead, I asked if I could display Rikki's Bitch Wear logo on the side of my balloon to promote her group instead. She sent me a logo, and I've been proud to wear it on my balloon's skin from time-to-time as my flying adventure takes me from continent-to-continent.

On August 1st, 2010 however, Rikki called to ask me again if I would be willing to join. The group had swelled to 899 members and she wanted someone special to be her 900th member, so she extended the offer to me again. I thought what a truly special offer that must be, to offer to me--of all people--a membership in her group. I couldn't possibly say no; it was a great honour to accept and raise her membership up to the great level it had become.

Don't take me wrongly. I did want to join, but with only 25 groups to be a member of, Second Life makes it pretty difficult to have many diverse interests to be a part of. One has to be very selective and consider the value of the group one is joining. Rikki's has show--to me at least--that her wrestling group, with such a strong and devout following, that it has impact and staying power for a large population of residents. For my part, I like to watch and cheer on people who catch my eye. I always see something new, either a technical move or a personality, and I never leave not entertained.

So thank you, Rikki, for thinking of me and offering me the honour to be "Miss 900," the 900th member of Bitch Wear. I promise I'll keep flying the group's logo on my balloon, and maybe one day you'll finally see me land in the ring--without the safety of my balloon basket around me!

July Costa Rica Photography Contest Results

2010-07-25T08:14:00.000-07:00

On 18 July I got a call from Giancarlo Taluks, owner of the Costa Rica sims and organizer of the Costa Rica Natural Wonders Photography Contest. He told me that I won my third straight monthly photo contest and that he needed my image to put on the wall of the Opera House where they would be holding the celebration event only two hours away.

I was shocked, not only to have won again, but also because I hadn't received any notice of my win before that moment. Gian was really fortunate to have found me when he did, because now I am only spending time in SL on the weekends. So the timing was very lucky. I sent him my image, one of me shooting pictures of large sea turtles as they came ashore to lay their eggs.

Gian informed me that for this month's contest I tied for the most number of votes with one other contestant, Cheri Larnia, who submitted an image of someone crossing a rope bridge over a river with a waterfall in the background. I was pleased for her and happy to share the honour with her. I'm always happy to share the good thing with others and sent her my congratulations. You can see our winning entries up on the wall in the picture above.

Snail Race For Life

2010-06-20T07:30:00.000-07:00

On 19 June, I participated in the 2010 Giant Snail Cross Country Race, part of the Race For Life events to support the American Cancer Society. It took about 40 minutes to complete the race course which covered 60 sims on the continent of Heterocera, racing from the northwestern sim of Fillip down along the western and southern sides of the continent until reaching Calleta.

There were contestants, 25 who completed the race; I finished 21st. Contestants could get a free giant snail suit to wear at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Abitibi/49/175/57 for the race and could personalise it with their own textures or used ones provided in a texture HUD. I applied my own MnM Designs wave texture to my shell and wore a pith helmet and large red sunglasses. I also carried a triangular flag to promote my little photo gallery garden, Dahlia's Journey. To enter the race, all you had to do was purchase a race scarf for only $L1500, $L500, or $L1. All donations went to the American Cancer Society.

It was quite a challenge to navigate to wear a giant snail suit that was almost as wide as the road itself. Making it even more difficult was having to share the same road space with multiple other snails at the same moment, which meant you couldn't even see the road at times. But it was still quite fun and had its exciting moments of drama. One in particular was that two sims crashed only seconds after I crossed the finish line. The disappearance and eventual rebuilding of the land was all caught on tv too!

You can watch the race in its entirety with colour commentary on TreetTV at:

http://streams.treet.tv/private.mov

You can see results of this and many other races they have held at:

http://snailracers.blogspot.com/2010/02/relay-giant-snail-2010.html

The group holds regular snail racing events on Saturdays at 11am SLT. If you like the idea of snail racing but can't attend yourself, you can still sponsor a snail racer. Need any help? Contact RacerX Gullwing or Waelya Tenk (snail trainer) Baldi McMillin (snail trainer).

June Costa Rica Photo Contest Submission

2010-06-18T10:15:00.000-07:00

Right: My photo submission for the June Costa Rica Natural Wonders photography contest.

Since my balloon is grounded, I've been catching up on many of my works that have been waiting for me to catch up and focus on them.

