#sometimes it is absolutely necessary to go have a solo adventure in a new place

[isfjmel-phleg]

There are two moods of trip planning: 1) Vortex of Anxiety, and 2) Somehow I Almost Feel Alive Again. I did the first one last night and the second one now.

[jaceeverett]

TASK #14 LET'S TAKE A TRIP

is your character local to Merrock, or did they move to town from somewhere else? Jason was born and raised in Merrock, although he left town at eighteen to join the army, and didn't return until a few months before his 40th birthday.

does your character travel frequently? Not anymore, no. When he lived out west, he would often take trips with accumulated vacation time, though.

what was their favorite spot they’ve ever traveled to? Jason spent nearly a month in Iceland when he was in his thirties, and absolutely loved every moment of it, and found it to easily be the most beautiful place he's ever been.

what was their least favorite spot that they’ve ever traveled to? Every place on the planet has its value, but there are places he spent time in as a soldier that he would prefer not to return to, for obvious reasons.

is there a place that they’ve always wanted to visit? Probably New Zealand.

if they had to take a solo trip anywhere in the world, where would it be and why? Back to Iceland, he would want to visit it again with fresh eyes, and to take a lot more pictures, since that is one thing that he hadn't thought to do before.

if they had to take a family/group trip anywhere in the world, where would it be and why? He would love to take Theodore, Cordelia and their families out Yellowstone way, show them why he was so charmed and wrapped up in life there.

do they prefer to fly or drive when it comes to traveling? Definitely drive, he's not a huge fan of flying.

when traveling, do they have an itinerary, or are they doing things as the inspiration hits? Normally, he does things as inspiration hits, but there are always a few things on his to-do list that he would rather not miss out on.

hotel, motel, bed & breakfast, camping, rental home – where are they staying when they travel? If he's traveling with Annabelle Lee, he likes to stay in the camper; otherwise, he'd prefer to just pitch a tent and be happy. But if he has to stay in something that actually has walls, then either a bed and breakfast or a rental home. Something that's going to be quieter.

light packer or heavy packer? Light packer.

do they start packing way ahead of time, or is this a last minute, throw it in a suitcase kind of thing? About halfway in between; he definitely doesn't keep it for last minute, but he knows that he isn't going to take enough to necessitate starting super early, either.

most often forgotten item when traveling? He very, very rarely forgets anything, but sometimes doesn't pack enough socks.

the item they double, triple check for when traveling? Necessary paperwork (like a passport, or his IDs).

do they splurge on trips, or try to do them on a budget? Budget. That way if there are things that are going to cost a little bit more, he knows that he can afford them.

are they the kind to try all of the local cuisine, or do they stick with the stuff that they know they will like? Local cuisine! Jason's a stickler for supporting smaller businesses, anyway, so it works well for him.

more the adventurous type, or do they like to party and hit up the nightlife? Adventurous type. You'll very rarely catch Jason at any sort of 'night spot' unless he's there with friends.

international travel, or stick to the States? Both!

do they record their travels any way, like in a travel journal, scrapbooking, online, on social media? He's actually very bad about taking photos and keeping track of things -- Jason's more of a 'live in the moment and enjoy it' kind of person. But he's trying to get better about taking photos.

and lastly… do they use the pillow provided, or their own? His own, but he's not fussy. If he doesn't have it, he'll survive.

[travelfreebyblog]

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[tirednotflirting]

and we'd both stay out until the morning light

realizing i never posted this to tumblr. oops. ~vaguely~ inspired by 1973 by james blunt, an absolutely bitchin song i must say. and this piece was for miss helen aka @calumcest‘s bday approx one week and change ago. i went off a lil about my love and appreciation for her and our friendship in the ao3 a/n but the gist of it all is that helen is so so full of love and light and beautiful beautiful words and i’m so stupid thankful that this mess of a world brought us together. helen, if u see this, i love you to absolute pieces and i hope u are well x

you can find this here on ao3 if you wanna read there

Michael doesn’t consider himself to be great at much. He’s young, and making mistakes and having to try again is still his standard. He kind of likes that, though. He likes that his practicality in most things is seen as maturity and not a necessary default setting. He likes how his mom is proud when he learns how to cook a new vegetable or how to get a stain out of something. But he’s also comforted by the idea that it’s not irresponsible (or too much so, at least) when he throws caution to the wind and goes on some wild adventure with his friends or on his own. That it’s okay if he doesn’t know the word for something or has to google how to fill out a form because he’s still learning. Michael likes observing, learning about how he should be moving about the world.

That evening, something in the air feels electric. What exactly it is, Michael isn’t really sure, but it has him buzzing with anticipation for something. There’s a humming in the air around his apartment weaving around him like a ribbon but it’s moving too fast for him to latch onto. But for some reason, he doesn’t find it unsettling. He’s finishing up the dishes from dinner when the soft music playing from the speaker in his kitchen is interrupted with his ringtone.

He wipes his wet hands off before reaching into his back pocket. The screen shows a familiar picture, one always guaranteed to bring a smile to his face. He swipes his thumb across the glass and hits the speaker button. “Hi, Calum.”

“Come out with me tonight.”

His smile widens as he sets the phone on the island behind him so he can return to his drying rack. “Are we celebrating something?”

“Just being young and alive and in this gorgeous place and in love.” He can hear a dreamy tone to Calum’s words, evidence that he’s already begun a solo pregame.

“All about the dramatics tonight, are we?”

Calum huffs in a mock frustration. “We can’t let this place eat us alive, Mikey. Come out and dance with me.”

Michael sighs with a smile still pulling at his lips. He can practically hear the twinkle in Calum’s eyes that he tends to get when batting his eyes at Michael as he begs him to live a little. He thinks of the lunch he’s meant to attend with his advisor the following afternoon, of the novel and glass of wine sitting on his coffee table that he had set out for his quiet Saturday night in. But then he hears a quiet please, babe? across the line and rolls his eyes affectionately while placing the measuring cups back into their drawer. 

Maybe he’s meant to go on an adventure tonight. To observe, to see something new.

“I’ll be at yours in half an hour.”

*

Michael has never really liked clubs. He’s always found the environment to be one that bounces his brain between a place of numbness and overstimulation like his mind is a ping-pong ball. The duality of cocktails filled to the brim with liquor but also sugar only heightens the feeling. He prefers bright lights and sounds in a more controlled environment, like his computer screen or a movie theatre.

But Michael really likes Calum. And Calum likes clubs. So it’s fairly often that he finds himself with some brightly-colored drink in one hand and Calum grasping his other as he gets dragged through one of the night clubs near Calum’s new place.

The electric feeling in the air shifts with Michael’s change in setting. As Calum pulls him across the dance floor toward the bar for another drink, he senses it again, but in a different tone than he had felt in his apartment. Now it’s the beams of light passing between each of the bright, flashing bulbs high above their heads. It’s the energy swerving between the chattering, glittery people at the bar and the bass pumping below his feet. It’s Calum’s breathy laugh in his ear and the touch of his lips against Michael’s neck as he asks him if he wants something new to hold in his free hand.

Calum jumps up onto a stool at the bar as they wait for their next round and he pulls Michael to stand between his legs, his arms thrown lazily around his neck as he babbles through some story about some band that came into the studio that day. Michael loves watching Calum tell a story, his expressions adding their own layer of humor to the tale as Michael catches the rolling or widening of his eyes between flashes of colored light. Soon enough a couple more glasses are placed in front of them and Calum is reaching into his pocket for a few bills to pass back to the bartender before sliding down to the floor and pulling Michael back into the crowd.

Neither of them can dance to save their lives but that never stops Calum. He bounces around as Michael laughs and copies the movement. The liquid in their cups threatens to slosh to the floor or onto their shirts with each incredibly ungraceful swing of their hips.

“How is it,” Calum says between pants into Michael’s ear while wrapping an arm around his waist to pull him close, “that we’re out nearly every weekend and we still look like dads trying to dance every time we get out here?”

Michael shakes his head, the liquor in his cup starting to take its effects as he giggles against Calum’s cheek. “We’re musicians. One day when we make it big we’ll be too busy playing our instruments on stage to dance around. It would be a waste of time to learn to move any different than this.”

Calum’s smile shines bright through a laugh as he spins them around following Michael’s comment. “God, what are we going to do when our friends start getting married? We’ll be a disaster.” He pauses to take a sip of the concoction he’s ordered most recently. “Luke and Ashton are probably gonna threaten to kick us out if we move from our seats at their reception some day.”

“That’s how we’ll convince Ashton’s cheap ass to get the open bar. We’re far more agreeable when drunk.”

“Cheers to that.” Calum mockingly raises his cup and knocks it against Michael’s. 

The song changes then, the volume of the crowd rising with the song as the familiarity hits everyone’s ears and minds. Calum’s face bursts into a grin and his arms tighten around Michael’s neck to pull him closer to his chest. “Mm, love this song.” Calum pauses to sing along to the chorus. “Think I love you also.”

Michael blinks his eyes open, not having realized that they were closed. He watches light bounce around them and a drunken blush paint across Calum’s cheeks and nose. He’s had too much to drink to think too hard about it but really he’s never not questioning how he got so lucky. He lets his lips press against Calum’s nose, the rosiness in his own cheeks surely spreading when he catches Calum’s giggle through the music. “Love you too, Cal.”

They dance and sing for what feels like both hours and seconds. The mix of light and sound and those damn cocktails Calum keeps buying make Michael feel light like the confetti that starts flying around the room at some point in the night. He lost track of the number of nights they’ve had like this a long time ago, the center of glittering, happy chaos being a place Calum loves to frequent. He’d follow Calum anywhere, including to a mindless and seemingly pointless celebration like tonight. Michael knows he’ll go anywhere so long as he gets to keep watching the way Calum’s eyes and smile sparkle when even the faintest light hits his face. 

He’s watching it then, practically being blinded by it all, he thinks, when Calum catches Michael’s hand and pulls him back in for another dance.

*

They end up at the beach.

Their phones died ages ago but as the sun just barely begins to peek out from the ocean horizon, Michael figures it’s around 6am. They’re both still giggling and blushing at each other like mad as they strip off their socks and shoes and stumble toward the ocean. Michael isn’t even sure what he’s drunk off of anymore but whether it's Calum or the cocktails, he doesn’t really seem to care. 

Calum gasps at the temperature of the water as they let the little waves crash against their ankles, and he shuffles closer to Michael. He leans into Michael’s shoulder, lips pressing gently against his neck as Michael wraps an arm around his waist. 

The morning sunlight is just barely beginning to ripple over the dark water as they stand in silence, their breaths just barely audible over the waves. Normally seeing the ocean without the sun high up in the sky scares the hell out of Michael; hell, the ocean in general usually frightens him. It’s so unknown, and Michael doesn’t like being so close to something so vast and mysterious. It’s why he can’t think about space too hard most of the time either. He feels safe, though, and secure, standing there with Calum. He’s always wondering if it’s too early to think that way about the boy standing pressed against his side.

Eventually Calum lifts his head and grabs Michael’s hand, weaving their fingers together as he walks them back from the water just a bit before planting himself in the sand. “We’re watching the sunrise from here,” Calum explains to Michael’s confused eyes. Michael nods his understanding and drops down beside him.

“This city scares the hell out of me sometimes,” Calum says with a sigh, his fingers still dancing with Michael’s. “Like it always feels like I’m doing too much and not enough all at the same time. And then I get so stuck on figuring that out that I do nothing. There’s so many creatives here that the air feels like it’s filled with thoughts and ideas and dreams all the time. It’s so damn loud, you know?”

