ALL ORDERS SHIPPING STARTING JULY AS A RESULT OF NYC LOCKDOWN DELAYS.
Where has your scent transported you?
New Orleans...you stole our hearts. Posted on 2 Mar 12:21 , 0 comments
A look inside our recent journey to the Big Easy for New Orlean's Mardis Gras, 2015.{Interview} Exploring Exotic Unknowns with Dani of GlobetrotterGirls Posted on 4 Nov 19:21 , 0 comments
If you are familiar with us at Nomaterra then you know that we are absolutely enthralled with traveling and exploring the unknown. Being immersed into an unfamiliar culture transmits an indescribable experience, one that allows you to step outside your comfort zone and truly discover yourself.
In addition, we also enjoy reading and discovering adventurists who share the same passion and thirst for wanderlust. Which is why we were thrilled when Dani Heinrich of GlobetrotterGirls.com agreed to an interview.
Dani Heinrich has traveled to over 50 countries - from Asia to the Middle East to India - just to name a few! Her fabulous blog showcases a variety of topics such as information on specific destinations, food recommendations, travel tips and more.
Read on below as Dani shares her globetrotting adventures!
1. What's your favorite, most exotic location you've traveled to?
The most exotic location were the Corn Islands in the Caribbean. They consist of two islands, Big Corn and Little Corn Island, and they belong to Nicaragua. They are little known and truly feel like Robinson Crusoe islands, especially Little Corn. You can only reach them via a small propeller plane from Managua or take a 9-hour boat ride from Nicaragua's east coast.
2. Best hotel pool you've lounged at?
[caption id="attachment_2784" align="alignleft" width="300"]
Temple Tree Hotel in Langkawi, Malaysia[/caption]
I loved the pool at the Temple Tree Hotel on the island of Langkawi, Malaysia. Everything about the boutique hotel was super stylish, including the long-stretched, super narrow pool. It was such an usual pool, and together with the tropical surroundings, it made for a gorgeous experience. The luxury resort has won several design prizes and is one of my favorite boutique hotels in the world, by the way.
3. Best meal you've had?
A tasting menu at the Oddfellow Boutique Hotel in Chester, England. It came complete with a wine pairing, absolutely perfect. One of the most memorable evenings of my life.
4. Most important thing you've learned on your travels?
Travel has shown me that experiences are worth so much more than material things. An incredible experience means so much more to me than anything I could ever buy for myself, like a painting, piece of furniture or jewelry. An experience like a special meal in an exotic place, a cooking class in the Middle East or a street art tour in a hip neighborhood of Buenos Aires, the welcoming family in Mexico, or a cycle tour through northern Thailand - things like these mean so much more to me. It's all about the memories!
5. Favorite novel to read on a plane?
It's not really a novel but my guilty pleasure in the airport news stand: Vanity Fair. I look forward to flying just because of that :)
6. Biggest fear you overcame while traveling?
The fear of the unknown. I used to worry about everything before, and now I am the most laid back person on the planet. Okay, maybe not on the planet, but the most laid back person I know :) I used to over plan everything, and now I barely plan anything. Instead I go with the flow. And all works out in the end; there's nothing to worry about.
About Dani Heinrich:
[caption id="attachment_2785" align="alignleft" width="300"]
Dani of GlobetrotterGirls.com[/caption]
Dani Heinrich is the vagabonding writer and photographer behind GlobetrotterGirls.com. Dani, originally from Germany, left her home country in 2006 and has been nomadic since April 2010. She originally started Globetrottergirls.com with her partner, and when they separated in early 2014, she decided to keep traveling solo and continuing to sharing her travel stories and tips on Globetrottergirls. With the motto ‘One Globe. No Regrets’, Dani has traveled through over 50 countries on four continents and has no plans to stop any time soon.
