Cheers to summer!

To letting go of control and making time irrelevant.

To unexpected encounters and friendships that start around a campfire.

Cheers to encounters around the fire! | Timothy Meinberg/Unsplash

To cliff jumping and night swimming.

Splash | Jakob Owens/Unspalsh

To the velvet touch of moss in the forest.

Moss | Stas Ovsky/Unsplash

To days that start at sunrise and finish at the next sunrise.

Sunrise on the day of the summer solstice | ©Maria Angelova/www.203challenges.com

To warm nights and fireflies.

Fireflies at Ochanomizu Kobayashi Kiyochika

To swapping the bed for a portable hammock hung in the woods.

My summer bed | ©Maria Angelova/www.203challenges.com

To the smell of hay and pine trees.

Hay time | Stephen Radford/Unsplash

To homemade cocktails and rooftop views.

Homemade summer cocktail | Aj Garcia/Unsplash

To finding the joy of challenging yourself!

Summer freedom | ©Maria Angelova/www.203challenges.com

To saying “yes” more often.

Kayaking | ©Maria Angelova/www.203challenges.com

Cheers to your best summer ever!

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There’s no doubt life is better in flip-flops. If the first thing that comes to your mind when someone mentions the beach is a solitary bungalow on a remote island, here’s a challenge for you: find and enjoy some of the best city beaches in the world. Even amid the urban hustle and bustle, you can immerse yourself in the laid-back, cocktail-soaked, sea-breeze-infused atmosphere of these sandy dream lands.

Bruxelles Les Bains (Brussel Bad), Belgium

Beach time in Brussels | Stephane Mignon/Flickr

The capital of Belgium has its very own beach at Beco Quay (Quai de Beco) – every year for a month a real beach appears, featuring huge stretches of sand, palm-trees, exotic plants… Visitors play beach volleyball and beach soccer, or cool off by splashing about in fountains and pools.

Brygge Islands, Copenhagen, Denmark 

Brygge Islands | © Christian Alsing/ Visit Copenhagen

You may think you’re too far north to afford the luxury of going for a swim in the open, but that’s because you haven’t been to Brygge Islands – a wonderful free pool by the harbor in central Copenhagen. The water is clear and refreshing, but you probably won’t want to jump off the quay and into the water unless you visit in July or August.

Paris Plages (Paris Beaches), France

Beach along the Seine, Paris | Eric Huybrechts/Flickr

The closest coast is 200 km (124 mi) from Paris, but that doesn’t stop the French. For four weeks from late July, several tons of sand are pumped onto the Seine’s banks in the French capital. More than 2 km (1,5 mi) of sandy beaches invite all those citizens and guests who are exhausted from the heat to enjoy a Seine-side holiday. The beaches bustle with free classes, rollerbladers, cyclists, a mobile library and plenty of people enjoying other fun activities.

Repulse Bay Beach Hong Kong, China 

Repulse Beach, Hong Kong | Mark Lehmkuhler/Flickr

Escape from the madness of Hong Kong and discover the sun and golden sands that grace the southern part of the island. This oasis of calm is set against a background of modern buildings and mountain slopes. 

Venice Beach, Los Angeles, USA

Venice Beach, LA | DenisDenis/Flickr

This iconic beach is perfect not only for sunbathing, but also for renting roller skates or a bike. You can roll down a seven-mile bike alley to Will Rogers State Beach.

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This list of travel challenges is meant to make you step a little out of your comfort zone. If you like spending time in nature, then you’ve probably already completed some of these challenges. Nevertheless, there are ideas here that will help you plan your next outdoor adventure.

1. Roll around in the snow after taking a sauna (in the name of health!).

2. Organize a night picnic with lanterns/candles/campfire/the full moon.

Photo: Dave Lastovskiy/Unsplash

3. Go where 90% of animals and plants are unique and can’t be found anywhere else (we mean Madagascar, but if you find another place that meets the criteria, go ahead!).

4. Boil eggs in a valley of geysers – there are just over 1000 geysers on Earth, but it seems the influence of hot water on the human mind hasn’t been well studied yet because people tend to think of weird stuff to when they see a geyser. Like boiling eggs (there are hundreds of videos of this; check them out if you find the idea interesting).