Michael nods, though the way Calum speaks he can’t really tell if he’s actually speaking to him or not. He considers asking but then Calum starts up speaking again, his crinkling eyes still facing out toward the water. 

“But then I come here and it’s like the tide kind of pulls all of that away. This is the only place where LA gets quiet, I think. It’s why I like to come out here.” 

Michael sticks his legs out in front of him and digs his bare feet into the sand as he ponders how to respond to Calum. “I get what you mean,” he starts as he drops his free hand against the cool sand and draws swirls with his finger. “I think this is the first time I haven’t been surrounded by people in a while.”

Calum’s head drops to Michael’s shoulder again and turns away from the water as he nestles his face into his neck. “Mali suggested coming out here after I’d had a bad day at the studio and you and the guys were all busy or something. Said it was her favorite place to gather up her own thoughts when she was trying out living here.”

As he drops Calum’s hand to let his hand reach up to tangle with the dark curls at the back of his neck, Michael lets the importance of this place, of Calum bringing him here settle over them. There are very few things that Calum keeps to himself, this spot apparently having been one until that morning. “Thank you for sharing this place with me. It’s a beautiful spot.”

He feels Calum shake his head just a little, his arm moving to wrap around Michael’s waist as his fingers play with the hem of his shirt. “Of course. I wanna share everything with you.”

The electric buzz Michael has felt around him the whole night settles with him and Calum out on the beach. Now it skips across the gentle waves that grow bluer with each passing minute as the sun rises. It blinks with the light from the street lamps back at the road as they go back and forth on whether or not it is time for them to say their daily goodbye as dawn turns to morning. Its final act, Michael senses, is the shock he gets as Calum straightens up and gently lifts his hand to the back of Michael's neck, causing him to turn as brown eyes meet green for just the briefest moment before their eyes flutter shut while their lips meet. 

*

“And that’s when I knew that he was my soulmate, ya know?” Michael says, his smile widening as he watches Calum’s eyes sparkle, tears threatening to fall from his dark lashes. “Because we should have been falling over ourselves with exhaustion at that point but I had never felt so awake in my life. I never wanted to sleep again because I never wanted to stop looking at him.”

A single tear does fall, racing down Calum’s cheek, and Michael lifts his hand from Calum’s grasp to gently wipe it away. “Anyway,” he laughs with a sniffle, his eyes pulling from Calum’s to face the room filled with their family and friends. “Thank you all for putting up with my nostalgia and thank you for coming to help us celebrate today. Enjoy the reception.”

The music picks up once people finish their brief clapping and Michael sits down again while he watches people around the room begin to rise and walk in the direction of the cakes and the bar. His eyes follow Luke and Ashton as they wander in the direction of Calum’s parents and sister, presumably to say hello again. Ashton’s eyes briefly meet his own and Michael laughs quietly as he watches Ashton’s left eye drop into a wink. They share the look for only a moment because then Luke is dragging him along and a hand dropping to Michael’s thigh pulls him back.

“I really liked that night,” Calum mumbles against Michael’s neck, his lips pressing just below his ear. “Liked hearing you tell the story of it even more.” 

Michael can’t help his laughter as a smile pulls at his cheeks. “Listen, there are very few stories of nights out that I can tell in front of our parents. Had to go digging through my journals to really settle on one.”

“You were journaling about me already back in the day? That’s so sweet.”

“Back in the day?” Michael questions as he sits up to meet his husband’s (the thought of the word alone bringing butterflies swarming into his stomach) eyes. “That was like four years ago, Cal. We’re too young for anything to be ‘back in the day’ yet.”

Calum’s face softens at his words, his hand lifting from Michael’s lap to cup his cheek, his thumb running across his cheekbone. “I can’t wait to grow old with you.”

He lets out a sigh while Michael blushes at him in response to the declaration. Calum leans forward to brush their lips together before rising, his empty glass in hand in need of a refill. Michael watches him wander through the crowd, shaking hands and exchanging smiles and kind words with every guest he passes while approaching the bar. None of it feels real yet, Michael thinks. Though it’s been less than two hours since they said I do so he figures he’s allowed a little longer to just be in awe of the fact that he’s got someone to spend the rest of forever traipsing through life with and that that someone is Calum.

And Michael still doesn’t consider himself to be great at much. He’s still young and can’t hold his liquor and can only really cook maybe three vegetables. But Michael is great at loving Calum and being loved by Calum. And maybe, for now, that’s enough. Michael finds himself thinking on that as he takes another sip from his own glass and gazes out to where Calum stands speaking to a friend and their partner. His cheeks warm as the three of them turn to look at him, a fond look resting against Calum’s face as their eyes meet. The ring on his left hand glitters in the light as he lifts it to gesture for Michael to join him.

Yeah, this is definitely enough.

*

[catloud]

Greta Gerwig is The Best One

I grew up loving, living and breathing two films: Little Women, with a wild and passionate Winona Ryder, and Emma Thompson’s Sense and Sensibility. The middle of three sisters, I saw our dynamic as a trio in both of them. We cast ourselves as these women, making our own Pickwick Papers and putting on plays in the garden, just like our beloved March sisters. My own teenage solitude revolved around moody walks in the hills near my house on a Scottish island, calling Willoughby’s name in the rain, usually to the soundtrack of Greenday or Alanis Morisette or Damien Rice.  These were the raw materials I had to craft my identity with. Sisters. Sisterhood. Love. Passion. Power. Freedom.

And, just as I was conditioned to pick a favourite Spice Girl or colour of Starburst, I immediately made Jo and Marianne my respective LW and S&S favourites. But Jo is something special. She is, after all, the patron saint of all aspiring writers and country bumpkins who move to the city for adventure. I feel that.

I know there’s something about Jo. Why did I make her The Best One?

What about Meg? Lovely Meg! Naturally maternal and equal parts severe, sensible and sweet, she gracefully bears the burdens of societal pressure and familial responsibility as the pioneering eldest child, while also taking responsibility for wrangling her more wayward sisters. She is a Mini Marmee, and lord knows we all love Marmee.

Or gentle Beth, wistful and musical, always striving to keep the peace between more the more overwhelming personalities within the household, and trying to make the world a better place for those less fortunate in times of extreme uncertainty. She loves everyone and everyone loves her.

Or Amy?  Artistic and refined Amy, who matches Jo in talent and strength of will but is a thousand times more socially savvy. She makes the rules of the world (for women like her) work as she intuitively knows how to wield and tame them, while Jo fights them kicking and screaming all the way.

The March sisters are timeless because they pose a question that has refused to leave me alone – what am I supposed to want? Jo is our natural Girl Power era heroine. She is all of the great feminist moments in one person. She’s Jane Fonda getting arrested at a protest. She’s telling a mansplainer to shut the fuck up. She’s not taking “because you’re a woman” for an answer, ever.

She’s wild and proud, recklessly emotional and deeply ambitious. And there it is. Ambition. The most masculine of fatal flaws that is at first admirable before it devours everything in its path, stopping at nothing till the whole world has been swallowed and spat out again.

We can’t all be Jos. Stoking and sustaining that level of craving and chasing is absolutely exhausting. And when what you want comes to you, and comes crashing down again because nothing is forever, then you’ll see the holes left behind. Creative projects and the pursuit of the next thing can be Polyfilla for the gaping, untreated hole left by perpetual loneliness. No one wants to look into its mouth for long, and so the great cycle begins again.

And I think about this now, because Hollywood’s Remake Olympics feels necessary this time. I need to see Jo again.

I find myself thirty, solo and skint. I have yet to find a like-minded soul who is more Alcott’s Laurie and less Austen’s Willoughby, and I’ve spent most of my twenties pursuing a career that I have loved but I’m convinced hasn’t loved me. I’ve hunted opportunities, scraped by when cash was tight with a knot in my stomach and instead of chasing something brilliant and wonderful, I have been obsessed with not failing. Failing isn’t an option. I don’t know what else to be instead.

Why was my hometown not enough?

Why did I have to want more?

These questions are Greta Gerwig’s territory, an artist who has made herself very much at home with stories about women at crossroads who sense good things on the horizon, but struggle to get their bearings. She is an artist I watch with so much strange pride, horrified that so few women are staking claims and taking names in a director’s chair and yet, there she is. There she has been, for years.  

As a writer and as a performer, Gerwig understands how painful it is to be in a perpetual state of becoming. Frances Ha - the 2012 film she starred in and co-wrote with director Noah Baumbach - is a masterpiece.  I resisted watching it for years, because I was scared of seeing myself in it. I was right, but I didn’t need to be scared. It’s filled with the same mundane intimacy in Little Women - girls sitting in bed together, making plans for a big, varied, wild life. Gerwig and Alcott write love stories about wanting to love life and have life love you back. Her eponymous character is the earnest, awkward and mis-stepping heart of a film that scrambles up the crushing economic realities of modern life with whimsical and chic French New Wave aesthetics, adding glimmers of Fame and Footloose for fun. “Scrambling” is the most appropriate adjective for her. A precariously-employed dancer, she tells successful and self-assured best friend Sophie in the film’s deeply intimate opening montage “I tried to make a frittata and it’s really more of a scramble”.  And we all know you can’t make an omelette without cracking eggs. They feature again in her Oscar-nominated and Golden Globe-winning Lady Bird. Arguing with her mother, Saorise Ronan’s Christine/ Lady Bird asks why she can’t cook breakfast, to which the excellent Laurie Metcalf replies “Because you take too long and make a big mess and I have to clean the whole thing up.” Eggs. Metaphors for messy lives, and a nod to the mothers we came from. The mothers!  They’re poets and they don’t even realise. I love Gerwig and Alcott’s big-hearted mothers, so afraid for wayward daughters who want more than they can provide and say things like “I didn’t raise you like this!” when they act up. When we act up. I know you didn’t, and I’m sorry.

At the helm of Lady Bird, Gerwig is even more masterful at painting sisterhood and choices with a bold intensity, coloured with vivid metaphorical visuals. Juxtaposing the joy of a first kiss with a hushed conversation about tight finances gives economic hardship and anxiety the same weight in the drama as romantic entanglements. Lady Bird’s mother is often visibly crushed by her daughter’s ungrateful and embarrassed recognition that they aren’t wealthy, and “wrong side of the tracks” cliches are shown to be careless, throw away words for painful and inescapable realities. Gerwig crafts anxious and relatable narratives around being economically downtrodden and feeling less sure-footed in the face of those who have hit certain milestones. Her work is peppered with the many little audacious deceptions we pull off that conceal deep-rooted despair; the greater truths can be reached when we take sex out of the equation, or throw it in; the sorrow of being left behind. But she always gives us joy, too. Writing the names of boys we love on the wall and painting over them when don’t anymore.  Going to view houses, trying on other lives for fun, because it’s wonderful and poignant to deliberately get lost in the woods to simply feel every now and then.  

She makes me nostalgic for that particular sweet spot in my adolescence. There is so much I hated about being a teenager, but I was restless and hungry and I miss that person. I still want to believe that the world is full and vibrant, and that I deserve a slice of it nut sometimes I fear that I will never feel brave or excited again. But Gerwig is familiar with this feeling and Little Women, in essence, explores all of these fears. Her films show women living their lives differently and overcoming the battles that ensue, and this makes her the perfect wrangler for the March sisters, each with their own diverging life paths but all of them equally valid.