One such thing is the monthly Costa Rica Natural Wonders Photo Contest. Photographs from designated areas are voted on and the winner honoured at a party each month. I was very fortunate and happy to win the May contest, because there were many nice photos submitted by other talented photographers.

More info below:

Only photographs of locations listed below that are within the Costa Rica Sims may be submitted. The theme for these photographs is the “Natural Wonders of the Costa Rica Sims.”

Contestants may enter 1 photo of the natural surroundings that can be found within our 4 million+ square meter estate. You are invited to explore and enjoy the different amenities our community has to offer. The following are the ONLY locations where contestants may take photographs for submission to the contest:

Arenal Volcano http://slurl.com/secondlife/Volcan%20Arenal/68/44/22

Costa Rica Ladies' Society Botanical Gardens http://slurl.com/secondlife/Alajuela/131/33/22

geko's Stoop Memorial Forest http://slurl.com/secondlife/Puntarenas%201/16/11/32

Leatherback turtle beach http://slurl.com/secondlife/Las%20Baulas/206/103/22

Bird Sanctuary http://slurl.com/secondlife/Palo%20Verde/177/52/22

Scuba diving area http://slurl.com/secondlife/Pacifico%20Central/202/19/22

Picnic area http://slurl.com/secondlife/Guanacaste/129/30/26

Rainforest http://slurl.com/secondlife/Volcan%20Tenorio/80/59/22

Whale watching http://slurl.com/secondlife/Oceano%20Pacifico/86/136/22

Surfing beach http://slurl.com/secondlife/Las%20Baulas/204/105/22

Balloon Adventure Update- Week 22

2010-06-02T04:37:00.000-07:00

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT! Some Good & Bad News

I'm excited to report that I reached a milestone this week for The Great Balloon Adventure by flying 150 consecutive days, from 1 January until 30 May 2010. I am very pleased that I was able to fly every day without missing even one day during that time. In that amount of time, I have flown on three and a half continents out of the 10 total continents in Second Life's world. So far, my journey has included the entire continents of Sansara, Heterocera, Jeogeot and over half of Satori.

Unfortunately, after Day 150, I felt I should suspend my progress temporarily due to an equipment failure. On the evening after my 149th day of flying, the laptop that I use to update the progress maps that accompany my weekly updates here on the blog failed. After turning on the computer, the screen either remained black or had coloured, vertical lines covering the entire screen. I have since taken the laptop to a repair shop for them to investigate. During their first inspection, they believe the problem may be with the video chip, but that was before even opening the computer up, so they may determine it is either that or something else after testing.

This laptop also contains all my working files for the books I write after flying through each continent. At the time the laptop monitor failed, I had just completed writing my Jeogeot book and was in the process of laying out the pages. Without the laptop--where all the files are--I'm unable to continue working on that part of the balloon adventure too.

So, not to confuse you, I usually work on two computers simultaneously to do my work for The Great Balloon Adventure. During the daytime, I use a desktop computer to do my in-world flying, and beside it, I use the laptop to record my progress map as I fly, constantly alternating between the two. If I don't use the laptop at the same time, I have to try to remember where I flew, when I turned and such, to update my map later in the evenings when I use the laptop to write my blog update and books.

It is completely possible for me to continue flying during the day without the use of the laptop for a while, but my maps might not be quite as accurate if a long time passes between flying and creating the maps.

I also decided to suspend flying at the nice, easy to remember number of 150 because I knew the next two weeks would have some scheduling conflicts for me that would keep me from flying at all. So instead of stopping for two days, begin for a couple more, then stop and start again, I decided to try for a cleaner, 1 stop and 1 resume after all my scheduling conflicts passed, and during this same time perhaps the laptop problem might be corrected too. I'm hoping, at least! I'm expecting to make a decision about returning to flying by 12 June, so stay tuned in!

In the meantime, there are highlights from Week 22 to share with you, so here they are:

> Art Colony Rentals in Foxboro: This is a commercial retail mall and residential rental company that has a variety of units available. What caught my eye about it was that some of their retail shops rent for as low as $L25/week.

> Emerald Plaza in Peacock Park: This is a beautiful and unique commercial mall building along Route 8 in Peacock Park. The Emerald Plaza a fantastic shopping place, with a wonderful central garden, skyboxes and rentals. Some of the things sold there include casual clothing fashions, skins, shapes, hair, combat huds and weapons.

