Better Backpacking

Backpacking anywhere is an incredible experience but it can also come with a lot of issues. Your bag can get stuffed and disorganized, you can get terrible back pain and all the straps get caught in baggage carousels really easily.  I have always been a Mountain Equipment Co-op fan and they’ve come up with a backpack that solves every single one of these problems.

The MEC Supercontinent series of backpacks is beyond efficient. They come in 45, 65, and 75 litres. When I travelled I used a 45 for ten days and it was perfect. They’ve got all the necessary cushy support stuff like metal rods on the back (made of aluminum so they don’t add extra weight) and compression straps. They extend, so if you overpacked a little you still have room to shop. The straps can be zipped up to make your pack more like a duffle bag, and then there’s nothing to get caught in the carrousels.

My favourite part, and this is simple but incredibly helpful, is the zipper pockets on the waist straps. You can easily store tickets or any other small items you may need to have handy when getting on a ferry or something. The 65 and the 75 also have day packs clipped to them.

Your backpack can make or break your trip (and your back) so make sure you get a good one. Everything MEC is well made so I would definitely start there. Click for their sight: http://www.mec.ca/AST

Winnipeg Love Hate

Photo by Bryan Scott

As some one who likes to travel lots, a flight risk if you will, sometimes I have a hard time being in Winnipeg. I feel stuck, bored and most of all cold. When I am feeling particularly stir crazy in Winnipeg sometimes I click on the blog Winnipeg Love Hate for a little Winnipeg wonder. Bryan Scott, an AMAZING photographer, captures the good, the bad and the ugly of Winnipeg and posts his shots on http://www.winnipeglovehate.com.

While there are ugly places in this city of ours, and it’s sometimes hard to find the excitement in the humdrum of daily life, Scott’s photos remind me of how beautiful it can be.

Take Flight spreads its wings

I really enjoy being up in the air and I have a few friends who share my crave of the clouds. This year we decided to get ourselves organized into a troupe.  After a lot of deliberation we picked a name: Take Flight. We came together because of our love for flying, dropping, performing, and creating and we thought the name reflected our vision for the troupe. We want to take off into something new, exciting and challenging.

Take Flight is a team of students, high school and university, that have all had previous aerial training. We are a group without a leader, just passionate members. We want to celebrate everyone’s stengths on and off the equiptment in an environment that makes everyone comfortable with taking risks. Starting our own troupe has given us room to get creative. A lot can happen when you have no rules, just ideas.

Take Flight spread its wings as we rigged our equipment. For the first time in our lives we’ve bought our own fabrics, carabiners, ropes, span sets and hoops. The process was a long one, but thanks to a very talented and brave Jordan climbing up the 40 foot ladder too many times to count, we got it done.

We’re still just starting out but we have high hopes for what’s to come. I am so stoked to be a part of Take Flight!

Sweet Silks

Everytime I try to explain to people what aerial is, I always refer back to Cirque du Soliel. Cirque is THE name in the aerial buisness and they put on a fantastic show, but there are TONS of aerial artists out there who perform on all different kinds of apparatus. Here is a quick silks video:

High Flying Trapeze in Thailand

I love high flying trapeze. We don’t have a rig in Winnipeg but there are many all over the world. When I did it, it was such a rush! I climbed up the itty bitty ladder to the platform at the top my stomach started to drop. It was incredible. The caller shouted “listo” (ready) and “hup” and I was off. Flying through the air at 40 feet hanging by your knees and hoping the man on the other trap will catch you is a whirlwind. I’d give anything to be there again.  And I was absolutely kicking myself when I learned that the island of Koh Tao in Thailand has a rig AFTER my trip to Thailand. Flying Trapeze on the beach sounds like a fantastic way to pass the time and the next chance I get, I am headed straight for Koh Tao!

Image from Flying Trapeze Adventures

Check out FTA’s website: http://flyingtrapezeadventures.com/experience.html

Be Prepared!

I’ve got the travel bug, and I’ve got it bad. Since my Dad spent most of his days in the military I grew up in an ever-changing landscape. Now I crave the change and the excitement of traveling somewhere new. While it can be an incredible rush to explore a city sans guidebook the lustre may wear off when the clock strikes midnight and you’re stuck in a sketchy suburb of Bangkok with nowhere to stay.

And that’s where I say when you fly away be prepared! In fact, be girl scout prepared. Come armed with a lonely planet guidebook.

Of all the travel literature kicking around out there, and of all the travel guides I have tried lonely planet is my favourite.  For starters, their website says they have over 500 books for more than 195 countries which includes many different series of books. They have their “discover” series, their “on a shoestring” series, their phrasebooks and their regular series. They have books for kids, books for foodies, books for backpackers and so much more. They take the cake when it comes to variety, and I love having lots of choices. So, depending on what your budget is, where you’re going, what you want to see and what languages you can speak lonely planet has a book suited to your needs.

Without lonely planet there are so many attractions, activities, and restaurants I wouldn’t have gotten the chance to experience. When I went to China with my friend Natalia we obviously went to The Great Wall. We heard the most popular and accessible area of The Great Wall, Badaling, was inauthentic, redone and overly touristy (it has amusement park rides and some petting zoo type things, weird eh?). Lonely planet confirmed that and gave us a few alternatives. One was Jinshanling, an area where you can hike 10km of authentic wall. We’re both pretty active and love high energy activities like hiking so we went for it. It walked us through step by step of the confusing public transport we needed to take to get there and we were off! The experience was beyond incredible. There were times where we were the only people on the wall for a good kilometre or so. It was breathtaking, serene and gorgeous. I will never forget that.

Lonely planet has a plethora of practical information on top of their regular features like the must sees, hotel information, and activities (which are all incredibly thorough and accurate). For example, they let you know what shots you should get, what the tipping customs are and what may be considered offensive in another country.

The history and culture sections are fantastic. They provide great reading on the plane and an awesome foundation if you want to know some background information before you take off on an adventure.

The only criticism I have is that the books are extremely heavy and when you backpack like yours truly that book extra weight can be back-breaking. It can also take up space you make want to fill with say, shoes. I wish lonely planet came in a little binder so you could remove the pages you need. Often you don’t need to read the whole book because you can’t physically visit every square inch of a country in one trip anyways.

I also LOVE the bit in the back of these books where they tell you about the authors. I have never seen another travel book give the authors recognition like that and I think they deserve it. These writers have spent a significant amount of time in their respective areas and some have even lived there. For instance Austin Bush, one of the writers for lonely planet’s discover Thailand guide moved to study Thai in 1999 and hasn’t left since. The authors have an incredible amount of practical knowledge so you know you’re getting info from a great source.

Lonely planet has been my lifeline through thick and thin in all my travels. From the easy-to-understand layout to the gorgeous photography and incredible info lonely planet is an amazing resource that makes for an amazing journey.

Get a guide: http://bit.ly/RrkB8j

Follow lonely planet on Twitter for TONS of great travel info: @lonelyplanet

Hello there!

 

 

Well, hello. I am Sara Shyiak, an aerialist with a love for adventure, whether that means traveling to China to see The Great Wall or rock climbing in Winnipeg. I crave adrenaline and excitement. I have just started a new adventure: Creative Communications at Red River. This blog will hold my stories, my tips and tricks, and my journey