5. Pop a bottle of champagne when you climb a new mountain peak. You deserve it.

Photo: © Lachezar Sokolov/www.203challenges.com

6. Spend the night in a hammock in a forest or on the beach.

7. Jump into a warm, open-air mineral pool while it’s snowing.

8. Bathe in a waterfall (one idea).

9. Hug a very special tree (a local attraction, a very old tree or a family tree).

10. Practice gökotta. Gökotta is a Swedish word that roughly translates as “to rise at dawn in order to go out and listen to the birds sing”. Read more about gökotta.

Photo: © www.203challenges.com

11. Try volcano boarding – hike up to a volcanic crater, enjoy the view, then try something more interesting: slide down the volcanic stones and ash with a special board at a speed of up to 75 kph (47 mph).

12. Discover sandboarding – slide down a sand dune with your feet fixed to a board.

13. Skinny-dip in a remote mountain lake.

14. Stand before the Gates of Hell.

15. Fly high in a hot-air balloon.

16. Breathe in the scent of lavender in Provence (between June and August is the best time to do it).

17. The most difficult challenge for active people: Spend a whole day doing nothing. Rest, observe the world around you, take a nap in the afternoon, have a cup of tea… Genuinely try to enjoy doing nothing.

18. Sleep in a floating bungalow (one idea here).

Photo: © Maria Angelova/www.203challenges.com

All ideas are inspired by the book “203 Travel Challenges. Travel the World. Explore Your Inner Self.”.

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Need more inspiration? Take a look at our photo guide of our planet!

​This type of trip can inspire you to take a new path – enroll in a livestock breeder course, learn a new skill, or something else.

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If you’re fed up with boring mornings, here are 10 ways to make the start of the day a small celebration (I’ve tried most of them many times, while some are still on my list):

Sunrise date

Wake up at 4 am and drive to a beautiful sunrise spot – it could be a seashore, a cityscape or any kind of scenic spot you and your soulmate enjoy. Watch the new day dawning on a blanket and then take a nap. Of course, you can do the same with your best friend.

Sunrise in a balloon

It’s not something you can do every day, but for an extra special morning you can’t go past a sunrise flight in a hot air balloon.

Sunrise surfing

Grabbing your board and plunging into the deep blue is a surefire way to make your morning more exciting. If you haven’t tried surfing yet, photos like the one below should give you some inspiration.

Sunrise picnic

Pour some steaming coffee in a thermos, grab a few sandwiches for breakfast and head for your favorite picnic spot. Sometimes I drive for an hour to reach a remote mountain meadow just to hear the morning birdsong and enjoy the breaking dawn.

Rooftop sunrise

Do you have a friend with a magnificent rooftop terrace, or do you know a rooftop bar that organizes early morning events? Find the best view in the city and bring your coffee with you.

No-sleep sunrise

For those who cannot wake up early, we suggest a gentler option: if you don’t go to bed all night, you won’t need to hammer the alarm clock!

Kayaking at sunrise

Sneak out of your tent/bungalow and grab a kayak at dawn to catch the magical moment when the first rays of sunlight kiss the water’s surface. What I love most about these moments is the perfect serenity that surrounds you.

Sunrise from your tent

The best thing about camping is that you can wake up, peek through your unzipped tent to marvel at the sunrise, then immediately go back to sleep. Two of the year’s most special sunrises are the summer and winter solstice, when you can add a ritual from your country to add to the experience.

Sunrise swimming

It’s worth waking up early to start the day with a refreshing dip in the water (a sea, a river, an ocean or a pool – whatever you have close by).

Play a sunrise song

We all hear different melodies in our heads when dawn breaks, but here are a few of my suggestions for a special song to play as you watch the sunrise. If you can play a musical instrument, you can perform the melody yourself, or you can play it on your speakers to enjoy a special sunrise soundtrack:

Shine by Benjamin Francis Leftwich      Sunrise by Simply Red      Sunrise by Norah Jones     Sunrise by One Last Night      Bloom by The Paper Kites

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The secret to a happy vacation

It turns out that the best way to feel happy on a vacation is to… schedule a lot of activities!

