GADLING’S TAKE FIVE: Week of June 4

by Adrienne Wilson on

Drum roll please… Yes, folks you guessed right! It is time again for our weekly update and though it’s been a little more quiet than usual we’ve still got some goodies out there and here is this week’s list:

5. International Internet Cafés: Type Fast!
For those of us who still haven’t learned how to shut the world we know and the world that knows us back home out and off while on vacation here is a fine blurb on International Internet Cafés. Personally, I try to avoid these as the connections are always cruddy and the rates price out pretty ridiculous on some occasions, but if you’re the type that relies on lightening fast communication to say “hi” to mom rather than snail mailing a post card you’ll want to peek into this piece.

4. Best Stargazing Destination’s in America:
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, no – it’s the stars… When I found this amazing article on stargazing in the U.S. in Nat Geo’s Adventure magazine I wanted to take off to Bryce Canyon and howl at the moon. As bad as it sounds star gazing isn’t something you can do out of your backyard anymore with the increase of light-pollution, but if you’re as passionate about seeing one of the most phenomenal natural light shows taking place every night, you’ll head to this piece and then book your own excursion to see the stars.

3. World Hum Top 30 Travel Books:
If the temperatures start climbing too high becoming a couch potato won’t be so bad provided you’re still taking your mind some place. Start your summer reading off with some of the travel classics found on World Hum’s list. Like Erik who brings our attention to the list, I have a tremendous amount of catching up to do when it comes to some of the fine works mentioned.

2. Traveling Syria:
This one gets picked simply because Syria is a destination we touch on very little and probably one we should blog on more often. For now we have this cool inside look from Outside Magazine writer Patrick Symms to hold us over until we make it there on our own.

1. Hidden Gems: Hell
Go to Hell. Seriously! Willy Volk gets this week’s top nod with his fiery travel tales to Hell and back. Go see for yourself.

Urban Adventures

by Erik Olsen on


Ah, city life. It definitely has its advantages and drawbacks. For me, living in New York City is a boon to one’s cultural experience, but when it comes to the outdoors, well, it’s a pain in the arse, frankly. But there are still places to go and things to do in the big metropolis, and each city has its own sportsy charms. Kayaking on the Hudson is a great thing, as is taking a mini-hike in the wooded parts of Central Park. But you can also bike over the George Washington Bridge and, well, there are things to do to get your heart beating. So that’s what New York is about…what bout other cities?

The Guardian has as fine a list of outdoor adventures in urban zones as I’ve seen in a while. Of course, they cover kayaking, as I mentioned here, and even give some props to our own Manhattan Kayak Company, the folks who probably do the beset job getting you out on the water. But they also talk about some of the more intense urban thrill. For example, how about Hang-gliding in Rio De Janeiro, Bungee-jumping in Vienna or tower scaling in Macao. You’re in luck: all are mentioned here.

So if you’re a city clicker looking for some local adventure give this a look-see.

Thruhikers

by Erik Olsen on

Hiking fans of those impossibly long trails of the US are in for a treat. A really cool site that takes a look at what it takes to hike some of these trails can be found right here. Called Thruhikers, it helps you navigate such epic American walkabouts as the Pacific Coast Trail, the Appalachian and the Continental Divide Trail.

Best Stargazing Destinations in America

by Adrienne Wilson on

The first time I really saw stars I screamed. I ran out onto the beach calling my travel companion to come look. We had found ourselves a small tent placed in a straw hut on the coast of the Peninsula de Osa in Costa Rica’s south region. As a child I remembered seeing stars, but never like this – they were everywhere. Millions of tiny lights fighting to out shine the other. They were fighting to illuminate the deep, dark, night sky. A surge of emotions filled my body along with the cool, salty, breeze off the ocean’s water. I couldn’t have stumbled upon a more romantic place on Earth and there I was spending it with one of my best friends and travel companions. For the first time on our entire vacation I wished to curl my knees up to my chest and be left alone. If I couldn’t share the moment with a handsome stud then I wanted to have it all for myself. Selfish – I know.

That night I wished on not one star, but many. One of my wishes was for more places to see stars the way I did on that very night, so when I saw the latest Nat Geo Adventure magazine featuring some of the best stargazing in America I snatched it off the shelves. Their June/July issue covers the best and top 50 in North America’s National Parks. Before you discover where to go to sleep, trek, raft or gaze underneath the stars, the article titled Night Rangers discusses a unit of National Park Service folk who are out to protect the night time sky. Their duties are incredible and the story in full is packed with mind-boggling facts. According to the article 99 percent of peoplein the U.S. live under a sky that is considered polluted, which means none of us are seeing the stars for what they’re worth. In addition to light-pollution the article also states, Scientists at the Thiene, Italy – based Light Pollution Science and Technology Institute have predicted that the last truly dark areas in the contiguous U.S. will be gone by 2025. If such is true then we haven’t very long.

Here are some of the best stargazing destinations in America and how to experience them:

  • Lake Tahoe – Take off on a full moon paddle excursion.
  • Bryce Canyon – Spend your summer nights hiking the canyon.
  • Pennsylvania’s Lehigh River – Raft through whitewaters under the stars.
  • Chaco Culture National Historical Park – Use powerful telescopes to stargaze.
  • Carlsbad Caverns National Park – Check out some 300,000 Mexican free-tailed bats as they fly away from the caves and back.

You’ll want to grab an issue of your own if you haven’t already. If you have a favorite stargazing destination you’d like to share – please do. Otherwise I’ll understand.

All Hail Yvon Chouinard

by Erik Olsen on

Yvon Chouinard is one of the great living legends of outdoor sports and activism. A hard-core surfer and environmental activist, he has put his name and sizable fortune (he founded Ventura, California–based Patagonia Inc.) behind efforts to preserve forests and beaches and to generally heighten our awareness of how we are treating the earth.

This piece by Chouinard in Outside Magazine, though a year or so old, really sheds some light on who he is and what he has accomplished. He is a personal hero of mine, and after reading this piece, I suggest he will become one of yours as well.