I came across this cool website today called One Bag. It shares tips and information on all things packing, from what to put in your suitcase to how to put it in there to which suitcase you should use. Not only is this a great tool for organizationally focused travelers, it's also fantastic for the eco-minded as well. Think about it: for every pound you lighten your load, that's a little less tonnage the airplane has to carry to your destination and a little less fuel it needs to get there. Every little bit helps!
If reading about Ted's adventure is making you itch to try something similar, you might want to check this out. The Te Araroa Trust (Maori for "The Long Pathway") is currently in the process of building a trail that will span the entire country of New Zealand and link its North and South Islands. The latest portion of the walkway was recently opened, and the entire project is expected to be complete in 2010.
At the Virgin Island Sustainable Farm in St. Croix, Russell Cutts, author of Wildfire: Fire Making Art, made fire for us with sticks. He was preparing for a seminar on earth skills at the farm. (He can also make from stone the tools necessary to whittle the sticks necessary to make fire.) He demonstrated fire-making for us despite my press group’s tight schedule, mostly at my keening insistence. I love fire from way back, playing with it and watching it burn and reluctantly extinguishing it.
I'm fresh back from a very relaxing, if too short, weekend getaway to Florida's Gulf Islands -- Anna Maria and Longboat Key, just off the coast of Bradenton. The trip was to help research the annual ISLANDS Romantic Retreats issue, out this January. I was looking for an affordable island escape that my wife and I could enjoy without getting on a plane. And Anna Maria, one of the most quirkily charming islands anywhere, was where we honeymooned once upon a time.
Our July/August issue is going to subscribers right now and will be on newsstands June 24. Here's a video preview of this issue, featuring our annual Best Islands to Live On list. Enjoy!
The secrets of long life turn out not to be secrets at all (see "Best Islands to Extend Your Life" here and in our July/August issue). A super-scientific survey of seven ISLANDS staffers produces a list of life-extending practices very similar to the lists promulgated by such books as UltraLongevity by Dr. Mark Liponis, The Longevity Bible by Dr. Gary Small and Life Beyond 100 by Dr. C. Norman Shealy. A composite list of ISLANDS/guru life-extending recommendations follows.
