Win a trip to Dominica by showing off your adventurous spirit

by Kraig Becker on

As far as travel contests go, they don’t come much easier than this one. Wend Magazine, Adventure Dominica, and Ahnu footwear are joining forces to send a lucky winner, and their guest, off on a tropical escape to the island paradise of Dominica. They’re offering up airfare for two from the U.S. or Canada and five days/four nights stay at the Calibishie Cove Hotel, one of the top eco-lodges on the island, not to mention all the sun and surf you can take in while you’re there.

To win, you simply need to submit a photo that best captures your adventurous spirit. The photo can be from practically any place or any activity, but it needs to show off your adventurous side in the best way possible. For instance, perhaps you’ll need to dig up that photo of you hiking the Inca Trail or kayaking the Grand Canyon. What ever it is, find it, and send it to contest@adventuretodominica.com and if your image is selected, you’ll be on your way to a vacation you won’t soon forget.

Like the rest of the Caribbean, Dominica has plenty of beaches and sun to go around. But it is also an excellent destination for adventure travelers looking for a tropical location to explore. The island has miles of hiking trails that wind through lush rainforests teeming with wildlife and over a thousand species of flowering plants, while hundreds of beautiful rivers flow by, fed by the more than 300 inches of annual rainfall there. And when you grow tired of exploring above the surface, simply head below for something completely different. Dominica is a great diving and snorkeling destination too, with plenty of marine life and colorful coral reefs to explore.

So, dig up that photo and send it off today. It just might earn you that warm weather escape you’ve been dreaming of, and although spring is officially just around the corner, it never hurts to have a little fun in the tropical sun.

Update: Adventure Dominica has a posting on this contest too. You can find it by clicking here. As mentioned, the rules are simple and straight forward.%Gallery-22103%

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Be sure to check out Episode 4 of Travel Talk TV, which features a scuba diving adventure in California, international dating tips, and a sofa in an aquarium!

Hiker begins 4700 mile journey around Alaska

by Kraig Becker on

Long distance hiking legend Andrew Skurka is off on another adventure, this time taking on a trek through the Alaskan wilderness that will take seven months to complete, and will cover more than 4700 miles. Dubbed the Alaska-Yukon Expedition, the journey will take Skurka through eight national parks, six in the U.S. and two in Canada, while crossing four mountain ranges, and some of the most remote wilderness found anywhere in North America.

Skurka set out from Kotzebue, Alaska a few days back, and will now travel south to the Iditarod Trail, then east to the Alaskan Range and the Lost Coast. From there, it’s on to the Inside Passage, up the Yukon River to the Ogilive and Richardson Mountains, before eventually turning west, and running the length of the Brooks Range, one of the last great wildernesses on Earth. Finally, he’ll return to Kotzebue, completing the circuit and ending the adventure back where he began.

For now, Skurka will be traveling on skis, but much of the journey will be completed on foot and with the use of a packraft, a small, inflatable boat that he can carry with him. For most people, the thought of covering more than 4700 miles through remote backcountry, under your own power, would seem like an insurmountable challenge, but for Skurka, it is just another long hike to add to his resume. In the past, he has hiked both the Appalachian and Pacific Crest Trails, as well as a route from the Atlantic to the Pacific that covered more than 7700 miles. His 6875 mile Great Western Trails Route a few years back also earned him the title of National Geographic Adventurer of the Year.

You’ll be able to follow Skurka’s adventures with weekly updates on the National Geographic Adventure Blog and through his Twitter feed @andrewskurka. If all goes according to plan, he should be finishing up the journey in the early part of October.

Improve your camping experience with these videos

by Gadling Staff on

Has it been a while since your last camping trip? Have you forgotten how exactly to hang your pack so the big, bad grizzlies don’t get to it? This set of anything-but-dry videos will help ease your mind and reassure your camping skills, whether you are new to camping or just need a refresher.

(Even if you consider yourself a camping expert, be sure to check out the final, hilarious video.)

How to Set Up a Dome Tent
A dome tent is the most common type of tent for the casual camper. Although there are many different styles of camping tents, this humorous (but accurate) video offers a walkthrough for basic tent setup, complete with a goggled sidekick.
Setting Up a Pop-up
Not everybody is up for roughing it in a tent, so if you’re renting or borrowing a pop-up camper, this walkthrough will show you the basics.

Bonus: the clip features some awesome camping tunes! Let’s get down!



How to Make a Campfire
And what is a camping trip with out a proper fire? The guys at Howcast have put together this nifty little video for the “flame-challenged.”