On Globetrottergirls.com, she shares the good, a little bad and sprinklings of the ugly of travel with the readers. If people can plan a better trip or be inspired to visit someplace new by reading Globetrottergirls.com, she feels she has done her job. You can also follow her adventures on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
A Weekend of Music in Memphis Posted on 15 Jun 19:12 , 0 comments
Last weekend, I traveled with my husband to Memphis, TN for four days full of music, soul food, and some southern culture, everything that the "Deep South" is know for. Growing up in New York, I've always had a fascination with the South, and it's otherworldly way of being—the drawl-ish accents, the slow-paced life, the kindness of the people. We chose Memphis for it's musical history, it's considered by many the birthplace of Blues, Gospel, and Rock n' Roll (Elvis), but we got so much more. Memphis has that old-world charm that just draws you and makes you feel right at home. Four days is barely enough time to discover and enjoy this rich city. [caption id="attachment_2458" align="alignleft" width="303"]
Main Street in Downtown Memphis[/caption]
We rented a car and stayed at the famous Peabody Hotel in downtown Memphis. You actually don't really need a car if you're staying in downtown Memphis, as everything is literally within walking/trolley distance. We only used the car twice to travel to Graceland and Overton Park, but you could get to those places just as well without a car. Our first two days were all about hitting up all the best spots in downtown Memphis. We started with a late breakfast at the historic Arcade Restaurant on South Main Street. So many movies have been filmed here, The Firm, Great Balls of Fire, 21 Grams, Walk The Line, to name a few and it's been a hot dining spot since the 1950's. My husband ended up ordering The Travel Channel Favorite, "Eggs Redneck." Portions were as expected, HUGE, especially for us New Yorkers, but the food was absolutely delicious.
[caption id="attachment_2544" align="alignright" width="300"]
The famous Arcade Restaurant in Memphis[/caption]
Breakfast was followed by a 40-minute tour of the Gibson Factory, we were lucky enough to go while the factory workers were still there, which made for a very cool experience. We saw all aspects of the making of a Gibson Guitar—starting with the type of wood and it's cutting and shaping, to the custom artwork stations, and then the stringing and testing, almost every step is actually done by hand and it takes several weeks to complete one guitar. Job training takes as long as 9 weeks and the whole factory is kept at 45% humidity to keep the wood just the right amount of moist. My favorite part was by far the painting station, I had no idea an artist actually spray paints each guitar by hand (which made me think...what if he messes up!?) Tip: Go when the workers are there, so any time before 2:30pm, except for their lunch time, which is around 11am, it makes for a much more complete tour. Tickets are $10 p/person.
[caption id="attachment_2461" align="aligncenter" width="225"]
Gibson Guitar Factory and Store[/caption]
Our night excursion started with a ride on the trolley, which immediately took us back a few decades. Racket-y wood seats, old ticketing machine, and woman singing her blues-y heart out to the strum of a guitar. The place we were planning to eat at was packed, so we walked down Beale Street and randomly stepped into King's Palace, a Blues Club/Cajun Restaurant. Given that this was on the super tourist-y Beale Street, our expectations weren't high, but we were definitely proven wrong. The food was delicious, the drinks strong, and the entertainment - a guy singing some of our blues and rock favorites to his guitar, was superb. We followed this up with the Bruno Mars concert at the FedEx Forum, which seemed even larger than Madison Square Garden, and was packed to the the max. People had traveled in from all over the South to see him sing that night. The Moonshine Jungle concert was fantastic—high energy, phenomenal singing and dancing by a super talented artist. The whole night was this unique, contrasting experience of music in the old and new form, from Blues in a bar on historic Beale Street, to Bruno Mars at a massive and modern entertainment center.
[caption id="attachment_2462" align="alignleft" width="225"]
Historical Memphis trolley[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_2463" align="alignright" width="300"]
Beale Street at night[/caption]
The next afternoon we took the Mud Island monorail, which gives you spectacular views of the Hernando De Soto Bridge and of the Mississippi River. The bridge is in the shape of a wide letter M, and is lit up by 200 sodium vapor lights. It lights up the whole city at night, and you can pretty much see it from all parts of town. It was so cool to see the Mississippi River in person, considering it's the fourth longest river in the world, and even water sources as far as Pennsylvania and New York feed into the Mississippi. It's also been and is still a key source of commerce for towns like Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and Memphis, among others. Mud Island River Park was a fun way to learn about the topography and commerce on the Mississippi River, it's a miniature replica of the river from start (in Minnesota) to finish (the Gulf of Mexico). Our favorite part though, was surprisingly the Mississippi River Museum on the 2nd floor. It started off a bit slow at first and then became increasingly better with each segment. You get to walk through a replica of a saloon of an actual steamboat that was used for entertaining back in the 1800's. You can sit at the bar, with the ornately designed walls, ceilings, and chandeliers above you and feel like you're on a dinner-time ride on an 1830's steamboat in the 1830's. The rest of the museum brings you through segments of the Civil War, slavery, and the development of Gospel, Soul, Blues, and Rock and Roll music in Memphis, all done in a very interactive way. We walked out of that museum being shocked by how much there was to see and learn in what seemed like a small, unassuming space.
