Going on your ultimate adventure just got a lot easier.
Here’s a great way to get your morning off to a flying start!
With the picturesque Swiss Alps as a backdrop, the Royal British Legion Extreme Human Flight Team, the Jump4Heroes, celebrated the British Armed Forces by jumping off an edge of The Eiger’s north face, otherwise known as the Mordwand or “murderous wall”. And they do it to support charities! Check out the cool video below.
I think it’s safe to say that all of us seem to have a travel bucket list for the future filled with things we want to do and places we want to visit. As the years tick by we wonder if we will have the time, money and desire to check all these off the ever-growing list.
But what about what you’ve already accomplished? That’s got to be a pretty impressive list as well. In my mind I’m always in the future, rarely dwelling in the past. But, sometimes it’s good to reflect on the past and where I’ve been.
Through Trek Tech I learned about Rebecca Tracey’s Reverse Bucket List, the concept of remembering past achievements to remind yourself how amazing you are. I would hope that’s a pretty long list for most of us. I found the idea intriguing.
But what about a Reverse Bucket List specifically for travel, a topic near and dear to us all? I set out to make my own Reverse Travel Bucket List of things I’ve done in some places I’m glad I’ve seen as a traveler and came up with just a few of the more adventurous accomplishments…
You’re adventurous travelers! If you weren’t, you wouldn’t be reading this blog. What amazing things have you done or seen in your travels that would remind you of your amazing travel achievements?
We received a testimonial from a client yesterday that knocked our socks off. Tyler Kivland is Program Coordinator (which basically means he’s the guy that runs it) at Indiana University Outdoor Adventures. It is such a cool organization. They are supported by Indiana University, however they support the community and offer all kinds of great trips, gear, activities and, most importantly, Leadership Programs to develop the next generation of those serving the Outdoor Community and beyond. it isn’t just for Indiana University students, they also support their surrounding community.
Here’s Tyler explaining exactly how PathWrangler is taking their organization to the next level:
If I could describe Pathwrangler in one sentence I would say that it is “A dynamic approach to trip planning, execution, and customer retention.”
As an organization that staffs upwards of 50 trip leaders at a time, Pathwrangler makes the trip planning process better and easier to learn. The overall benefit of Pathwrangler seems to be that it allows a trip leader to begin a dialogue with trip participants, organizers and leaders before the group ever meets for the trip. Participants can ask questions, share their excitement, and stay up-to-date on any trip developments with ease.
I’ve always supported the idea that a trip should start as soon as a participant signs-up, if not sooner. Pathwrangler allows just that. For example, each summer I bring a group to Quetico Provincial Park for a 10-day canoe expedition. It is vital that I make sure each participant is packing the correct type of gear and that they have a passport in their hands. Pathwrangler’s personal gear checklist allows me to track the progress of my group without having to make phone call after phone call to each participant. Furthermore, the conversation feature allows me to answer important questions once rather than each and every time I make a call or send an email. And if someone new joins the group they can easily catch up on all the action without me having to send them a copy of every email that has previously been sent.
Pathwrangler takes all the components of trip planning and collects it into one dynamic space.
One of the more useful benefits, from a management position, has been the itinerary feature. This is because the interactive nature of the itinerary and map simply cannot be matched on paper. The technology allows us, as an organization, to pinpoint the exact location of each activity and allows the participant a more accurate depiction of where they will be traveling. We are currently using the itinerary feature as a sort of travel action plan for several of our spring break trips which aids in managing the risk inherently involved in any outdoor adventure.
I’m excited to see where Pathwrangler will go next. It has already begun to change the way our leaders approach trip planning and I see it becoming a necessary tool for our program in the future. The more I learn about the site, the more excited I get. It has truly taken trip planning into a new era.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA | MARCH 12, 2013 – PATHWRANGLER has been selected by Outside, America’s leading multimedia active-lifestyle brand, as a recipient of its second annual Active Travel Awards. PathWrangler was honored as an Honoree. The full list of award winners will be published in the April issue of Outside magazine, available on newsstands March 12, 2013, and at Outside Online.
To select this year’s awards, Outside tapped our global network of correspondents, who spent months on the road traveling from the Philippines to Switzerland to Namibia and then some, to report a definitive roundup of the best new adventures, secret paradises, mountain epics, stunning beaches, airline deals, gorgeous islands, and more. The result is 42 fresh trips that we guarantee will change your life, plus smart travel strategies, the best travel gear, and five exciting new frontiers.
PathWrangler is proud to be awarded honoree of Outside Strategies to “Plug-In.” With all these beautiful destinations and incredible activities to do, PathWrangler is the tool that brings it all together and makes these dream trips a reality.
