The last couple of months have been a whirlwind for Zaxyn Media, to say the least. On June 21st we welcomed our daughter to the world, so sleep has been a luxury we haven't had lately. We managed to publish the June issue of Tacoma Magazine just before her arrival, and followed with the July issue of FJC Magazine a couple of weeks later.

We took Alana on her first outing at a young three weeks old, just an overnight to Peak 7 at Breckenridge to see how she would handle a car ride + condo stay. It worked out well so we decided to take her, Brenden, the GX 470, and the FJ Cruiser to Ouray for the 7th Annual FJ Summit. We had to keep our record of seven straight events intact :)

That brough us to the end of July and we've been catching our breath the last few weeks. Alana will be 2 months old next week so we're starting to settle in a little better, and we're already planning our next adventure! In September we'll be at Miller Motosports Park in Tooele, UT for the annual CruiserFest event where we'll be making a major announcement on the Toyota front.

Stay tuned for more great things from Adventure Insider!

Found this little story over on BuzzFeed thanks to our friends at Living Overland, "41 Camping Hacks that are Borderline Genius". While some of them are certainly innovative, most have been seen before in various forms, and many are just plain silly.

Obviously, I haven’t been to ALL the amazing places on the planet (yet), but my travels have taken me to some pretty great locations. A quick night on Crete sleeping feet from the Med; Geneva for a conference, which meant a quick drive through the French Alps; New Zealand for what can only be called an epic <first> visit.

Living in (and exploring) Colorado for the last 17 years has, I will admit, made me a little, well, a little snooty when it comes to my views. Mountains of New Hampshire, nice, but they’re not Colorado; Whistler BC, very, very nice, but a little to damp for my tastes; Queenstown NZ, amazing, yet not quite enough trees. It’s a problem that I know I should seek professional help in dealing with, I’ll work on that.

As you know we're alwasy looking for great quality clothing for the adventure lifestyle. To be completely honest, I'm kind of over standard ultralight (not very durable) backpacker style clothing. While ultra lightweight pants & shirts have their place when on a 5 day wilderness adventure, my daily adventures of taking care of kids and spending time in our FJ Cruiser tend to be very hard on my clothes. I've worn out more than one set of zip-off backpacking pants, and my lightweight button-up shirts always either get stained or ripped on a tree.

The countdown to Overland Expo continues! While we love the Trekpak Alpine Pak (http://trekpak.com/alpine-pak/), since I'll be wearing a portable seat on my back for this event I'll be sticking with the Rollipak (http://trekpak.com/rollipak/) + Lowepro bag.

This little baby holds my Nikon, batteries, cards, and iPad with room for a few cards & other literature from the show. The plan is to use the seat to get a little more height during classes & demos, hopefully we'll be able to get great shots without climbing any trees this year.

Trekpak is booth #24 and makes it easy to organize your camera gear in backpacks, messenger bags, or Pelican cases. Check them out if you have the chance!

After the Vehicle Based Survival course I instructed last week, I thought it would be a good idea to briefly discuss the absolute essentials any adventurer should travel with, in terms of short term survival.
As you may know, surviving for the short term (usually less than 5 days), only really requires two things: hydroregulation (keeping your core temperature at or around 98.6F), and hydration. To this end, I recommend the following for a MINIMAL survival kit:

• Water purification: this can come in the form of a backpacker-style pump that you already have, UV purifier, or survival-straw, but most likely you’ll want to carry water purification tablets.
• Emergency shelter: can either be a generic Mylar blanket, or a more advanced emergency bivy or heavy-duty space blanket.
• Fire starter: while fire is not always absolutely necessary during a short term survival ordeal, it enhances every other aspect of your situation. It provides warmth & drying abilities, cooks food, purifies water, and often helps keep critters away. I carry a Blast-Match and petroleum jelly-cotton ball tinder.
• Communication: The most basic survival communication method is a Personal Locator Beacon, but they can be pricey. Many adventurers choose to use a SPOT Messenger for emergency comm. In addition to the SPOT, I usually carry 1-2 ham radios as well as various short distance devices such as a whistle, flare, and signal mirror.

Choose one item from each category and you’ll be well on your way to building a decent basic survival kit.

Spring is here so that means it’s time to start (or hopefully finish) planning your great Summer 2013 adventure! Depending on where you plan on exploring, you may need to apply for permits, as some permits are gone up to a year in advance. Then there is new gear to look in to, travel plans to make, and of course planning each day of your trip.

The REI Blog has a great little article on permits for various popular destinations around the country. Their content includes details on visiting places such as the Grand Canyon, Smokey Mountains, and many other national parks. Also keep in mind that many BLM areas require permits for extended stays in the backcountry.

At Adventure Insider, we’re always looking to get as far off the beaten path as possible. The team from Overland Journal did just that a few months ago as they trekked to the “Loneliest” place in the United States. They made their way by vehicle then by foot to the furthest point from any incorporated city in the US, in remote southern Utah.

The video is about 23 minutes long and includes several interviews, great scenery, hiking, and of course climbing :)

The WINTER 2013 issue is here! In this issue we cover which ice climbing gloves are right for you, Abbie has notes on beginning to snowboard, we have some great shots from Whistler Blackcomb, and we have a special article on the art and fun of Mushing. We hope you ejoy this issue of Adventure Insider, and please, use the Share buttons above to tell your friends about this issue!

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Found this over on the REI blog:

Pinnacles National Monument has become the 59th National Park due to legislation signed by President Obama. The popular area is about 26,000 acres and includes great rock formations left over from an ancient volcano. It's a very popular rock climbing destination and features over 30 miles of hiking trails.

See it on the REI Site

Pinnacles National Monument Website