Of course, to call it an exploration of modern feminism isn’t wholly true. Feminism that isn’t intersectional isn’t feminism and Little Women as a historical piece is incredibly white and heteronormative. But, there are lessons to be learned about what being a woman today looks like. It takes guts to be a mother and raise children, or to pursue the life you desire even if it takes you thousands of miles from what you know and who you love. She understands that choosing a creative career - and continuing to choose it in the face of all its difficulties – is to peer into the lion’s mouth. Her films have a simmering undercurrent that points a finger directly at the harsh reality and unspoken acceptance that art is for the rich, and the pursuit of culture indicates a sense of superiority or reaching above station. And it will always take courage to break free from expectations, even if those expectations come from the people you love most.

I refuse to pick a favourite this time.

Meg March is coming home.

Beth March is your favourite album on vinyl.

Amy March is playing poker, and winning.

And Jo? Jo March is every foolish text and all sparkling, heartfelt conversations.

If I have to pick My Best One, it’s Gerwig herself. She is a storyteller who handles life’s tiny disappointments and triumphs like precious ornaments. She is a master of making mountains out of moments, of carefully handling stories that give women space to live untidily and brilliantly, of big and small rituals we do to root the person we’re becoming to the person we used to be, and to the people, places and things we’ve loved, always.

I feel safe in her hands. I couldn’t trust my March sisters to anyone less worthy, and I can’t wait to see these women I love through her imaginative, sensitive and determined eyes.

[dfhvn]

The Triumphant Return of Deafheaven: Interview // NME

Feature by Tom Connick via NME

With ‘Ordinary Corrupt Human Love’, California’s Deafheaven have released one of the most acclaimed albums of the year, a record that makes non-metal fans sit back and think, ‘Wait, do I like metal?’ Tom Connick finds them – surfing, no less – on the day of the album’s release.

Kerry McCoy spent the morning surfing. The black-haired, bespectacled metalhead might not look like the archetypal surf bro, but McCoy uses the waves as an escape fairly often. Today, the guitarist took to the board to get away from his own record – Deafheaven’s ‘Ordinary Corrupt Human Love’, which, when we speak, has been streaming online pre-release for a matter of hours.

“I’ve been trying not to look,” he says of the online reaction to the record. After his time on the sea, he went to hang out with friends – now he’s back home, ignoring his phone as much as possible. “My mom is keeping me updated,” Kerry says – he laughs when I suggest she might be filtering out any negativity.

Any longtime Deafheaven fan will appreciate his apprehension. Since their 2013 breakthrough, the Californian metallers – completed by vocalist George Clarke, guitarist Shiv Mehra, bassist Chris Johnson and see-him-to-believe-it mega-talent drummer Dan Tracy – have courted critical acclaim and genre purist backlash like few others. Second record ‘Sunbather’, released in 2013, was a beautiful fusion of post-rock atmospherics and doomy, heavy aggression, which achieved metal’s most elusive feat – crossover success. Heralded as genius by critics across the globe, this small-time, seemingly niche prospect soon found themselves performing at mainstream festivals like Coachella, and – according to reviews aggregate Metacritic – producing the year’s most critically acclaimed record, beating the likes of Beyoncé‘s self-titled, Kanye West‘s ‘Yeezus’, Daft Punk‘s ‘Random Access Memories’ and countless others to the top spot. With breakthrough success, though, came underground backlash. Black metal purists turned their noses up at Deafheaven, pinning them as culture vultures after a quick buck. They hadn’t paid their dues, spewed the forums, all while Deafheaven’s stature continued to rise. Their sonic fusions irritated the blacker-than-thou, too. “A lot of people have this idea that we’re thumbing our nose at the metal diehards,” says Kerry, “and it’s never that. It’s really just that we want to be this kind of band.” The fact they were pinned as metal saviors by some corners of the press was “overwhelming”, Kerry admits. Reviewed and written about by critics who’d never delved into the world of atmospheric metal before, they soon became tagged with all kinds of statements – ones they never wanted to make themselves. “You got people that either like, just really liked Beach House and had in no way ever listened to metal, but were like, ‘This is the most original thing I’ve ever heard in my entire life, this is god’s gift to music, oh my god’, and then there were people where all they listen to is Mortuary Drape, or they’re on the Nuclear War Now! Forums like, ‘This band is wildly unoriginal and the original thing that they’re ripping off sucks – this is the worst thing that could possibly happen to music’,” Kerry explains. “Both of those people were wrong!”

Citing the likes of ColdWorld and Alcest as early inspirations, he’s keen to drive home that Deafheaven never thought they were reinventing any wheels. “You’re getting blamed for stuff that you didn’t write, or you didn’t say, or whatever,” he shrugs. “People are gonna say what they’re gonna say, and they’ll like it or they won’t. Either way, we tried our hardest. That’s a mature way of thinking about it that I have now, but I think at the time we were trying to get to that point… hence my mom texting me stuff about the record, rather than me looking at it.

Photo credit:  Sean Stout ‘Ordinary Corrupt Human Love’ is a record many will have to hear to believe. A swarming, euphoric mass of metal extremity, huge post-rock, Britpop melodies and guitar solos that could slot into place on a Thin Lizzy record, it’s a record that could soundtrack both victory marches and funerals – at once beautiful and bleak. “We’re all dudes that like extreme metal – really heavy, ridiculous stuff – but then we’re all dudes that really like psych-rock and shoegaze, Britpop, Madchester… Everyone in the band listens to everything,” explains Kerry of that anything-goes musical approach. No idea is considered too outlandish in the writing process, he explains: “If we like it, it goes in there – I think that’s how we end up with things like ‘Night People’ on the record, which is more like Portishead or The xx than anything else. The main thing that stops it sinking into those more atmospheric indie passages is George’s banshee vocal. A death metal-like scream that could shatter your grandma’s spine, it adds an element not often found in records this sonically beautiful. “I think that the juxtaposition between the harsh vocal and the more melodic parts of the songs is cool,” says George, matter-of-factly. “I think that my voice, more than anything, provides a lot of texture to the music. I think that its main process is to provide texture, which I think is a little bit different to how vocals are normally approached.” It’s a method which sees George’s vocal used as much like a musical instrument as it is a means to deliver a story – though that vicious scream hides poetry worthy of its own publication. “I think that – while it can be a little difficult for some to hear – it’s an integral part of the band,” George continues. “It’s necessary to do.” Fusing all those elements is often a case of trial-and-error. When it came time to approach ‘Ordinary Corupt Human Love’, the band exchanged voice notes and iPhone memos for months, before entering the practise studio last October. Picking out various riffs and piano parts that they’d demoed, and noodling over the top of each other, Kerry and Shiv began constructing what would become Deafheaven’s fourth full-length, almost by accident. “That happens a lot,” Kerry admits, “I’ll be playing this weird riff, just messing with it, and Shiv will just jump on top of it with something he’s making up on the fly, and we’ll be like, ‘Stop… that’s the thing. Don’t change that – that’s it right there’.” Your music taste stems from a pretty British indie background – Oasis are one of your favourite bands, right? Kerry: Yeah, definitely. Shiv is really into that too – we’re both large Manchester fans. I’m more of like a hooks, Beatles-y kinda guy, and he’s more of a Pink Floyd-y, psychy kinda guy. When we put that together, it comes out with this weird thing. For me, I can hear all of those things. I feel like it’s a… I don’t know what else to really compare it to, and I don’t mean to compare myself to this band, but I’d imagine this is how Thom and Jonny from Radiohead feel. There’s a really cohesive thing, where both of their separate influences gel together really nicely – that’s how I feel about Shiv. We’re both really good at separate things, and those things come together really nicely. Is it nice to find someone that you can gel with like that – if you’re mixing together loads of different influences, it can go disastrously, sometimes. Kerry: Absolutely. [laughs] And especially with Chris – he’s by far the most musical of any bassist we’ve ever had, and then Dan’s drumming, I think, just speaks for itself. I’m yet to meet another person who can play drums like him.

Photo credit:  Sean Stout That adulation is core to Deafheaven’s being. Now steadfast in their line-up after a bunch of early-days personnel changes, their trust runs deep. Kerry and George – ostensibly Deafheaven’s central duo – met at 14, drawn together in the kind of teen movie fashion only outcast kids at an American high-school could really muster. “I saw George at school – he was this new kid and he had a Slayer shirt on,” Kerry explains. “I went over to him and complimented him on his Slayer shirt, and I had a Dead Kennedys back patch and he was like, ‘Cool patch!’. The rest is history,” he peels off with a laugh. “I feel very fortunate to have that relationship,” says George more solemnly. “Most people go into these great adventures alone, and it’s been nice not having to do that. ”Off the back of ‘Sunbather’’s acclaim, 2015 follow-up ‘New Bermuda’ was a much darker prospect, stripping out much of the beauty that made ‘Sunbather’ so accessible to those outside of metal’s four walls. Rather than a sonic mission statement, the shift was a reflection of the impact that explosion of interest had on the band. “It was just exhausting,” says George today. “We didn’t really have a break between ‘Sunbather’ and ‘New Bermuda’, and we essentially – in terms of recording and touring – just merged those two together. By the time that we were done recording that record, we were a little bit jaded, and definitely in need of a break.” Kerry agrees: “’New Bermuda’ was a very big reaction – when I listen to that record I can feel the stress in it – it sounds like five guys who have their insides all wound up.” The result was a record which revelled in self-hatred.

Photo Credit: Sean Stout Was that darkness on ‘New Bermuda’ a reaction to the way ‘Sunbather’ exploded? You just got thrown into this, what I expect was, quite an unexpected success. George: Yeah. That’s exactly it – with ‘Sunbather’ we found an opportunity to live off our music, and then we started living off our music, and then we got really scared of not being able to do that. We just kept going – we didn’t want to take any breaks. It was great – we did a tonne of extremely cool things – but it also took a bit of… a bit of a toll. Growing up in that metal community, too, you don’t ever expect to have that kind of crossover success. It’s not really the done thing – it’s not something you’re prepared for. George: Yeah, I think so. We’re flying this ship blindly, is how I like to describe it. Everything that we were embarking on then – and even still now – a lot of the time, is unfamiliar territory. We navigate it as best we can. It is interesting being this sort of ‘crossover’ metal act, because there comes pressure from both sides, in a way. The Deafheaven of 2018 harbour a far more positive view of that crossover appeal – in fact, with the demons of the ‘New Bermuda’ cycle now behind them, ‘Ordinary Corrupt Human Love’ is an altogether more positive prospect all round. “If we’re your gateway into this beautiful form of music, then I think that’s win-win for everybody,” shrugs Kerry. “I feel like when I was a kid, there was a hard line between being into alternative music and alternative things – especially aggressive music and aggressive things – and being a regular guy,” Kerry continues. “What I kinda see happening is that those lines are getting blurred. Some of these kids, these high-school kids, it’s not a big thing. They’re listening to the new Drake record or whatever, and then they’ll have Code Orange or Power Trip on next. From what I’ve seen, it’s not even really being talked about anymore – it’s kinda generally accepted that everyone needs to have a diverse music diet. I think that there’s a lot of bands out there that are helping open those doors, and I hope we’re one of them. More than it’s bands that are doing it, I think it’s just kids are smarter now than when I was in high school,” he breaks off with a laugh: “I remember it sucked being the punk kid in high school, when I was there.” ‘Ordinary Corrupt Human Love’, then, feels like a victory lap. It’s an escape from numerous dark pasts – one that finds Deafheaven rejuvenated. “It’s definitely a cathartic record,” Kerry agrees. “To me it sounds like five dudes who have, essentially, been holding their breath for about five years [laughs]. We’re finally taking a deep breath and relaxing a little bit, instead of trying to handle things in a negative way. I think you can definitely hear that on it.” It’s a record which doesn’t shy away from the grisly truth of that path to redemption, though – for every soaring, reflective moment of musical bliss, there’s a doomy scream, or a well-timed lyrical takedown, to bring things back to reality – for every ‘You Without End’, on which George sings of being “In a dark tunnel / And new dawn approaching / With a sphere of light / Ever glowing”, there’s a ‘Honeycomb’, which finds him declaring that “My love is a bulging, blue-faced fool / Hung from the throat by sunflower stems.” “If I’m going to be spending time making art, or spending time writing lyrics or writing music, I think it’s important just to be honest,” says George. “I think it’s a waste of time if I’m not honest, and in being honest one has to reflect on both the positive and negative aspects of life. I think we try and do that – we try and be well-rounded about our reflections on life, and take the good with the bad, and not shun away the darker side of things. We try and be as accurate a representation of our feelings as possible.” “I think that, where the world is at now… I know I’m in desperate need of some positivity these days,” says Kerry. “It is nice to be out there and put out a record that isn’t literally pure darkness. It’s almost like a true, human version of positivity – it’s flawed positivity, like: ‘Hey, no one’s perfect here – but we’re all gonna end up alright’. ”Deafheaven’s new album ‘Ordinary Corrupt Human Love’ is out now via ANTI- Records.