Hang a Bear Bag
Serious campers, or campers who regularly go backpacking, will need to find ways to keep bears out of their food. This tutorial will teach you how to hang your pack between trees so bears and other wildlife can’t reach it easily.

No promises that this method will prevent your hungry backpacking friends from eating all your food while you’re sleeping, however.



Get the Good ZZZs
Sometimes it’s tough to get a good night’s sleep in the wilderness, with all those frogs chirping and wolves howling. These tips will make it easier to sleep in comfort and wake up rested, even if you don’t happen to have a reindeer fur in your pack.



Cooking with a Dutch Oven
A cast iron Dutch oven is almost a requirement of good camp food. The chops this guy makes in his Dutch oven look so good you’ll want to grab them off the screen for dinner.

Bonus: listening to this video three times in a row will put any child instantly to sleep.



Camp Stove Pizza
Ok, so you’re probably not going to pack Asiago cheese with you while camping, but this video is still pretty cool if you want a pizza instead of wieners-on-sticks every night you’re out there in the woods.

In fact, this pizza looks better than some restaurants in my hometown make.


Visit a Backcountry Shelter
Perhaps you are more experienced and want to venture even further into the wild. Take a look at what a backcountry shelter looks like in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.



What to Pack for a Day Hike
Best to be prepared for that day hike you’re planning, too. This is a simple packing guide (water, basic first aid supplies, etc.) but still essential!



Humorous Guide to Camping
If you thought you knew everything about camping, you are wrong. These guys present to you the Redneck Camping Guide, including site selection and how to deal with leaving your wife behind for your buddies.

To be honest, this is probably the only video you really need to watch here.

Be prepared for your next trip with camping gear from AOL Shopping.

Sierra Club seeks applicants for best internship on Earth

by Kraig Becker on

The Sierra Club has the best internship on Earth, and they’re currently seeking qualified candidates to fill that role for summer 2010. If you’re between the ages of 18-25, a U.S. citizen, or permanent/legal resident with a valid work permit, and have a love for the outdoors, you may be just the person they are looking for to serve as the Outdoors Youth Ambassador Intern this year.

The lucky person hired for the position will spend the summer based out of Sierra Club headquarters in San Francisco, but will spend much of their time traveling the country. During the months of June, July, and August, the intern will be hiking, rafting, and generally enjoying the outdoors as part of the Sierra Club’s youth programs. They’ll then create a video blog of their experiences, and share them online for all to see, as they work closely with the Inner City Outings, Building Bridges to the Outdoors, and Volunteer Vacations programs.

For eight weeks of work, the intern will have all of their travel expenses covered, receive a $2500 stipend, and be outfitted with $2000 worth of gear, courtesy of The North Face and Planet Explore. They’ll also have the opportunity to work for one of the coolest organizations around, while playing in some of the best outdoor environments in the U.S. What could be better than that?

To find out more, you can read the FAQ by clicking here, and if you’re ready to apply for the position, click here. Applications are being taken through the end of March, so don’t wait too long!

U.S. national parks were popular destinations in 2009

by Kraig Becker on

2009 was a banner year for America’s National Park System, which remained popular with travelers, both foreign and domestic, despite the sluggish economy. U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar recently announced that the parks experienced 10 million more visitors last year than they did in 2008, which represented a 3.9 percent increase.

The Park Service says that more 285 million people payed a visit to one of the parks or monuments that are under their care in 2009, which made it the fifth busiest year in the history of the system. The record for most visits ever was set back in 1987 when 287.2 million people spent time in the national parks.

The news of the upswing in visitors is seen as a good thing on a number of different levels. It meant that Americans and foreign visitors were still viewing the national parks as quality destinations despite challenging economic conditions around the globe. It was also seen as a good sign for Americans becoming more active, with many travelers hiking the trails and enjoying other outdoor activities.

The list of the top ten most visited parks remains generally the same year in and year out. In 2009 that list, along with the number of visitors, was as follows:

• Great Smoky Mountains National Park, 9,491,437 visitors
• Grand Canyon National Park, 4,348,068
• Yosemite National Park, 3,737,472
• Yellowstone National Park, 3,295,187
• Olympic National Park, 3,276,459
• Rocky Mountain National Park, 2,822,325
• Zion National Park, 2,735,402
• Cuyahoga Valley National Park, 2,589,288
• Grand Teton National Park, 2,580,081
• Acadia National Park, 2,227,698

Hopefully this is a trend that will continue. The parks have been called “America’s best idea”, and visiting any one of the top destinations will only reinforce that. So? What is your favorite national park, and which ones are you planning on visiting this year?