BEEN-SEEN.COM - A DIFFERENCE IN WHERE AND HOW WE TRAVEL

Forget school buses when you're isolated from your school by miles and miles of ice. Kids in remote La Pointe on Madeline Island, Wisconsin, travel to school in this cool-looking windsled for part of the year.

Dellis Cay, a highly exclusive resort in the Turks and Caicos has dreams of uniting the worlds of celebrity, fashion, design and architecture under the banner of a clear Caribbean sky. The island itself is enough to take your breath away. Sparkling emerald waters lead to one of the world's most pristine coral reefs, there are endless views of the Provinciales, and the 35 miles of beach back up to lush protected mangroves. Throw top designers from London, Toyko and Milan into the mix, and things really start to heat up.

It doesn't really look like much, but this former World War II anti-aircraft platform is worth a cool $750,000,000. If anyone buys it, that is. The Principality of Sealand is a 550 m² micronation, a totally independent sovereign state, six miles from the coast of England. Latitude 51.53 N, Longitude 01.28 E.

Want your own rock 'n' roll island? No problem. You'll just have to pony up a cool
$7 million. Melody Key, owned by Nick Hexum of rock band 311, is a six-acre natural island in the Florida Keys that's accessible only by boat. It may be small but it has the advantage of being fairly close to civilization (one mile from it, to be exact). And, since it's private, it's a great place to get an all-over tan - though there are cheaper ways of getting one.

There are many weird and wonderful places to be seen in the good old U. S. of A., and the Center for Land Use Interpretation's website lists some of the more bizarre. Founded in 1994, the CLUI is a research organization interested in understanding the nature and extent of human interaction with the earth's surface. If you fancy an exotic road trip, try using their database as a route planner. And let us know how you get on.

Owning a private island may be everyone's fantasy, but the funny thing is that it's some people's reality. A few months ago we told you about Leaf Cay in the Bahamas, which was on sale for around $14 million. Well, here's another secluded island that's yours for the taking. Little Eden Cay is located three miles from the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua, and its price tag is just under $4 million.

Recognized globally for its excellent coffee, Italian giant Illy Caffé is the source of a different kind of buzz recently. Illy has teamed with artist/ architect Adam Kalkin to create the Push-Button House, a banal shipping container that unbelievably transforms into a coffee house. It is coffee beans meet shipping bins to create one of the most unique java joints around.

Is that extra $14 million burning a hole in your pocket? Want to spend it all in and on one place? Than June 28 may be your lucky day. Because that is the day when an auction will be held for one of the most unique properties on Earth -- Leaf Cay. A 25-acre, self-sustainable island, located about 70 miles south of Nassau in the Bahamas.

Into the apocalypse look?

Might you be then the macabre type fascinated by science fiction fantasies of being one of the unlikely survivors of a decaying human society? If you answered, “yes”, than its time you see the Japanese island of Hashima.

I'd heard a lot about Club Ed, and last weekend I finally decided to pay it a visit. It's miles from anywhere, an outpost of dilapidated fifties Americana in the middle of the California desert. A deserted diner, office, gas pump, hotel and swimming pool, battered by dust storms. The land around it is parched and flat, save for a large heap of boulders and twisted Joshua trees. It's a strange little oasis, ever-so-slightly creepy - and yet oddly familiar.

I was reminded today that you don’t have to go very far to travel. It’s really about keeping your eyes (and heart) open. Today, my family and I visited a private ranch in the Santa Monica Mountains near our home in Los Angeles. I was told it would be beautiful, but I didn’t expect it to stop me in my tracks.

Stratford is located at 36° 11' N, 119° 49' 25" W. It has a population of 1,264, a median income of $29,200 per household, and a median home value of $70,000.