Read all of outdoor magazine Wend online and for free

by Anna Brones on

If you are an outdoor aficionado, you may already be familiar with Wend. The outdoor magazine based out of Portland, Oregon fills its pages with stories from around the globe that peak the interest of not only outdoor enthusiasts, but anyone with a wanderlust. The latest issue covers a trip through Iceland, volunteering in Indonesia, trekking Afghanistan and surfing the Great Lakes; that’s what I call good reading material.

Being the eco-friendly souls that they are, the Wend crew finally put the magazine online, making all of the articles accessible via your computer. You can still buy the print version, but if you are out traveling — or just want to save on paper consumption — the new online version is just as satisfying. And it’s free.

Check out the virtual version of the latest issue here. And if you are feeling truly inspired, shoot them an email and pitch a story.

Europe’s top 10 motorcycling roads

by Iva Skoch on

I am the first to admit that I find Europe’s quaintness annoying sometimes. All the picturesque towns and medieval city centers can get old, figuratively speaking.

However, I will probably never get tired of Europe’s winding roads. You’ll hardly find a better place to motorcycle. If I could define the best globalization has done for me, it would have to involve a Harley Davidson on a European road in Italy somewhere, drinking French wine and eating Thai food. Shallow, but very satisfying.

I was happy to see that The Guardian has come up with a list of best motorcycling roads in Europe.

Top 10 motorcycling roads of Europe:

  1. The Cat and Fiddle run – A537, Buxton-Macclesfield, England
  2. The Amalfi Coast Road – Naples to Salerno, Italy
  3. The Transfagarasan Highway – Sibiu to Curtea de Arges, Transylvania, Romania
  4. Bergen to Geiranger, Norway
  5. Trabzon to Savsat, Eastern Turkey
  6. Furka Pass, between Gletsch and Andermatt, Switzerland
  7. A2, the Antrim coast road, Northern Ireland
  8. Bar in Montenegro to Sarajevo in Bosnia
  9. Saranda to Vlora, Albania
  10. Cabo de Gata to Granada, Spain

I want to go now.

Bike blog: Two Portlanders cycle South America

by Anna Brones on

Kelsey’s post about traveling through Portland got me thinking of all the great stuff that comes out of this west coast city. First of all it was just rated the greenest American city, and of course it has the infamous bookstore Powell’s. But even better, the city also manages to produce a lot of inspirational travelers.

One of Portland’s current traveling teams is Elicia Càrdenas and Andy McKerrow who are making their way by bike through South America. Starting in Northern Patagonia in early January and working their way down to Lake Titicaca in Bolivia, Elicia and Andy are taking part in another great adventure to add to the list of global cycling pursuits. Back in Portland they work for the Bicycle Transportation Alliance, so you know they are pretty cycle friendly.

You can follow their trip, with lots of pictures to spice up your gray winter days, on their blog sponsored by Wend Magazine.

Round the world by bike: Scotsman does it in 195 days

by Anna Brones on

Some people travel around the world on airplanes, some on horseback and others on bicycle. Mark Beaumont is one of the latter. On Friday February 16, the Scotsman arrived in Paris, completing his round the world bicycle journey of 18,000 miles which took him exactly 195 days and six hours. Mike’s not the only one to attempt to bike around the world, but he certainly is the fastest. The 25 year old vegetarian — he had to eat 6,000 calories a day in order to keep up his energy — beat out the previous record by 81 days.

So what’s on the packing list when whizzing around the world on two wheels? 80 kg of gear, a very expensive bike, and probably a little bit of motivation thanks to trying to get into the Guinness Book of World Records; he is expected to enter the famous book once his journey is verified. Add to that a little common sense — he changed his route to avoid the insurgency in southern Thailand when crossing to Malaysia — and you have the ingredients for the finest, and toughest, of world travelers.

What were some of his global lessons? There’s too much fast food in America and Australia, you can cycle across Holland in four hours, you never know when your wallet is going to be stolen by crack addicts, and Istanbul provides for the scariest cycling. Sounds like the beginnings of a great travel book if you ask me, so for his adventurous spirit, I think Mark deserves a nice round of virtual applause.

Living with the Flintstones

by Jerry Guo on

Looks like something straight out of The Flintstones, eh? My question is, well, aren’t they going to be kinda screwed going uphills?

The shot was taken in the village of Banaue, the Philippines, during a festival (here’s more information). What’s more, the setting is absolutely gorgeous: the Banaue Rice Terraces, which are sometimes referred to as the “Eighth Wonder of the World.”

For more pictures from this photographer, see here.