“Outside magazine has long been one of the world’s most trusted advisors for active and adventurous travelers,” says Outside Editor Christopher Keyes. “In addition to truly award-worthy destinations and travel providers, this year we unearthed a handful of amazing new frontiers in active travel. Our annual edit franchise honors the year’s best trips, hotels, lodges, luggage, islands, and new destinations that will be an invaluable travel resource for years to come.”
Simply put, PathWrangler makes creating experiences and telling those stories easier than ever before. Planning an adventure trip or an outdoor excursion is like herding cats. It is maddening to get everyone and everything prepared. Our web app brings the conversation together in an interactive place designed specifically for adventure and outdoor enthusiasts to dream and organize their trip together, and then share their stories after. Over 100 Tour Operators, Outdoor Clubs and Outdoor Wilderness Programs and thousands of outdoor enthusiasts are using PathWrangler to run better trips and share them with their friends.
In celebration of the Outside Active Travel Awards, PathWrangler is offering its award-winning product for free in preparation for a new premium rollout in the upcoming months. That means unlimited trips and users for any individuals or business that sign-up now. Please sign-up here to take advantage of this offer. Please contact us at info@pathwrangler.com if you’d like any help in getting you or your organization started.
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About Outside
Outside is America’s leading active lifestyle brand. For more than 35 years, Outside has covered travel, sports, adventure, health, and fitness, as well as the personalities, the environment, and the style and culture of the world Outside. The Outside family includes Outside magazine, the only magazine to win three consecutive National Magazine Awards for General Excellence, The Outside Buyer’s Guides, Outside Online, Outside Television, Outside Events, Outside+ tablet edition, and Outside Books. Visit us on www.outsideonline.com and www.facebook.com/outsidemagazine.
Contact PathWrangler
For further press inquiries or other requests, please contact CEO Doug Heinz at doug@pathwrangler.com and 415-309-2242. Please visit us online at www.pathwrangler.com, www.facebook.com/pathwrangler and @pathwrangler.
Here is an amazing video of several kayakers on a quest for the perfect waterfall to kayak. They take us into the deep, lush, tropical jungle near Tlapocayan in Veracruz, Mexico to give us a glimpse of this wet and wild destination and show us how much fun it is to go over the edge.
Do you need a little inspiration to get out there and do something a bit extraordinary? The Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour has just the ticket!
For over 35 years this film festival has been showcasing some of the best mountain and adventure films and this year is no different. The festival was held last Fall, but for those of us who couldn’t make it to Banff, the films are coming to us. With 28 films in the tour’s lineup, covering such adventures as kayaking, rock climbing, and base jumping and filmed in some amazing locations, there’s bound to be one or two that will thrill and excite you.
View clips of the films, check out the schedule to see when the tour comes to your city, then grab some popcorn and be inspired.
A year ago, we created the first way to build your own adventures and organize them with your friends, clients and associates in one, central, integrated place on a map. Six months ago, we built a way for everyone to tell their own stories and share photos with each other. After doing this, we made all kinds of enhancements to the product that made doing all of these things easier and better.
Today, we’re pleased to announce that you can now publish your trips, as well as your individual stories with the public. We’ve integrated with Facebook so you can easily publish them to your friends and family.
PathWrangler is now almost seamless. We can’t create the ideas for you, but once you get an adventurous idea, you can build it, invite others, organize together, share your experiences as they happen and then share them with the world.
For the Traveler: it is the best way to organize and journal your trip. We make it easier to store your memories.
For Trip Organizers: not only is the the best way to organize the many trips that you run, but it helps you to get business. As your clients/members share their trips with their friends, it is a way to get those crucial testimonials and word of mouth referrals naturally.
Start building and sharing your trips on PathWrangler today! Please contact us if you have any questions.
We’ll be sending out more details around these exciting new features from some of trips and users that we find particularly inspiring. If you want to submit a trip, contact and share it with us and we’ll put it up on our blog!
I spent an amazing three weeks on an overland African safari adventure encompassing parts of South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe. I was fortunate to experience first hand what it was like to sleep on the dusty, hard ground under the southern hemisphere’s amazing night sky, go without a shower for days on end and get as close as possible to some of the most dangerous animals on the planet (and I do not mean my travel mates). I cannot wait to do it again!
In looking back I have a few tips to pass along on what to do and not to do while roughing it in the bush.
Do be quiet. Animals have amazing hearing and can hear you long before you see them.
Do blend in with your surroundings. Avoid bright colors and wear clothes in muted earth tones- khaki, greens and browns.
Do bring plenty of insects repellent. Insects like sand flies (no-see-ums) are so tiny to the naked eye that this advantage gives them plenty of freedom to feast upon you.
