The Travels of Päivi and Santeri

Island hopping in Polynesia was a dream-come-true for us. We had been planning it since 2021 , but the timing was never right for travelling two months on the high seas without Internet and phone . Now we were able to do it and it was sheer luxury! Polynesian Islands are known for beaches and popular destinations for snorkeling and watching marine life. We covered some parts of Hawaii, Samoa, Fiji, Tonga and French Polynesia as well as Cook Islands, Niue and Kiribati.

Photos from all over the French Polynesia: Society Islands, Tuamotu Archipelago and Marquesas Archipelago.

Photos from the US Polynesia: American Samoa and Hawaii. We went to Oahu, Maui and Hawaii of the Hawaian Islands and Pago Pago in American Samoa

Photos from Niue.

Photos from Tonga.

We proudly present you Mana, The Spirit of Tahiti by TAHITI ORA and their group leader Tumata Robinson. The video was filmed in Papeete, Tahiti on 2025-11-8. Enjoy!

Photos from Samoa.

Photos from Cook Islands.

Photos from Kiribati.

We had an opportunity to film this fantastic local music, drumming and dance performance in Honolulu, Hawaii on 2025-10-9. There are various dances and songs covering the Pacific Islands from Hawaii to Samoa all the way to New Zealand. We proudly present you the Drums of Polynesia. Enjoy!

Photos of our 21st wedding anniversary in Lautoka, Fiji, on our never-ending honeymoon trip. This photo album and blog was published one month too late as we travelled the past two months without Internet connection.

We have visited sulphurous thermal water (STW) bath pools in Tbilisi, Georgia and Andorra . We noticed positive effects on arthritis and eczema ( atopic dermatitis ) and were looking for similar baths in Turkey. However, not all thermal water hot springs are the same. Pamukkale waters are not sulphurous, although warm (39°C/102°F) outdoor pools felt nice when the temperature was close to freezing. Pamukkale thermal waters are muddy, radioactive and mineral rich but lack the special effects of sulphurous water.

New year, this time the Gregorian variant, is time for reminiscing and making promises to be broken. For us, it is a day just like any other day. We celebrated it by cleaning the house just like we did at Christmas. When you celebrate only a few days, you make all the other days feel less important. We choose to celebrate every single moment with the same intensity. Although humanity is pretty much a lost cause and the easiest fix would be our rapid extinction, there are some things we can do to fix our world. We figured them out on the road in 140 countries during the past 20 years .