Before today’s post, 2 quick reminders:
1) Later on this morning we’re having a free Teleseminar on the ins and outs of long-term care insurance. My guest will be one of the foremost experts on LTC in the country. You’re all invited. Find call in details here.
2) If you missed Friday’s post, I just released a new eBook called A Brief Guide to Retirement Bliss. You can download a free PDF here. You can download the Kindle version here.
And now on to today’s post.
As many of you know, one of the tenets of our philosophy here at IR is that life is much more interesting if you’re always learning to do new things. Toward that end, I do periodic learning challenges and then write about them here at the site.
We’re in the process of taking our daughter to all 50 states (33 to go!) and we plan on doing some camping when we make it to places like Wyoming, Montana and Utah. To make sure we’re ready, I signed up for a six week class on camping and backpacking at the local university.
The course covered things like how to pack and dress, how to cook in the backcountry, using a map and compass, backcountry first aid, trip planning and leave no trace camping.
After finishing the class, I wanted to test out my newly acquired skills, so I bought/borrowed/rented some gear and we planned a three day camping and backpacking trip to Kansas (aka state # 18). I’ll let you know how the test run goes.
Interested in doing a similar challenge?
If camping sounds like something that might interest you, here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Sign up for classes at your local university or outdoor store
- Subscribe to Backpacker magazine. I’m not super outdoorsy, but this magazine is awesome. Lots of “how to” and inspiration.
- Get some gear. REI is a great place start. I bought their Half Dome 4 tent a few weeks ago when it was on sale. If you want to take a few trips before investing in gear, you can probably find a place to rent most of what you need. Again, the local university where I live has an Outdoor Venture Center that rents gear to students, but they also make it available to the general public. Ask around for something similar in your area.
- Plan a trip! The point of these learning challenges is to take what we learn and put it into practice by doing fun and interesting things. Once you learn some camping and backpacking basics, plan a trip and get out there and enjoy the outdoors. A good place to start would be one of the 59 National Parks in the U.S. Visit http://www.nps.gov/ to learn more.
- While we’re on the topic of National Parks, watch The National Parks: America’s Best Idea by Ken Burns. We just finished watching the entire series with our daughter. It’s available for “instant streaming” on Netflix.
What’s next?
I enjoy photography and I’m always looking to sharpen my skills in that area. A friend of mine recently introduced me to someone who is an expert in time-lapse photography. I asked him if he’d teach me how to do it and he graciously agreed. I’ll update you next month to let you know how it goes. By the way, if you’re not familiar with time-lapse, here’s a great example of it on vimeo.
Have a great week.
~ Joe