Christoph Rehage spent a year of his life walking 4646km through China, and during that time, he let his beard and hair grow wild while taking pictures of himself along the way.

The below video is a documentary of sorts of his travel, and it paints a pretty amazing picture of Christoph’s adventure:

[The Longest Way]

{Via: Kottke]

When Delta Air Lines bought Northwest Airlines for $2.6 billion, it acquired 436 planes, including Airbus A330s, DC-9s, and 16 Boeing 747-400s, making it one of the only domestic airlines to fly the jumbo jet.

The only problem: All of them were painted in NWA colors. (Or livery as they call it in the airline industry.)

To fix that problem, Delta will spend more than two years painting more than 40,000 gallons of paint on their new birds, but it’s hard to picture what a 12 day paint job looks like on a plane the size of a football field, so Delta has put together a time-lapse video of the whole process that cuts it down to just three minutes:

What interesting is that at time-lapse speed, the painters on cherry pickers look like the arms of a robot, and the whole process becomes a well choreographed dance that makes it look easy.

[Delta Blog]

[Via: Wired]

Jodhpur is a city of color, and is known as the Blue City for the color of its buildings.

Apparenlty, “most of the buildings in the old quarter are painted blue to signify the Bhraman (Priest) class, but non-Brahmins soon followed suit, as the color was said to deflect the heat and deter mosquitoes”. Soon, everything turned blue, and the view from the hilltops became a broad vision of indigo.

Be sure to visit Life In The Fast Lane for three more amazing ancient cities of color.

[Life In The Fast Lane - 4 Amazing Ancient Cities Of Color]

Jason Lewis recently completed his journey around the world; a 13 year, 2 month and 23 day trip that makes him the first person to ever circumnavigate the globe (reach antipodal points on the surface of the globe) using only human power. (No motors or sails.)

Transportation included bicycles, in-line skates, kayaks, swimming, walking and a unique pedal powered boat, and he traveled over 45,000 miles, including five continents, two oceans and one sea.

During the trip, Jason was hit by a drunk driver, chased by a crocodile, harassed by pirates, and questioned as a suspected spy.

I can only hope it was worth it, because Jason Lewis apparently doesn’t know the meaning of the word ‘quit’.

[Expedition 360]

[Via: Neatorama]

In the LA area and looking for a place to play some coin-op classics?

Gridskipper has put together a guide to LA’s Best, Weirdest, Coolest, and Dodgiest Arcades, and it’s a great list of gaming getaways. It’s time to start saving those quarters and stretching those thumbs, because button mashing nirvana is just a map away.

[Gridskipper - LA's Best, Weirdest, Coolest, Dodgiest Arcades]

Since I took a little bit of a break to visit down under, it’s taken some time to get back into the blogging flow again. As a reward for the readers that have stuck around, I’m going to hold another DYH contest for this week’s TGI Friday. This one’s going to be simple, too.

Just answer the following question: Where would you most like to travel?

Post your answer in the comments, and one winner will be chosen at random and given a $10 iTunes gift card. Now let’s hear it, where do you want to go?

In Sun City, South Africa, they have what is supposedly the world’s tallest, longest, and fastest zip line. After watching this video, it’s hard to doubt those claims, though they never do say it’s the world’s safest.

[Via: Spluch]

For San Francisco bound female travelers, Girlfriend Getaways put together a guide to the city, and made quite a few interesting choices. Gridskipper’s got a summary, and with destinations like Bourbon and Branch, Nopa, True Sake, and Kabuki Springs and Spa, you’ll be more than busy by staying off the beaten path.

[Gridskipper - Women's Guide To San Francisco]

[Photo Via: Bob Jagendorf]

The Oribi Gorge used to be the king of swing, but if you want a ride on the new World’s Highest Swing, you now need to head over to China. There, in Harbin City, you can swing on the observation deck of a TV tower that reaches 1,100 ft up into the sky. After strapping yourself into the steel seat, you simply swing out and over the city below. Though the observation deck is only 700 ft. off the ground, I’m sure this ‘Game For Brave People’ is still quite a stomach turner.

[Via: Spluch]

If traveling through the streets of DC sounds like as much fun as sitting through reruns of CNN, fear not, because Gridskipper has created a guide to the wilder side of Washington. Featuring strip clubs, fetish clubs, bars, and lingerie shops, it’s a list of the hot spots and cool clubs that are definitely not on that tourist map you just bought. Capital city, here I come.

[Gridskipper - Naughty DC]

[Official Tourism Site Of Washington DC]

Gridskipper put together a great guide to the offbeat areas of San Francisco. Having been to many of the places myself in my city travels, I can definitely agree with their selections (Foreign Cinema, Golden Gate Fortune Cookies, Musee Mecanique, Pirate Supply Store are all first hand wonderful). If you want to visit the city, but you don’t want to follow the same guidebook that everyone else is carrying around, then definitely check it out.