> Wisteria Hill Gypsy Village in Maplegrove: A fun and safe fantasy haven for lords and ladies, gypsies, elves, fae, and all folk of magic and mystery! Caravans, cottages, castle apartments, treehouses, and tents are for rent, as well as many merchant shops. the best part of it is their that their low rents equal their prims, such as 50L/wk for 50 prims wagon rentals! It makes being a gypsy affordable; maybe I'll have to move there!

> Dogland Park in Rhoda: I sailed past this place during The Great Sailing Adventure in 2009 and decided to drop in on it to see what was new. It was still much the same, but somehow it seemed busier and better than ever. First and foremost, Dogland caters to residents who loves pets. It has a retail section where much of what they have is free; they have a wonderful bulletin board for people to post messages and information about pets on; there is a brilliant Memorial Wall residents can post a picture and message on to pay tribute to a beloved pet that had passed on to it's next life; and there are training classes for residents to learn how to work with their service dogs or dogs in general. Vitolo Rossini is the owner with the big heart and brings his real life knowledge of working with service dogs for people with traumatic brain injuries (TBI) to Second Life. Come by Dogland to see the great offerings and to support such a wonderful service that Vitolo has created for residents!

> The Burj al-Arab in SL, Tremenitza: This is a recreation of a real life building in the middle east. I saw this same building in Heterocera and it is a marvelous structure. The "About Land" says "Welcome" for this one in Tremenitza, but a security sensor doesn't allow you to land on the heliport near it's pointy top. On the ground level, however, you can walk under the building and possibly teleport inside using the teleport pad.

> The Four Horsemen Rental Trailier Park in Tchailosky: This is an open community of friendly people with a great biker bar and tons of things to do/play with. Rent a classic trailer for $L150/week that supports 75 prims and get a free welcome package with some brilliant scuplted furniture too. I noticed that they post events on the map to play the card game "Greedy" a lot, so if you're into that, stop by and play a hand or two, meet a biker or two and check out a nice trailer replica!

Balloon Adventure Update: Week 21

2010-05-28T06:17:00.000-07:00

If you had told me after the treacherous flying weeks of 19 and 20 that I would have a breakaway week that took me almost half the distance around Satori, I would have laughed at you. But as I looked at my route map at the end of Week 21, I was astounded with the progress I had made, even without any intent to fly any differently than I normally do to take great diligence in scouring the countryside for interesting things to explore.

I was surprised that I had made as much headway as I had during Week 21. Even though Weeks 19 and 20 were intensely grueling and filled with flight disruptions, I thought I had made decent progress. I expected about the same manner of progress with Week 21. But as it turned out, although I still had many crashes during Week 21, I had fewer than in Weeks 19 and 20. So I really benefited from the increased "in air" time by stretching out my distance for this latest week.

I actually made it from midway down the western side of Satori, all the way to and around the southernmost tip of the continent in Pounce, then up to about the midway mark on the eastern side of the continent. Shocking, I know, right?

Anyway, let me share some of the highlights from Week 21!

> Free Freebies in Auric: Everybody loves freebies, right? Well for those of you who do, here was a pretty large place with quite a variety of clothing and furniture items for free to residents. It had a distinctive look that set it apart from other places too in that it used giant mushrooms as part of the architecture.

> YuPe in Willowtail: Here, I met and had beer and whiskey with owner P3t3r Paster at his little bar in the base of a tower on his land which I had passed eight months earlier during my great sailing adventure. As with most business owners, I was eager to get Peter's impression of how the year's traffic and sales trends were over the course of the year, as well as talk about the pros and cons of being a resident in general for the number of years he had been around (since 2007 for him). YuPe also sells a variety of merchandise from clothes to furniture, so come take a look around!

> Southernmost tip of the Satori continent in Pounce: This location marked the halfway point of my Satori journey. Pounce was still just a little arrowhead-shaped triangle of sand that came down out of Scratchy and pointed down into the waters of the southern waters.

