The All-Outdoors Whitewater Rafting California River Blog

An article in the Desert Sun written on Dec 9, 2005 titled “Many Decide To Give The Gift of Green” tells of the latest trend in gift-giving towards experiential, rather than tangible gifts.

(Link to Article)

Toward the end of the article, a marketing consultant is quoted as explaining this phenomenon as a “breakdown of the old idea that giving cash gifts is tacky.”

Here’s what I’m wondering about that analysis: Since when does an adventure = a cash gift? Yes, I’m a little biased. But c’mon, how many times have you been stuck with gifts you don’t really want and will hardly ever use?

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Two mornings ago it became official: my little teal saturn sedan is dead. It’s finished, unfixable, will probably never run again. Before getting too sad for me, know that I am a little relieved to finally be rid of this car.

So now I’m on the search for a new car. My priorities in this search?

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Last summer I had the amazing opportunity of going on the upper half of a Grand Canyon river trip. After hiking out from Phantom Ranch, we were hanging out in Flagstaff and found a book titled There’s This River - Grand Canyon Boatmen Stories. It’s a really well-done book, mixing humorous stories with stories of adventure and descriptions of the canyon’s beauty.

One narrative is about a commercial trip stopped at a side canyon that starts flash-flooding during their hike. (more…)

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Before setting off on a 35 kilometer trek from Futaleufu, Chile to Trevelin in Argentina, I assumed a very big difference between hitchhiking and backpacking. I had imagined hitchhiking to be more or less a stagnant and easy activity in which the hitchhiker spends much time sitting and waiting with a thumb sticking out into the road.

Perhaps that is why, when on my second day of travel in South America Brad and Adam informed me that we were going to hitchhike to Argentina, I happily skipped my way out the hostel door with a fifty pound backpack on my back. (more…)

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