Into the Wild

Build your outdoor survival skills – and reconnect with nature – on an educational wilderness adventure. By Laurel Kallenbach for Experience Life Sheri Webb moves stealthily through northern California’s Mount Shasta Wilderness, taking care not to step on twigs or crackling leaves. She pauses every few minutes to pick miner’s lettuce for food or to scrutinize a print on the ground. Is it a deer trail? Will it lead to a spring where she can drink? For 36 hours last spring, Webb and her boyfriend, Frank Sturniolo, made themselves at home in this pristine forest, with only a knife, a flint, a canteen and a cup. It was the culmination of a six-day outdoor survival course called The Edge — a course that the outfitter, Lifesong Wilderness Adventures, patterned after the TV series Man vs. Wild. Their goal: Survive without the trappings of civilization. No cell phone, no Starbucks, no running water. “When I hike, I normally tromp mindlessly through the woods,” admits... Read More →

The Right Ride

Longing to slide into the stirrups on an equi-adventure? Answer these questions to help you pick the horse trip of your dreams. By Laurel Kallenbach for Experience Life What type of rider are you? Most outfitters distinguish between beginner, intermediate and advanced trips so that you’ll be riding with peers of similar ­abilities. Family trips welcome all abilities. To brush up your skills, try guest ranches, whose instructors help you practice on the trail. Do you want to gallop around the globe? Choose from Highland ponies in Scotland, Arabians in Morocco or Tennessee Walking Horses in the Appalachians. Consider all types of terrain — mountains, savannahs, beaches — and don’t limit yourself to summer. Think snow riding or driving a horse-drawn sleigh. What do you want to do when you’re not in the saddle? Some people want to ride all day. Others prefer blending horse adventures with fishing, cooking classes, wine tasting, cultural sight-seeing, hiking or kayaking. Where... Read More →

Ride Away

Looking for an exhilarating way your whole family can explore the great outdoors together? Consider an unforgettably fun horseback-riding adventure. By Laurel Kallenbach, for Experience Life Coyotes howl in the distance as Jeff Moore and his daughter, Jill, eat cowboy grub by the campfire in California’s eastern Sierras. Nearby, horses nicker and munch hay. The Moores’ annual father-daughter horseback adventure — a four-day camping trip driving more than 100 horses 100 miles across the valley — lets them get away from daily routines and enjoy the freedom of wide-open spaces. “I love horses and being outside with my dad,” says Jill, 18. “It’s fun getting dirty and riding fast to round up riderless horses that try to break away.” The horse drives give the Moores, who live in Coto de Caza, Calif., a chance to bond. “There are no cell phones, laptops or TVs on this trip,” says Jeff, 52, a managing director for a commercial-real-estate brokerage firm. “I’m... Read More →

5 Things I Wish I Knew Before Going to Mexico

Ay, Caramba! You’ve gone on that long awaited vacation to Mexico and all of sudden you 1. Are sick 2. Had your money stolen or 3. Are stuck alone on a roadside! At World Nomads we’re lucky to have lots of friends in the travel industry, we polled them to give you the very best tips staying safe in Mexico. 1. Learn the Lingo. A little bit of Spanish goes a long way! Try your hardest with the locals and it will get you a lot further than simply trying to get them to understand English. Daniel Radcliffe,  Volunteer HQ 2. Drink responsibly. The variety of tequila is simply overwhelming, so was the hangover! Drink responsibly and test new alcohols cautiously and with friends that can watch out for you. No matter what your friends say don’t eat the worm in the Tequila bottle!! Mat Lewis, i-to-i 3. Stay alert! If you get far off the beaten path (for example, deep in the Copper Canyon) and see fancy late-model pickups and gated driveways, know that you’re in a drug growing and trafficking... Read More →

When bears attack! Practical tips for staying safe in the wilderness

One of my favorite quotes from Hunter S. Thompson is “Civilization ends at the waterline. Beyond that, we all enter the food chain, and not always right at the top.” I feel the same can be said for those who venture into the wilderness. WorldNomads.com‘s roving medical and adventure expert Dr. Erik McLaughlin MD shares these practical tips to help you enjoy the North American wilderness from the top of the food chain. Adventurers who enjoy hiking, tramping, cycling, climbing and outdoor pursuits should always be prepared for conditions they cannot control.  You can run into stronger, nastier and faster animals than yourselves… and it’s vital to know what to do. Perhaps the most frightening animal to outdoor adventurers is the bear.  I have a very healthy respect for bears of all types.  Common sense should be used by those traveling through bear country and all bears should be considered dangerous. Bear safety when you are camping: Avoid camping in known bear... Read More →

