Index Of Outdoors Adventure Articles From PackLitePro. Note: You have my complete permission to STEAL any of these articles to use on your website as long as you leave the links intact and give me credit in all of them. Or you may also link directly to any of the reports on my website. If you publish an Ezine feel free to use these articles below as long as the link in the resource box of each article points back to me. These Are Some Articles About Traveling Outdoors
Limousine Backpacking: How To Travel In Comfort To Outdoors Destinations Can You Yogi? BababaBoo! Outdoor Foods On The Cheap: Forget Gourmet Meals Packing Light...The Ultimate Way To Travel? The Outdoors Kitchen Guide: Essential Spices & Utensils For An Outdoor Kitchen
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"Limousine Backpacking": How To Travel In Comfort To Outdoors DestinationsBy Jay Gilbert In the United States, we have a lot of space and many of the prime outdoors destinations are far away from one's home. For many outdoorsman, the logistics of taking planes and buses or driving can be a tiring hassle, especially when preparing to expend energy on a multi-day expedition. Initially, I often just carried a large backpack and rode "The Hound" or Greyhound buses to outdoors destinations... Greyhound is a frickin' nightmare for the most part. The leg room is extremely cramped...Unacceptable for the laid back traveler...And catching some zzz's is a shady proposition at best. If you had a full seat to yourself and could move the arm bar up, you might be able to doze off for a few minutes at a time...but really, why subject yourself to such discomfort? Recently I have discovered Amtrak... If you have never ridden Amtrak before, I think you're missing out...Bigtime. For short trips of a few hours, Amtrak is luxurious...compared to Greyhound buses, it really feels like a limousine! You can walk around, move seats to the "observation car", get hot coffee and snacks, and enjoy the countryside as the train moves towards your destination. You can usually get a whole spacious table to yourself and write in a journal or plan your trip. So, in a sense, you are on vacation while on the train and not simply in transit. There are also fancy meals in the dining cart...full on gourmet meals that make airplane food look like dog food (the costs are around $5-$10 per meal with more expensive food available too, mostly at dinner). You may also find Amtrak a good place to meet interesting people, due to the open walk around atmosphere. If you are seated next to someone who'd you'd rather not be, or simply want a change of atmosphere you can easily get up and move to the observation cart or often find empty seats. The leg room is spacious, and while I won't say you can get a comfortable nights sleep, it is about 2 to 4 times as much as Greyhound or most Coach airline seats. The seats are large and plush. Are You Privvy?... The bathrooms are huge too which is nice. Unlike buses and airplanes, you can actually set down a bag on a chair in a separate room, and there's plenty of room. There are lots of bathrooms too, so you aren't rushed. Drawbacks to Amtrak: If you are looking to get where you're going on a tight schedule, Amtrak may disappoint you. The trains are frequently late or delayed, but on the plus side, you can wheel and deal with ticket agents for deeply discounted tickets if the train is late. Overall, I traveled cheaper than Greyhound, more comfortably, but it took a bit longer. Amtrak shares train tracks with other large train companies like Union Pacific and are often sidetracked to give other freighters priority. So, instant cash back, discounted tickets are frequent if you can afford to be a few hours late. Conclusion: When traveling to great places in the U.S. for outdoors recreation, you may want to consider Amtrak. If Amtrak doesn't go directly to your specific destination, you may do a combination of Amtrak and Greyhound, but I don't see any reason to take the bus all of the way. There's a train called the Empire Builder which goes through some great places in Montana. To check out if you may want to take the Amtrak for your next vacation, you might want to download the map PDF from their site at: http://www.amtrak.com/destinations/routemap.html You can open the PDF and use the zoom magnifying glass to see if your destination is covered. If it isn't, you might consider the closest stop, then a bus if need be. And be sure to plan your trip right. Check out http://www.packlitepro.com for more outdoors trip planning information. Jay Gilbert
Can You Yogi? BababaBoo!By Jay Gilbert The art of Yogiing while on long outdoors adventures can prove as important as any other survival skill. Where does the word "Yogi" come from? Well, if you ever saw the Hanna-Barbera cartoon with Yogi the bear who used to steal stuff from tourists in Yellowstone park and avoid the ranger, you may already have some idea. However, in our sense of the word, to "Yogi" is not to steal -- Rather, it is to use your charm to get whatever it is you need while on outdoor adventures. For example: You're out of water... You're wandering close to a rancher's private property half dazed and you see see a ranchers house. Rather than die of dehydration, you find a polite way to knock and get water from the house without getting shot with a shotgun blast of rock-salt. Congratulations: You just "Yogied" some water. Or, you're at a popular tourist destination with some of your travel companions where you are supposed to catch a shuttle to a trail head. However, the shuttle is way overpriced due to tourists ($30-60 per person is not uncommon for a 2 hour ride) so you strike up a conversation with a young waitress or waiter at the local cafe and bribe him/her to drive all 4 of you for $60 and save a heap of cash. That's sort of a Yogi too. An expert Yogi can travel the world and get everything they need at any time. However, to Yogi is not to be a bum or mooch. Rather, you only use "the art of yogiing" to supplement your preparation when needed. Who can Yogi? Anyone can yogi. The less dirty you are, the easier it is. The more charisma you have, the easier it is. As a general rule of thumb, attractive woman will have the easiest time yogiing. Conversely, dirty, smelly men with beards who stumble out of the woods usually have the hardest time yogiing. At times, one must be bold to Yogi. Caution and good judgment should be used in some yogi situations (sort of like hitchhiking). Ideally, you shouldn't have to Yogi too much...but like starting a fire with two sticks in a rainstorm, the art of Yogiing can be an important survival tool for your adventures.