[caption id="attachment_2466" align="alignleft" width="300"]
Mud Island River Park[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_2465" align="alignright" width="300"]
Memphis trolley, Mud Island River Park monorail[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_2468" align="alignleft" width="300"]
In front of Hernando De Soto Bridge at Mud Island River Park[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_2546" align="alignright" width="229"]
Hernando De Soto Bridge between Tennessee and Arkansas at sunset[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_2484" align="alignright" width="250"]
Restaurant prices of local dishes from 1950's at Mississippi River Museum...everything under 25 cents![/caption]
[caption id="attachment_2480" align="alignleft" width="300"]
Sun Studios Replica at Mississippi River Museum[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_2482" align="aligncenter" width="300"]
Beautiful view of Memphis city from Mud Island River Park[/caption]
That night we spent the evening hopping from one blues bar to the next on Beale Street, and the talent of these artists in these dive bars is incredible. Music abounds everywhere in this city, and no more can you find this than on Beale Street. We really enjoyed listening to soul singer Natalie, at Blues Hall Juke Joint, though we heard B.B. King's and the Hi-Tone Lounge on North Cleveland Street are also top notch. At around 12am, we followed the music into Silky O' Sullivans, where a phenomenal cover band was playing old and new hits. There's a beautifully lit, large outdoor patio at O' Sullivans where we sat and grabbed a late-night snack, but the music was too good to stay seated for long. We joined the crowd of people dancing up at the stage and basked in the warm, Southern weather. At around 1 am, Alfred's on Beale switches from a band to a dj that blast the music onto the street, and street dancers and performers break it down to crowds of people circling them and cheering them on. A fun fact: you can buy drinks on the street at any of the outdoor street bars that line all of Beale Street, and just sit yourself down on the stoop on the side of the street and people watch. An entertaining ending to a wonderful night.
[caption id="attachment_2488" align="alignleft" width="300"]
Blues Hall Juke Joint...a dive bar worth visiting for the musical talent.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_2487" align="alignright" width="300"]
Beale Street stays alive into the late hours[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_2486" align="alignright" width="300"]
Neon-lit outdoor street bars on Beale Street[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_2467" align="alignleft" width="300"]
Main Street in Downtown Memphis[/caption]
We designated Sunday for traveling to Graceland (not far from Memphis, about 15 minutes). Neither my husband or I grew up listening to Elvis, but we felt we couldn't visit Memphis without visiting Graceland. This place is not to be missed! As with the rest of the trip, we were more than pleasantly surprised with the way the tour was led, we learned so many interesting facts about Elvis that we never knew before, his charitable nature—he would write checks to anyone and everyone to help pay people's bills and help support hospitals and endless charities, his obsession with music that went beyond concert performances—he would invite friends, family, and his management team to play up on the roof of his hotel after playing a full concert he'd done just an hour earlier. He led a very full, though short, life, and was an energetic spirit that definitely resonates to this day. His decorating skills were extravagant—from the peacock room to the jungle room (where he held impromptu recording sessions in the 70's), to the decor of his planes, everything had an exotic and energetic touch to it. On our way back to downtown Memphis, we made a stop into Sun Studios, where Elvis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis and other musical stars had recorded when they were first starting out.
[caption id="attachment_2492" align="alignleft" width="300"]
Elvis Presley's Peacock Room at Graceland Mansion[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_2493" align="alignright" width="300"]
The Trophy Room at Graceland Mansion[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_2495" align="alignleft" width="300"]
At Sun Studios[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_2494" align="alignright" width="300"]
The Pool Room in Graceland Mansion[/caption]
The last stop of the day was Overton Park, the perfect ending of live music on a green lawn, with local beer crafters and food vendors. During the summer they have free concerts on the weekends (Levitt Shell Free Music Concert Series). Following the concert, we snuck into the Memphis College of Art, and browsed the local art of students.
[caption id="attachment_2476" align="alignleft" width="300"]
Levitt Shell at Overton Park in Memphis where free concerts are held during the summer time.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_2477" align="alignright" width="300"]
Memphis College of Art beautifully lit up at night.[/caption]
The nicest thing about Memphis, especially for a romantic like me, is that it completely transports you to another time and place. It's a romantic and nostalgic city, holding on to its Blues and Rock fame, and it has so much soul that is deeply immersed in its food, music, and people. This is a must-go.