Sun Safety: How to Beat the Burn this Holiday

A lot of European beach-goers have heard of Croatia.  Warm water, beautiful beaches and great food make Croatia one of the “Dream holiday” destinations.  A little bit of precaution can help that perfect beach holiday from turning into a sunburned and uncomfortable week of redness.WorldNomads.com‘s roving medical expert Dr. Erik McLaughlin MD talks through sun safety, skin protection and burn treatment you’ll need for a painless trip to sunny Croatia. Sunburns The main cause of sunburns is not the sun itself but the ultraviolet energy.  Just to complicate matters, there are three main types of ultraviolet (UV) energy, designated A, B and C.  Erythema is what your skin gets after a day in the sun, which is redness, some slight swelling and pain.  Doses of UV energy and its effect on the skin are measured in units called minimal erythema doses (MED).  This MED represents the smallest does of UV energy to cause that “sunburn” appearance. Beachgoers are typically... Read More →

WorldNomads.com free iPhone and iPod Touch Language Guides

The WorldNomads.com free iPhone and iPod Touch language guides have been a HUGE hit with travelers all over the world, with over 610,000 downloads from iTunes in the 9 months since launch! Now the media loves them too. This week the language guides were voted ŒBest Freebie¹ by MSNBC! Available in 22 languages including Spanish, French, Italian, Mandarin, Thai and Turkish (see Worldnomads.com for a full list and details) each guide includes a few dozen basic travel phrases organized by category (such as ‘transport’, ‘food & eating’ and ‘directions’). Tap a category, select a phrase and a native speaker pronounces the phrase. As the MSNBC reviews says “a high-end feature we’re surprised to find in a free app.” For the full review see: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32464923/ns/travel-tips/ World Nomads has always taken a different approach to travel insurance by providing not just great insurance coverage and travel safety services, but also other tools to keep... Read More →

InkaFest – Huaraz

Every August, the Peruvian city of Huaraz hosts the Mountain Film Fest or InkaFest.  This year, the festival runs from the 18th-22nd of August. Films can be entered into one of six categories (not including Best Picture and Viewer’s Choice): Mountaneering, Mountain Culture, Adventure, Rock Climbing and Sports Adventure and Nature.  Besides films, the festival hosts workshops and speakers.  And of course – there are endless opportunities for adventures in Huayhuash and Cordillera Blanca, climbing, hiking, rafting or exploring nearby ruins. We wrote about Huaraz last year, click here to read. Off the Radar is the online magazine for adventure travelers featuring responsible adventure operators, news from adventure destinations, images and personal accounts from the field.  Sign up for our newsletter here  Read More →

Smith Fork Ranch: Luxury Dude Ranch

Something amazing is happening in the North Fork Valley of Colorado: local, sustainable, and organic farms are thriving. Smith Fork Ranch in Crawford, Colorado, uses local fruits and vegetables from their own garden and surrounding organic farms, as well as lamb, beef, pheasant, and elk raised locally and sustainably, to create a delicious feast with fresh ingredients every day. The words “luxury” and “dude ranch” don’t often fit together in a sentence, but that’s exactly what the Hodgson family has created at the Smith Fork Ranch.  In the dramatic mesas and mountains of Colorado’s Western Slope, the wine industry is growing and thriving in Tuscan-like summers, and this ranch reflects this refined culture amid lush rolling countryside, with the dramatic (and undiscovered!) San Juan mountains as a backdrop. This piece of Colorado also has the nation’s newest national monument, the incredible Black Canyon of the Gunnison. Visit the... Read More →

Sea Kayak the Brazilian Amazon with Rumo Norte

Rumo Norte Expeditions, out of Belem, Brazil, has a truly unusual way to experience the grandeur of the Amazon, with minimal impact: by sea kayak. Rumo Norte owner Gelderson Pinheiro’s favorite kayak trip begins in the town of Alter do Chão, “Altar of the Earth,” where a white sand island known as the Island of Love glows in the clear waters of the Tapajos River (which feeds into the Amazon River 30km to the northeast.) Paddling a sea kayak south along Green Lake, where the Borari Indians extract stones for auspicious frog amulets, Gelderson says, “The sky is more blue, the sunset is more expressive, the water is warm and has a special blue-green color, and the local communities come to you with friendship and great hospitality.” If the wind permits, add a sail to your boat to get you to Belterra for lunch, then Maguari, where you’ll have dinner with the local community. You’ll hike through the forest and experience the Sumaúma tree, the Amazon’s largest, and known... Read More →

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