> Autism World in Davros: At the moment, you could only donate money, or buy t-shirts for $L60 and a balloon, umbrella or teddy bear for $1L100, but from what the donation box said, donations thus far totaled $L794,679,255, which I thought was impressive! Autism Wold in Davros could benefit more by including additional information from notecards, educational displays and/or perhaps even landmarks to other venues that provide that kind of information. After all, it's all about raising money for those who are afflicted, right?

> Free-Ed.Net in Richfield: At the corner of Route 8 and Route 8A, the InWorld Campus of Free-Ed.Net has a kiosk that delivers information about the free courses it offers in Literature, Language and Linguistics, Grammar & Composition, Journalism & Media Studies, Public Speaking, Photography & Photographic Arts, Graphic Arts, Cinema & Cinematography, Dance, Theatre & Drama, Art & Art Appreciation, Music & Music Appreciation. I might even take a course!

Balloon Adventure Update: Week 20

2010-05-22T06:40:00.000-07:00

If I thought I had suffered through the better part of my first week in Satori, I had another thing coming: Week 20! Week 19 had only been a precursor of things to come and Week 20 even topped that.

Specifically, what I'm talking about was the volume of crashing that occurred. While Week 19 saw a total of 39 crashes (14 in one day alone), Week 20 had a total of 55, including two new record-setting days, one of 15, followed two days later by another of 16!

I was so banged up from all my recent falls that I began bandaging all my cuts and scrapes. I even started walking with a crutch after a particularly nasty plummet that twisted my leg. Whoever said ballooning was easy was just blowing a lot of hot air up your vent!

I did manage to have some highlights during Week 20, however, and here they are:

> Inca Temple in Beggars Bowl: This is a retail building with very little retail in it. However, it is an impressive sight at an impressive scale, easy to spot from a great distance. If you are into role play, then you might check out the few costumes and jewelries they have there.

> Old York Gardens in Tefnut: A UK themed village along Route 8B and lovely natural gardens and woods with lavender and poppies and the woods nearby. My passengers and I loved the levitating rock in the sky that had a beautiful intimate garden for dancing and socializing.

> Kingdom of Home Hangout and Public Park in Kensington: For all you Tiny Empires players, you'll find the headquarters of the Home Empire here. It's easy to spot, thanks to its massive building-sized sofa. I'm actually a member of the Home Empire and I had been to the sofa headquarters before, but I actually accidentally found it this week after I had been ejected from my balloon and while chasing after, noticed the sofa nearby.

> Littlefield Airport in Driscoll: Home of A1 Class Vehicles. Purely a retail shop with a decent lot of vehicles. But I say beware; it was crash hell for me there, perhaps due to the number of sculpties, as one person suggested as a culprit. Perhaps it was too much of a good thing?

> Siringo Airport in Siringo: A medium sized air strip runway in the sky. I didn't even notice it on during my southern pass by Littlefield Airport, but thanks to my big loop around and return flight to the north of Littlefield, I spotted Siringo and realized I could see Littlefield from Siringo too.

> USS Nimoy San Francisco Bay Academy & Oceanographic Institute in Rowan: Although blocking the view of neighbours with giant privacy walls, this place was a real treat to see. I loved seeing and landing on the miniature Golden Gate Bridge and my friends said they spotted some underwater attractions. The ocean institute studies whales, dolphins, ocean life and its environment. Now if they'd only study the environmental effects of placing those giant mega-prim privacy screens around its property!

> Chameloid, Orion, Klingon Federation in Ozerna: Right next to the Rowan property was this fantastically imaginative building wrapped around a levitating sky rock. It had a series of long, spiraling walkways that lead up to the rock from a ground level beach and then all around the outer and inner portions of the giant rock.

Balloon Adventure Update: Week 19

2010-05-13T20:07:00.000-07:00

Week 19 began my first official week of flying on the continent of Satori. I started on the northern shore of Pelvoux at my friend, Susie Chaffe's, headquarters of Susie's Little Ferry Service. Susie's ferries had saved me plenty of times during The Great Sailing Adventure, and because it is all about touring the public around SL, I thought it a fitting place to begin and end my new journey by hot air balloon too.

As you may know, during my sailing adventure, I found Satori to be a terribly congested continent. I was concerned that the sky would either mirror this inconvenience or be the exact opposite, if perhaps everyone had (hopefully) done all their congregating on the water and left the skies open.

