Roz Savage finishes Indian Ocean row

by Kraig Becker on

Long distance rower Roz Savage has added yet another ocean to her already impressive resume. The woman who has already rowed solo across the Atlantic and Pacific, has now completed the Indian Ocean as well, arriving in Mauritius today after 154 days at sea.

Savage began her journey way back in April, when she set out from Fremantle, Australia. After a few early set backs with her boat, she eventually hit the open water, where she spent more than five months alone, battling high winds, big waves, and ocean storms. Some days she made good progress, racking up plenty of miles, and others she struggled all day just to end up back where she started.

Of course, with four major long distance rows under her belt – Roz did the Pacific in three stages – it wasn’t anything she hadn’t seen before. The Indian Ocean did present its own unique challenges however and for the first time, she had to deal with the real possibility of encountering pirates on one of her journeys. Because of that threat, Savage chose to keep her GPS tracking system off until she was nearly to the finish line, just in case someone else was following her progress.

With the completion of her Indian Ocean crossing, Roz has now become the first woman to row solo across the Indian, Pacific, and the Atlantic. With all of that time spent out on the water, she’s gained quite an appreciation for our planet and the importance of taking care of our oceans. That’s a message she has carried with her across the globe and continues to spread where ever she goes.

Now that she’s conquered the last of the “Big Three” of ocean rowing, Roz has announced she’s hanging up her oars to pursue other endeavors. I’m not sure how you top rowing three oceans, but I’m sure she’ll find a way.

Great Shoes for Hot Weather Destinations

by Pam Mandel on

There is no getting that pair of socks clean from the red dust, they are dyed a tie-dyed rust color from the dry campground. My feet needed a good soaking, too — a walk on the beach in the surf took care of that. Sure, my feet were filthy, almost to an embarrassing degree. But they were happy, not too hot, free from blisters and fatigue. I attribute this to picking the right shoes for that camping and hiking trip.

Keen McKenzie Water Shoes

I spent two weeks wearing these shoes almost every day. I wore them for long walks, trail hikes, schlepping around the city, stomping about in gravelly, dusty, washouts and on grainy flat plateaus where the sun baked the top of my ears. I kind of fell in love with them on about day three of my camping and hiking and road tripping adventure. After all, these shoes treated me right.

Keen’s McKenzie’s are really comfortable, it was no trouble to walk in them all day long. They’re closed (but well ventilated) so I wasn’t constantly knocking tiny stones out from where they’d wedged in under my arches. (The shoe is essentially your standard Keen sandal with the open bits enclosed in a mesh upper.) They’ve got a collapsible heel cup, meaning you can wear the shoe as a slide without damaging it, perfect for legging it to the campground loo in the middle of the night or navigating the TSA. They’ve got a solid hiker sole, so they’re grippy on trails. My feet were supported, not too hot, dry, and totally content in these shoes. Cost? 90 USD, your choice of three earthy color combinations.

The only issue — which wasn’t really a problem because I was in desert like climates — was that they took longer to dry than I’d like. I’d have regretted putting my feet into cold, clammy shoes on chilly mornings. But no worries, I’d also packed a pair of sport sandals.Ecco Coba Performance Sandals

I’m not crazy about the look of performance sandals, the designs tend towards a bit too orthopedic for my tastes. But I tried on a pair of Ecco’s WAVE footbed sandals at the Outdoor Retailer show and was pleased and surprised by how comfortable they are — and I ended up packing a pair for my recent adventure.

Ecco’s Coba sandals feel like real shoes. Normally, I wear Chaco sandals, the model that’s not much more than a sturdy sole strapped to your foot with webbing. Ecco’s shoes gave me a lot more support. The foot bed has a waffle-y surface to it that aids in keeping your feet cool and it’s got a nice feel too it, a soft suede type finish. All three straps are adjustable and it’s easy to get them to fit just right — or to tweak them a little, if, like me, you find there’s a spot that needs a little breaking in. The sturdy soles were great for long walks or short trail hikes. And they’re light — I clipped them on the outside of my bag when I wasn’t wearing them and the weight they added was negligible. Cost? 130 USD. A bit steep; you might want to explore your options if you’re price sensitive. Two colors, white or “moon rock” — a natural light brown.

