Travelers who prefer to pack light are always on the lookout for ways that they can shed weight without sacrificing comfort or functionality. Occasionally that happens when they discover new gear that is lighter and more versatile than something that was previously available. Other times it is the result of simply finding something new that allows them to carry less in their bags. That happens to be the case with the new LS Tech T Lite from Icebreaker, a shirt that promises, “2 weeks, 1 shirt, no stink.”
Icebreaker is a company that offers a wide line of clothing for active travelers and outdoor enthusiasts. Their apparel is made from soft and lightweight merino wool, which has the unique ability to keep the wearer cool in warm environments and warm in cold ones. This versatility can come in handy on extended trips and means that one piece of clothing can be used for a variety of destinations.
The Tech T Lite certainly meets that description. Soft against the skin and incredibly light, the shirt works well on its own but makes a great base layer too. Not only does it breathe well in warm weather, it also serves as good insulation in the cold, which will no doubt make it a popular option for travelers of all types.Merino wool has another quality that makes it particularly well suited for travel apparel. Fabrics made from the wool also happen to be incredibly resistant to odors as well. That means you can carry one or two of these shirts on an extended trip and really not need to pack any others. That can save room and weight in your luggage or backpack and make packing a lot easier too, as you won’t need nearly as many shirts on longer trips.
After putting the Tech T Lite through its paces, in both warm and cool climes, I can honestly say that it more than lives up to its billing. Whether you’re wearing it while lounging around the lodge or out hiking a demanding trail, it remains remarkably comfortable to wear without inhibiting motion in any way. It also happens to be easy to keep clean, quick drying and more durable than it first appears. All of those qualities have already made it one of my favorite pieces of travel clothing and earned it a spot in my pack on just about any trip I take in the future.
The Tech T Lite LS is the long sleeve version of this shirt and carries a price tag of $80. Icebreaker also makes it with short sleeves, which runs just $65. No matter which version you select you’ll be getting a very high quality piece of gear that will prove to be a great travel companion for years to come.
Often believed to be the travel choice of the newly wed or nearly dead, the nature of cruise vacations has evolved in recent years. At one time, a cruise vacation meant shuffleboard, never-ending buffets and a few thousand older, overweight passengers on a spin around the Bahamas. Now, the old iconic activities, dining options and even older passengers are being replaced with an active lifestyle and options for adventure travelers.
As new ships come out, cruise lines are careful to build in an ability to be flexible and cater to the traveler of today. Relevant dining options ranging from lifetime event dining, like a steakhouse dinner to celebrate a graduation at a fraction of the cost on land, to comfort food dining, like Macaroni and Cheese in the ship’s main dining room, reflect an evolving passenger’s taste.
Pinpointing that taste and satisfying it, cruise lines are more rabidly focused on capturing the attention of would-be passengers with far more than low prices and bonus offers. Branded experiences ranging from an infusion of DreamWorks characters into the Royal Caribbean fleet, a Nickelodeon influence on Norwegian ships and even Apple products in iLounges on Celebrity Cruises are proving popular. Off the ship, adventurous shore experiences often put cruise travelers on a path similar to that suggested by popular travel bloggers going it on their own.
Along with this “give-them-what-they-want” focus comes a branding effort designed to jumpstart the infusion of trendy, relevant elements to the onboard experience on older ship as well. Royal Caribbean has a Royal Advantage program being rolled out to older ships, replacing tube sets with flat-screen TV‘s, adding new trendy dining venues found on the newest of ships and upgrading other elements of the onboard experience as well.
On Carnival Cruise Lines some travelers may lament the near extinction of the party-going frat sailings (AKA “booze cruise”) but don’t have to look far for new, different venues that are becoming the place to be at sea.
Inspired by what is popular while traveling, Carnival unleashed its FunShip 2.0 initiative in New York last October. The $500 million enhancement program includes partnerships with popular celebrities and leading brands.
Funnyman George Lopez and celebrity chef Guy Fieri along with Miami Heat‘s DJ Erie are doing more than simply lending/selling their well-known names and star statuses to the Carnival brand in an attempt to draw a new breed of cruise passenger. Each has worked with Carnival to create experiences that fit the brand and infuse their own unique style.