My first look at the sky in northern Satori revealed a remarkably clear sky. I began to get all a-tingle that perhaps I might have smooth flying. But that tingle would soon turn to bumps and bruises as I tangled in a mix of ban lines, no access and full parcels. Unfortunately, the invisible factors had risen their ugly natures once again as I proceeded.

The first week had it's good moments, but I must say that it had more than its fair share of flight disruptions. In seven days I had 39 crashes, one day with 14 alone! Not only that, but 39 was already almost half or more than the number of crashes I experienced in each of my first three continental tours.

Looks like Satori was already well on it's way to demonstrating its traveler unfriendliness again.

Before I forget, I would like to give a nod to my friend and first mate aboard the balloon, MsPaddles Ninetails for her continued interest in flying with me despite all the tragic spills we take together. She shows a great spirit for adventurous exploring and has great courage and patience in the face of knowing that she's surely bound to take a tumble or two…or more! She's a real trooper, so thank you Jackie for sharing your enthusiasm with me!

Crashes and other flight disruptions aside, Satori had some wonderful places to see. Here are some of my highlights from Week 19 spent in Satori:

> Susie's Little Ferry Service, in Pelvoux: This, of course, is the headquarters of SLFS and where you can find out everything you need to know about Susie's routes all across the SL world.

> Route 8 in Liskamm: This is a perplexing place. Every time I entered the sim, I not only disappeared, but I lost sight of both me AND my balloon. I think anything attached to me disappeared. And my camera wouldn't follow me around either. It was as if a terrible magic made me invisible. The only way I could get out was to use my big map to TP out of the sim to another sim. Upon re-entering Liskamm, I would disappear again, no matter if by land or air. How does one make that possible?

> Iowa City West High School, in Zoshchenko: It's always interesting to find a school along my travels. I always want to know how much is offered to those it is meant to serve. Some schools are very informative, while others miss the opportunity fully to educate the public about their school, their programs, their staff and students and the place where it is in RL. West was essentially an empty shell of a space, but it had a basketball I could bounce for free. And in the principal's office? One of his furnitures looks like he might get fired if word got out to the general public!

> Virtual Headquarters for the Worker's Party in America, in Georgi: Not only is the Worker's Party represented in this Soviet-era styled property, but it is also home to the Furry Communist Party and the Albert Currlin Society. So if you're into Marxism, revolution and lots of pulpit-pounding speeches on soap boxes or theatre rooms, this place might be right up your alley! Power to the people!

> Talakin Airport and Boatyard, Talakin: Talakin was one of my overnight stays during The Great Sailing Adventure. I knew to look for the short runway that sticks out from the top of a cliffside high over the Talakin vehicle sales shop. There's not a lot of room at the airport, but if you've got a helicopter, it is accommodating. Down below at the Boatyard, you can pick up a free motor boat that is easy to steer and great for exploring.

> Alien Nation, in Bagat: Come here if you want anything for your alien self, life, or livelihood.

> College Of Scripting & Music Science, Horsa: This giant building has everything you need to know about scripting, has a group to join and people who will help you out with all your questions, no matter how hard or trivial!

> Bunnygun's Gearbox, in Tuli: Bunnygun is a friend of mine who is redeveloping his property to house a motorcycle shop and some of his spherical space artwork. So I spotted a large dome with a solar system rotating around in it from a distance, I was just about to call Bunnygun to tell him of a find that I thought would interest him, when I realized that it was HIS place! Even I had a small showing of my photography going on in there at the time too; that's how surprised I was that I didn't recognize it immediately.

> B&D Designs, in Tuli: A wonderful retail garden shop, full of all kind of plants from flat prims to sculpted trees, iron benches, gazebos and other outdoor furniture.

> Cloud Dancer Airfield, in Slithert: Home to the SL Aerobatic Pilots Association (SLAPA), this 60m short runway is right on the beach with an open departure out into the sea.

> Tabbitarium Cat Rescue Barns, in Razorwulf: If you want to help a shelter cat, this is the place to learn about shelter cats and to donate a few Lindens by buying a package of cat food or kitty litter. Strange thing is, the parcel next door—which is also owned by the same person—is a place that sells weapons for gamers. In between the shelter cat and gamer weapons shops is a memorial wall of Michael Jackson pictures, some with his chimp friend. Not sure what the connection is, but there you have it.

