Eric Hansen Interview on NPR

by Erik Olsen on

Travel writer Eric Hansen is one of my favorites. I recently read
and reviewed his book The Bird Man and the Lap Dancer,
which I thought was wonderful. Vintage Hansen. Hansen lives in SF, but he gets around a lot, as travel writers do, and
he recently did this interview with NPR
which I thought was worth posting about.

Hansen is a thoughtful guy, a meticulous travel writer, but like most good writers, he loves to get himself in odd,
dubious situations (the master of such self-inflicted circumstance would have to be Redmond O’Hanlon). Take a listen,
and read the excerpt to Bird Man as well, which follows down the page.

Isle of Where?

by Erik Olsen on

A cool little feature over at MSNBC about the ten islands you’ve
never heard of. And you know what? They’re right. Isla Bastimentos in Panama? Never heard of it. Mexico’s Isla Holbox?
Huh? Holbox? That doesn’t sound Mexican. Ilha Grande in Brazil…ah, now there’s one I know.

Anyway, lots of details including how to get there, what to do, yadda yadda yadda. At the very least give the list a
look and see if you recognize any of them.

Watershed Dry Bags

by Erik Olsen on


Any long paddling trip, or even a scuba trip for that matter, requires that you keep your gear dry. I almost lost a
camera once thinking it wasn’t going to get wet, and then when my boat tipped it almost slipped into the deep blue
yonder. A $1000 camera gone like that. Fortunately, I caught it, but what I should have had on that trip was a good dry
bag. Now, whenever I’m paddling I bring one along. On long paddles, I bring several.

If you’re in need of a good dry bag, an excellent place to look is Watershed. They even nailed the domain
drybags.com, so you know they’re doing something right. One bag to look
at is the

Watershed Yukon. It runs about $125 and has welded seams and a pretty nifty “Zipdry” closure. These bags keep out
the moisture extremely well, and allow to carry valuables you might not otherwise bring….like a camera, spare clothing,
food, camping stove, and so on.

Baja on Bike

by Erik Olsen on

When I think of Baja, I think of driving into dusty beach towns with my buddies, buying cases of Corona for $5 and
eating fish tacos on the beach as the tide comes up. Mark my words, watching the tide come up while eating fish tacos
and drinking Coronas in Mexico is a fine way to pass an afternoon.  But I will admit it’s not the most active way
to spend a day. For that, you might consider riding
mountain bikes in Baja. These guys do it and have a kick ass time cruising old mule trails and chomping tortillas
in the shade. Key word there: shade. I warn you, it’s hot as hell down there, so fill up your water bottles. And after
a good day of riding, THEN pick yourself up a case of Corona.

Hiking the Hayduke

by Erik Olsen on

I think it would be great to hit a hiking trail for days on end, to have long days stretch before you where all you
have to do is walk and camp. These guys are doing just that, and
posting along the way.

Mike Coronella and Joe Mitchell set out earlier this March to amble the
Hayduke Trail, and thus become the first end-to-end
travelers of a rigorous route which snakes through America’s southwestern deserts and the Colorado Plateau. The posts
are well-written and compelling, providing a glimpse off the kind of travails these guys face as they trudge across the
countryside.

Outside did a piece on these guys
as well.