Photo by Dillan Forsey It’s a good thing Kelsey and Connor Scott paid attention during high school Home Ec. The brothers moved to Chattanooga to be closer to the climbing and bouldering and quickly decided they needed to build a better chalk bag. Using their mom’s sewing machine, some scrap fabric, and the minimal… [Read More]
Wonder Women
Photo by Chad Blotner I learned to kayak from men, paddled with men, received a rope-bag-to-the-face from men. It’s a fact: men dominate the world of whitewater. While that’s not necessarily a bad thing, ultimately, most accomplished female athletes in any adventure sport tend to get overlooked. Meet four adventure pioneers, and two up-and-coming forces, who push the limits and kick ass, all with the grace of a woman. The Paddler Anna Levesque, 41 Founder, Girls at Play Asheville, N.C. Photo by Anna Wagner STARTED PADDLING: while working in the kitchen … [Read More]
Thankful for Home
Once again, it is Thanksgiving here in Canada. Or Turkey Day as some of as call it. Along with eating ham and turkey and stuffing and then more stuffing and pie, comes the opportunity to reflect on what you are thankful for in your life. As we sat around the … [Read More]
Tackling the Maryland Challenge
“I ate 20 bananas today.†My friend Shane Robinson made this proclamation as we were sitting at his dining room table, packing our gear for an adventurous hike we were undertaking the next day. I had questioned his choice of food for the hike, which as far as I could tell consisted of a bag of apricots and a bag of… [Read More]
What Happens When A Backpacker Goes On An All Inclusive Holiday?
I have travelled the world now for 15 years, with dozens of countries on almost every continent under my belt. It is safe to say I’m an experienced traveller. Yet in all that time, with all those countries, I have never really been on a holiday. Find out what happened when I accepted the… [Read More]
Exploring Bergamo and its Surroundings
I took a couple of side trips during my recent visit to Milan and one of those was to Bergamo, a city that sits at the foothills of the Bergamasque Alps and is only a 1 hour train ride away. The charming city – which feels a lot more like a town! – made an immediate impression upon me. Just a few minutes into my walk of the Old Town, I was already fawning over the warm pastel walls, the weathered shutters, and the clay coloured roof tiles. It’s as picturesque an Italian town as you… [Read More]
A Nature Lover’s Paradise in the Mountains of Virginia
Nestled in Virginia’s Western Highlands, the County of Bath is home to the George Washington National Forest, Douthat State Park, Lake Moomaw, The Nature Conservancy’s Warm Springs Mountain Preserve, Dominion Back Creek, the Cowpasture and Jackson Rivers. The area offers stunning vistas, dark starlit skies, clear, cold streams and a wide range of recreational opportunities. Expect to see white tail deer, wild turkey, black bear and other game animals within our vast woodlands. Known for our fly fishing, … [Read More]
Southern Ghost Towns
There’s a lot to learn from big cities with active crowds and busy intersections. Hiding underneath all that hustle and bustle, though, lies yet another lifetime of information on places that only exist as shadows of their former glory. Ghost towns are civilizations that thrived in a different era, but met their match somewhere along the way. Most of the time, these places haven’t disappeared completely; instead they… [Read More]
INTERVIEW: Dereck and Beverly Joubert on Wildlife Conservation
INTERVIEW: Dereck and Beverly Joubert on Wildlife Conservation originally appeared on Green Global Travel. Dereck and Beverly Jouberton Wildlife Conservation in Botswana We want to be Dereck and Beverly Joubert when we grow up. Living and working side by side, these award-winning filmmakers, National Geographic Explorers-in-Residence and wildlife conservationists have been filming, researching and exploring Africa for over 30 years now. Together the Jouberts have made 25 films for National Geographic, published 11 books and half … [Read More]
(M) Spotlight: ALOCS Kettle
A lightweight kettle with a wide base. by Roger Caffin | 2015-09-16It’s a hard anodized aluminum kettle, 0.8 L capacity and 144 g in weight as delivered. It looks like the standard Trangia 200244 kettle, but the Trangia kettle holds 1.0 L and is 195 g in weight, on its home web site in Sweden, although some USA web sites list it as 0.9 L. The Trangia kettle is shiny aluminum rather than the … [Read More]
An Introduction to Milan: 48 Hours of Art, Food and Fashion
Milan surprised me in so many ways. I think this is one of those cities that is often a little misunderstood and people dismiss it as boring (several friends had told me to skip it), and yet I ended up having a wonderful time there. I personally believe that the secret to a good time in Milan lies in its experiences rather… [Read More]
Drive By Truckers Still Rolling
Photo by David McClister As Patterson Hood sings the chorus in “The Righteous Path,†a hard-hitting standout from the Drive-By Truckers’ new sprawling 35-track live album, his gravelly voice sounds a little more weathered than usual. Not that the wear and tear hasn’t been well earned. Hood is now 51 and he’s been fronting the … [Read More]
How to Visit Sunny Chernobyl
A few months ago, I read the book Visit Sunny Chernobyl by Andrew Blackwell, about the worst’s biggest garbage-ridden and polluted places. It’s like the anti-travel guide. It’s about all the places a traveler wouldn’t go, the ugly places we overlook. It was interesting to learn about these places that exist but never get any coverage. Smart, funny, and well written, this is one of my favorite books I read all year… [Read More]
Ask A Nurse. 10 Of Your Most Common Travel Health Questions Answered.