I caved and on the trip home, I wore my Ecco Coba sandals with socks. They were so easy to get in and out of in the airport and on the plane that I went for the full on dorky socks and sandals look. Hey, I was surrounded by strangers. I’ll pack these sandals again for camping and outdoor trips, but heads up — they are not a water shoe, you really want something else if you’re planning on getting your shod feet wet. That’s why you I also packed…

Cheap Flip Flops

You need them for campground showers (and, honestly, some hotel showers), beach walks, leaving propped outside the tent, wearing with a summer dress when you can’t bear the idea of shoes any more, and those long, long stints in the car or bus. You can always find space for them in your bag, and after you’ve had a good walk in the ocean for disinfectant purposes, you can pass them on to some fellow traveler whose had a blowout. There are few items I’d categorize as disposable travel gear, flip flops (zoris, thongs, whatever you like to call them) are one. Get a pair. Spend as much as you like, from 5 USD to, well, you want to spend 70 USD on flip flops, you go right ahead.

Andrew Zimmern to share travel recipes and tales for Food & Wine magazine

by Libby Zay on
asdf Food & Wine magazine announced today the company will bring TV personality and chef Andrew Zimmern on board for a new weekly column, “Andrew Zimmern’s Kitchen Adventures.”
Known for his willingness to eat just about anything-insects, porcupine, you-name-it-Zimmern will forgo chowing down grotesque eats and instead show off his skills as a home cook. But never fear: the host of Travel Chanel‘s Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern hasn’t forgotten where he travels have taken him. In fact, the recipes he makes in his kitchen for the Food & Wine column will be largely inspired by his travels, such as Sweet and Sour Bangkok-Style Chicken with Red Chiles, a dish he first tasted in a small café in Malaysia, or a rendition of Almond and Orange Cake with a Poached Plum Compote, which Zimmern first discovered in Spain in the Seventies.
“I’m excited to share these memories, experiences and recipes with Food & Wine readers,” says Zimmern, who will also share holiday dishes that reflect his childhood memories and family traditions. Although there is a possibility we might try his grandmother’s recipe for Chopped Chicken Liver, we’re hoping he won’t feature beating frog hearts or hen’s uterus in any of his recipes.

Gordon Ramsay to host new hotel makeover show

by Jessica Festa on

While mostly known for his angry outbursts on reality cooking and restaurant-themed shows such as Hell’s Kitchen, MasterChef, and Kitchen Nightmares, the screaming Scottish chef apparently also has talent in hotel management. While no air date has been set, Gordon Ramsay has been chosen to host a new Fox reality show called Hotel Hell where he will partner with hospitality experts to revive struggling properties around the United States. Apparently, Ramsay has taken college courses in hotel management and has also been in charge of several hotel-based restaurants.

According to Entertainment Weekly, in a statement about the new project Ramsay said, “These are stories that everyone can relate to, because virtually all of us have had a bad hotel experience that’s turned a holiday or business trip into a total disaster. It’s time to put the hospitality industry to the test.”

One man dances in beautiful and remote locations all over the world

by Jessica Festa on




When I first watched this video, “Dance Like Nobody is Watching”, my first instinct was to try to see how many of the places in the montage I recognized. The next time I watched, I became entranced by the talent of Ki’une as he danced and recorded himself in different locations around the world. By my third time watching, my travel itch was feeling like it definitely needed a good scratching.

When I asked what some of the destinations were that he traveled to in order to create this piece, Ki’une responded that he could name about half the regions off the top of his head. Not surprising, since the video encompasses a vast array of locations. Some of these include National Parks such as “Yosemite, Yellowstone, Redwood, Giant Sequoia, Olympic, Cascades, Banff, Badlands and Jasper.” Other regions you may recognize are “Squamish, Vancouver, Toronto, Capilano, Kyoto, Osaka, Quebec City, Hong Kong, provincial parks in Ontario, Oregon Coast, all around California, all around U.S. Midwest, and Kentucky.”

While I can not say for sure what you will feel when watching this video, it would be hard not to feel something. Lissa Rankin, MD, a motivational speaker and founder of Pink Medicine Revolutionary posted on Care2, a healthy living website, “I cried when I watched this video, not just because it was so beautiful, but because it’s such a potent visual reminder of how I define a healthy life. This guy is putting it all out there. He’s living a dream. Taking a risk. Dancing his heart out.”

What will your reaction be?