[unexpectedreylo]

Spoilerific Thoughts On “Solo”

Rosé All Day In The GFFA!

As of writing, I’ve seen the movie twice and I really enjoyed it both times.   Forget those tales of a troubled production; Ron Howard made a solidly entertaining, fun film with lots of goodies and surprises for fans of most stripes.

“Solo” is basically a heist movie and a Marvel-esque origin story at the same time.  When we meet Everyone’s Favorite Smuggler, he’s a runaway living in Corellia’s dark and filthy underworld hoping for the big score to get him and his girlfriend Qi’ra away from their Fagin-like “master.”   We march through Han’s escape from Corellia, how he ended up with his last name, his abrupt and necessary decision to go to the Imperial Academy, his time as an Imperial officer, his first meeting with Chewbacca, and his re-entry into the galaxy’s underworld with his mentor, Tobias Beckett.  We witness his first meeting with Lando Calrissian and finding the love of his life, at least the one that isn’t a breathing person, the Millennium Falcon.  The famous sabacc game?  It’s there.  So’s the legendary Kessel Run.  All of the while, Han’s penchant for trouble and not listening to anyone but himself puts him in danger over and over.  It’s all great character development and enjoyable to watch.  But there’s more!  In “Solo,” we see the gray and topsy-turvy world of the galaxy’s criminal class.  Sometimes it appears glamorous and beautiful, sometimes it looks just like what it is:  dirty and awful.  The good turns out to be bad and the bad turns out to be good.  All of the while, Beckett reminds Han never to trust anyone.

So, you might ask, what did you think of Alden Ehrenreich?  Alden was in the same crappy position that Chris Pine was in while playing Captain Kirk in the more recent Star Trek films; it’s very difficult to step into a very famous role played by a very famous actor.  Ewan McGregor had a similar problem but because he played Obi-Wan decades younger, it gave him a lot more wiggle room to define the character himself while making it credible he and Alec Guinness were playing the same guy.  Ehrenreich and Pine were playing their respective roles less than 20 years younger than their more legendary incarnations.  That’s tough.  I’m certain some people are blowing off this film simply because they can’t accept someone else playing Han Solo.  The other side of that coin is it’s precarious in HOW you play the character.  Take on too much of Ford’s affectations, it looks like an impersonation, one that could descend into parody fast.  Completely ignore them and people won’t connect that it’s Han Solo at all.  Now, Ehrenreich doesn’t really look much like Ford.  He’s shorter, his nose is smaller, the whole shape of his face is different.  There’s only a bit of resemblance around the eyes and the makeup people thoughtfully added Ford’s chin scar.  It’s a little jarring when you realize that eventual son Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) really does look related to Ford while Ehrenreich looks like neither one of them.  My mom the movie critic, who saw the movie with me and my brother the first time, thought Ehrenreich is actually better-looking than Ford.  But (and there’s always a but) attitude can make up for a lack of resemblance.  More on that in a second.  For what it’s worth, Ehrenreich does have the right attitude.  It’s like seeing a more boyish Han, one who gets by on b.s. and bluster, who’s a tiny bit full of himself, and who hasn’t experienced a decade’s worth of betrayals yet to come and other things that made him far more world-weary in ANH.  This Han is charming and self-assured, a cinnamon roll whose circumstances define him but won’t defeat him and turn him into well, Qi’ra.  From this movie, it’s easy to see why he was drawn to Rey in TFA.  He saw a lot of himself in her.

Everyone does a pretty bang up job in the film performance-wise.  I have to say Donald Glover absolutely kills it as Lando.  Glover doesn’t really look like Billy Dee Williams but he’s got the Lando-ness down perfectly:  the smoothness, the vague sleaziness, the flair for fashion, and all around cool.  He even nailed Williams’s way of speaking without making it an impersonation.  Glover has so much charisma in the part, I really wouldn’t mind seeing him again in his own adventure.  Woody Harrelson was an excellent fit as Beckett.  Harrelson brings his own charisma and worldliness as the father figure who initiates Han into the life that as prophesized, he never got out of.  Casting him was a great idea.  Also worthy of mention is Phoebe Waller-Bridge as L3-37, or simply “L3.”  Funny and sassy, you’ll be touched by her short time onscreen.  And the mysterious Enfys Nest (Erin Kellyman) who turns out to be not quite what we thought.

The surprise in this turned out to be Emilia Clarke as Qi’ra.  Of all the new characters, she’s easily the most fascinating.  She’s beautiful, smart, resourceful, and tough but also a bit of a femme fatale.  She has a heart but she’s also hungry and hell bent on not ending up a Corellian street rat again.   She is what Han could have been with a few degrees of difference in his personality or more time spent a virtual slave on Corellia, what Rey could have been had she decided to trade on her looks and feminine wiles for material security from crime bosses.  The interesting thing about her is she clearly cares about Han.  I don’t know if she loves him per se but she does care about him enough to know she has to protect him from her.  She’s sort of like that old Amy Winehouse song, “You Know I’m No Good.” Paul Bettany’s character and Beckett both warn Han that he doesn’t know her as well as he thinks he does and that she’s done some pretty bad things.  We know for sure she allied herself with a crime syndicate that has committed atrocities and well, we find out toward the end how far her darkness extends.  She accepts Han’s affections but to a point.  Why?  She knows they can’t get attached.  At the end, when she splits in the mobile Crimson Dawn HQ, it seems to parallel the last Force bond seen in TLJ.  In TLJ, Rey has to do it for her own sake as well as Kylo’s.  In this movie, Qi’ra does it for Han’s own good.  The more he’s kept away from this stuff the better, not so much IMO she fears that lifestyle would destroy him as she realizes at some point her knife has to go between Han’s shoulder blades if he keeps hanging around.

Poor Han.  Not only can the guy never escape trouble, he’s constantly faced with betrayal throughout his life, which it is easy to see why he leans so much on Chewie.  Say what you will about Chewbacca, but he’s the one of the very few beings who never lets Han down.  Sadder yet are the implications of Han’s upbringing and his relationships with authority/father figures.  In one conversation with Lando, Han mentions his blue collar dad that he wasn’t close to.  Who knows what THAT relationship was like?  Han tells his Imperial recruitment officer that he “has no people,” so the officer christens him Solo.  (For all we know, Han’s real last name is Wallbanger or Horowitz or Seymour-Butts.)  Why Han was on the streets is still a mystery.  Did Han simply run away from home?  Was it disagreement and butting heads or was there severe dysfunction, i.e. addiction, abuse, neglect?  Did Han do something to the old man?  We don’t know and it’s not like Han to tell.  Han takes to Beckett as a surrogate father figure who of course betrays him.  Another fascinating and tragic parallel takes place near the end of the movie.  Most people pay attention more to the “Han shot first” aspect of it rather than how this scene predicts Han’s eventual fate in TFA.  Han kills his father figure just as his own son will eventually kill him.  Han of course was acting in self-defense but it’s tragic all the same.  Han’s family situation also predicts the struggles he has in his relationship with Ben Solo.  In this context it makes sense that a man who had no idea what a dad is like would struggle to be one himself, especially since he’s almost or at middle age when it finally happens.

Another thing to love about “Solo” is its careful attention to the mythos.  The film has the style and feel of Brian Daley’s novels from back in the day, while much of Han’s backstory, known to Star Wars lore fans for decades, is in here.  Moreover, elements from the expanded universe, video games, The Clone Wars, and the prequels are brought in to great effect.  Teras Kasi?  Glee Anselm?  The Maw?  Carrida?  Aurra Sing’s fate? Colo claw fish roe as an appetizer?  It’s all in here!

I will say this:  DARTH MAUL’S SHOCK CAMEO GIVES ME LIFE!!!

I blurted out, “What the hell?!”  when he turned up at the end of the film.  (I also had to explain to my brother, who had never seen The Clone Wars or Rebels, why Maul was still alive.)  A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one.  That Qi’ra is working for him has a whole host of implications for her and possibilities for Maul to return in other Star Wars canon.  And yes, that’s Ray Park reprising his role and Sam Witwer voicing him.

“Solo”’s score is pretty good, a mix of original and unique music and John Williams’s classic scores.  Listen for some fun callbacks like “Asteroid Chase” from TESB.

Like “Rogue One,” “Solo” is a smaller movie than the bigger, sweeping main saga flicks.  It doesn’t have TLJ’s artistic ambitions or haunting quality.  But there’s room for a movie that’s pure fun with a few more layers than expected.

[elwincastro901-blog]

Best hiking tips for new hikers

Get outside and enjoy one of the simplest, most reinvigorating hobbies there is: hiking.

If you’re new to hiking, read on to learn what you need to know before you hit the trails, whether you’re planning a stroll through the woods or a multi-day backpacking trip.

Why hike?

The wind stung and burned our faces. Step by step, we made our way upwards, and then we were there, on top of a snow-covered ridge in western Wyoming, on top of the Continental Divide in the Wind River Mountains.

Though it was late June, the temperature was barely over freezing up on the pass, just under 13,000 feet above sea level.

Above us, a bright blue sky. The view was spectacular, valleys spreading out before us, forests and rivers and glaciers, all of it so tiny and yet so vast.

More hiking guide : https://www.hikingbay.com

We snapped some pictures and began our descent from the ridge, eager to escape the biting cold.

That night we made camp beside a long lake, where it dropped well below zero degrees Fahrenheit.

Today was day seventeen of a thirty-day expedition, and to this day, that unnamed pass over the Divide remains special to me. The amazing beauty of the wilderness, land so wild that even the loggers and miners of the 19th century had been forced back by the cold and the snow.

Land so wild that even before people came to the Americas on wooden ships, the natives of the land only passed through as hunters, as the vicious weather forced them to stay in more hospitable lands for the winters.

How had we arrived here? What drew fifteen people to this wonderful yet desolate place?

For some adventure was the call; for others the wilderness was the place they could go to leave their pasts behind. Whatever the cause, we travelled together. What To Wear On A Hike And Still Look Cute? https://www.hikingbay.com/what-to-wear-on-a-hike-and-still-look-cute

Several of us had spent months in the field before, while for one of our group, this was the first time outside of a city or suburb.

Some people view the wilderness with fear or even distaste. Some live in big cities and don’t have the chance to venture into the great outdoors as often as they would like. Some would like to start hiking but aren’t sure where to start—what gear to buy, where to go, how to navigate, and so on.