The Food Networks Guy Fieri is working with Carnival to offer a dining venue called Guy’s Burger Joint, featuring the Food Network star’s (really amazing) hand-crafted burgers and fresh-cut fries with special recipes created exclusively for Carnival.
Different, from previous product upgrades that have happened throughout the years, cruise lines are listening and communicating with passengers and targeted travelers, speaking their language. Also, reflecting a degree of transparency, cruise lines are letting us in behind the scenes to see what goes into bringing something new on board as never before.
At a press conference in New York, Fieri manned the outdoor grill most of the afternoon, making soon-to-be signature burgers and answering questions. When asked why he got involved with the project, straight-talking Fieri told us, “…because these people at Carnival really care about their customers. It really means a lot to them that the people who sail on their ships have a good time. I wanted to be a part of that.”
It’s funny how you can hear something like that from a cruise line a million times and think nothing of it, but let those words come out of a popular icon in the world of food and all of the sudden they have meaning.
Fieri’s influence goes beyond the burger recipe too and gets really detailed in its execution on board. Condiment stations will feature a suggested menu developed by the chef to show guests what condiments and toppings they can use to build a specialty burger. In addition to burgers, Guy’s Burger Joint will serve fresh, hand-cut French fries prepared on board. We sampled (OK make that “inhaled”) both in New York and agreed with most others that it was one of the best burgers ever.
Carnival is also teaming up with comedian and TV personalityGeorge Lopez who will become the cruise line‘s “creative director for comedy” as Carnival introduces the Punchliner Comedy Clubs Presented by George Lopez.
To become the cruise line’s curator of comedy, acting as a consultant on the vetting and hiring of comedic talent for the line’s existing fleetwide comedy clubs, Lopez will play an active role in the securing of top up-and-coming comedic talent, utilizing his vast resources within the North American comedy scene.
“Carnival’s ships offer a huge audience that truly appreciates comedic performances and the on-board clubs are fantastic,” Lopez told us. “I intend to help build and nurture an understanding among up-and-coming comedic talent that these ships represent a phenomenal environment to work and gain experience.”
Through the partnership, Carnival ships will feature a Lopez comedy routine shown on in-cabin televisions fleetwide and pre-recorded introductions by Lopez at comedy club shows, as well as a new Punchliner Comedy Brunch that will be offered on sea days. Lopez will also partner with the line on a comedy-themed consumer contest in 2012.
“Carnival’s guests absolutely love comedy which is why we are already the cruise industry leader in fleetwide comedic programming and, in fact, we host more guests in our shipboard comedy clubs than any land-based comedy chain in the U.S.,” said Gerry Cahill, Carnival’s president and CEO. “By partnering with George Lopez, an exceptionally talented, respected and popular comedian, Carnival’s comedy offerings will be taken to an entirely new level.”
Lopez is seriously into the comedy concept too, much like Fieri and his cooking. In an interview with CruiseRadio‘s Doug Parker and Matt Basford, Lopez detailed his involvement saying “I will bring people from television and movies and that will make it better. You start to see people on the ship that you have seen in movies and that makes it fun, that’s a great surprise,” adding, “I will be performing on the ships occasionally myself which I am excited about.”
DJ IRIE, song master to the stars and the official DJ of the Miami HEAT, will develop a first-of-its-kind DJ academy at sea that will train all Carnival DJs across the “Fun Ship” fleet. The DJ IRIE Spin’iversity promises to bring an exciting and relevant new vibe to the line’s legendary nightclubs, deck parties and beyond.
“Miami HEAT games are known for their high-energy and non-stop fun created by DJ IRIE and we want to tap into his unique skills and passion for music to create an unforgettable atmosphere on board,” Mark Tamis, Carnival’s senior vice president of guest operations told us. “Music is the soundtrack of our lives and our goal is to create an emotional experience for our guests through the right mix of terrific music and a DJ with a unique personality who can energize a crowd.”
Whether spinning in clubs in Miami or Las Vegas, at a sporting event or hosting his popular South Florida radio show, the internationally known DJ IRIE has mastered the art of bringing a crowd to its feet and pumping up the energy and excitement – much like Carnival had done for 40 years.