Best Time To Go: May for the month-long cultural and musical celebration
Travel Types: old souls, romantics, music afficionados
Best Nomaterra Fragrance for this trip: Savannah Magnolia
[caption id="attachment_2479" align="aligncenter" width="335"]
Downtown Memphis Sunset[/caption]
Nomaterra Fall Ad Campaign Posted on 21 Oct 11:46 , 0 comments
"She Flies Herself" The Nomaterra woman flies her own plane to explore the world. She is an adventure-seeker who jumps at opportunities to take adventures in beauty, career, travel, and in life.
Nostalgia Posted on 16 Oct 10:22 , 0 comments
Are there scent memories that make you feel nostalgic? It can be a person, a place, or a number of other things. For us, it's the memory of scent of a place we've traveled to in the past, that makes us both nostalgic to go back, and makes us want to reminisce of the memories that have been permanently ingrained in our minds. The real question though is, is it the memory of the physical location that one feels nostalgic for, or the connections made with the people in that place at that time? A whiff of a spice, plant, or tree can instantly transport you back in time to that place, with those people, in that gratifying moment. What does nostalgia mean to you? What if you could replicate and bottle the memory of your first solo journey or your honeymoon, so you could smell it everyday, would you want to? Or would you want to protect it in the back of your mind?
Travel Shot Tuesday Posted on 8 Oct 11:06 , 0 comments
In continuation from last week's travel shot Tuesday, I bring you collage of images of our experience with the majestic Perito Moreno Glacier in El Parque Nacional los Glaciales in Patagonia.
After a week's journey through the Argentinean countryside, which included everything from buses, planes, to buggies and bikes (not to mention a special glacier boat), we finally made it to the main purpose of our Argentinean trip, a glacier trek atop a continually mobile glacial formation spanning 30km (19mi) in length (Fun fact: this glacier is one of the only in the world that is still growing, unlike most other glacial formations, which are melting and shrinking).
The night before we had a hearty Argentinean meal by fireplace with about 20 other backpackers at our hostel. We had purchased a glacier trekking tour that day via Hielo y Aventura (http://www.hieloyaventura.com/). The next morning we headed out for the adventure of a lifetime. Surprisingly, the climate was actually not that cold, a warm fleece would do, and you didn't really even need gloves. Each hiker had put on crampons, which were these special boots with spikes that dig deep into the ice for traction. We departed the mainland via a glacier boat to the side of a mountain, which, after a few minutes of trekking the woods of said mountain, it jutted us out onto the glacier's facade. All of a sudden we were 70 meters above water standing on a gigantic block of ice. Majestic—yes. Life-altering—certainly.
It was one of the most breathtaking views I'd ever seen in my life, in fact, it may still be to this day (and I've seen my fair share of natural wonders). The finale of the 2+ hour trek found us in a little dug out inlet in the middle of nowhere atop this ice sheet, where we were served whiskey on ice from the glacier (natch).
The smell was unique and surprisingly, easily describable. Clean. Fresh. Crisp. Polar. The smell of Patagonia, the freshest air I'd ever smelled.
Travel Shot Tuesday Posted on 1 Oct 14:30 , 0 comments
In 2010, my husband and I traveled the Argentinian country-side for over a week. We knew our one trip goal was to reach the glacier, Perito Moreno in El Parque Nacional los Glaciales and left the rest of the journey up to spontaneity and chance. We had planned to visit the national park first, but missed our flight due to what we thought was a lost passport (I'll cough that up to the plights of travel adventures). We had already checked out of our hotel in Buenos Aires, and on a whim, took a taxi to the national bus station, and hopped on a bus going to Bariloche, via Bahia Blanca. This image was shot during a 35 km bike trip in and around the majestic lakes and mountains of Bariloche. The air was crisp, the views were like nothing I'd seen before. It felt like time stopped moving, the magnitude of the sheer beauty of this place took our breaths away. I could only capture a portion of what we could see, and only the slightest fraction of what we felt at that moment. It is a place that I hope we return to one day. I hope to one day be able to capture the scent of Bariloche. It's difficult to capture such immense beauty and the memories that come along with it in a bottle. I'd need to find an ingredient or a blend of ingredients that could translate the crisp, glacier-like air. Perhaps mint, and citrus, and cyprus. A future project for sure! If you're intrigued by Bariloche and interested in this picturesque bike tour, check out the link to Circuito Chico Bike Rental: http://circuitochicobikes.com/ You bike on your own and find your own paths and secret discoveries, which is part of the fun.
Get personal & follow us