If you had told me six months ago that I’d be spending Thanksgiving with my family on a cruise ship, I’d have thought you were crazy. We usually spend that week camping at the beach and, after all, we’re still a bit young for the cruise ship scene. Or so I thought.
5 Stocking Stuffers for your Camper
Is it that time again, already? That right, we’re just a week away from carving the turkey and hitting the stores on Black Friday to stock-up on all those great outdoor gift ideas at low, low prices. If you’re like me, though, shopping online is a lot easier and more enjoyable than fighting the crowds at the mall, so here are five inexpensive gifts for the outdoor person in your life.
Most Hyped Pop-up Ever?
Several weeks ago, I started seeing stories about this stylish tent trailer designed by Belgian architect Axel Enthoven. The stories kept coming; Treehugger on November 2nd, Gizmag on November 3rd, Gadgettastic on November 4th – everyone is fawning over the pop-up that, “takes obvious cues from the Sydney Opera House in Australia.†(Dvice, October 30th). Despite all of the excitement, there is scant little tangible information available on the ‘Opera’ tent trailer, other than its lavish accoutrements. Evidently, those are real hardwood floors and there is a wine cabinet in there, somewhere.
Reluctant Camper to Responsible Parent
I just spent the weekend in Fayetteville, NC with a dozen of my fellow Paratroopers, who served with me in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. They had seen CampingBlogger.net and several commented on how once they had vowed never to sleep on the ground again, once they had gotten out of the Army.
Interestingly, I too shared this attitude when I returned to civilian life. Understand that in the five years I served (some of my friends are still serving, which is amazing), we had been bitten by ants in the jungle, bitten by flies in the desert and bitten by the bitter cold in the Arctic. Five years of this could leave anyone a bit jaundiced to the idea of camping in the outdoors.
Win a Panasonic Lumix Ruggedized Digital Camera
The Lumix DMC-TS1 is a 12.1 Megapixel camera that not only takes great pictures and HD video, it is also designed to withstand five-foot drops and it’s even waterproof to ten feet. Just as important, the Lumix weighs less than six ounces and is small enough to fit in your pocket, so it’s perfect for all kinds of backcountry family adventures. Best of all, the Lumix DMC-TS1 can be yours for the low, low price of Free!