The Lakewood Ranch community is now over 20 years old, however many of us are fairly new to the area. We're just beginning to uncover the amazing activities that have become commonplace in LWR.
I grew up in the Detroit area.
That could be enough of an article to explain our upcoming additions to Live To Explore, but I'll fill in a little more.
Do you love where you live? We sure do!
We started LWR pure as a way to enhance the sharing of ideas, something for family and friends, and building the Lakewood Ranch, Florida community we all so carefully chose.
About Six years ago we bit the bullet and dropped about $500 on a brand new, state of the art Robotic Vacuum. "Mr. Neaterman" is a Neato Botvac Connected, and has served us very well in three different homes. To date, it has cleaned more than 700 hours.
Well, it happened. After 25 years as Colorado residents, the Williams Family packed up our WellRoundedTravelers, sold most of our belongings (including the house), and headed south to warmer (hot?) pastures. As we explore our readers will learn much more about the Suncoast, but for now, I'll cover how we managed to get here in just 4 short weeks.
We know you love Survival Life to get your fix of prepper-survival-zombie apocolypse content. We really like this DIY video showing how to build your own blow dart gun...with a LASER!
Last week Doug Tompkins, co-founder of The North Face, passed during a kayaking accident in Patagonia. He was 72 years old.
Read more: Doug Tompkins, Co-Founder of The North Face: Rest In Peace
In their April 2015 Issue, TCT Magazine published an article on three must-visit US National Parks. The three that made the article:
- Mt. Ranier
- Olympic
- Arcadia
Are all good choices, but so much was left behind!
Similarly, the 17 Best bad Reviews of National Parks from Adventure Journal is a funny look at how many people don't know what to expect when visiting America's best treasures.
For our money, you can't go wrong with small parks that are off the international tourist's radar. You can find comprehensive reviews of National Parks over at ILoveNationalParks.org
When it comes to getting your pack ready for a trip, there are common tips everyone knows: Keep it as light as you can, heavy stuff at the bottom, and always carry emergency gear.
Inspired by this graphic we found floating around on Pinterest, we put our brains together to come up with a few Insider Tips
Have you seen the new website that Grind Media just launched? It's called MtnAdvistor, and it's focused on snow & ski resorts. As one of Source Interlink Media's top brands for outdoor adventure, Grind Media carries over 20 brands and brings much of that content together with this new site.
It's still new, but so far the information is pretty well laid out and easy to use.
SOURCE: MTNAdvisor.com
Buzzfeed put together a collection of 22 diagrams to help your ensure next camping trip is a success.
These diagrams come from a variety of sources, including survival websites & scouting resources.
While many are very useful, some leave major holes. For example, the fire starting diagram mentions several ways to create sparks, but misses many common tinder sources (such as petroleum & cotton balls).
Still, these are useful for their entertainment value if nothing else. There are certainly some gems in these diagrams.
Source: BuzzFeed.com
So a lot of data shows what we already know to be true: Camping is good for your health.
Not only does getting outside & exploring help with physical fitness, eating habits, and provide much needed stress relief, getting away from artificial light resets our 'circadian clocks'.
When you spend a week in the woods, your body gets into the rythym it's supposed to be in. You get to sleep earlier, and rise with the sun (generally). It gets your body back on it's evolutional track, so to speak, and helps reset your entire physiology.
Sign me up!
Source: Smithsonian.com
The last couple of months have been a whirlwind for Zaxyn Media, to say the least. On June 21st we welcomed our daughter to the world, so sleep has been a luxury we haven't had lately. We managed to publish the June issue of Tacoma Magazine just before her arrival, and followed with the July issue of FJC Magazine a couple of weeks later.
We took Alana on her first outing at a young three weeks old, just an overnight to Peak 7 at Breckenridge to see how she would handle a car ride + condo stay. It worked out well so we decided to take her, Brenden, the GX 470, and the FJ Cruiser to Ouray for the 7th Annual FJ Summit. We had to keep our record of seven straight events intact :)
That brough us to the end of July and we've been catching our breath the last few weeks. Alana will be 2 months old next week so we're starting to settle in a little better, and we're already planning our next adventure! In September we'll be at Miller Motosports Park in Tooele, UT for the annual CruiserFest event where we'll be making a major announcement on the Toyota front.
Stay tuned for more great things from Adventure Insider!
Obviously, I haven’t been to ALL the amazing places on the planet (yet), but my travels have taken me to some pretty great locations. A quick night on Crete sleeping feet from the Med; Geneva for a conference, which meant a quick drive through the French Alps; New Zealand for what can only be called an epic <first> visit.
Living in (and exploring) Colorado for the last 17 years has, I will admit, made me a little, well, a little snooty when it comes to my views. Mountains of New Hampshire, nice, but they’re not Colorado; Whistler BC, very, very nice, but a little to damp for my tastes; Queenstown NZ, amazing, yet not quite enough trees. It’s a problem that I know I should seek professional help in dealing with, I’ll work on that.