"Outdoor Foods On The Cheap: Forget Gourmet Meals"By Jay Gilbert If you've been to outdoors sporting goods stores, you may have seen the plethora of $4.75 pre-made camping meals lining the shelves. If you're a dumb yuppie, buy about 30 of them and have a nice trip. Ok...that's a little harsh...but if you've tried these things, you may have figured out that they're little more than some freeze dried crap with a fancy picture of campers decked out in L.L. Bean gear on the cover. Allow me to introduce you to my good friend Lipton... Lipton meals which are sold at most supermarkets make fantastic outdoors meals. You can get all the frills and tastes and oohs and ahhs for about $1.25. These are as tasty and at least (or more!) filling than the yuppified foods from stores like REI. Don't get me wrong...I like REI a lot...but some of the stuff isn't made for savvy outdoorsmen/woman. Lipton makes Cheddar and broccoli rice, Alfredo Noodles and dozens more tasty and easy to make instant meals to choose from. They pack well too for outdoors travel...very compact for how much calories they have. Plus they are easy to prepare. Even if you have money to spend, you might find these tastier and more satisfying. Most Lipton meals call for milk and butter, but you can use freeze dried milk powder and olive oil instead, or just olive oil in a small plastic camping flask, or probably do fine with neither. I recently found that certain margarine squeeze bottles will actually keep well over a multi-day outdoors trip, so you might bring one of these for your Lipton. They cook up fast and clean easily. And Then There's Mr. Bread Sponge... If you have some bread, a piece of bread makes a great sponge to clean your pots or pans after cooking one of these meals. Simply wipe the inside of the pot with your bread to clean up 99% of the scraps...it makes rinsing and cleaning a lot easier (and tastier!). Then use your soap so the bears don't smell the remnants. Admittedly, they don't have breakfasts meals covered too well... To my knowledge, Lipton doesn't do freeze dried egg breakfast type meals...but some oatmeal and a few pop-tarts usually does the trick. Conclusion: Save a few bucks on the overpriced freeze dried pellets being sold at major outdoors stores and check out Lipton Instant Meals for your next outdoors trip.
Packing Light...The Ultimate Way To Travel?By Jay Gilbert "Simplicity is making the journey of this life with just baggage enough." Charles Dudley Warner Traveling simply with as few things as possible, is, I think, the ultimate way to travel. Benefits to Packing Light. Easier travel through airports, train stations etc... Less stuff to worry about losing More room to bring new things home Less back strain/No need for sherpas More mobility, easier to see more places and change plans at a moments notice. Drawbacks: May look like a slob for wearing the same clothes again Remedies for Drawbacks Buy new clothes as you go. A 3 pack of new t-shirts can be purchased for $10 at Kmart Target etc... Have fun buying cheap stuff in second hand stores as you travel. Conclusion: Traveling light makes the journey more pleasant, unless you forget essential gear such as cold weather clothing.