> Inca Temple, in Beggars Bowl: Resting along the southern shore of the Little Sea, this is a retail shop for authentic RP jewelry. More importantly, from a visual navigational standpoint, this is a massive Inca temple that rises high into the sky and can be seen from great distances.

Balloon Update Week 18

2010-05-09T03:35:00.001-07:00

Great news, I finished my tour of Jeogeot! Jeogeot was the third continent of 10 total Second Life continents I have completed in my Second Life by Balloon adventure. I finished Jeogeot on Day 126, Week 18 of my trip that began 1 January 2010.

I have to say that Jeogeot saved the most difficult days for the last week. Just when I could taste the finale, Jeogeot really made me work hard for it and punished me every step of the way, as if to say if didn't want me to go. On my second to last day, I set a new record for ejections and system crashes at 13—and keep in mind, this is only in a few short hours of flying time! Nevertheless, I persevered and triumphed, completing Jeogeot in seven and a half weeks.

Some of the highlights of Week 18 included:

>> Chilbo Community in Chilbo: A complete community with its own government, town hall, museum, land holding organization, arts foundation, many small, individual galleries and associated shops. Chilbo supports artists, musicians, writers, teachers, students, creative thinkers, entrepreneurs, and those who are interested in contributing to the public good and part of their mission is helping new residents get started and find their way in Second Life. It also has the tallest tree I've seen thus far in SL, topping out at 300m!

>> Football Fields in Hwanin: Not just your usual football fields, but two stadiums, one on top of the other…in the sky! It even has a league to play on. So if you are a world football fan, this looks like a fun place to play (unless you kick the ball over the wall. Whoever has to go retrieve it might as well pack a lunch; it's going to be a long trip down to the ground and back up again!).

>> The Kuwaiti Building in Korumburra: Still in the construction stages, I can tell this is going to be a wonder structure once completed. Based on a real building in Kuwait, it is a tall spire that rises high into the air and has two spherical floors inside. The mosaic surface details will really set it off once complete and it promises to be spectacular.

>> JBT Airport in Wajo: A large airport with two long runways, many hangers, a large terminal station with ticket counters, xray machines at the gates and vendors, JBT gives you the feeling of being at the real thing (oh, except when someone rezzed a big ship just next to the runway for about 15 minutes—that looked a little out of place).

>> The Baked Potato, a Jazz & Blues Club at the Los Angeles Yacht Club in Tully High: The Baked Potato celebrated its 30th birthday and continues to play some of the best jazz and blues in Los Angeles—so why not in SL too? Come and find out for yourself when the tunes start to roll.

>> Jonestown Airstrip: This was a discovery I made that was not listed on any maps or notecards as a public airport. This small airstrip rests on a flat, sandy island only two sims northwest of the JBP Airport, but it serves a great little burger, grilled outside on the barbie outside the front door of the Sandbar Sports Grill, where you can throw darts and look at pictures of Amelia Erhart standing next to her plane. You can also pick up a FREE collection of planes over at the Live Bait Food & Spirits Shop too!

>> Haetae Hills Airport in Arang: This was another discovery I made that was also not listed on any maps or notecards as a public airport. It is part of Haetae Hills estate group (joinable) that has a custom 88k sqm (22 acres) suburb estate with its own zipcode, the town of Haetae and a large part of Arang, modeled after high end Atlanta, USA lifestyles.

>> Cathedrale d'Images exhibit of Vincent van Gogh, in, Nedben: An homage to the real Cathédrale d'Images as a christmas gift to Jacqueline Triangle by her SL spouse, Christina Poitier. The gallery has a wonderful selection of work by van Gogh, a very well written notecard with wonderful information to share, a small selection of art, flowers, candles and gifts at prices anyone can afford, and mention in other media about the build at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=De2yGAoTpSA&fmt=18 and http://www.avenir-sl.net/magazine/AvenirSL_numero4.pdf . Enjoy the links, but enjoy the real thing more! I spoke with Christina after purchasing a few paintings and flowers. She was a delight to talk with, so go pay homage to HER work too!

>> Explorers Info Centre in Quoll: It was here that I started in Jeogeot at this tiny room with maps and notecards that gave travelers information about places to go and visit along the way. And by the time I returned, they had shortened the covered car port roof so I had room enough to land without having to land on the roof or road out in front of the centre. Not every continent has an info centre, so when you see one, take advantage of it! It is a great place for travel resources.