And of course there are many like me, wilderness fanatics who need at least a hike or two every week.

If you’re reading this, you might want similar experiences, but how? Isn’t it expensive? Isn’t is difficult or dangerous?

These questions don’t have simple one-word answers, but I’ll do my best to give you solid advice for starting off in hiking. It changed the way I see the world around me, and I hope it will do the same for you. 10 Tips For Hiking Solo: Always Safe And Never Sorry https://www.hikingbay.com/10-tips-for-hiking-solo-always-safe-and-never-sorry

What gear do I need?

One of the most common misconceptions about spending time outdoors is that it will cost you a lot of money.

While this can be true, it doesn’t have to be. So here are some tips for choosing gear that will serve you well and not require you to sell a kidney.

First off, the most important gear out there is not actually equipment. It’s your skills and mindset. All the greatest gear will do absolutely nothing for you if you cannot safely and effectively use it. Just got a new pair of boots? Break them in at the park, not in the wilderness. Also, stay positive. A bad mindset will make you miserable, so keep positive. Being able to laugh at adversity will make hiking a whole lot easier for you.

Next up, use what you already have. You do not need all the newest stuff available.

If you’re brand new to hiking, your first purchases will probably be a good pair of boots and some activewear. Beyond that, take you time to see how you like hiking, build your skill sets, and gradually acquire or upgrade equipment. Once you have more experience, then maybe consider putting money into stuff. 3 Days Colorado Trail Suggestion And Planning https://www.hikingbay.com/3-days-colorado-trail-suggestion-and-planning

Clothing

That said, there is some equipment that is highly recommended for hiking and backcountry travel. I’ll start with clothes: • Hiking boots or shoes • Socks • Hiking sandals • Dry-fit clothes • Merino wool shirt • Raincoat • Sunglasses • Gloves

Footwear

I have seen people going on quick day hikes in full-on heavy mountaineering boots and I can say without any doubt that that is a mistake. Lightweight is your friend.

There are a number of high-quality and relatively lightweight hiking boots on the market. I’ve had luck with brands like Asolo and Vasque. They’re extremely durable, comfortable over long distances, and provide some ankle support over rocky terrain. Some boots come with Gore-Tex coating that will even keep out water.

A solid pair of hiking boots will likely be one of your biggest investments when you start out hiking. Expect to pay $150 to $300 for a quality pair.

If you balk at the price of hiking foot wear, you can consider going hiking in sneakers.

After all, the Lewis and Clark expedition crossed North America from 1804 to 1806 in moccasins. Yes, just plain leather moccasins. The key to wearing minimalist footwear in the field is having strong ankles. I trail run to build ankle strength, and have never had an issue wearing light shoes in the wilderness.

Add some low leg gaiters to the mix to keep out rocks and dust, and you’re set in the footwear department.

Sneakers might lack the ankle support and traction of hiking boots, but they are generally fine for shorter hikes of mild to moderate difficulty. So let’s say you want to try out hiking, or go on the occasional day hike, but aren’t sure you want to splash out on expensive shoes just yet.

If you already own a decent pair of sneakers, try hiking in them. Are they comfortable? Are you able to handle the terrain? And if, over time, you decide to pursue hiking more seriously, you can always buy some hiking boots then.

Now let’s consider socks. A good pair of socks is absolutely indispensable when you’re hiking.

Don’t wear cotton socks. You’ll soon regret it when your sweaty feet start sprouting blisters. Stick to wool socks by brands like Smartwool, REI, or Thorlos.

If you are planning to hike in heavy rain or through any river crossings, consider bringing a spare pair of socks with you. Hiking with wet feet is pretty uncomfortable.

A final footwear option to consider is hiking sandals. These cost around $50 to $100, so they’re a more modest investment than most hiking boots.

I’ve had a pair of Keen hiking sandals for about five years now, and they’ve taken me on some light- to moderate-level hikes. Sandals are not the best idea if you’re going bushwhacking (your feet will get cut up), but if you stick to trails, they can be a great option. They’re also fantastic if you’ll be hiking through water or getting your feet wet. Sandals are lightweight, let your feet breathe, and tend to dry out more quickly than traditional hiking boots.

Plus, if you go camping, they make perfect camp shoes, allowing your feet to air out at the end of the day.

Things to consider: do they provide toe protection? Personally, I like having a cap over my toes since otherwise I have a real knack for scraping them.

How good is the traction? Are they adjustable? My Keens have adjustable straps, which is awesome—sometimes your feet swell a bit by the end of a long day of walking.

Clothing

What should you wear on a hike? You certainly could spend a fortune on the latest, greatest activewear styles, but there’s no need to remortgage your house.

Here are some general guidelines to start with: You’ll want a couple good shirts and at least one pair of pants, shorts, or leggings. A sports bra may be necessary ladies.

If you’re planning to hike in cooler weather, you need at least one warmer, long-sleeve top, along with a coat or rain jacket. And, as discussed above, some good wool socks.

Let’s talk clothing material. As a general rule of thumb, avoid cotton. Why? Because when cotton gets wet, it stays wet for a very long time, and once wet, it has almost no heat retention.

Also, once cotton is wet, it chafes like nothing else. So leave the cotton and denim at home.

Instead, wear a simple pair of thin nylon pants and a dry-fit shirt made of a synthetic fabric. These fabrics dry quickly and won’t cause you discomfort. They’ll wick sweat away from your body instead of getting clammy and keeping it against your skin.

Now what about hiking in the cold? Wool is your friend.

You can bring grandma’s Christmas sweater (seriously, I will respect you forever if you wear a Christmas sweater on a hike without shame). However, typical wool clothes are heavy and bulky, so consider something like merino wool instead.

This stuff is amazing, but yes it costs quite a bit. Look for it on sale or used. Merino wool shirt is light and warm, and it compresses down into nothing if you’re carrying it in a backpack.

I’ve been in sub-zero temperatures Fahrenheit in nothing but a few layers of merino wool and not been overly cold. What about clothing for bad weather? A nice, top-of-the-line raincoat is prohibitively expensive for many people.

Finding The Best Lightweight Sleeping Bag For Hiking https://www.hikingbay.com/finding-the-best-lightweight-sleeping-bag-for-hiking

Arcteryx, my personal favorite, sells coats for around $300 to $500. Yeah. That’s a lot. Again, try buying used, but also be careful not to buy junk. A cheap rubber raincoat from a garage sale may be waterproof, but remember that waterproofing works both ways. It will keep rain out…and it will keep sweat in.

So it is wise to invest in a triple-membrane fabric raincoat. Don’t bother with the technical details, but these coats breathe decently, meaning that you won’t end up drenched and cold in your own sweat. You can get a decent raincoat for around $200 from a company like REI, though try looking at sales to get one for less. I recently picked up a great waterproof coat from L.L. Bean for $90, marked down from $300.

Additional clothing items

Don’t forget to bring sunglasses! As long as you’re okay scratching them up or getting them dirty, they’ll work out fine in the field. Protecting your eyes is important, especially in higher or snowy areas, as the sun can do serious damage to you. And while you’re at it, never forget the sunscreen!

Gloves can also be a sensible purchase for the avid hiker. They protect your hands while you scramble over rocks and keep your fingers warm in colder weather.

I usually bring my Buff along on hikes too. This circular band of material has many uses. Typically, I use mine to shield my neck from the sun or to mop sweat off my face.

[travellovekai-blog]

Hola everyone as some of you know by now Jeff my boyfriend spends a good deal of time in Alaska working. It sadly is a necessity still at this point in our lives. I am extremely grateful for all his hard work and his dedication to our life. However, this leaves me to live and travel alone quite frequently. Yes sometimes I travel with a friend or two but the majority of the time it’s just me. I’m going to share with you the good, the bad and …. Of traveling alone in countries that many still view as the third world. I do not always agree with this term analogy but to each their own. My viewpoint is that it’s just a different world compared to some of the other countries like say, The United States of America or Europe. Which is also why I am so intrigued, enthralled  and love it here.

Okay, so when I travel alone I typically do it the cheapest way possible. As of now, we don’t get paid to travel we travel because it calls to us. I share all our stories with you because I love sharing them with you. Writing and traveling is my passion in life. I spend as little as possible on transportation and accommodations I’d rather use that money for experiences. I stay mostly in hostels but from time to time an airbnb. This next trip I’m taking I’m actually staying in a beautiful home for free while pet sitting. I’ve learned many ways to cut corners. I try to eat the majority of my meals where I’m staying. This way I can experience more of the cultural foods around me. I pick one meal a day where I’ll eat out and it’s usually not some fancy place. I mean I can eat in a restaurant at home. I like to eat at the food vendors, food trucks and small local mom and pop places. This is always where the good stuff is. Not only is the food more authentic but it’s always cheaper.

Tacos Darado

Toni Col Made right here

Now some of you might be thinking to yourselves what about safety? In my eyes safety is an issue anywhere in the world. Traveling smart is the key. Don’t leave your belongings anywhere, don’t walk in the dark so on and so forth. Whenever humanly possible when I arrive somewhere new I try to schedule my arrival to be during the daylight hours. This way it’s not as confusing and uncomfortable to get around in a new place. The light of day makes easier. In my experience, bad people are kind of like cockroaches they come out at night usually. Oh and always use a licensed taxi service.

Another thing I always do is download where I’m going and the places I’ll be staying in google maps. This way if I do get turned around anywhere all I have to do is bring up the address on my smartphone. It’s like the old “leave the porch light on for you” thing but it’s at my fingertips. This being said I always keep a written copy of what all the addresses are and the cross streets just encase. I mean we’ve all at one time or another forgot our phone, maybe we left it charging in the hostel or maybe left it at the last coffee shop oops. Now, this has never happened to me (Knock on wood). But I have accidentally left my phone charging at home when I was out for a walk and gotten turned around in a new area here in Mazatlan. Fortunately here I know if I head toward either the Malecon or to Centro I can figure out where the heck I need to go. But if it was somewhere new I wouldn’t have this advantage so when traveling I keep a backup of the necessary information with me always.

Photo by bruce mars on Pexels.com

Photo by Kaique Rocha on Pexels.com

Many of the towns, cities and countryside areas I travel to will have visitor kiosks or centers some of them have city maps. Whenever visiting a place that has a visitors center that is my first stop. I can get the lay of the land this way and many times get a map for free. Most of these centers want your experience in their town to be great so they’ll share a ton of information with you. Keep in mind that Mexico and Central America depend greatly on tourism so it is important for these tourist centers to help you have a good time. Another good thing about these people for those of you that speak no Spanish is most speak at least some English. Many of them can even help you set up a tour if you like to explore this way better. I typically don’t do a lot of tours but they can be helpful from time to time.

Depending on how long of a distance my next adventure is to take place I will fly or take the bus. Amazingly sometimes it’s actually less expensive to fly. One thing about the larger bus companies in Mexico, is they are frequently awesome as far as buses go. I’ve done my fair share of traveling in the US on bus lines and I have to say the buses here are way better. The seats recline some all the way and some slightly, most have footrest. There is almost always WIFI available with charging plugin, not always the greatest connection but when in city areas it usually works fairly well. When taking a bus on a longer trip they have decent bathrooms and there are small screen individual monitors in front of each seat. They are well air-conditioned and when a bus stops somewhere, frequently I’ve seen small vendors jump on for a few minutes to sell food and/or drink items. Really who can complain? All this in mind whenever a trip is more than say ten hours  or so this is when I really try to fly depending on the cost of course. While the buses are nice here It does get a little uncomfortable when you can’t get up and walk around after several hours.

