Camping comes in all forms. Tents, trailers, glamping. Whatever your preference, there is a way for you to enjoy getting away from in all.We are tent campers. We enjoy the simplicity as well as the nights in a tent. There's something to be said for sleeping (mostly) outside. Add in a night rain (that isn't a severe storm) and the outdoors lure you to sleep after a long day of living your best life outside. We've done several trips this year. Having the right equipment is essential to enjoy the experience. Whether you are in a trailer or in a tent, there are always things that make the stay easier and enjoyable. For the purpose of this post, and because we don't have a trailer, we're giving our recommendations for tent camping! Top Five Essential Items1) TentThis seems slightly obvious. However, a tent can make or break your camping experience. The size and quality of your tent matters. While we prefer a small tent that easy to set up and pack, some people prefer tents that you can stand in, or provide extra room inside for a rainy day. Some things to consider:
2) Air MattressOk, not exactly essential, but definitely something that makes it much more enjoyable. Sleeping on the ground can be hard on the body. If you choose to sleep on an air mattress, the essential part is A BUILT IN PUMP. Gone are the days of getting to camping and finding out you don't have the air pump or the batteries. It's a game changer. 3) Sleeping BagAgain, not necessarily essential, but critical for enjoyment. You can take your own bedding, but it ends up being bulky and cumbersome to pack. Finding a good sleeping bag can make the experience that much better. We purchased a double sleeping bag and it has definitely surprised us. It is lightweight, but it must have some type of material that reflects heat back in. Even on a chilly night, we ended up being comfortable. Really, that's all you need to actually camp. You can figure out food as you go. 4. Food StorageIf you do cook and bring your own food, storage is a must. Depending on where you stay, you may need more secure equipment. Please remember to put all of your food away at night, or you'll end up with animals! In areas with less food aggressive animals, a food locker tent does the trick. You can also buy 5 gallon tub. Both work great. For places with hungry friends, you'll want some type of locked case. Bear proof is difficult, so sometimes just locking food in your car, in a tub, will be enough. YETI roto-coolers are bear proof. (Look it up! They tested it on a grizzley for an hour!) 5) Cooking GearHaving the right cooking gear wraps up the top five. A grill over the fire and the right pan set allows you to cook everything you need for the weekend. The other stuff....The list doesn't end there. A great camping chair, tumbler cup, a hatchet, solar charging blocks all make the list of things we recommend on our camping page. To see more items that we use, check it out!
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Shrines are not just for the religion that created them.All over the world, and the United States, are shrines created by various cultures for a variety of reasons. Some of these reasons we know, and other are thousands of years old with no written history. For example, we visited Hopewell this summer to learn about the Mound Diggers. These mounds exist for reasons we can only guess, yet there is still something sacred about them. Shrines may hold a signifcance to the culture that created it, however, they offer moments of peace and reflection to anyone that chooses to visit. In Michigan, there are various places considered shrines. And for various reasons. We'll highlight three of them we've traveled too. The each highlight different perspectives, extraordinary views, and an opportunity for anyone to stop and take a moment during their travels to rest and reflect. 3 Shrines to see in Michigan1) Bishop BaragaLocation: L'anse, Upper Peninsula Located at the base of the Keweenaw Peninsula, the Bishop Baraga Shrine is located just outside the Village of L'anse. It sits on an overlook of L'anse Bay, giving those that wander here a chance to take in the bay, the edge of Superior, and the east side of the peninsula. This shrine is well known, and has been passed over on various tripes. However, Bishop Baraga is an interesting story. Known as the "Snowshoe Priest", he spent his time working with the native people of the Upper Peninsula. Stories of his travels across the lake and through the area to help those in need are dotted around the area, allowing visitors to walk and learn as they take in the area around it. It's a great place for a picnic spot. It does not have any staff on site, nor does it have it's own store. The facilities their are privately owned, just for inforation.
Location: Mio, Michigan, Lower Peninsula Our Lady of the Woods Shrine in Mio, Michigan was dedicated in September of 1955. Currently, the site houses three first class relics. A first class relic is an item that belongs to a person who lived who is now considered a saint by the church. Saints are ordinary people who lived their lives in extraordinary ways. If something is a first class relic, it was owned by the person. These can be pieces of clothing, books, crosses, and a long list of other items. The shrine has a variety of places to stop and reflect while visiting.
tLocation: Indian River, Michigan, Lower Peninsula
Located just 30 minutes south of the Mackinac Bridge, Cross in the Woods is the most well-known of shrines in Michigan. Follow the path to the left of the visitor center. There are signs to guide you. The path is easy to traverse, as it's paved through the wooded area there. When you come to the end, the path opens to an outdoor Catholic Church with the Cross standing behind the alter. The Shrine has 28 steps that mirror the steps currently in Rome, a place of pilgrimage and prayer. The outer grounds consist of various paths to walk. There are stations of the cross along the outside, a path dedicated to St. Francis of Assisi, and statues and places of prayer at various points. The Cross in the Woods has a visitor center that is open to the public. All are welcome to Mass.