Say goodbye to Jeogeot and hello to Satori!

Balloon Adventure Update Week 17

2010-05-03T00:45:00.001-07:00

Week 17 sure was one heck of a week! For starters, my engine must have really been revved up from last week's raceway in the sky in Dacham, because I covered a lot of ground this week! I also saw quite a few great places too. Just look at these:

>> Heart of Brightness Temple, in Omurice:

Write a notecard and place it into the spinning prayer wheels to be read; get your prayer reading from The 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet, Tenzin Gyatso himself; listen to monks chant and blow giant horns (and you can too!); bang the gong; read interesting notecards about the origins and practices of buddhism; stroll the surrounding gardens and a jewelry shop that offers some nice, free lotus jewelry designs.

>> Art in the Park in Hobak: Provides space for artists to show their works in a natural outdoor park setting. You can join their group, Art In The Park Artist's Assoc, to get updates on events, both visual and musical.

>> Cottages at Ivy Hollow: A nice community of countryside homes that covers multiple sims owned by Vine Investments.

>> Steam Locomotive Railway Museum in Baedal:

A place to see British steam locomotives. Exhibits include: the Flying Scotsman; Duchess of Sutherland; City of Coventry; Stephensons Rocket; GWR Tank Engine and more, including an animation of how an engine's valve gear works. The museum also offers an information board that shows locations of other steam railways and locomotives in Second Life. Nearby is the castle railway and station and Letshava Goodnights Boutique. Full size and miniature locomotives are for sale at the shop and museum or on SL Exchange. You can also join their Steam Locomotive Preservation Group for updates.

>> Kira Science Park in BaikUn:

Featuring the "molecule" structure, a build that resembles a molecule, only it is monstrocity at over 300m high. Resting on a platform there is the Kira Cafe Demonstration Area, where you can relax and socialize or hold a workshops. Also, the Kira Dome serves as a conference and lecture venue that can hold 80 people at once, thanks to straddling the boundary of 2 regions. Not to be left out, their Kuan Yin Oracle is the only Kuan Yin Oracle in SL, with 100 readings of poetic wisdom dictated by Kuan Yin. The build is modelled on oracles at Senso-ji temple in Tokyo. You can see more about all the offerings by Kira at: www.kira.org.

>> AVexh005 in Mieum:

An unusual multi-coloured texture on what appears to be a really tall, slender tower made of wire. From the ground to the top, a hollow tube runs, so you can fall straight down to the bottom where a teleport sign awaits you to take you to a gallery in the Dowden sim on the continent of Sansara. But who would ever want to leave Jeogeot?

>> Infohub in Hangeul:

Actually an infohub in the four corner intersection of Hanja, Hangeul, Gukyeol and Ida. Offered many of your usual sign links, but a very nicely made group of instructional signs for new-comers that show many of the basic interface functions residents should master to make the most of navigating in Second Life. Also, a big selection of free textures by Torley Linden at the Hanja Welcome Area in Gukyeol next to a TINY little square for rezzing (my hot air balloon went through the roof, fellas!), and an international bazaar kiosk.

>> NCI South in Hamnida:

This infohub is the next sim over to the west of Hanja where it has maps, a class schedule, two sandbox areas for rezzing/building, some retail items and more.

>> World Peace Flag Garden owned by Ed Thor in Odaesan:

FREE flags of all nations. Hand-held and modifiable for your build. FREE patriotic swim trunks, gym shorts, speedos, shirts. Camping for world peace, and a World Peace Flag Garden. As Ed Thor says, "in Second Life, good people of all nations meet in friendship."

The Great Balloon Adventure ~ Heterocera Book

2010-04-27T19:48:00.000-07:00

HOT OFF THE PRESS!

Dahlia Jayaram's second book in her series covering her hot air balloon

adventure through Second Life is now published online for your reading

pleasure.

Follow along as she explores each of Second Life's ten virtual continents

and reports on the many fascinating places and people she meets during

her exploration of this incredible, diverse world.