Photo by Nubia Navarro (nubikini) on Pexels.com

Because I’m a woman traveling solo there are other precautions I take. Like keeping a small stash of money in different places. I don’t walk down a dark alley or into anyplace that looks a little shady. I keep my packing LIGHT! This is important I’m not some young twenty-something and as most of you know I have some debilitating at times medical issues. Dragging a lot around with me by myself is a nightmare. I try to keep everything in one backpack or suitcase. This way it’s easy for me to schlep around and I able to move around everything even on my bad days. For packing tips and ideas check out my KISS post it’s full of great ideas on packing and things to bring. Plus some more safety tips. 

  Fears… I’ll be honest the first time I traveled anywhere in Mexico alone I was a little terrified. I mean I had been all over the USA by myself but this was different right?. At the time I knew almost NO Spanish and I had no idea where I was going or how to get around. I had to remind myself on occasion that I was strong enough to do this and when I’d get nervous I’d sing that old Helen Reddy song “I am woman hear me roar” (Video Below) This may sound quite silly to some of you and some of you may be saying to your self Helen who? But believe it or not, this actually helped. I have found that the fear was typically created in my own head fed by the over exaggerations on the news media. 

Example, Mazatlan Sinaloa is currently rated a four on the Mexico travel advisory. A four… A four is the highest rating meaning DO NOT GO. Yes there is cartel here in Mexico yes they shoot each other over turfs etc.. Mostly they are hurting each other and in specific neighborhoods. It’s not like their running around all over every inch of Mexico shooting it out like the OK corral. Kidnapping can be a concern so I keep it real I do my best to always blend in so to speak.  These same issues apply in large cities throughout the world there are shootings and kidnappings everywhere.

I live in Mazatlan am I afraid? No, honestly I was more afraid when I lived in Los Angeles. I’m just a little more cautious of where I go and when. After realizing all of this I was able to move past my fears and just do it. Life is so short I don’t want to miss a thing. I wanted to travel and I was going to do it even when Jeff wasn’t able to come.

One thing I’ve learned traveling alone is you can do whatever you want, whenever you want. There’s no debating on where to go next or maybe putting off your want’s  to please the other person or people. I can eat when and whatever I want, I can go to bed when I want and get up when I want.  It’s a very freeing experience.

It’s amazing to me how much better you get to know yourself when your traveling alone. I mean at nearly fifty I thought I knew myself pretty darn well but you’d be surprised at how much better you get to know yourself when you only have yourself to talk to you. Yes, I talk to myself I just try not to do it out loud haha around other people. When I’m walking through say a beautiful gallery or looking at an incredible sunset alone the inner reflection I find during these times is priceless. I sincerely think that because of traveling solo from time to time that the relationship that Jeff and I share is the better for it. I love myself and have learned to really enjoy my own company which in turn allows for me to be a much better partner to Jeff. I understand myself so much better now that I’m able to communicate my needs, likes dislikes. There’s no guessing for Jeff to have to go through he knows he can just ask me. All of this from me traveling solo.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Is it nice to have another person to share all the experiences with? Absolutely. Sometimes when I travel alone I miss having someone to bounce ideas off of or to talk with. But this also forces me to interact more with the people of the community I’m visiting. For me being alone on a trip the time I miss with others most is usually meals. It’s nice to share a meal with a loved one be it Jeff or a friend. In the evenings when you return from some place really cool and interesting I’ll sometimes miss being able to pour a glass of wine and chat with Jeff or my friend all about it. When I feel like this I write it all down this way I am chatting all about it, reflecting and sharing the experience.

So in my humble opinion traveling solo can do anyone good. It’s really not as scary as it is in your own head. I’ve met fantastic people and enjoyed amazing experiences by just doing it.

Please share in the comments if you have any ideas, questions or feed back.

As always we are so happy you’re here. Please sign up for our weekly newsletter and you’ll receive a free photo ebook and you’ll never miss the newest post. Every Friday we send you a new fun recipes from around the world and anything that you may have missed during your busy week. Don’t forget to follow us on your favorite social media’s. Just click below to follow.

  Our guides and content are completely free. We make a small commission at no extra cost to you whenever you use our affiliate links. So please if you enjoy the content consider using our links. Thank you for all your support! XOXO Kai and Jeff

Traveling alone, I why do it? Hola everyone as some of you know by now Jeff my boyfriend spends a good deal of time in Alaska working.

[touristguidebuzz]

24 Things Every Solo Female Traveler Learns on the Road

Kristin Addis from Be My Travel Muse writes our regular column on solo female travel. It’s a topic I can’t cover so I brought her on to cover topics and specific issues important other women travelers! In this month’s column, Kristin reminisces on the lessons learned from traveling solo.

“You’re going across the world by yourself?! Are you sure?”

You’ve heard it before, right? Someone who means well and tries to talk you out of traveling solo, mentioning all kinds of things that could go wrong.

They can be pretty convincing, focusing heavily on the negative — but completely forgetting that there are so many more positives that come from travel. What about all of the things that could go right?

There are things that only solo female travelers get to experience (things that just don’t happen when you’re traveling with someone else). It’s like a club that almost anyone can get into but few know about. But for those of us who have done it, we know that it’s not as scary as we thought, and much more rewarding than we ever imagined possible.

Traveling the world solo has taught me many lessons and made me realized there are some truths you only learn when you travel the world solo:

1. It’s way more exciting to try a new food on the other side of the world – and find that we absolutely love it – than it is to go to a swanky restaurant back home.

2. An exotic dish somehow tastes better when we eat it with our hands. With our shoes off, while sitting on the floor.

3. Being in a hammock on a tropical beach, watching the waves roll in, whether all on our own or surrounded by new friends, is worth the mosquito bites.

4. We can say “hello” and “thank you” in more languages than your fancy car has gears.

5. Playing with a child in another language is more warming than all the designer sweaters in the world.

6. People are beautiful everywhere, in every shade, shape, and size, and there is absolutely no singular beauty standard.

7. There is no greater rush than buying a plane ticket to a place that we alone want to see and that we alone picked out.

8. It is sexier to have more stamps in a passport than watches and fancy purses.

9. A sugar rush is somehow sweeter when we’re sitting in Europe eating a chocolate croissant with a whole day of adventures ahead of us.

10. It doesn’t matter what someone is wearing, where they’re from, or what their savings account looks like. If they can carry an intelligent conversation halfway across the world, we’re more than happy to hang onto their every word.

11. Espresso really does taste better in Italy, and Panang curry really does taste better in Thailand.

12. Knowing what it looks like when the sun sets over the ocean on the other side of the globe is worth more than all the Instagram likes in the world.

13. The Facebook news feed is a lot less interesting when we have an entire day of adventures ahead of us, with no plans, no obligations, and no strings attached.

14. Maybe makeup and hair products and straighteners and Spanx aren’t all that necessary, and we look fantastic just the way we are.

15. The heartbreak later is worth the fling right here and now with this beautiful stranger with an accent from far away and the promise of an adventure.

16. Being able to say “yes” without having to check in with anyone first feels so damn freeing and satisfying.

17. Being able to say “no” without worrying about offending anyone or feeling obligated feels even more powerful than saying “yes” sometimes.

18. We’re braver than we thought.

19. We’re capable of doing things that a year ago would have terrified us.

20. No classroom anywhere will ever be a better learning environment than going it alone on the road.

21. No boardroom, job interview, or house party where we don’t know anyone will ever intimidate us again, because we know what it’s like to go solo to a country where absolutely nothing is familiar and everything is new. And we handled it like a boss.

22. There were a few blunders and “learning experiences” here and there, but we’re better off for them.

23. Out of all of the things we learned, most of all we’ll remember that we are capable individuals with a better understanding of how we fit into the world now, and that’s something that will be beneficial for the rest of our lives.

24. When the trip is over, we’ll remember these things that only we know, and what we’re capable of — and probably start researching plane flights again.

We solo female travelers know that traveling alone is an amazing gift. It gives us a chance to develop our confidence, make all of the decisions about where we want to go and what we want to do, and be the CEO of our own lives and adventures. This confidence and ability carries over into our daily lives long after the trip is over.

Our loved ones’ fear and misunderstanding of it will probably always exist. Rebuffing a few well-meaning but uninformed remarks just comes with the territory. You can often show those naysayers by example how wonderful it can be.

If you haven’t yet traveled solo but really want to find out who you are and what you’re made of, go to the other side of the world by yourself and prepare to be amazed. Don’t let anything hold you back — you deserve to see the world on your own terms.

ANNOUNCING A BRAND NEW CONQUERING MOUNTAINS EDITION

In the second edition of this book, we did updated prices, tips, links as well as:

Expanded sections on finding travel deals, staying safe on the road, banking smart, and making friends.

Expanded resource section.

New section on working overseas.

New section on saving money on the road.

Added interviews with other travelers.

This is the most robust guide to solo female travel out there and brings together the tips and advice you need – plus the perspective over dozens of women – into one place. It has helped over 1,000 women plan their trip effectively. If you’ve been thinking about going somewhere but not sure where to start planning, this book is for you. Click here to learn more and start reading today!

Kristin Addis is a solo female travel expert who inspires women to travel the world in an authentic and adventurous way. A former investment banker who sold all of her belongings in 2012, Kristin has roamed the world for more than five years and visited over 70 countries. You can find more of her writings at Be My Travel Muse or on Instagram and Facebook.

The post 24 Things Every Solo Female Traveler Learns on the Road appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

[theladyjstyle]

Kristin Addis from Be My Travel Muse writes our regular column on solo female travel. It’s a topic I can’t cover so I brought her on to cover topics and specific issues important other women travelers! In this month’s column, Kristin reminisces on the lessons learned from traveling solo.

“You’re going across the world by yourself?! Are you sure?”

You’ve heard it before, right? Someone who means well and tries to talk you out of traveling solo, mentioning all kinds of things that could go wrong.

They can be pretty convincing, focusing heavily on the negative — but completely forgetting that there are so many more positives that come from travel. What about all of the things that could go right?

There are things that only solo female travelers get to experience (things that just don’t happen when you’re traveling with someone else). It’s like a club that almost anyone can get into but few know about. But for those of us who have done it, we know that it’s not as scary as we thought, and much more rewarding than we ever imagined possible.

Traveling the world solo has taught me many lessons and made me realized there are some truths you only learn when you travel the world solo:

1. It’s way more exciting to try a new food on the other side of the world – and find that we absolutely love it – than it is to go to a swanky restaurant back home.

2. An exotic dish somehow tastes better when we eat it with our hands. With our shoes off, while sitting on the floor.

3. Being in a hammock on a tropical beach, watching the waves roll in, whether all on our own or surrounded by new friends, is worth the mosquito bites.

4. We can say “hello” and “thank you” in more languages than your fancy car has gears.

5. Playing with a child in another language is more warming than all the designer sweaters in the world.

6. People are beautiful everywhere, in every shade, shape, and size, and there is absolutely no singular beauty standard.

7. There is no greater rush than buying a plane ticket to a place that we alone want to see and that we alone picked out.

8. It is sexier to have more stamps in a passport than watches and fancy purses.

9. A sugar rush is somehow sweeter when we’re sitting in Europe eating a chocolate croissant with a whole day of adventures ahead of us.

10. It doesn’t matter what someone is wearing, where they’re from, or what their savings account looks like. If they can carry an intelligent conversation halfway across the world, we’re more than happy to hang onto their every word.