Do use soft-sided luggage like duffle bags. Think mobility and ease of getting on and off of vehicles. Wheeled suitcases have no place in the dirt.
Do listen to your guide’s instructions. They are there not only to give you an amazing experience, but also to make sure you stay safe.
Don’t wear any strong scents. The animals will smell the cologne or perfume and keep their distance.
Don’t bother with makeup and jewelry. The lions, leopards and elephants will not be impressed and the hyenas might laugh.
Don’t leave a trace. The bush is not an oversized trash receptacle. Whatever you bring in should be brought out so as not to harm the ecosystem.
Above all DO be in the moment while you are there and DON’T let an opportunity to enjoy the natural wonder of Africa and all it has to offer pass you by.
While on my Botswana safari many a tale was spun by my South African guides by the campfire. One that stuck with me was this hippo story.
The Creator sent the hippo to land and it ate more than any other animal.
The other land animals went to the Creator and said, “You must get rid of the hippo otherwise we won’t survive.”
So the Creator put the hippo in the water.
The same situation happened.
The water animals went to the Creator and said the same thing the land animals said, “You must get rid of the hippo otherwise we won’t survive.”
The Creator told the hippo it could be on both land and water, but could only eat plants.
To make sure the hippo only ate plants the Francolin bird checked for skeleton bones in the crap the hippo shot onto plants.
One day the Francolin got caught mid-shoot, got crapped on and that is why it is the color it is today.
The Okavango Delta resides in the largest stretch of sand in the world, the Kalahari Desert Basin. It is a unique ecosystem of waterways lined with papyrus, lagoons laden with water lilies, saturated flood plains, forest glades shielded by shade and an abundance of grasslands. It is an alluvial fan of sediments and debris so the water of the Okavango actually floats on a saturated sea of sand. In a country that is 80% dry and arid the Okavango Delta is a remarkable source of life.
I remember the early June morning when the 5-passenger Cessna made the brief, yet visually awakening flight from Maun providing me a bird’s eye view of grazing elephants, zebras and giraffes before landing on the short, dusty runway on the Okavango Delta. I knew at that moment that this part of my 3-week overland safari in Botswana was sure to be an eye opening experience.
My traveling companions and I transferred from the plane to an overland truck. We drove along dirt roads, across rickety pole bridges submerged in water and passed wildlife grazing in the tall grass until we finally reached the canoe-style boats called mokoros: the peaceful mode of transportation during our stay in the delta.
The mokoro glided quietly through the tall reeds and alongside the water lilies. As I was transported into the interior of this naturally beautiful habitat I wondered if hippos were lurking below us. Our guides said there was no fear of being tipped over as long as we stayed clear of the main channel where the hippos walked beneath the surface. From my low-lying vantage point nestled deep in the belly of the mokoro I could hear and see some of the smallest delta creatures: tiny frogs that nestled in the bloom of the water lilies, some so tiny I could fit five in a row on my finger.
Day after day in the delta our guides brought new and interesting things to light. We watched as giraffes gracefully meandered through the tall grass, always alert to the sounds around them. We experienced a dung lesson. Did you know that male giraffe dung is square on the bottom and top, but due to hormones, female dung is square on the bottom and pointy on the top? We also learned about the toothbrush tree. Cut a piece off at the base, shave off the bark, chew on the inside until it looks frayed then brush along your teeth. Your teeth will turn yellow first and then white. We climbed tree vines and swung like Tarzan, scaled ant hills and swam in the water shared by hippos and crocodiles.
We visited places like Baboon Island where sausage trees grow. These trees are used to make the mokoro boats. Like most of Botswana the Okavango Delta has plenty of elephants. On Baobab Island we encountered an elephant who was determined to stand between our boats and us. We learned first hand the three stages to be aware of when confronted by an elephant: comfort, recognition and danger. If the ears start flapping (and his did), head for cover!
Camp life was relaxing with its comfortable tents, well-prepared meals, card games by the campfire, brilliant starry nights and wild animals rustling through the nearby bush throughout the night. I became quite accustomed to the toilet ritual. A ritual that consisted of a hole in the ground and a metal frame stand with a wooden seat that precariously leaned over the hole. To the side of which a shovel, aptly named Douglas, a candle, a box of matches and toilet paper were placed. Never a dull moment on the john while birds flew overhead, monkeys jumped from tree to tree and hippos grunted off in the distance. Being interrupted one time by an elephant eating a palm leaf just meters away was just enough toilet thrill for me.
As the sun set with its orange hues silhouetting the reeds it was our signal to return to camp for the night to await what the delta would show us when the sun rose again, but to the night life of the delta it was time to stir from their afternoon slumber and hunt.
