Before I forget, I wanted to jot down some notes about the Parks on the Air exercises I just did in Iceland and the Faroe Islands. Final statistics: Iceland: 11 parks activated (9 the first time anyone had), 382 QSOs, 277 confirmed (as of writing) for 41 countries. For the Faroe Islands, 172 QSOs, 121 confirmed, 37 countries. I also found my 10,000th geocache. Pre-trip preparation Paperwork. The ARRL is a starting point for US hams operating internationally, but their site is primarily a collection of links to documents you’re supposed to pore through and understand. The material can be exceptionally boring (T/R 61-01 zzzzzzz). The Iceland club had a nice summary, only lacking a specific link to the permit needed. (The permit was free, and quickly obtained.) There was a club for Faroe Islands, but it and the Danish authority were challenging to browse with Google Translate. I was unable to find anything specific, and hoped it wouldn’t be a big deal. Equipment optimizationthrough Trial POTA activations*.*This was also an opportunity to work out kinks with my laptop, re-familiarized myself with the KX3, tried different antenna options, and set up a flow for logging. Identify potential POTA sites. Logging is complicated. I had a TF/WT8P from last year, and added OY/WT8P, which was “announced” and led to conversations with DX Daily (who publishes information about DX operations) and a ham who offered to manage sending paper QSL cards. ...

In the seven years since my first radio contacts, I now have a process for logging amateur radio contacts. However, it wasn’t until I started working remotely more that I appreciated how **logging amateur radio contacts accurately is complicated.**This inaccurate logging was the cause of much frustration during the final throes of my completing the ARRL Triple Play where, for example, the Parks on the Air person I worked “in Michigan” would log their home state (not Michigan). I now understand why. ...

Three things lined up today, providing an exciting evening of aurora watching. Tickling of the ionosphere – with the peaking of the 11-year solar cycle, it’s been ramping up. But this week, K-index of 9 and blobs-o’-sun heading our way. Geomagnetic Storm! Darkness– normally these are seen in Winter because nights are longer. But there’s also an issue with light pollution. The state map is pretty much “anywhere there’s people.” ...

During one of my CW classes, a couple of my students were waxing on about the fun they had in assembling a QRP Labs QCX+ radio kit. They invited me to participate in the fun. Although I’ve done small kits in the past, this was much more ambitious. I was leery what paltry soldering skills I had were long since vanished. But, eventually, FOMO prevailed and I purchased a kit online. ...

This recipe for Vietnamese-inspired Chicken Bun Cha bowls with fried shallots on top is based on a class I took at my local PCC in April 2023. It takes just under two hours from when I started until when we ate. When I redid this last night (2024-03-11), I made some of the sauces the night before, employed the food processor more, and things flowed smoother. Any extra meat or sauce can be used in Bahn Mi. ...

Belatedly following up with Part 1, my remaining time Prague had a day-trip to Bohemian Switzerland National Park, Bastei Bridge, and a lot of geocaching throughout the city. (Prague geocachers bring their A-game. I went home finding 132 caches in Iceland, 71 in Czechia and 5 in Germany.) To blow through my remaining CZK, I made a trip to a grocery store and bought enough candy and beer that I needed a second suitcase. ...

Geocaching just sent a nice “wrap” of my 2023 activity (which I don’t remember them doing last year) that was fun to reflect on. It also became obvious how much of my activity has changed. Using Project-GC, this is my monthly activity over the last eight years: Quick observations: There’s a pretty huge shift from pre-covid (right half) to post-covid (left-half), as I have been unable to get out with friends. From 2018 through part of 2019, I was trying to do a geocaching “streak,” whereby I’d go out every day and find a cache. It gets brutal as I’d be finding all the caches I’d otherwise ignore just to appease some arbitrary metric. Each year has had a spike of activity around travel taken. My activity has been declining, which I think is a sign of clearing out nearby things to find. After all, I’m in Year 16 of geocaching. Iceland: Check! I did a geo-trail around the Reykjanes peninsula, also a lot of wandering around Reykjavik. ...

After my time in Iceland, I spent a few days to see Prague, which is renowned for its history and the excellent geocaching community. It did not disappoint. Day 1 Summary:_ ****Fly from Keflavik, arriving early afternoon. Check into the apartment rental. If time permitted, exchange currency, then wander to the meeting point for the Taste of Prague food tour. Sleep._ The American version of airports. The night before, I dropped off my rental car and walked to the airport hotel two blocks from Keflavik International. Thinking the US airport experience was the norm, specifically, a lot of time-wasted because of security theater, I planned to be up and out the door by 4:30 a.m. to do all the security hoops for my 7 a.m. flight. ...

Where to start… (extensively updated 2023-10-26) I initially asked a couple of geocaching friends what they did, and it was evident their visits were stopovers onto somewhere else. It is possible do visit many sites from day-trips while staying in Reykjavik. However, this was my travel destination. While doing a couple of day trips from Reykjavik is fine, the traveling back and forth eats up a lot of valuable vacationing. ...

… must come to an end. For my last day, I had an early reservation at the Sky Lagoon, which is an Oceanside geothermal lagoon closer into town. I just could not get myself interested in the Blue Lagoon on this visit. Although I brought my swimsuit, I ended up renting one so I wouldn’t have to deal with a wet garment in my suitcase. Sky Lagoon’s “The Ritual” is eloquently explained on their website, but I would summarize as alternating between hotter and colder forms of water. Towards the end, you rub oily salt on your body, then walk into a steam furnace until you absolutely cannot take it anymore, grope for the exit, and take a normal shower. The transitions, especially hot to cold, are surprisingly invigorating. ...