Leave it to human ingenuity to come up with a product for something that you weren’t sure you needed. I know, backpackers out there will say “what a fine idea!”…or perhaps some will say, “how stupid” but either way, the Packa seems like one of those things you’d buy for someone who liked to hike, but who already has everything. The packa appears to be a plastic jacket not just for you, but for your pack as well. It slips over your entire self while you are wearing you massive hiking backpack. Never mind that you look like some freak of nature wearing the thing. It keeps you AND your pack dry. And perhaps the best part: according to the wonderfully designed packa site, it also serves as a pillow when it’s folded up. And if you dip it in molten lead and let it dry and cool, it also makes a superb weapon.
Miracle Camping Tub
I have a handful of friends that won’t go camping because there is no place to take a shower out in the woods.
Thanks to a hip new piece of gear, however, I might finally be able to coax them out of the sterile sanctuary of their homes and into the backcountry.
The Dutchtub, developed by, you guessed it, a Dutchman, is a 165 pound, plastic tub that can be loaded up onto a pickup truck and hauled to your favorite campsite. Simply fill it full of water and light a small fire in its metal coils. In just a short time, the water will heat up to 100 degrees and turn the giant teacup into a perfect tub.
The genius design relies on natural convection to keep the warm water flowing; no electricity is needed whatsoever.
The bad news is that the Dutchtub costs a whopping $6000.
This is, in my opinion, a small price to pay to keep your homebody friends clean and smelling nice.
World’s Tallest Tree
Wouldn’t you have thought that news about the World’s Tallest Tree would be totally old? I mean, wouldn’t scientists, or tree huggers or tree measurers for that matter already be certain which tree is the tallest? How can this be new news? Well apparently it is. Apparently some guy climbed up to the top of a giant redwood in Redwood National Park and discovered that the tree was, in fact, taller than they (that is, scientists and tree measurers) thought. The tree is named Hyperion and stands 379.1 feet tall, one foot taller than previously thought.
(Aside: what if the rain just washed away a foot of dirt at the base of the tree. Would that make it taller?)
The guy who did the measuring is named Steve Sillett, and he is a forestry professor at Humboldt State University, where he also smokes a lot of pot and comes up with grand ideas like “hey, let’s go measure that tree! (just kidding…I made that up). Anyway, I thought it was pretty cool that a) they didn’t already know for sure where the tallest tree was and 2) that it turns out to be in California as opposed to China or Siberia or some such place. (Another aside: if I was the Governator, I’d totally make this a photo opp)
Travel Gear Blog
Gadget lovers with a travel bent….or travelers with a gadget fetish…will be pleased to know there is a new blog online that covers travel gear and gadgets. Now I, for one, have long been an advocate of traveling with your ipod. A few people posted comment to the effect of “listen to your natural surroundings, not Pearl Jam”, and while that is fine and dandy and I agree with them, there is still nothing like being on a long slog somewhere and having tunes available to help lift your mood. But of course gadgets include far more than the ipod. I bought a new Garmin GPS a few months ago and use it all the time. It plots my trips, acts as a compass and, well, it does a million other things.
The new blog, called simply travelgearblog.com was put online be the same good folks who publish the BootsNAll travel blog, one of the better travel blogs out there. A quick look at the site features posts and reviews about everything from a Wearable iPod Remote to Pre-pasted Toothbrushes (a bit of travel paraphernalia I confess I’d never even heard of.) The posts are short, but sweet, and we hope we’ll see some solid reporting here since all of us like to keep informed about what kind cool (and perhaps useless) new stuff we can go out and spend our money on.
Romance Travel – Three Sites
Romance and travel go together like…um…peanut butter and jelly? How about bananas and strawberries in a smoothie? Well, something like that. The fact is, hitting the road with your girlfriend/boyfriend is an excellent way to enhance your romance. It’s also a great way to see if you relationship works at all. I mean, if you can’t get along together while on the road, well, you’re going to have a hard time holding it together in life, eh?
There are a gazillion sites out there that want to help you plan your romance trips, but I thought I’d take a spin around he net to see if I couldn’t find three really good ones to help you narrow down your own research options. I wanted to find sites that offer a variety of ideas, including adventure trips as well as the relaxed, sit on the beach kind of trips that you might find in a Corona ad. I also wanted to make sure that the sites were legit, name brand ones, and not huckster sites that survive solely getting payoffs from trip vendors.
So here we go:
The first site I found is one dedicated to honeymoons and such, but also focuses on “trips for two”. The site is called (appropriately) Travel+Romance, and is a partnership between the folks at The Knot and Travel and Leisure, and offers both articles and trip ideas to places like the US Virgin islands and the Bahamas. These are NOT geared towards the budget traveler nor to the adventure traveler, but if you want to head out and savor a little bit of pampering, some of these trips might work for you.
Now, let’s get onto the more adventuresome opportunities. Outside Magazine, a perennial favorite, offer this series of stories and ideas for lusty couples who love the outdoors. The section on finding the best place for a “backcountry tryst” I thought was particularly useful. Forget what Kissinger said about power, the outdoors can also be the best aphrodisiac.
And finally, let me direct you to vacationidea.com and their extensive list of romantic travel options that include trips to exotic locales like Fiji and Bora Bora. I like this site because there are vast options to select from, and the write ups are short, but nicely informative.
So that’s three solid romance travel options from which you should be able to find an idea or two to help improve your love life. Keep in mind that travel, especially adventure travel, can have its pitfalls. You can miss a plane or train, or you can get caught in horrible weather where it’s just you and her/him stuck in a tent for a few days. For some, that’s a recipe for love…for others, well, I know some couples who fond out that they don’t really jive under difficult circumstances. I suppose you’ll only find out if you’re compatible in that way if you give it a try. But that’s what love and life are all about, eh?