11. Espresso really does taste better in Italy, and Panang curry really does taste better in Thailand.

12. Knowing what it looks like when the sun sets over the ocean on the other side of the globe is worth more than all the Instagram likes in the world.

13. The Facebook news feed is a lot less interesting when we have an entire day of adventures ahead of us, with no plans, no obligations, and no strings attached.

14. Maybe makeup and hair products and straighteners and Spanx aren’t all that necessary, and we look fantastic just the way we are.

15. The heartbreak later is worth the fling right here and now with this beautiful stranger with an accent from far away and the promise of an adventure.

16. Being able to say “yes” without having to check in with anyone first feels so damn freeing and satisfying.

17. Being able to say “no” without worrying about offending anyone or feeling obligated feels even more powerful than saying “yes” sometimes.

18. We’re braver than we thought.

19. We’re capable of doing things that a year ago would have terrified us.

20. No classroom anywhere will ever be a better learning environment than going it alone on the road.

21. No boardroom, job interview, or house party where we don’t know anyone will ever intimidate us again, because we know what it’s like to go solo to a country where absolutely nothing is familiar and everything is new. And we handled it like a boss.

22. There were a few blunders and “learning experiences” here and there, but we’re better off for them.

23. Out of all of the things we learned, most of all we’ll remember that we are capable individuals with a better understanding of how we fit into the world now, and that’s something that will be beneficial for the rest of our lives.

24. When the trip is over, we’ll remember these things that only we know, and what we’re capable of — and probably start researching plane flights again.

We solo female travelers know that traveling alone is an amazing gift. It gives us a chance to develop our confidence, make all of the decisions about where we want to go and what we want to do, and be the CEO of our own lives and adventures. This confidence and ability carries over into our daily lives long after the trip is over.

Our loved ones’ fear and misunderstanding of it will probably always exist. Rebuffing a few well-meaning but uninformed remarks just comes with the territory. You can often show those naysayers by example how wonderful it can be.

If you haven’t yet traveled solo but really want to find out who you are and what you’re made of, go to the other side of the world by yourself and prepare to be amazed. Don’t let anything hold you back — you deserve to see the world on your own terms.

ANNOUNCING A BRAND NEW CONQUERING MOUNTAINS EDITION

In the second edition of this book, we did updated prices, tips, links as well as:

Expanded sections on finding travel deals, staying safe on the road, banking smart, and making friends.

Expanded resource section.

New section on working overseas.

New section on saving money on the road.

Added interviews with other travelers.

This is the most robust guide to solo female travel out there and brings together the tips and advice you need – plus the perspective over dozens of women – into one place. It has helped over 1,000 women plan their trip effectively. If you’ve been thinking about going somewhere but not sure where to start planning, this book is for you. Click here to learn more and start reading today!

Kristin Addis is a solo female travel expert who inspires women to travel the world in an authentic and adventurous way. A former investment banker who sold all of her belongings in 2012, Kristin has roamed the world for more than five years and visited over 70 countries. You can find more of her writings at Be My Travel Muse or on Instagram and Facebook.

The post 24 Things Every Solo Female Traveler Learns on the Road appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

24 Things Every Solo Female Traveler Learns on the Road http://ift.tt/2Esh6Tj

[melissagarcia8]

24 Things Every Solo Female Traveler Learns on the Road

Kristin Addis from Be My Travel Muse writes our regular column on solo female travel. It’s a topic I can’t cover so I brought her on to cover topics and specific issues important other women travelers! In this month’s column, Kristin reminisces on the lessons learned from traveling solo.

“You’re going across the world by yourself?! Are you sure?”

You’ve heard it before, right? Someone who means well and tries to talk you out of traveling solo, mentioning all kinds of things that could go wrong.

They can be pretty convincing, focusing heavily on the negative — but completely forgetting that there are so many more positives that come from travel. What about all of the things that could go right?

There are things that only solo female travelers get to experience (things that just don’t happen when you’re traveling with someone else). It’s like a club that almost anyone can get into but few know about. But for those of us who have done it, we know that it’s not as scary as we thought, and much more rewarding than we ever imagined possible.

Traveling the world solo has taught me many lessons and made me realized there are some truths you only learn when you travel the world solo:

1. It’s way more exciting to try a new food on the other side of the world – and find that we absolutely love it – than it is to go to a swanky restaurant back home.

2. An exotic dish somehow tastes better when we eat it with our hands. With our shoes off, while sitting on the floor.

3. Being in a hammock on a tropical beach, watching the waves roll in, whether all on our own or surrounded by new friends, is worth the mosquito bites.

4. We can say “hello” and “thank you” in more languages than your fancy car has gears.

5. Playing with a child in another language is more warming than all the designer sweaters in the world.

6. People are beautiful everywhere, in every shade, shape, and size, and there is absolutely no singular beauty standard.

7. There is no greater rush than buying a plane ticket to a place that we alone want to see and that we alone picked out.

8. It is sexier to have more stamps in a passport than watches and fancy purses.

9. A sugar rush is somehow sweeter when we’re sitting in Europe eating a chocolate croissant with a whole day of adventures ahead of us.

10. It doesn’t matter what someone is wearing, where they’re from, or what their savings account looks like. If they can carry an intelligent conversation halfway across the world, we’re more than happy to hang onto their every word.

11. Espresso really does taste better in Italy, and Panang curry really does taste better in Thailand.

12. Knowing what it looks like when the sun sets over the ocean on the other side of the globe is worth more than all the Instagram likes in the world.

13. The Facebook news feed is a lot less interesting when we have an entire day of adventures ahead of us, with no plans, no obligations, and no strings attached.

14. Maybe makeup and hair products and straighteners and Spanx aren’t all that necessary, and we look fantastic just the way we are.

15. The heartbreak later is worth the fling right here and now with this beautiful stranger with an accent from far away and the promise of an adventure.

16. Being able to say “yes” without having to check in with anyone first feels so damn freeing and satisfying.

17. Being able to say “no” without worrying about offending anyone or feeling obligated feels even more powerful than saying “yes” sometimes.

18. We’re braver than we thought.

19. We’re capable of doing things that a year ago would have terrified us.

20. No classroom anywhere will ever be a better learning environment than going it alone on the road.

21. No boardroom, job interview, or house party where we don’t know anyone will ever intimidate us again, because we know what it’s like to go solo to a country where absolutely nothing is familiar and everything is new. And we handled it like a boss.

22. There were a few blunders and “learning experiences” here and there, but we’re better off for them.

23. Out of all of the things we learned, most of all we’ll remember that we are capable individuals with a better understanding of how we fit into the world now, and that’s something that will be beneficial for the rest of our lives.

24. When the trip is over, we’ll remember these things that only we know, and what we’re capable of — and probably start researching plane flights again.

We solo female travelers know that traveling alone is an amazing gift. It gives us a chance to develop our confidence, make all of the decisions about where we want to go and what we want to do, and be the CEO of our own lives and adventures. This confidence and ability carries over into our daily lives long after the trip is over.

Our loved ones’ fear and misunderstanding of it will probably always exist. Rebuffing a few well-meaning but uninformed remarks just comes with the territory. You can often show those naysayers by example how wonderful it can be.

If you haven’t yet traveled solo but really want to find out who you are and what you’re made of, go to the other side of the world by yourself and prepare to be amazed. Don’t let anything hold you back — you deserve to see the world on your own terms.

ANNOUNCING A BRAND NEW CONQUERING MOUNTAINS EDITION

In the second edition of this book, we did updated prices, tips, links as well as:

Expanded sections on finding travel deals, staying safe on the road, banking smart, and making friends.

Expanded resource section.

New section on working overseas.

New section on saving money on the road.

Added interviews with other travelers.

This is the most robust guide to solo female travel out there and brings together the tips and advice you need – plus the perspective over dozens of women – into one place. It has helped over 1,000 women plan their trip effectively. If you’ve been thinking about going somewhere but not sure where to start planning, this book is for you. Click here to learn more and start reading today!

Kristin Addis is a solo female travel expert who inspires women to travel the world in an authentic and adventurous way. A former investment banker who sold all of her belongings in 2012, Kristin has roamed the world for more than five years and visited over 70 countries. You can find more of her writings at Be My Travel Muse or on Instagram and Facebook.

The post 24 Things Every Solo Female Traveler Learns on the Road appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

from Traveling News https://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/things-every-solo-female-traveler-learns/

[leslierichardsrp]

