Over 2,000 people have climbed Everest. More than 450 have been into space. Only 34 have rowed solo across the Atlantic Ocean, from the Canary Islands to Antigua. No one has achieved it in less than 42 days.

That's the way Sam Williams began his explanation for wanting to become the 35th person to row across the Atlantic Ocean. Sound like a good enough reason, right? Wrong. Turns out Williams motivation was to also raise more than £20,000 for FARM-Africa.

And last Thursday, after 75 days, 4 hours, and 43 minutes, Williams and Pacific Pete (his boat) arrived at Nelsons Dockyard Marina in English Harbour Antigua, after leaving La Gomera, Canary Islands.

I won't bore you with written details. Watch his story for yourself.

© allspice1
If you're like me, you're getting tired of the high gas prices affecting everything you do. And I do mean everything! From flying to off roading to simply driving to work and back, its getting out of hand.

There's something I CAN do that isn't going to cost me an arm and a leg, though, and I can invololve the entire family, including Gordon Leaf-Killer... I can go hiking!

There are no less than 4 different places to hike within a few miles of my house. (A great benefit to living in hickoryville.) If I don't mind driving for 15 or 20 minutes, there are even more places to hike that are not burdened with dozens of other people with the same idea as me.

If the cost of gas is getting you down, walk out!

© Joshua Davis (new website at jdavis.info)



Winter is over in the Northern Hemisphere, and that means bears are starting to wake up. And they're hungry! If you've ever seen the Spongebob Squarepants episode where Sandy Cheeks the squirrel is hibernating. She is rudely woken up by Spongebob and Patrick, and she's grumpy!

Mind your manners when you go hiking for the next few weeks. Make a bit of noise and try not to surprise any sleeping bears. It's not as bad as when they've got cubs around, but now is not a good time to go face to face with a bear.

If you are confronted, the best plan is to not be scared. Stay calm, don't look it in the eye, don't run. Walk away, talking calmly but loudly to yourself. Talking will help the bear realize you're human and that it doesn't want to mess with you.

San Diego's Balboa Park Gets Trashed by Earth Day Celebration

Yesterday, April 20 2008, was Earth Fair Day at San Diego's Balboa Park.

This is the largest free annual environmental fair in the world. Aside from the polluting gas powered generators stinking up the place, aside from the miles of congestion and grid-lock in and around the Balboa Park area during the event, aside from the tons of trash left all over the park and parking lot and surrounding area, aside from the hundreds of tie-dyed shirts getting stoned in the parking lot, aside from the wall to wall bodies everywhere, Balboa Park was the place to go this weekend to use massive amounts of energy and generate tons of trash and pollution to show hundreds of energy-saving, green products to help stop man made global warming, err, I mean climate change.

It's amazing how much disregard for nature there is at these events intended to, you know... protect nature.

Camping on a beach is one of my most favorable camping spots

Beach weather is almost upon us. Except for those of us lucky enough to live in warm climates like San Diego, in which case beach weather is already upon us.

From California to Florida, the beach camping scene is gearing up to be a good one. If you've never been, you owe it to yourself at least once. And I'm not talking about RV camping either. Get your butt out there in the sand, in a tent and sleeping bag, and enjoy yourself.

Camping on a beach can be very relaxing, especially if you're lucky enough to find a place where there aren't a lot of people. The sound of the waves crashing all night should make for an extremely relaxing sleep, and the smell of the fresh, salt air will take away the worries of modern civilization.

"Travel by its very nature demands simplicity. If you don�t believe this, just go home and try stuffing everything you own into a backpack. This will never work, because no matter how meagerly you live at home, you can�t match the scaled-down minimalism that travel requires. You can, however, set the process of reduction and simplification into motion while you�re still at home. This is useful on several levels: Not only does it help you to save up travel money, but it helps you realize how independent you are of your possessions and your routines. In this way, it prepares you mentally for the realities of the road, and makes travel a dynamic extension of the life-alterations you began at home."

-Rolf Potts, Vagabonding (2003)