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Category: Travel

Inflatable Camping Shelter

Inflatable Camping Shelter

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Gear Patrol reported on a new four-season capsule tent that assembles in under five minutes, can sleep four, and fits into a backpack. It’s called the Air Station Pod-01 and it’s made by Exod – a company that also makes the Monolith inflating tent.

The shelter supposedly takes just five minutes to assemble with the included hand pump, and once set up, it offers a self-standing design with 4.2m² of floor space. The exterior of the capsule has two tunnel doors, a pair of windows and multiple ventilation points. All four walls can also be easily lifted up to create an open-air shelter. It weighs 18.7 lbs and can be disassembled by one person in five minutes, including the time it takes to stuff it into the included 25 x 35 x 64cm carrying backpack.

It’s claimed to be rigid enough to stand up in four seasons – but I’m curious how it would do with 3″ of snow on it (4.2m² = 6430in² * 3″ of snow = 19,440in³ or 11.25 cubic feet. Snow weighs about 12 pounds per cubic foot, so 3″ snow would weigh roughly 135lbs); or if its tie-down system could stand up to 20-35mph winds on a ridge.

At $2,679 (now $1930 at their website) it’s not cheap, but it certain is cool looking and would likely be right at home at a Burning Man style festival where wind/snow might not be a problem.

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Meow Wolf Santa Fe secrets

Meow Wolf Santa Fe secrets

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I recently enjoyed a trip to Meow Wolf in Santa Fe. Here’s some links for Easter eggs and secrets to be found in Meow Wolf Santa Fe.

Some people might like to explore blindly, but I found the trip much more enjoyable having some background knowledge before going. I still spent 3 hours there even knowing much of the story. There’s just too much to see and read if you wanted to go in blind. It would easily take half a dozen 1-2 hour trips just to read through the materials in each of the sections and piece it all together.

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Adventure travel companies

Adventure travel companies

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Going on a vacation is one thing, but how about an adventure? There’s been a rise in adventure travel companies that can help you adventure through some of the most amazing places in the world in a way you’d never experience in a tour bus.

The market is definitely delivering some amazing, affordable deals – and it’s been driving some of the more overpriced companies like REI Experiences out of business. Companies like Much Better Adventures and Explore! are setting the pace by offering 5-15 day adventures for under $1500. You need to get yourself there and handle an amount of the logistics yourself but once there they cover most accommodations, transport, food, and activities with a distinctive local flair – often giving you time to explore on your own.

To be clear, you’re not getting a curated western experience at the Hilton and air conditioned bus transport. It’s probably not for families with younger kids. You’ll likely be working with local guides and staying at affordable, but safe local places. This almost exactly what I would have loved in my 20’s and 30’s – let me save money by doing the parts I can do, then let them handle the local stuff that would be difficult. Instead of a carefully packaged experience, you get to see how people live in the country you’re visiting.

I’m definitely looking into this for my next sabbatical.

Visitors guide to finding Noah’s Ark

Visitors guide to finding Noah’s Ark

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Dr Irving Finkel the world famous philologist and Assyriologist of the British Museum, discussed in a recent video a Babylonian cuneiform tablet which he called “the oldest map in the world”.

What makes it so interesting is that it proports to show exactly where Noah’s ark can be found.

The translated text on the reverse of the tablet describes the steps in a traveler’s journey to discover the location of the Ark, describing “seven leagues,” which they must pass through to arrive at the remnants of the ‘parsiktu-vessel’. The map leads to ‘Urartu,’ which was named in an ancient Mesopotamian poem as the Ark’s landing place and is the Assyrian equivalent to “Ararat,”, the mountain location named in the Hebrew Old Testament as the resting place of Noah’s Ark. A location close to Ararat’s summit has long been the speculated location of the Ark’s resting place, as researched by Noah’s Ark Scans. In Finkle’s explanation of the tablet, he explained how ancient travelers taking the path to Urartu may have seen the remains of the mammoth vessel on their journey.

In the Babylonian version of this tale, it is a man named Utnapishtim who undertakes this task. Finkel explained that this tablet demonstrated that “the story was the same … that from the Babylonian point of view, this was a matter of fact thing … that if you did go on this journey you would see the remnants of this historic boat”.

A location close to Ararat’s summit has long been the speculated location of the Ark’s resting place, as researched by Noah’s Ark Scans and the biblical measurements given (“300 cubits, 50 cubits, by 30 cubits,” which is equal to around 515 feet long by 86 feet wide and 52 feet high) match up with the measurements of the site in modern-day Turkey.

This is just one more interesting bit of ancient evidence Finkel has uncovered showing multiple matching cultural references to a great flood event.

If you’re curious to read more, he is the author of the 2013 book The Ark Before Noah, which goes over the ancient artifacts about a flood event believed to have occurred around 5,000 years ago.

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Doughnut shop in Indiana is still using Commodore 64’s as their cash register

Doughnut shop in Indiana is still using Commodore 64’s as their cash register

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The Hilligoss Bakery in Brownsburg, IN is a respectable local donut shop. What sets it apart, however, is the fact they are still using Commodore 64’s for their cash registers.

A recent series of photos on X attracted a lot of attention this week, as it showed staff at the Hilligoss Bakery apparently processing orders on a Commodore 64-based register system. Commenters pointed out that the last publicly posted picture of the register was taken in 2021, so Tom’s Hardware decided to give them a call—and staff duly verified that the systems were still in use.

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Maximizing your PTO time off in 2025

Maximizing your PTO time off in 2025

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Want to maximize your time off in 2025? Take these 12 additional days as vacation days and get the maximum number of long weekends!

  • Wednesday, Jan. 1 (New Year’s Day): Take off Jan. 2–3 for a five-day weekend. If you also have Dec. 31 off, take Monday, Dec. 30 for a full week of vacation.
  • Monday, Jan. 20 (Martin Luther King, Jr. Day): Take off Friday, Jan. 17
  • Monday, Feb. 17 (President’s Day): Take off Friday, Feb. 14
  • Monday, May 26 (Memorial Day): Take off Friday, May 23
  • Thursday, June 19 (Juneteenth National Independence Day): Take off Friday, June 20
  • Friday, July 4 (Independence Day): Take off Thursday, July 3
  • Monday, Sept. 1 (Labor Day): Take off Friday, Aug. 29
  • Monday, Oct. 13 (Indigenous People’s Day): Take off Friday, Oct. 10
  • Tuesday, Nov. 11 (Veteran’s Day): Take off Monday, Nov. 10
  • Thursday, Nov. 27 (Thanksgiving Day): Take off Friday, Nov. 28. If you already have this day off, request Wednesday, Nov. 26 to get a five day weekend.
  • Thursday, Dec. 25 (Christmas Day): Take off Friday, Dec. 26. If you have Dec. 24 off as well, you get a five-day weekend. Or take off Dec. 22–24 and Dec. 26 to get a nine-day vacation with only four days of PTO.

Contiki also has a calendar calculator to help you out (If you squint enough. Time to hire a better graphic designer). Enter a dummy email address since it displays it, not emails it to you.

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Play Dungeons and Dragons – in a real castle

Play Dungeons and Dragons – in a real castle

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Coming this March 25-29th, 2025 in Manorbier, UK, for a measly £2800-£3200, you can join in playing a Dungeons and Dragons campaign in a real castle. You Meet in a Tavern will provide 24 hours of actual D&D in the castle spread over 5 days – along with themed activities, elaborate medieval themed feasts and banquets, and can even stay at the castle (only a few slots – everyone else stays at the nearby cottage or in town).

Activities include archery, falconry, miniature painting, cooking experiences, and reenactments.

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