You can view The Great Balloon Adventure ~ Heterocera directly online

for free at:

http://issuu.com/dahliasweet/docs/thegreatballoonadventure_heterocera

Dahlia's other books include:

>> The Great Balloon Adventure ~ Sansara

>> Sansara By Balloon (picture book)

>> Dahlia Jayaram's Greatest Uh-Oh! Boating Bloopers (picture book)

>> Dahlia Jayaram's Alphabet of Choice Landmarks 2010 (review book)

>> The Great Sailing Adventure ~ 2009

Each book can be viewed for free at: http://issuu.com/dahliasweet

If you enjoy any of Dahlia's books, or want to share your stories about

exploring Second Life, please feel welcome to leave a comment on

the website or contact her directly in-world.

Balloon Update Week 16

2010-04-23T23:11:00.000-07:00

I feel like I made some pretty good progress this week. I spent Week 16 in northern Jeogeot, leaving it's mainland, orbiting it's northern island and returning to the eastern coastline of the continent.

Hightlights of Week 16 include:

The Weather Globe in Areumdeuli: This large and impressive looking Sculpty Earth is based on actual satellite photography and geological survey elevation data. Real time animated cloud sequences depict the last 24-hours of weather activity. Satellite data is updated every three hours.

Celestial Game Tower in Keundott: Two enormous buildings containing pretty much every kind of game I could ever remember seeing in SL are here. They claim to be the largest game store in SL and also offer their own website for more information.

Rubys Linden Exchange in Yongchon: I think this is the first time I've seen a little business building where you can come to purchase Lindens. I didn't know we could do it like that; i thought residents always did it on the Second Life website. Just as a side note, I noticed Ruby's shop was appropriately located just steps away from the looming building named the "Chaos Zone."

Mumtaz Taj Mahal in Danbi: This is one of the nicest Taj Mahal recreations I've seen in SL. Ok, so it's not an exact replica, but it channels the stylings very well. Inside, there is a unique club and a dance area under the building; outside, there is a peaceful garden above ground. The Taj is one building in three that also houses retail shops. It's owner, Voodoo Spyker is a really kind person and pleasant to talk with too. Why not drop in and discover an interesting and beautiful new place?

Space Base, Mos Ainsley: I had just thought only a day or two before, that I hadn't seen any "outer space" adventure environment, and then I spotted this giant sim-sized moon-like crater on the far north eastern side of Jeogeot's northern island. Here, you can pick up a free astronaut's suit, rez a space car and flying vehicle and go exploring the lunar surface or investigate plant growing in the greenhouse. The only problem about getting around in the space station is that the elevators don't work. I guess you'll just have you use your "weightlessness" to float from floor to floor then!

RaceTrack in Dacham: This race track is different. It's about 200 meters up in the sky! And it's a pretty authentic looking oval race track with banked turns, and stadium stands for the fans to sit on while they cheer their favourite drivers. Best thing is, you can rez too! On the down side, I'm wondering if when you wreck, is it possible you may go tumbling 200 meters DOWN to the ground too? Wooo...I wouldn't want to have a house on the ground below!

Kea Airfield in Hwaegi: I discovered this place without knowing in advance it was there. It seems to be fairly new, as it also has a relatively newly dated group you can join. There's some interesting planes—mostly fighter jets—but there are some pontoon prop planes and a big Air China passenger jet too. There's even a hanger used by "Kiwi Girls, Chicks in Aviation."

NINE Photography Exhibits & TWO Author Events

2010-04-18T21:30:00.000-07:00

Just a short note to announce that I am setting up NINE DIFFERENT photography exhibitions of my work to be shown from 17 April through 31 May. Additionally, I've been asked to be the guest author at TWO DIFFERENT "Meet the Author" events, one on 30 April at the Vest Travel Centre in Second Norway at 12 noon SLT, and one on 15 May at the Terric Conference Center in Terric at 1pm SLT. The author and art engagements relate to my in-world adventure journeys of sailing and hot air ballooning the continents of SL. Did you know there are now TEN different continents? If you'd like to know more, just send me a message!

Create Your Own Fake Magazine Cover

2010-04-18T21:07:00.001-07:00

Create Fake Magazine Covers with your own picture at MagMyPic.com

I saw this link on one friend's blog who saw it on another friend's blog, so word is spreading. Most of the covers aren't very good, but hey, what do you expect for free? So here's mine (since I've been in a gardening mood these past few weeks). Enjoy!