Warning: This post is a review, or as it turns out, a non-review of FUDs–female urination devices, in outdoor-industry speak. It’s about pee funnels. If you don’t want to read about the trials and tribulations of women trying to pee standing up in the woods or on a climb, stop here.
As I told my friend [...]
Filed under: Climbing, Such as it is on September 4th, 2009 | 3 Comments »
Someone I follow on Twitter recently tweeted:
Why don’t cyclists in Boulder wave back when I wave to them?
This is a Boulder cycling phenomenon that is particularly shocking and upsetting to we friendly former Midwesterners. In the Midwest, there aren’t many cyclists, so when you encounter another one, you can’t help but wave in excitement. And [...]
Filed under: Such as it is on August 27th, 2009 | 1 Comment »
One rainy evening during our final weeks in Chamonix, we met up with guides Adam and Caroline George for a drink at a chic little bar. Caroline asked who I’ve worked with at Climbing magazine, and I asked what topics she’d covered for Climbing.
“My first story was about post-expedition blues,” she said.
I’d never heard the [...]
Filed under: Climbing, Such as it is, Workation France on August 11th, 2009 | No Comments »
Anyone planning a sojourn to a stage of the Tour de France should bring the following three things: a bottle of water, a sense of humor, and an escape plan.
We hopped on a train in Chamonix to head to Annecy on Thursday, where the final time trial of the Tour was held this year. After [...]
Filed under: Such as it is, Workation France on July 28th, 2009 | No Comments »
I was sick of being sick.
We’d been in France for about a month, and I’d been sick most of that time. Just as I started to feel better, I came back from visiting our friends in Hamburg with an upper-respiratory gunk. In late June, a bright morning sun shone over Chamonix and I glared out [...]
Filed under: Climbing, Such as it is, Workation France on July 4th, 2009 | 1 Comment »
When your German friends invite you to take a walk on the beach, ask how many tens of kilometers they plan to march before you answer.
We took a break from our workation* in Chamonix to visit our dear friends Uwe and Frauke in Hamburg last weekend.
Uwe decided that after spending so much time in the [...]
Filed under: Such as it is, Workation France on June 19th, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Five things you should bring from home, four of which I’ve spent way too much money on since we’ve arrived in France but are essential for a workation*:
Sunscreen: You can’t skate out of a pharmacy or even a grocery store with sunscreen for under 10 euro, about $13.85 at the current exchange rate. Even tiny [...]
Filed under: Such as it is, Workation France on June 9th, 2009 | No Comments »
Traveling for a few weeks is pretty easy. Working away from home for a few months requires a little more planning (and apparently a little more anxiety, eesh!).
On Saturday, we’ll move our home office to Chamonix Mont-Blanc, France, for the next few months. The eight-hour shift east will be more than a change of time [...]
Filed under: Such as it is on May 11th, 2009 | 3 Comments »
The sun was low on the horizon, blackening the Joshua Trees into silhouette, and long after our brief climb was over, we still hadn’t found our way off of this bloody rock.
But I didn’t feel that knot of danger in my stomach that comes with the realization that you might have to spend the night [...]
Filed under: Such as it is on April 30th, 2009 | No Comments »
Yep, we’re having a blizzard here in Colorado today. But there are a few really great things about my situation:
- I’m a freelancer, so I’m already hunkered down at work. I didn’t have to debate whether to go in to the office this morning (when it was reasonable to consider leaving the house).
- We’re gear [...]
Filed under: Such as it is on March 26th, 2009 | No Comments »