A Guide to Adventure

All across the United States there is a rising trend of people quitting their nine-to-fives, moving into cozy tiny homes and vans, eliminating debt, and living freely. I am personally striving to be self-sufficient and would love to live/travel in a van. The days of the large house with a white picket fence, and the lifetime mortgage that goes along with it are becoming a thing of the past. More and more people, especially those from mid twenty-somethings to early thirties who do not want to follow in their parents footsteps; you know, working your life away for the hope of a 401 K payday after retirement. With student loan rates through the roof, and higher taxes every year, who wouldn't want to be part of something different? A different way of living that allows you complete freedom, and the choice to live, and visit anywhere your van can take you. When you arrive, you are home! By getting rid of all the excess, you have room for the important things, a cozy bed, a...

If you are getting ready to go camping for a weekend or going on an all day adventure, you should carefully plan what you will eat once you arrive. I get SO hungry on the trail, and by the time camp is set up, I could eat a three course dinner. Unfortunately being miles away from home, in the middle of a forest that is not really an option. Personally, I do not like eating peanut butter sandwiches, or ramen noodles all the time enough to only bring those in my pack. Most canned foods are way too heavy, and will only leave more trash to carry. Assuming you are following the rules and not leaving your trash behind :). You need something lightweight, freeze dried is usually the way to go. I never really thought a freeze dried meal would taste like a homemade, authentic, hearty dinner.  When I tried Mountain House brand of freeze dried Chicken Fried Rice with veggies, I was WOWED! It only called for two cups of boiling water, which was very easy since our campsite was next to th...

So yesterday Derek and I were deciding where we wanted to spend our Memorial day off at. I posted saying that I would be going to an island on Lake Hartwell, well being that we are both so spontaneous we ended up going to Brasstown Falls in Oconee County, SC. That was our first mistake. We loaded up the car, filled up the tank, and headed down highway 24 West, and after an hour of passing huge farms, and scenic country roads we made it to highway 76. We followed that mountain road for almost 12 miles before we reached Brasstown Road. This is where the "adventure" would begin. The only directions my GPS offered was two miles down a gravel road that appeared to end. Other than that we were following the directions of another travel website that had pretty clear instructions. We start down the gravel road and pass a small road on our right, after all the GPS was still telling us to go, and our directions seemed to be aligned with that. We drove about three miles up the mount...

When you go outside on a hot summer day in the South, if you are anything like me, you will be swarmed by those blood-sucking mosquitos, ticks, and gnats. My grandpa always told me that it was  because I'm so sweet, and that is probably true. However, there is some science to behind why people like me, and maybe yourself that tend to get bit by those mosquitoes than others. Whether you want to blame it on your blood type (which I do), or how much carbon dioxide you put out there is only ONE product that actually works for me. For anyone else who is relentlessly munched on by those bugs this product is for you. I have tried many different types of bug sprays, but nothing seemed to work for very long. After an hour or so the mosquitoes would be back, and I would soon be covered in those itchy red bites.  When preparing to go to Caesars Head/ Jones Gap I knew I had to get the best kind of spray I could find, or else I was going to be miserable as soon as we got on the trail....