As a qualified nurse I get asked tons of travel health related questions every day. Some of these questions are very specific to the individual and based on personal medical histories so cannot be answered in a general way, but a great many of them are very common and get asked on a frequent basis. So in the interests of sharing information and helping as many people as possible, this article is devoted to answering just ten of your most common travel health questions. So let’s get started. Do I really need travel insurance? Short answer? Yes… [Read More]
(M) Faces No. 3: Douglas Malott
An interview with backpacker Douglas Malott who is passionate about the outdoors, and ensuring we are out there for the right reasons. by Jonathan Davis and Eric Vann | 2015-09-22I grew up in Spokane, Washington but I am currently living in Kent Washington. I started exploring the outdoors when I was old enough to go out into the backyard alone, with my parents, my siblings, or friends. I grew up without T… [Read More]
Fearless Fall Foliage
The Blue Ridge Parkway near Boone overlooks some of the most dramatic—and dangerous—hiking adventures. Photo by Tommy Pennick My brother and I had a simple out-and-back planned in a remote section of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We would hike up to one of the shelters scattered along the Appalachian Trail. After spending the night we’d head back down the mountain. The itinerary … [Read More]
TANZANIA: Exploring Magical Tarangire National Park
TANZANIA: Exploring Magical Tarangire National Park originally appeared on Green Global Travel. Exploring Tanzania’s MagicalTarangire National Park In Tanzania’s Tarangire National Park, it’s the Monkeys you have to watch out for. Sure, there’s a poisonous green Boomslang perfectly poised to strike in a tree by the restroom. There are massive piles of dung strewn about, suggesting that Elephants could stroll through at any minute. And the golden grass that surrounds the picnic area is tall enough that a hungry Lioness could jump out while… [Read More]
11 Reasons Why I Fell in Love With Morocco
Visiting Morocco has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember. I’ve always wanted to ride a camel, see the desert, explore maze-like medinas, and drink tea with Berbers. As I stood overlooking the Sahara one morning, marveling at the rhythmic, undulating dunes of the desert, I realized that my dream had come true. For miles around, the dunes rolled like red-tinged waves in the sea. I had ridden a camel to the spot where … [Read More]
Discovering Romania.
Piatra Neamt in Romania is eastern Europe’s tourism equivalent of an undiscovered star, ready and eager to shine on a global stage and just on the verge of being discovered. Follow my adventures in this hidden part of the world and discover just how awesome Romania really is. Neamt County is about as off the beaten track as you can get from any mainstream tourist trail and almost proudly bears its status as one of Europe’s unknown hidden gems, but with… [Read More]
Lightweight Backpacking News: Digest No. 25
FBI Fugitive Found on Appalachian Trail, A Survival Video Game, The Zion Flash Flood, A “Walk In the Woods” Inspires People to Get Out, MSR FlyLite Tent, and much more! by Eric Vann | 2015-09-29ARTICLE OUTLINE {text-transform:uppercase} Introduction TOP STORIES Anish Sets Self-Supported Record for the Appalachian Trail Unattached: All-female Team Summits Unclimbed Peak in the Zanskar Region of India James Hammes: FBI Fugitive Found Hiking … [Read More]
Hiking in Romania’s Ceahl?u National Park
When you think of hiking destinations in Europe, what places come to mind? For me it’s usually the Alps, the Dolomites, or the Pyrenees. The Eastern Carpathians? That’s a mountain range that I wasn’t really familiar with until I travelled to Romania. I came to the country with a… [Read More]
This Land is Your Land
Privatization and commercialization of public lands is increasing. More companies are being allowed to manage national forests and other federal and state-owned lands, and fracking and mining firms are often permitted to extract the minerals beneath. Partnerships between public lands managers and the private sector are also on the rise. For example, in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, one of the restored log cabins in Cades Cove is “brought to you by Log Cabin Maple Syrup,†with a plaque… [Read More]
Everest Movie Prize Pack Giveaway
Everest is the ultimate bucket list destination for many of us. A dream that is out of reach for all but a few. The closest many of us will come to experiencing Everest will be through documentaries and photos. That’s why I am excited about the release of Everest, the new movie from Universal Pictures. You can experience it in IMAX 3D starting September 18 and see it everywhere September 25. I can’t wait… Inspired by the incredible events surrounding an attempt… [Read More]
GO GREEN TIP #112: 10 Simple Wildlife Photography Tips
GO GREEN TIP #112: 10 Simple Wildlife Photography Tips originally appeared on Green Global Travel. GO GREEN TIP #112:10 Simple Wildlife Photography Tips I didn’t start out as a wildlife photographer (or maybe I did, depending on your definition of “wildlife”). My first professional photography job, way back in 1996, was shooting rock bands in concert for Rolling Stone. … [Read More]