Outdoors Kitchen Guide For Gourmet Outdoors Cookin'By Jay Gilbert This outdoors kitchen guide is designed for short 1 to 2 day outdoor excursions where packing weight isn't much of an issue. While I usually travel light, I find that on some trips it is appropriate to bring grand cooking equipment to enjoy special meals outdoors. For this purpose, you might find this guide useful... Dustin’s Guide to the Complete Portable Kitchen. Food is an amazingly personal thing. For some, anything tastes better with enough BBQ sauce... And for others, there should be layers of flavors in the food that come out at different times as they chew. I am one of those people who prefer layers of flavor and am willing to go through extra work to achieve it. A day of hiking, fishing or gold panning is amazing in itself but to me eating crepes with a wild strawberry filling as the mist rolls off a valley is just as amazing. Something as simple as strawberries can have a lot of variation in flavor due to elevation, temperature, soil conditions, time of year and how they are prepared. Since these variables can not be determined ahead of time the only solution is to have the basics for any situation on hand. Cooking excellent meals in the woods isn’t hard to do with a little forethought. Before loading your back pack take a minute to reflect on what food items may be available to you where you are going and what type of meals you want to eat while there. Once you have a plan you can put together your mess kit. The key to a good mess kit... The key to a good mess kit is diversity and harmony. You want to have diversity so that you can work with any ingredient on hand or found and it must have harmony so that all items compliment each other. Lets start by examining the basic tools needed: 1. A wooden cutting board. Wood cutting boards do not dull knives as fast as other types and provide a much better work surface. I purchased a simple wooden cutting board and then cut it so that it fits at the very bottom of my pack. 2. At least one good knife. A good knife is worth its weight in gold at least. You can do a lot with a camping knife but typically the edge and size is not ideal for cooking. You may wish to augment your camping knife by adding a utility knife. The razor edge will allow you to do your basic cutting and being able to retract the razor makes it easy to pack. 3. 1 frying pan, 1 larger pot and a smaller pot. The size of the pots depends upon the number of people eating. Do not buy the cheapest ones you find. A good pot was a heavy bottom that will evenly heat the entire pan, especially important when working with fires. 4. Utensils. You don’t need much but as always quality and function count. I use 1 mixing spoon, wooden, 1 spatula, all silicone, 1 flipper, plastic, 1 small whisk and tongs. 5. Miscellaneous items such as larger soup bowl for mixing and tin foil. Depending on your cooking style and what you are planning there may be many more things to add. The next things to gather would be your essential spices. You really don’t need a lot of things with you but your food will suffer if you don’t have all the basic spices. Fresh spices are always best but dried is fine. I have an airtight container that I keep a few tablespoons of each spice in. 1. Garlic has so many uses and has become so common that it has to be the first thing added. I would recommend that you do not waste your time with powdered garlic but that’s me. Garlic enhances meat flavors, adds a spiciness and covers unpleasant flavors such as acidity. The strength of the garlic flavor is based upon how you cut it. The finer garlic is cut the more cells are ruptured and hence the more flavor released. If you are not a fan of strong garlic add the cloves whole or sliced once. 2. Basil is also fairly interesting and has a lot of variety. For me sweet basil is the key. Basil is highly aromatic, is an anti-inflammatory and complements slightly acidic things such as tomatoes. This is important as many things found in the woods are acidic according to what we are used to. Basil, being a member of the mint family, is volatile so add it towards the end of cooking. 3. Oregano adds a warm and balsamic flavor to food making it a great choice for Mediterranean and Mexican food. Oregano grows as an annual plant in North America. 4. Ginger is an eastern spice that has many uses for cooking meat, vegetables and sauces. Most stir-fries and root vegetable dishes benefit from fresh ginger. Ginger imparts are healthy kick to root vegetables and sets the mood for a chutney sauce. A little bit of a fresh root is all that is needed. Also ginger has amazing health benefits. If you have an upset stomach add a few slivers of fresh ginger to a cup of hot water and drink it. 5. Bay leaves add a subtle but distinct richness especially to stewed things such as soup. A leaf per soup or stew is all that is needed. 6. Thyme is often over looked when it comes to spices. Thyme is a delicate but penetrating herb that has more than 60 variations. Due to it’s penetrating flavor it is commonly used in soup stocks and stews. 7. Chili pepper flakes are a must for me. I like heat that has flavor and have found a chili flake that works for me. A mild but flavorful chili can be used to either heat things up, compliment a flavor such as the garlic in a marinade on meat or contrast things such as chocolate. (You can get paper packets of these left over from Pizza places, perfect for camping!) 8. Salt and pepper. I like to bring along course salt as it can be used to dry or pickle things such as meat. When it comes to pepper I have a little ground and many pepper corns. The flavor of freshly chopped pepper is much richer. 9. Chicken and beef OXO packets or cubes are invaluable for adding flavor and depth to food. If making rice add a packet of chicken OXO to create the basics of rice pilaf. 1. Red and white wine (optional). I have two small 350ml water bottles that I fill with each wine. I find that this is about the right amount to use for a couple of meals and doesn’t add much weight. For a red use an Australia Shiraz as it slightly acid like most food found in the woods and pairs well with food that has been flame cooked. For a white I use a Riesling with less than 10% alcohol. 2. A thickener such as flour or cornstarch is important for making a gravy and other sauces. 3. Shallots are smaller than onions and have 10 times the taste meaning a little goes a long ways. 4. Generic vegetables such as carrots are used in a lot of recipes and travel well. I also like to have green pepper and celery on hand. 5. Instant rice is easy to prepare and is a good side dish for almost anything you cook. 6. I often have pasta with me. Egg noodles cook fast and make a good base for a meal or soup. 7. Extra virgin olive oil. This is great for seasoning pans to making salad dressings. 8. Sugar. Now comes the fun part, cooking and eating outdoors! Cooking can involve a great deal of experimentation to tailor foods to your taste and to prepare them foods the best way possible. Take the time to do some research about the foods you are planning on working with and the techniques involved in preparing them. The results are worth the time and trouble.
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