Bonus: Combine this with the Adam Savage Tour, and you can pretty much call yourself a San Fran expert.

[Gridskipper - Offbeat San Francisco]

If you ever find yourself traveling to Iceland, make sure to plan some dive time in the Silfra River, a crack between the continental plates that is located in the middle of the Thingvellir National Park. What makes this dive so unique is the fact that the water comes from melted glaciers and has been filtered through the lava bed for years, resulting in water that is so cold (2-4°C, or just above freezing) that nothing can grow. This lack of life means that you can see for over 100 meters, and (besides the bubbles) you’ll feel like you’re floating in space. Plus, it’s been voted one of the ten best dives in the world, which means that after your visit, you’ll only have nine more to go.

[Silfra Dive]

[Via: Trend Hunter]

(Click for the full size version)

If you’re going to visit Los Angeles, you’re going to want to party; and if you’re going to want to party, you’re going to want to eat, which is why Thrillist’s Late-Night Gorging guide should be an important part of your pre-inebriation ritual. The print at home card features 50 late-night eateries, as well as a few that will cater to you all night long while you attempt to eat off that hangover. Good luck, it’ll never work.

[Thrillist - Late-Night Gorging]

If you get a chance to visit San Francisco, make sure you do the Adam Savage tour. Savage, the man behind the Discovery Channel MythBusters show, responded to an Ask MetaFilter query about the city by the bay with gems such as Il Farolito’s Super Grilled Chicken Quesadilla, hiking through Glen Canyon, drinking atop the Medjool roof as the sun sets, socializing at Specs and Michelangelo’s, Sunday brunch and celebratory dinners at Foreign Cinema, Berkeley’s Chez Panisse, and finally, a good old cup o joe and a mag at Farley’s. Sounds good, doesn’t it?

[Ask MetaFilter - San Francisco]

[Photo Via: The Jamoker]

[Via: Gridskipper]

So you’re an Arab oil billionaire who needs to fly out of Dubai every once in a while. What do you do? Pick up a first class ticket and order a few drinks to pass the time? No, that’s too civilian.

Instead, you commission Airbus to build you a custom A380 for a pocket emptying $400 million ($100 million for just the interior). Normally a 555-passenger, double-decker superjumbo, this A380 will simply be called the “Flying Palace”. So what does change like that buy you?

How about: two dining halls, a 600-square-foot master bedroom, game room, a whirlpool tub (the first of its kind, it empties into an auxiliary tank in seconds if needed), and gold plating on all of your oxygen masks (probably not that last one, but maybe). The bar has officially been raised.

[Space.com - Airbus A380 VIP Flying Palace Interior]

[Via: Gizmodo]

In 1998, Barry Stiefel hatched a plan. He’d saved up a weeks worth of vacation time, and he wanted to use it in the most efficient way possible, so he left work on Friday at 5pm, returned to work a week later on Monday at 8am, and in the middle, he visited every single state (including Alaska and Hawaii).

[50 States In A Week's Vacation]

[Via: Kottke]

In South Africa, the world’s highest swing is located in a place called Oribi Gorge. The jump takes you off of a 33-story waterfall, and lasts only a few terrifying seconds, but I’m sure the feeling is hard to beat. Check out the video (you might want to turn down your sound first):

Edit: This post has gotten quite a bit on attention, so if you’re looking for more information about this “Wild Swing”, check out: Wild 5 Swing.

[Via: High T3ch]

Chris Yates took the US Interstate System and remade it subway map style. Definitely a unique way of looking at the way we think of travel.

[Interstate Subway Map]

[Via: Boing Boing]

Mike and Annie Moore really took the saying “a penny saved is a penny earned” to heart, and saved and earned an estimated million of them to cover their McKittrick, California bar with. What started as a hobby turned into a passion, and the couple collected (or was given) over $10,000 worth of pennies, including an 1883 Indian head penny, their prized possession. The collection has tired them out though, and they’ve put the place up for sale with an $899,999.98 as is price tag. Given the rising cost of copper though, it could be an investment worth making.

[The New York Times - See A Penny, Pick It Up And 'Honey, Get The Glue!']

[Via: BookOfJoe]

Though I’ve never been one to worry about germs, I do give No Cooties spray respect for bringing back such an iconic part of childhood with their creative naming. Designed for travel (they’re less than 3oz in size), the travel spray will make quick work of any airborne microorganisms with its blend of essential oils and anti-bacterials.

[No Cooties]

[Via: Uncrate]