Category Archive

camping

Gifts for the outdoorsy and adventurous types who won’t tell you what they want

Bird asked: “Anyone have ideas for what to get outdoorsy and fairly minimalist people?” Ooh ooh! Me! I do! I LOVE shopping for outdoorsy people because the products are usually so useful and creative, and then creatively useful. Here are my favorites for all the outdoorsy, adventurous, and travel-fiend types — brothers, sisters, parents, best friends, co-workers, etc.

One year later: Lessons from “Occupy” on communal living

It’s hard to believe that this time last year, I was “living” outside in a park downtown at Occupy Toronto, with several hundred other people. The communal living experience was pretty intense. It’s hard to look back at such a complicated experience, but as we hit the one-year anniversary of Occupy, I think there are some general lessons that can be learned, not only for political occupations but for more mundane but ultimately more lasting kinds of communal life.

Here’s some of what I learned about communal living at Occupy Toronto…

Smudge your campfire with sage to keep bugs away

Sage-scented smoke from tossing some sticks of sage into a campfire or fire pit will turn off mosquitos and other insects from invading your camp space.

Six tips for creating awesome care-packages for children away from home

While I was growing up, I spent a lot of time away from home. I can tell you now, whether I was away for school, camp, high school summer jobs or even when I moved on to university, nothing helped my homesickness and general well-being better than when I received a care package from home. I was recently helping a friend put together a package for her high school aged child studying abroad when I realized that not everyone was in situations growing up where they were receiving care-packages.

An English cottage dream house, camping on the rocks, and a chinchilla spa in this week’s reader photos

Happy Monday, Homies! Good to see you back. In this week’s photos we have a lot of fantasy, and in this week’s Clicky Links there’s a lot of helpful hints.

Share your photos by posting to our Flickr group, and share your inspirations with us on Pinterest.

You can’t continue the fight if you get frostbite: how to live at a protest and learn from the Occupy movement

We live in interesting times — times when thousands of people around the world are claiming their rights to free speech extend to the right to occupy a public place as a statement of protest. Given that the Northern Hemisphere is descending into winter, how do they do it?

Would you like a tiny German camping headquarters that can also hit the water?

I’ve never really gotten the fascination with amphibious cars. Even James Bond doesn’t need a boat he can drive onto land! But today, I get it. I had to change my mind after meeting this tiny amphibious camper — it’s like something from a dream!

Don’t store camping gear over the winter — repurpose it all year long!

For those of us in the northern hemisphere, summer is winding down. You may be getting ready for the depressing ritual of packing up the patio furniture, summer clothes, and camping gear for the winter. If only there was a way to elongate the season of outdoor fun! Or at least have less stuff to put away.

Before you pack up your camping gear, take a look at this list of gear you can use all year round. Maybe some of it can be used in ways you hadn’t thought of — and can bring little reminders of summer every time you use them.