Wait, don’t run away screaming!

As stressful as the word ‘schedule’ can be when thinking about vacations, a recent study at the National Pingtung University of Science and Technology in Taiwan (published in the Journal of Happiness Studies) has proven that there is a positive relationship between time management and happiness when it comes to your free time.

You already know why you should keep your hands off that laptop and ignore your work emails when you are on the beach; your vacation should be all about the fun. If you haven’t planned fun activities for your free time, you are basically wasting it (two weeks catching up on sleep is not useful and you don’t sleep 24/7).

How to actually make the most of your vacation

Pack your vacation with activities like day-trips, kayaking, water parks, self-organized ice-cream tasting and melon-cocktail preparation (it’s easy: remove the top of a melon, take out the seeds and pour a bottle of white wine inside. Let is rest in a fridge and in three hours it’s ready!). The actual activity doesn’t matter as long as you perceive it as fun and you have a few things scheduled every day.

Read more:

Dolce Far Niente: the meaning of the Italian concept explained by Italians

10 interesting facts about travel, backed by science

10 simple ways to boost your happiness on the road

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Celebrate the national day of a country – your own or another

You can start this by celebrating Independence Day on the 4^th of July, even if you’re not American. The celebration of different countries’ national days is a great way to honor foreign cultures and countries without actually traveling there. You can visit a friend from that particular country, organize a themed dinner with food from the country, go to a themed bar or restaurant, or have a movie marathon with movies made in or about that country. Some of the national days you can celebrate in July are:

• 4^th July – Independence Day (United States)
• 14^th July – Bastille Day (France)
• 20^th July – Declaration of Independence from Spain (Colombia)
• 21^st July – Belgian National Day
• 23^rd July – Revolution Day (Egypt)

Organize a trip for a friend

… or have a friend organize a trip for you. Let them know only the departure date and what clothes they should bring; everything else should be a surprise. Give them the tickets, the maps and a list of challenges they should complete on the day they depart.

You can choose to send them to a place they wouldn’t normally go (be prepared for some revenge in this case) or somewhere you know they’ve always wanted to go but for some reason haven’t been able to. We’re sure you can find a suitable place that is still affordable and worth visiting.

Go to an outdoor cinema

Nothing quite compares to the atmosphere of those warm summer nights in the city, and a night at an outdoor cinema is one way to make things even better. Fresh air, a few friends, a nice movie, popcorn, drinks and voilà! – you have the perfect recipe for an after-work chill session. If you have a backyard (or even just a balcony), you can get creative and organize your own open-air movie night.

Gather herbs and wild berries

It’s finally summer now and the last thing we want to think about are those cold winter days that seem so far away. But, as we’ve always learned from Game of Thrones, winter is coming and you’d better be prepared. One fun way to do this while it’s still warm is to gather herbs for your own personal blend of tea, or wild berries that you can use to make homemade jam. If you can’t identify herbs, download a mobile app that can do it for you, or hire a guide who can teach you how to do it.

When you get around to making your homemade jam, you can label the jars with not only the name of the berries, but also the place and the date when they were gathered, as well as a funny story that happened while you were gathering them. That way you will have not only some delicious jams, but also some heart-warming memories.

Rooftop challenge

If you’ve been following this website for a while, you might have noticed our obsession with sunrises. There is a reason for that – they are always absolutely stunning, and they offer the perfect opportunity to escape from the stresses of modern life for a while. Try this challenge and you will soon be obsessed, too.

So here it is: search the city for rooftop bars that offer early morning events and go to as many as possible. You can also do this by creating your own events on the rooftops of your friends’ buildings or any other rooftop you have access to. Compare them and choose the best one, then throw a party on the last day of the month to celebrate your newfound knowledge of the city’s rooftops. Make sure you’re prepared for a big night so you can greet the first sunrise of August; then, and only then, will you be ready for our August challenges!

Don’t forget to take with you things like tick clothes, wound dressing, food.

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So what does it mean?

Gökotta is an untranslatable Swedish word, which essentially means “to rise at dawn in order to go out and listen to the birds sing”.