But through his new comprehensive training program, IRIE will train Carnival’s DJs how to read a crowd and tailor song selections from every musical genre, appealing to guests of all ages. He will also instruct DJs on how to make maximum use of their own personality and energy to create their own persona and build popularity among guests to develop a fan following.
An important point to note: none of this costs extra. This is Carnival reinventing the at-sea experience, adding more options than ever, all included in the price.
The onboard experience is changing in other ways as well. Big name entertainment is lending their name to new cruise ships as Godmothers, or just to be were the entertainment action is.
Off the ship too, cruise lines are taking a good hard look at what they have for travelers once ships reach their destinations. Taking a page from travel bloggers, cruise line “excursions” are far more than a busload of tourists complaining if the air conditioning is not cool enough.
Today we’re seeing cruise passengers getting off the bus and on to kayaks, scuba diving, surfing, hiking and climbing trails, viewing history, arts and culture up close in any given port. At the end of the day some ships may stay in port late or overnight before moving on to their next stop.
Always a solid reason for cruising, travelers get to see and sample destinations they may or may not want to return to later, for a longer land-based vacation.
No, today’s cruise vacations are not your parents’ idea of a good time, they’re yours, whatever that may mean.
Even though the Memorial Day weekend often marks the unofficial start to summer, Mammoth isn’t quite ready to completely give up on winter just yet. The resort is one of the few places in the U.S. where it is still possible to ski this spring and the lifts will remain open from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. through Monday, May 28.
Once you’ve finished taking a few turns on the slopes, head over to Mammoth’s fantastic mountain bike park, which officially opens for the season on Saturday, May 26. The lower-mountain trails will be fully accessible and the uphill shuttle will run from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., making it as easy as possible to bomb down the great trails there.
Finally, cap off the day with a round of golf on the Sierra Star Golf Course, which opened for the season this past Friday. The beautiful course is surrounded by snow capped peaks and is also located at 8000 feet above sea level, making it the highest course all of California. The thin air will add distance to your drives while the serene setting will brighten your mood, even after a three-putt.
Because it is so unusual to be able to ski, mountain bike and golf all on the same day, Mammoth is offering fantastic deals on passes for the weekend. Visitors can choose to either ski and ride or ski and golf for just $79 or they can elect to partake in all three activities for just $99. That seems like a bargain for a very active day outside. Check out all of these deals and more on the Mammoth Summer Kick-off page.
When your job already takes you to some of the most remote and beautiful places on the planet, where exactly do you go when booking your own personal trip? That’s the question that the National Geographic Adventure Blog recently put to some of the top adventure athletes in the world and their picks for their dream destinations were often surprising.
For example, rock climber Alex Honnold says he would enjoy hiking the 2600-mile Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada, while professional snowboarder Gretchen Bleiler wants to seek personal growth and wisdom while visiting an ashram in India. Kayaker Ben Stookesberry has dreams of exploring the solitude of the wilderness in Yosemite and mountaineer Ed Viesturs hopes to take his wife and kids to the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal, a place that he knows all too well.
Many of the men and women who were surveyed for this article live lives of adventure on a regular basis and yet some of them still couldn’t seem to avoid it in their off time as well. For instance, you would think that polar explorer Sarah McNair-Landry would list a warm, tropical beach destination as her dream trip, but instead she says that she would prefer to sail and ski around the world instead. Likewise for ice climber Will Gadd, who dreams of piloting his paraglider down the entire length of the Great Rift Valley in Africa.
Of course, you had to expect that some of these adventurers would come up with something a little out of this world. Long distance hiker Andrew Skurka and climber Ueli Steck took that quite literally, as both indicated that they would love to go into space. Skurka, who has hiked just about every major trail on Earth, says he wants to trek across the moon, while Steck is quite content with simply going into orbit and taking in the view.
There are more dream destinations revealed in the article, which you can read in its entirety by clicking here. Who knows, you may even find a few new items to add to your bucket list as well.
At home I’m a health and fitness nut working out six days a week and eating a diet high in nutritional value. While this can sometimes be hard to maintain on the road, it isn’t impossible. To help you stay in shape while traveling, here are some tips.