When traveling to Ireland, most keep to the outer ring. The sites along the coast are amazing. At least, that's what we've heard. We haven't been there yet. That's the next trip. Instead, on our first trip to Ireland, we decide to head straight for the center. We went to the heart of the country. The draw was the world's oldest bar. Started around 900 AD, Sean's Bar sits just off the Shannon River, a stone's throw from the Athlone Castle. This long-standing bar has a time period from Vikings to the Irish fight for Independence. While we found the bar, we also found Athlone had so much to love. The town is divided by both the River Shannon and history. The Athlone Castle was an excellent place to tour. As we looked out over the city, the Church of St. Peter and Paul sat on one side of the river, while the English Church of St. Mary sits across the way on the other. The castle provided timelines and stories of the Irish's march towards freedom from the British Crown. As we spent time in the city, and learned of it's history, we also found the people of Athlone to be amazing. They shared stories of their own connections to both Ireland and America's past. Family members who had gone to America or fought the English. Their freedom is just 100 years young, so their stories are current, and some still have first-hand knowledge of the transition. We found a Viking boat tour, which was an added bonus in the rain. The food was excellent, and our Airbnb was incredible and in the perfect spot to walk the town. We did prefer to be on the west side of the River Shannon, as the vibe was a lot busier. We found the east side to be slightly more upscale and business centered. But that's just our opinion! Don't miss a trip across the center of Ireland. If you travel from Galway to Dublin, Athlone is a stop about halfway and worth the time to see!
If you're old enough to remember, there was a time when the only thing you could pause was your VCR. Everything else you missed if you didn't catch it in time. It left us with this feeling of missing out! If you missed a television show, you'd have to wait for the summer reruns to catch it again. If it was a TV special, it was gone forever. In today's world, we do not have that issue. We can pause anything and everything. TV, Streaming, Youtube, Tik Tok. You name it, it's waits for you until you're ready for it. You have the Power of Pause The same goes for life. We live in a go, go, go world. Sometimes it feels if we don't do something right now, we're going to miss out on it. We feel we have to get it right this minute. We have to take care of it in the moment. We have to BUY IT RIGHT NOW. Especially when Amazon gives us only two days of deals! So today, use the power of pause when shopping. I'm not saying to put a hold on it forever, but try one simple trick. Go shopping, but put it all in the cart. Don't click buy right away. Then in 15 minutes, an hour, two hours, come back and review use the list using the three questions from our previous post.
If you can answer them - Buy away! And find ways to pause your life whenever possible. Not only does it give you the power to do what you want, you always have time to come back to the things you love. Happy last day of Prime! We are Amazon Associate and do make small compensation for qualifying purchases so that we may continue to travel and teach! Searching for the best deal?
Read the Reviews!We're not suggesting to spend all day on them. There's no time. There's shopping to be done and things to do. However, taking a minute to read reviews will save you money and time in the long run. A few quick tips on reading reviews: Don't forget a small hatchet while camping! It makes a big difference! Read the Three Star Reviews5 star reviews are always glowing, and 1 star reviews will tell you the worst of things. 3 star reviews tend to be a balance of the honest. They'll tell you why they loved it, and what happened to make it not the perfect review. If you can live with whatever the downside was, it makes it worth the buy. Look for Buzz WordsIf the product continuously has the same word come up in multiple different reviews, take caution. They are either not real reviews if all positive, or, the product has a problem if it's the same negative. Listen for VoiceThis is a reading skill taught from when you were young. When you read, you assign a voice to what you read. If the review comes out way over the top and seems phony, it probably is. You want reviews that come across genuine as you read them.
Prime Day! Prime Day! Prime Day! Tomorrow. Prime Days start tomorrow and it's almost like Christmas. I've watched over and over friends and family scroll through phones watching deals and eagerly anticipating the arrival of Prime Day. And as the day comes, and you sit and wait for the deals to start, take one moment to step back and ask yourself one question. That's it. That's the question. It's the question we ask ourselves all the time. See, there's a difference between needs and wants. And Prime Day definitely is a day that tells us what we need. Free shipping and big cuts in prices lure us into picking up items we may not even know we needed or wanted. It's shopping at it's finest. However, there's something to be said about keeping the end in mind. While spending $300 - $1,000 plus dollars on Amazon and getting great deals is a bonus, double check that you're buying for all of the right reasons. When trying to budget for life and traveling or other things you want to do, you don't want to look back at an Amazon cart and realize you bought a ticket to Hawaii on things you might have wanted to skip purchasing. 1) Do I Need It?This isn't a needs versus want question. We really need our basic needs to be met. You need food, shelter, water, and clothing. So, we aren't saying to just purchase those things. But when shopping on Prime Day, is the item you're purchasing a need that will fulfill something. Do you need a new door handle, or new cushions for the patio because yours have holes in them. Do you need Christmas lights or a new phone charger? When you purchase things you know are going to fulfill things that you need to improve your life, you feel good about the purchase. Buy away! 2) Are you going to use it regularly?This has to be your question list. The more you use an item, the better value you've found. If you buy something you only use once or twice a year, the cost of that item only divides by two. If you use an item 15 - 50 times a year, you've substantially increased it's value. So, when purchasing, really think how many times you'll be using something to be able to tell yourself it's worth it. 3) Do you love it?Love it. Be excited about it. Have a passion that comes from inside when you purchase something. That's the best kind of buying. The best buys are finding something you love that you are excited because it was a deal, you needed it, and you're going to use it. Huge win. When you plan ahead and use your purchasing power wisely, you're money goes farther and you can do more. We are excited about Prime Days and we hope you are too!
Check out our Prime Days page for links to things we love! |
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March 2024
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