What is the origin of the tradition?

In some parts of Sweden, there is a tradition of going out into the wild on Ascension Day (40 days after Easter) to listen to the birds, and in particular the cuckoo, sing their songs for the first time in spring. Even churches in many parts of the country agree to hold their Ascension morning service in the open so believers can hear the cuckoo sing.

Why should you do it?

It has long been known that having a positive and energetic morning is the most important step toward crafting a peaceful and productive day, though it might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you hear that obnoxious alarm clock in the morning.

The other aspect of the concept – immersing yourself in nature – is yet another booster for mental and physical well-being.

And if that’s not enough, think of it as a way to get closer to Swedish culture without having to actually go to Sweden.

Want an extra challenge?

Have you already incorporated gökotta into your routine? We still have one more challenge for you: go camping near the city on a work day and start the following morning by using the birdsong as your alarm clock (here’s how we did it last summer). When you arrive at work, all your colleagues will be wondering where your good mood has come from.

More sunrise ideas

You’ve already made it out of bed, realized how different life is under the soft light of sunrise and want some more creative suggestions for how to celebrate the dawning of the day. Take some inspiration from our list of sunrise challenges and give yourself an energizing start to the day.

Read more: 10 sunrise ideas to start the day with a smile

Discover more untranslatable words: like aylyak in Bulgaria or dolce far niente in Italy. 

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In many parts of the world the day of the summer solstice (21 June in the Northern Hemisphere) is special. Besides being the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and the shortest in the Southern, this is also the day which marks the link between people, the Earth, and the Sun, and is celebrated with dances, bonfire, making wreaths, gathering healing plants and herbs, performing magic and mystical rituals…

Create a special celebration for the Summer Solstice this year, whether it be a traditional ritual or one you made up yourself.

Here are several unusual and fun summer solstice ideas:

Escape the city to greet the sun

Use every occasion to fill your smog-clogged lungs with fresh air. Choose a nature spot with a spectacular sunrise view to greet the first rays of the sun. Breathe in the smell of wild flowers, feel the warmth of the sun on your skin, hear the birds’ songs. This is more practicing mindfulness than a ritual but still counts.

Sunrise © Nishan Joomun

Gather medicinal plants for their healing powers like a Bulgarian

In many places, the night of St. John (June 24) is considered a magical one when the medicinal plants double their power. Women wake up before the rooster crows to gather plants and hang them over the doorstep of their home to keep witches away (in case you have had any problematic witches in your life recently, now you know the remedy!). In Bulgaria, for example, the plants have to be 77. Additionally, a small flower bunch is left in a container of water to spend the night under the stars. This bouquet is kept throughout the year as a personal talisman.

Summer solstice medicinal plants © Maria Angelova/www.203challenges.com

Celebrate New Year like the Mapuche people in Chile

At these latitudes, the June solstice marks the shortest day of the year called We Tripantu. Eating, drinking, telling traditional stories and playing Mapuche folklore instruments is part of the party. Well, it sounds like a normal party but you can also counter any distrust pointing out that if someone doesn’t respect the Mapuche traditions, this is none of your business.

Four Mapuche kids to distract you from the drinking and eating topic.

Join thousands of sun worshippers at Stonehenge

Stonehenge is one of the places where the largest number of sun worshippers gather from all over the world. The monument was designed for summer solstice celebrations more than 1,000 years ago, plus you can join the event for free on the morning of June 21.

Summer Solstice at Stonehenge

Make flower wreaths like a Swedish

The Swedish express their summer joy by dancing around a high stake, adorned with flowers. They make wreaths, which the girls wear on their heads.

Burn a huge scarecrow like a Danish

In the whole of Scandinavia there is a tradition of making a huge bonfire during the night of the summer solstice. The Danish go to extremes as they burn up scarecrows.

Danish MIdsommer fire

Complete 108 sun salutations like the yogis

Enrich your yoga practice with a ritual observed in many places around the globe – completing 108 (1+8=9, a sacred number) sun salutations (surya namaskar) in a row.

