An American Ice Hole In Finland

Find out why Evo joined five ladies in a sauna and quickly earned the nickname “American Ice Hole” on the Wild Taiga trip. And yes, that means exactly what you think it means.

Who's the ice hole above? Click to listen and find out!

Who's the ice hole above? Click to listen and find out!

Long time listeners will recall we’re in the middle of recanting stories Evo collected while he was in Finland and Estonia, thanks to the fine people behind the Nordic Bloggers Experience / Matka 2017 conference where h was the keynote speaker. Last week, we talked about the difference between saunas in Finland vs saunas in Thailand. This week sauna features heavily -- because Finland -- but it’s all about the ice. The ice hole, to be specific.

Part of the fun (?) of sauna time is jumping in a frozen -- literally frozen -- lake or bay. Frozen. As in sub-zero temperatures. As in someone had to use a weapon to move the water from the state it wants to be in (solid) to the state more conducive to swimming (liquid.) And they jump in this, after getting nice and toasty warm in the sauna. Hey, when in Finland…

And for those playing the “where is that place?” game at home, the areas I mentioned were, Kuhmo, Kuusamo, and Hossa. Those cities and the rest of the Wild Taiga are great Finland places to visit if you want it wild and remote. Though if cold isn’t your thing, you might want to try it in the summer.

Last week, we promised to send postcards from Cambodia. But because this is Thailand, plans have changed. We’re going to the River Kwai, and would love to send you a postcard from there. Just get on the list. (And your contributions might help us fight the lawsuit soon to be filed against us because of Evo’s whistling.)

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(Oh, and do we really need to state that Evo didn’t pay for anything above? Part of the perks of being a keynote speaker. He’s for hire, by the way.)

This One Time (The Podcast) features retellings and recreations of the best (or worst depending on perspective) travel stories encountered in a life lived abroad. Stay subscribed on iTunes or whatever else you use to listen to podcasts and you’ll never miss an episode.