Everybody Knows BEST

stoked to be part of this amazing team and amazing video. catch me and my teammates from around the world, share to love for riding.

Everybody Knows from Best Kiteboarding on Vimeo.

The view from the Top

I never really thought i'll do my first flight on a paraglide here in Paros.

Veso, who decided to come and hang out with us here at Paros to kite for a few days brought his tandem wing, me, grant and william went for a spin.

And...

I LOVED IT!

now am in really big trouble, as usual i will get hooked on this sport and probably go mental again on doing crazy turns or what not.

Veso is a professional acro paraglider from Bulgaria who also started kiting a few months back. 

check out his adventures at 

www.flytheearth.com

He took time off to chill here and now on the way to prepare for an acro tour/competition around europe.

Goodluck!

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I was super stoked when he was keen to take me up paragliding.

i even tried to pilot it and to my surprise it was easier and lighter than kiting.

PS: sometimes being small is cool, according to the pilot behind me it was easy to bring me up because i was tiny. Although this strap infront me is actually really in the way of my face all the time because am too small on the seat. it's really cramping my view. LOL

We also did a few simple "tricks" (check out some photos)  and you'll see the paraglide almost being sideways.

If you know me very well too, you know that i love themeparks, rides and roller coasters, especially if it involves free fall.

so yes, i did love this experience, its like being on a roller coaster with a better view.

I wanted to experience more turns but i didn't expect to go fly before my friend Grant, i decided to eat some cookies on the way, when we were climbing the top of the mountain.

Ha, that was a bad idea. 

i didn't wanna vomit in mid air. lol.

I had the most adrenaline i've ever had in awhile, which was good.

i was smiling the entire day & night even after 2 days.

The experience was amazing.

So calm and at the same time extreme (if you think about it).

It is also such a nice view up there. 

I would like to see the earth on that view more often.

it also gave me a lot of inspiration to do some art, 

so am back on the drawing board for some rad artwork coming out

from this wonderful experience.

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The only thing that i probably would not like about it in the long run is climbing the mountain but

as long as i have my camera, am good to go!

i took a few snaps on the way.

The more you fly the more it grounds you to the earth.

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Thank You for the wonderful experience! 

Ahhh! can't wait til my next flight.

The Gyros Pita Man and the best dessert in the world

one of the best things about the med is the food. it's always amazing.

especially for somebody like me who snacks a lot.

yes, i eat A LOT!

Greece thrives a lot from farming, especially Paros.

I never go wrong with any munchies here in Greece.

The Gyros Pita is a staple. a 2.50euro goodness of meat, fries, onion, tomatoes and tzatziki.

Different places have different ways of making Gyros pita, we try to take time to go to different places with this amazing Greek Staple.

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Frozen Yogurt and Homemade Ice cream

are few of the famous greek desserts but

The Best desert in the WORLD

is the traditional Loucoumades.

it's fried dough balls smothered with warm merenda (greek nutella)

or honey and cinnamon

topped with your choice of ice cream,

need i say more?

it's orgasmic. I LOVE Loucoumades!!!!

if you observe the guy who makes the Gyros pita ( The Pita man ), he is very passionate about it, so i took some photos, this was from the gyros pita place in Lefkas, a town situated in the hills of Paros.

Also there are exceptional Pita Men, who gets annoyed when you ask to change something in your gyro, like extra tzatziki. it's kind of like a big no no.

haha, it took me a while to get it, no asking for extra tzatziki.LOL

Aside from the sweets, the fruits here are to die for.Our house is actually a watermelon farm, so when the owner comes in every once in a while to pick out the ripe ones, he would give us a few of these delish watermelons. XO

Goofing around with my GoPro on a no wind day, eating frozen watermelon in our porch.

wiiii!

Dancing on my own

What a lot you guys don't know about me,

is i love to Dance.

..i love movement. 

anything that involves the body, the mind, the soul is an art for me.

I involve a lot of dancing in my riding.

especially on the rails and when i go kiting.

as much as i love dancing and goofing around with other people in the dance floor,

nothing beats dancing on my own.. but with a twist.

when i was a kid, i did a lot of classical ballet, modern jazz, theatre arts, plus a lot of other stuff,

a couple of years ago, i got hooked on poi/fire dancing, then to dancing on rails, yoga, acroyoga, 

dancing with my kite, flowersticks and now also with a hoola hoop.

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Dancing is a therapy. an art,

a self expression of what is in my heart.

Me and anny had a conversation the other day that at points in your life you want portraits taken of you so you can look back in the future to see how you were and how you became to be that person. 

-

I had is great idea for a portrait of me, on who i am now.

so this is me, this is my portrait, i hope you can recognize me, and who i have become - 

 27 years and counting X

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Each of us is a reflection of our experiences, the people that we meet, the places that we've been and the sadness that life brings from time to time.

A series of Portraits taken by

Laura Payne

PS: girl you are amazing! 

These pictures made my heart melt when i saw them <3 p="p">

i was just gonna choose a couple of pics but i just can't trim it down anymore.

all the shots are great!!

I hope you love them too!

taken at Pounta Beach, Paros Island, Greece

PS: I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who helped me where i am now, for those who believed..

To all the great memories and the misunderstandings that we had and we will have.

-

You might think that i don't thank you enough, but if you know me well enough, you know..

trust that you are an inspiration and always will forever have a place in my big heart that radiates in my big smile.