Perfect Sweat

In Finland, saunas are everywhere, and no steam is left unexplored with guide Samuel Aarnio. Mikkel and Saumel island hop by boat, visit old friends for a traditional smoke sauna, and test their limits in 60+ saunas at the Mobile Sauna Festival in Teuva.

Guide Christine Rose shows us that a sauna is nothing without a show along the Italian-German border, where cultures, languages and fragrant steam-bathing traditions collide. Fierce competition for the World Aufguss championship is sweat entertainment at its finest.

Recalling his days in the Soviet Union, Mikkel discovers a new side to banya with guide Anna Artemieva, who shows him how bathing is done in modern-day Moscow and St. Petersburg and beyond. But the banya experience is not complete without visiting a remote forest retreat and taking an ice-cold plunge, post sweat, in the Russian countryside.

Where cosmopolitan life blends with vestiges of the Ottoman Empire, Elizabet Kurumlu guides Mikkel through the streets of Istanbul, Bursa, and beyond. He meets soldiers, artisans, and a bridal party on a journey to experience the historic and modern-day hamam.

Japan, an island nation, has a sweat bathing culture that dates back to the sixth century. With 3,000 hot springs on the islands, bathing and sweating are integral parts of the Japanese’ mental and physical healing practices. Guides Miki Tokairin and Sho Ikushima take Mikkel on a tour of some of the oldest and newest sweat baths in Japan today.

Thanks to his Norwegian roots, Mikkel’s love for sweat bathing started with the badstue. Adventuring through Norway with guide Lasse Eriksen, he visits Oslo’s hippest badstues, a fishing boat-turned-spa, and the remote resort of a legendary polar explorer.

The series closes with an unforgettable journey to Burning Man, a massive art and community festival in the Nevada desert. With guides Teresa Yung and Zack Robertson, Mikkel meets people from far and wide who bring their innovative sweat bath designs to the Playa. From mobile banyas on wheels to steamy build-it-yourself yurts, it’s a grand variety show of sweat bathing culture.