Leslie Char Dev

1. What position does your character sleep in? ( i.e; stomach, side, back, etc. ) Describe why they do this — optional. Leslie sleeps on his face, flat out, arms spread, his body practically trying to escape from the bed. He also moves a lot in his sleep, loves to hug things. Body pillows are definitely a favorite. 3. Does your character have an accent? What does it sound like? Leslie has a pretty neutral Amercian accent, due to the years he spent living in the mid-west, paired with his time in New York. When he was younger, he decided that he wanted to sound like he was from Brooklyn, but that phase only lasted a year or two. 4. Do they have any verbal tics? Do they have trouble pronouncing certain words or getting their thoughts across clearly? Leslie's a sucker for holding out random letters while he speaks, especially if it's to call someone's name or say something that he would consider endearing. More often than not, he'll do this with a nasal inflection, making the word sound pretty whine-y. 5. What are their chief tension areas? Man, he hates to complain about it, but the joints in his ankles like to lock up sometimes. If he ever falls asleep drunk in front of his apartment, there's a good chance that it's because he was walking back from the bar, his ankles started to hurt, and his drunken self just kind of gave up. 6. If you were to pick one song — and only one song — to describe your character, what would it be and why? This is tough, actually, because most songs that I would attribute toward Leslie have more to do with his relationship to others than as a reflection of his personality. I like to pair him with Sam Smith songs, but he's too bubbly for that. You know what, he'd probably be "Grace Kelly" by Mika. 7. How does your character perceive themselves? Positive? Negative? Neutral? I wish I could say neutral, because that's how he perceives himself to the rest of the world, but he's aware that he has a lot of problems. He's pretty much decided that he's a lost cause. Leslie's in between settling with himself or getting better for someone else. 8. Are they a quick thinker or do they need time to sort through their thoughts? He's too much of a quick thinker. The thought usually passes before he gets the opportunity to fulfill anything. 9. Does your character dream or are their nights filled with an empty blackness? Describe a dream they’ve had or a night they couldn’t sleep and what they did to preoccupy their time. Ha. Oh, man. Yeah, Leslie has a lot of very vivid dreams, and they vary so much from day to day. They say that you dream about what you think about, and Leslie'd brain is always going. It's exhausting. By morning time, though, he's usually dreaming about peeing, actually. He's peed in a lot of interesting places in his dreams. 10. If they had a choice, would they prefer a subway or a bus for public transportation? Subways make him nauseous, actually. Throw him on a bus. 11. What do they think of creation? Do they believe in evolution or do they believe in God? What is their religion like? Evolution all the way. Sorry, guys, but he's not a big believer in the everlasting. He fully believes that after death comes darkness. He tries not to think about it too much, though. 12. Describe 5 unusual characteristics your muse has. He can think about one thing and talk about something else, simultaneously. Yeah, he'll pretty quickly change topics, but it's still an interesting skill. He's double jointed, so he likes to do party tricks where he bends his body around in weird and kind of gross ways. He's tone deaf, but he loves to sing (sorry, world). When he gets really happy about something or is in a good mood, he walks with a peppy dance in his step. He likes to wiggle his legs. Actually, he has a pretty serious restless leg syndrome thing going on. 13. Have they ever been so overwhelmed they had to stop and take a break from something? After college, he was pretty ready to dive into work, but then Amy died and he just shut down. There were a few months worth of spending all of his savings before he finally got a job. If he were a rich man, he'd probably still be unemployed. 14. Are they a team player or do they prefer to be solo? Team, team, team, team. Please don't make him do anything on his own. It'll never get done. 15. Can they multi-task or must they focus on one subject at a time? He should focus on one subject at a time, but he isn't going to. Ever. 16. What are their best school subjects? What are their worst? List five of each. Best: Biology, Chemistry, Algebra, Lunch, Physical Education -- Worst: English, Literature, History, Arts (any kind), Study Hour 17. Is your character an introvert or an extrovert? How do they handle big crowds of people? Extrovert, he really can't stand being alone, unless he's asleep. 18. Are they a leader, do they prefer to follow, or would they rather just stay on the sidelines altogether? Aw, man, those sidelines look pretty fucking comfortable, but he likes people way too much not to get involved in some way. It kind of depends on the situation, though. If he can chat with someone, he'll jump in as a follower. If he has to argue with someone, he sticks to the sidelines. He hates confrontations. 19. If your character was suddenly challenged, would they rather run away or stay and fight? Neither, to be honest. He'd stick around and laugh it off until someone decided to punch him in the face just to shut him up. If he had to do one or the other, though, he'd probably run away, but he's definitely more likely to take middle ground there. 20. If your character was allowed to murder one person without any consequences, who would that person be and why? He wouldn't. If he could go back in time, he wouldn't even murder his neice’s killer. 21. Your character has been granted 3 wishes; what would they wish for and why? Impulse control, Leslie. Impulse control. No, he'd wish for a cheeseburger, then realize he could've wished for an entire meal and make a second wish for fried brussel sprouts. Then maybe he'd wish for a couple thousand bucks. 22. Does your character trust people right off the bat or does it take them some time to warm up to someone? Right off the bat, no questions asked. It's a wonder he's never been stabbed by this point in his life. Or had his kidneys stolen and sold on the black market. 23. Do they prefer romance or affection? What is the quickest way to your character’s heart? Affection, oh my GOD. He loves to be touched, whether it's just a brush of the hand or a full on underwear-only snuggle session, he loves it. If he were rich, he'd probably pay someone money just to cuddle him. No sex or anything necessary. The quickest way to his heart? Be kind and laugh. That's all it really takes. He's a sucker for a sweet soul that's willing to laugh at his shitty jokes. 24. Does your character have any enemies? If so, who and why? Not that he would see it, but the local bartender (and his boyfriend) tend to give him nasty side-eye. 25. Do they have any weird bedroom habits? Any unusual kinks? He'd do pretty much anything with anyone. He slept with a 90 year old woman once, and that was probably the most adventurous night of his life. And not just because of her age. 26. How does your character prepare for bed? Do they sleep at all or can they stay awake for days on end without trouble? Prepare for bed? Leslie hardly makes it to the bed before he's out cold most nights. And what's wrong with sleeping in your clothes? He only takes them off if it's summer time, because then it gets hot. Otherwise, Leslie tends to sleep fully dressed, unless he's just had sexual contact with someone. Once he's asleep, he sleeps like the dead. Expect it to take a long time to get him to wake up, even longer if you find him drooling. 27. If your character had one thing to say to their parents before they died, what would it be? He'd thank them for giving him a chance (he's adopted), and explain that he would never forget them. 28. Are they afraid of death? Do they have any regrets? He isn't afraid of death for himself, which is a scary thought, actually. Leslie has a very minute sense of preservation. On his deathbed, he'd regret a lot about his life, but at his current age, he only regrets not talking to Amy more while she'd been alive. Everything else just seems relatively unimportant to him. 29. Does your character get restless when things are too quiet or do they favour solitude and silence? Why? Leslie will legitimately start bouncing if the world around him is too quiet for too long. He'll click his heels, tick his tongue, snap his fingers, tap his knuckles on the surface of any nearby furniture. It makes him feel weird, and he definitely gets bored of it quickly. The guy can't stand libraries, even if he'll say otherwise. 30. Finally; if your character was forced to eat one thing for the rest of their life, what would they choose and why? Brussel sprouts. He just absolutely loves them. Don't ask me why. The guy's weird af.

[jeantparks]

Five Reasons to Try a Singles Holiday

Solo travel may be highly clichéd. But honestly, there’s no better way to discover yourself than travelling solo. So, try a singles holiday and read on to know how to get the best out of it.

Someone who has spent lots on alone time on the road by themselves would know that solo travel is not only liberating, but quite simple and not at all scary (as it may seem at first). Once you embark on your journey, you will have many eye-opening experiences; the kind that few others experiences in life can match!

As the travel industry is expanding and the market caters to all kinds of travelers and tourists, now is a better time than any, for those who have been skeptical of solo travel. In fact, look at it another way… think of it as you having limited time and money to spend on travel. Then why would you not customize it to your own individual preferences to maximize your satisfaction and try a singles holiday?

Here are ten reasons why solo travel an absolute must:

1.An opportunity to enjoy some “me” time

In the midst of recharging our phone batteries, we have forgotten about recharging ourselves. With solo travel, you have the necessary time and space to enjoy valuable alone time. Being alone on the road gives you ample opportunity to reflect on life and think ahead.

2.You create the itinerary

Some people are spontaneous adventurers while others like lazying around with a cup of coffee in the calm backwaters. Some people just like to check in at a luxurious hotel and sleep. Solo travel allows you to create your plans as per your needs and desires.

3.Planning is easier

Our individual bucket list shouldn’t be modified because the others with you have different travelling interests, budgets and schedules. When you are alone, these things are not an issue and you can head off to a gourmet dinner or a trip to the museum, at the last minute without having to check with anyone else.

4.Meaningful experiences

Travelling with loved ones and family is good, but sometimes they can be distractions from enjoying the true scenic beauty and adventure that travel has to provide. When it comes to making new friends or discovering places unheard of, travelling solo will let you leverage the maximum joy out of it.

5.You make new friends

Most first time solo travellers are gripped by the fear of being or feeling lonely. In reality, one may never feel this way, if they make the right choices. Dining at public bars, interacting with the locals, going out for street shopping and groceries, so much can be done. And when you are solo, you are likely to make a greater effort to mingle with others and forge new bonds for life!

All in all, when you try a singles holiday, it is a joy. It not only boosts your confidence but makes you a better traveller and gives you immense satisfaction in the end. Not to mention the fact that you end up answering the most important question : Why did I not do this ever before?

The post Five Reasons to Try a Singles Holiday appeared first on Geeky Traveller.

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[janetgannon]

Five Reasons to Try a Singles Holiday

Solo travel may be highly clichéd. But honestly, there’s no better way to discover yourself than travelling solo. So, try a singles holiday and read on to know how to get the best out of it.

Someone who has spent lots on alone time on the road by themselves would know that solo travel is not only liberating, but quite simple and not at all scary (as it may seem at first). Once you embark on your journey, you will have many eye-opening experiences; the kind that few others experiences in life can match!

As the travel industry is expanding and the market caters to all kinds of travelers and tourists, now is a better time than any, for those who have been skeptical of solo travel. In fact, look at it another way… think of it as you having limited time and money to spend on travel. Then why would you not customize it to your own individual preferences to maximize your satisfaction and try a singles holiday?

Here are ten reasons why solo travel an absolute must:

1.An opportunity to enjoy some “me” time

In the midst of recharging our phone batteries, we have forgotten about recharging ourselves. With solo travel, you have the necessary time and space to enjoy valuable alone time. Being alone on the road gives you ample opportunity to reflect on life and think ahead.

2.You create the itinerary

Some people are spontaneous adventurers while others like lazying around with a cup of coffee in the calm backwaters. Some people just like to check in at a luxurious hotel and sleep. Solo travel allows you to create your plans as per your needs and desires.

3.Planning is easier

Our individual bucket list shouldn’t be modified because the others with you have different travelling interests, budgets and schedules. When you are alone, these things are not an issue and you can head off to a gourmet dinner or a trip to the museum, at the last minute without having to check with anyone else.

4.Meaningful experiences

Travelling with loved ones and family is good, but sometimes they can be distractions from enjoying the true scenic beauty and adventure that travel has to provide. When it comes to making new friends or discovering places unheard of, travelling solo will let you leverage the maximum joy out of it.

5.You make new friends

Most first time solo travellers are gripped by the fear of being or feeling lonely. In reality, one may never feel this way, if they make the right choices. Dining at public bars, interacting with the locals, going out for street shopping and groceries, so much can be done. And when you are solo, you are likely to make a greater effort to mingle with others and forge new bonds for life!

All in all, when you try a singles holiday, it is a joy. It not only boosts your confidence but makes you a better traveller and gives you immense satisfaction in the end. Not to mention the fact that you end up answering the most important question : Why did I not do this ever before?

The post Five Reasons to Try a Singles Holiday appeared first on Geeky Traveller.

from Geeky Traveller ift.tt/2lnr0Kc

The post Five Reasons to Try a Singles Holiday appeared first on YachtAweigh.

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[yachtaweigh]

Five Reasons to Try a Singles Holiday

Solo travel may be highly clichéd. But honestly, there’s no better way to discover yourself than travelling solo. So, try a singles holiday and read on to know how to get the best out of it.

Someone who has spent lots on alone time on the road by themselves would know that solo travel is not only liberating, but quite simple and not at all scary (as it may seem at first). Once you embark on your journey, you will have many eye-opening experiences; the kind that few others experiences in life can match!

As the travel industry is expanding and the market caters to all kinds of travelers and tourists, now is a better time than any, for those who have been skeptical of solo travel. In fact, look at it another way… think of it as you having limited time and money to spend on travel. Then why would you not customize it to your own individual preferences to maximize your satisfaction and try a singles holiday?

Here are ten reasons why solo travel an absolute must:

1.An opportunity to enjoy some “me” time

In the midst of recharging our phone batteries, we have forgotten about recharging ourselves. With solo travel, you have the necessary time and space to enjoy valuable alone time. Being alone on the road gives you ample opportunity to reflect on life and think ahead.

2.You create the itinerary

Some people are spontaneous adventurers while others like lazying around with a cup of coffee in the calm backwaters. Some people just like to check in at a luxurious hotel and sleep. Solo travel allows you to create your plans as per your needs and desires.

3.Planning is easier

Our individual bucket list shouldn’t be modified because the others with you have different travelling interests, budgets and schedules. When you are alone, these things are not an issue and you can head off to a gourmet dinner or a trip to the museum, at the last minute without having to check with anyone else.

4.Meaningful experiences

Travelling with loved ones and family is good, but sometimes they can be distractions from enjoying the true scenic beauty and adventure that travel has to provide. When it comes to making new friends or discovering places unheard of, travelling solo will let you leverage the maximum joy out of it.

5.You make new friends

Most first time solo travellers are gripped by the fear of being or feeling lonely. In reality, one may never feel this way, if they make the right choices. Dining at public bars, interacting with the locals, going out for street shopping and groceries, so much can be done. And when you are solo, you are likely to make a greater effort to mingle with others and forge new bonds for life!

All in all, when you try a singles holiday, it is a joy. It not only boosts your confidence but makes you a better traveller and gives you immense satisfaction in the end. Not to mention the fact that you end up answering the most important question : Why did I not do this ever before?

The post Five Reasons to Try a Singles Holiday appeared first on Geeky Traveller.

from Geeky Traveller ift.tt/2lnr0Kc

The post Five Reasons to Try a Singles Holiday appeared first on YachtAweigh.

from http://yachtaweigh.com/five-reasons-to-try-a-singles-holiday/