Stop Thinking You’re On Vacation
Many people often have this idea that when they’re traveling they’re “on vacation,” meaning they can eat whatever they want. Unfortunately, your body doesn’t know you’re on vacation and your metabolism isn’t going to all of a sudden be put into overdrive. While you should absolutely sample all the local foods, do it in moderation. For example, if you’re in France and want to sample one of their amazing chocolate croissants, have a small one or cut one in half and have it with fruit. And remember, while different regions have delicious desserts and rich entrees, they have healthy delicacies as well.Cut Your Bread In Half
When traveling, sandwiches are a very convenient meal on the go. Moreover, most buses and airplanes that serve food will often give you a bread-heavy meal or a roll on the side. While you don’t need to cut bread from your diet completely, you also don’t need to eat the top and bottom of a foot-long sub. I usually take off the top slice and eat the meal as an open-faced sandwich. Additionally, if you’re in a place where multi-grain bread is accessible, get it.
Get Outdoors
Just being outside makes most people naturally want to move around more. Not only that, but outdoor activities are energy and mood boosters. Explore the landscape through hiking, biking, horseback riding, jogging or whatever way you enjoy. Not only will you move more, you’ll eat less because you’re busy and not sitting around.
Pack Healthy Snacks
My friends always joke that I’m perpetually afraid of starving to death. Whether I’m in a metropolitan city or the middle of nowhere, you can bet I have fruit and granola bars in my purse. It’s not that I think I’m suddenly going to find myself stranded for days without food – although if that did happen, I would be prepared – but that I don’t want to be forced to buy a greasy sausage or an unhealthy bag of chips if I’m hungry. Not only does this tactic help me stay slim, it also saves me money.
Instead Of A Bus Tour, Opt For A Walking, Biking Or Running Tour
For most bus tours, there is usually a more active option. Almost all cities offer walking and cycling tours. Sometimes these are even free, such as when taking a walking tour with SANDEMANs NEW Europe in various European cities, BA Free Tour in Buenos Aires, Free Tours by Foot in New York and I’m Free in Sydney. There is also something called “sight running,” which allows tourists to view a city through jogging.
Visit The Markets
Exploring local markets is a great way to get to know a culture and a city. They’re also great because they sell fresh foods. If you’re in a place where you’re nervous about eating the fruits and vegetables, opt for produce with a peel, like bananas, avocados and oranges. Wash your hands after peeling to remove any germs from the peels.
Take A Cultural Class That’s Physical
Classes aren’t always about sitting, reading and listening. In fact, there are many classes that allow people to gain insight into a culture in an active way. Try Tai Chi in China, tango lessons in Argentina, samba in Brazil or yoga in India. You may even discover a new hobby to take home.
Learn To Read The Nutrition Facts
Just because a food’s energy may be written in kilojoules instead of calories doesn’t mean your body can’t tell the difference. You can easily Google the conversion and figure out how to read the nutrition labels in the place you’re visiting. Furthermore, make sure to check if the nutrition facts are written per serving, package or 100 grams, as this will make a big difference in how much calories and fat you’re actually consuming.
Take Advantage Of The Hotel Gym
If your hotel has a gym or pool, make use of it. If you need to motivate yourself a bit more, think of it as getting the most for your money. Bonus points if you specifically book an accommodation because it has a fitness center.
If You Have A Smartphone, Make Use Of Diet And Fitness Apps
With our technologically advanced world, there are tons of apps available now to help us stay on track with our diet and fitness goals. No matter where you are in the world, you can have access to calorie counters, exercise trackers or workout programs via your mobile. Some of my favorites are Lose It!, which helps you count calories; My Fitness Pal, which tracks your food intake and exercise and has an enormous food database; and Daily Full Body Workout, which gives you a 10 to 30 minute exercise routine each day.
Keep A Healthy Mind
Being away from home, while exciting, is stressful at times. Make sure to set aside time to really relax. Spend a day in bed reading, rent a movie, visit a spa, or nap in a hammock on the beach. While each city offers many things to do and see, remember that you can’t see everything. Don’t be too upset if you can’t do it all, as it’s just another reason to re-visit the destination in the future.