Complete 108 salutations

Make up your own sun ritual

Maybe you feel like indulging in sun salutations while you burn your flower wreath in a New-Year bonfire near Stonehenge? It doesn’t really matter what you are doing as long as you put all your passion in it. If you have a fun summer solstice tradition, feel free to share it in the comment.

One more idea: Get dressed and watch the sunrise on the day of the Winter Solstice (between 21 and 23 December in the northern hemisphere) or right now if you are in the Southern Hemisphere.

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#1 Before going on a trip together, compile a themed playlist

It’s a proven fact that music tends to remind us of the places we heard it for the first time. 

How to do it: If you’re going abroad, find the Top 40 most popular current songs as well as some evergreen classics. When you arrive, listen to a local radio station in the car or on your smartphone. Use song recognizing apps (like Shazam) to see the artist and the name of the songs you like on the local radio. Later they will bring you back to your trip.

#2 Trust a friend to organize your trip

Set a budget and leave all the organization to a close friend. It could be a surprise – you simply receive an envelope with reservations, GPS coordinates, and a list of the necessary luggage. You can in turn organize the next trip for a friend.

#3 Sunrise and a morning picnic

Get in your car and drive at night. Go to the beach or another beautiful place to watch the sunrise. Watch the sun coming up with friends. Have a picnic in the morning and then take a short nap on the blanket.

Discover more: 9 fun picnic ideas for an unforgettable day

#4 Spend a day at a theme park

Try everything, no exceptions – from cotton candy to a merry-go-round and shooting games.

#5 Enthuse a friend with your hobbies

If you’re into rock climbing, take a friend to a beginner’s class. If you like skiing, invite a friend to the slopes for a weekend to show them the first moves. If you enjoy traveling alone, get on the train with a friend and sit in different compartments. When you arrive, each of you can see the city on their own for an hour (or two, or three). After that you can meet and discuss your separate experiences.

If you like running, you can invite friends over for a recent long-distance running race. 5K, 10K, and even a marathon are fine. Running allows us to temporarily let go of the pressure of reality and feel the joy of our bodies and minds.
You can start with a relatively easy 5K competition, persevere in running, and work hard towards first place. If you both get 5K medals, that’s something to brag about too.

Read more: Why everyone must travel alone at least once a year

#6 Come up with new names to use while you’re abroad

Stephanie and John become Stefana and Johann in the Netherlands, then Stefania and Ion in Romania, and Stefania and Giovanni in Italy. The names could be completely different from your own. For example, after passing the border, Peter automatically becomes Stewart, Ana is now Martha – only the customs officers checking your passports will know the truth.

If you’re camping or in the mountains, come up with funny scout names according to your personality – The Big Berry, The Quick Hatchet, The Eagle Eye, etc.

#7 Print a photo of the person who can’t join you on the trip

If someone in the group can’t come on the long-planned weekend trip… well, you’ve got nothing else to do but print their head on a piece of cardboard and glue it to a stick. Then take a picture of the friend who stayed behind (of their hapless printed head, that is) in front of every attraction and beer, and send them the pictures in real time.

#8 Do a good deed together

The world is full of people and animals who need help, and the Internet is full of information about them. Choose a cause that is important to you, get organized and visit a place where you can do a good deed. You will see a new place, meet new people and feel satisfied all at once. The people you’re helping will feel refreshed and optimistic to see not one but a whole group of people willing to help out. 

#9 Hitchhike to see who will arrive first

Choose a final destination and split up to hitchhike alone or in teams. The first to arrive wins, the rest – well, their treat.

#10 Vote the best pizza (steak, burger)

Include an important mission in your trip – to find the most delicious pizza, steak, burger, etc.

How to do it: You can create a strict evaluation system including different criteria (taste, aroma, service) and everyone gives a score from 1 to 10. You can divide Rome into neighborhoods and split up to look for the best gelato (ice-cream) until you find it – or catch a cold.

#11 Ask a friend to challenge you to do something at the place you’re going to

Make your trip even more interesting by asking your friends to come up with a challenge. In Brazil – play football with the locals on the beach, take a picture with a toucan, drink coconut water with a straw right from the coconut; in Cuba – have a cigar at the sea boulevard Malecon… Take the list of challenges with you and don’t come back until you’ve completed them all. Trying to fulfill them will introduce you to interesting people and will put you in unexpected situations (tested on a number of occasions by the author of this post).

