Home & Lifestyle

It’s great to be impulsive, but if I know one thing for sure it’s that a family camping trip just can’t be done correctly when approached with a ‘fly by the seat of your pants’ mentality. Yes, logically you could be on the road in 20 minutes with the kids, a bunch of sleeping bags, tent, and flashlight to head off into the wild, blue yonder, but you’ll be regretting it come midnight when someone is cold, wants a very specific type of snack, or needs their nightlight to ward off the monsters in the dark.

Spring has officially sprung, and with the warmer days and longer nights there also comes a sense of foreboding. It’s inevitable, but the appearance of spring means another season is right around the corner – bathing suit season. While I am generally a healthy person and stay active year-round, I tend to overindulge throughout the winter, which means that without fail, I have a few pounds to shed and some toning to do before I’m ready to bust out the bikini. Thankfully, I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve that get me feeling better and looking better in record time.  

  If you read the NY Times Bestseller Wild by Cheryl Strayed, then you will learn how not to pack as she did for her hike on the Pacific Coast Trail. If you haven’t read it, I would highly recommend this true story of her over 1,000 miles hike by herself to escape the loss of her mother and a broken marriage, all with no wilderness experience whatsoever. I don’t profess to be a wilderness expert although I have done a fair number of wilderness trips of at least one night, and usually more. The trick with overnight backcountry camping is not to take too much while making sure you have what you will need so you don’t get in trouble.