#12 Take a picture at the same place every year

It’s a wonderful tradition which maintains friendships, reminds you to travel and gives you a reason to see your friends more regularly (even when different things in your life separate you for longer periods). You can pick a day that is important to everyone – somebody’s birthday, New Year’s Eve, etc.

#13 Take a friend on a surprise trip

Organize an unforgettable trip for a friend – for their birthday or just because! Here’s my elaborate guide How to plan a surprise (birthday) trip in less than 30 minutes.

#14 Visit a friend without being invited

Bring something to drink and the ingredients for a recipe to cook together. It’s enough to call and check if your friend is home and if they have a couple of free hours. The rest is a surprise.

#15 Travel by unusual means of transport

Choose a means of transport you haven’t traveled with before and see the world differently. You don’t have to buy anything, just hire it for a day. Travel in a group. And for a truly unique experience, consider exploring the picturesque landscapes on horseback. You can find some of the best places for horse riding at https://www.thailandnomads.com/best-places-for-horse-riding-chiang-mai/.

A couple of ideas: A bike, electric bike, scooter (you can see scooter guide here), motorcycle, convertible, carriage, boat.

#16 Create a short movie from your trip

Make videos of yourself, of landscapes or of interesting people you’ve met. Then compile all the videos in one short movie. If you’re very much into it, add the songs you listened to on the road. There are plenty of free and easy to use programs to help you compile movies.

#17 Send a paper postcard by post

Do you enjoy receiving postcards? One of those old-time cardboard postcards you need a stamp for, not an internet connection. The next time you travel to another city or abroad, send a real paper postcard from a real post office.

How to do it: Write down your friends’ and relatives’ addresses in advance. Sign the postcards and send them by post. Even if they arrive after you’ve already come back, the gesture will be appreciated.

Pin this amazing list of ideas to your travel board:

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While simply laying back and soaking up the sun is a fab way to spend a relaxing beach holiday, it’s not always easy if you have kids! Family beach holidays can become a nightmare pretty quickly if you don’t keep the kids entertained. So, to help, here you’ll discover some great fun things to do at the beach to keep everyone happy.

Enjoy a spot of fishing

It’s important to note that not all beaches allow you to fish, so this is something you’ll need to research beforehand. However, if it is allowed then fishing can be a great, relaxing activity for the whole family.

You’ll be surprised how much fun your kids will have trying to catch fish. Not only does it keep them happy, but it also keeps them quiet – just what you need to enjoy your holiday! 

Play cricket

If you’re looking for something a little more active, cricket can be a great activity to play on the beach. This idea is sure to tire the kids out, so you’ll also be able to enjoy a nice relaxing evening!

If you don’t have any cricket equipment, you can easily pick some up online. Stores such as Talent Cricket offer affordable, high-quality cricket sets you can pick up before you go.

Fly kites

Remember when you were younger, and times seemed so much simpler? Flying kites on holiday used to be a very popular, fun thing to do. Though technology has now pretty much taken over, these traditional activities can still be enjoyed.

Why not buy the whole family a kite? You’ll be able to enjoy feeling like a kid again and the kids will absolutely love it!

Enjoy a beach BBQ

After trying out the activities above, what better way to unwind than with a beach BBQ? You can pick up disposable BBQ equipment and cook up a treat for you and the family. Again, there may be regulations against this on some beaches so it’s definitely something to check before you light up a BBQ!

Collect Seashells

Want to make the holiday educational as well as fun for the kids? Collecting seashells can be an awesome way to spend the time.

When you’re abroad, the shells you’ll find are typically different to the ones you’d find on UK beaches. So, if your kids already have a collection back home, they’ll be able to add to it with unique shells from your travels. Of course, you’ll have to check you’ll be ok to take the shells home with you. If not, you can still have fun collecting them. You can then teach your kids about the different shells and where they come from.

The above is just some of the great fun things you can do at the beach. Why not try one, or even all of them, the next time you’re on a beach getaway?

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