hogfly

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We have a place in Angel Fire and really like it at all times of the year. If you are looking there you will find really nice places at good prices compared to other ski areas. Angel Fire is the second type of destination you mentioned, the we are going to go here a few times a year to relax type. I wish we could go more than we do but our house rents well on VRBO and that helps a lot to pay for it.

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We first started going to AF on “guy trips” for mountain biking. Eventually my wife started coming along as well. At first, she wasn’t a huge fan because there’s so little in the way of restaurants, shops, bars, etc… like we have long loved in Santa Fe, but she’s slowly gotten to the point that’s the very thing she really likes about AF. We like to just grill and cook a bunch while we are there and truly slow down when not riding the bike park.

I will say that while the grocery store is really great as far as selection for its size, the prices are absolutely insane. In addition, just one decent brewery with good food (similar to that in Red River) would be really nice. The new wine bar is pretty good, though, just not as big as the RR brewery/distillery so can be tough to find seating. We haven’t been back since Nuckoll’s has opened (assuming it has), but I like their beer. No clue if the food and vibes will be any good.

Tribe Called Quest: People's Instinctive Travels
Digable Planets: A New Refutation of Time and Space
Run the Jewels: Run the Jewels
Lauryn Hill: Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
Kanye West: College Dropout
Black Star: Black Star
Madvillain: Madvillainy
Kid Cudi: Man in the Moon
The Roots: Things Fall Apart
Common: Be
Jay-Z: The Blueprint
Jurassic 5: Power in Numbers
Dead Prez: Let's Get Free

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Yes, I actually think I would remove 1 of the captains chairs and install a jackery and a dometic fridge. At some point I could remove 2 captains chairs and have lots of room for bike and whatnot.

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Being pretty heavy in the mountain bike world, I've seen a lot of sprinter (and Transit) build-outs. I've also travelled pretty extensively in two very different builds. One was a full vandoit buildout with all the bells and whistles. Retractable Beds in it, dropdown flat screen TV, etc.. etc.. I was convinced I was going to love it. I hated it. The other was a failry bare bones Sprinter with removeable bench seats. the main "build" it has is a solar panel with a built-in powerbank. Other than that, my friend kept it basic because he also used it as a gear hauler (moto and MTB). I loved it, and it was super practical. If we WANTED to sleep in it, then we just packed a memory foam roll (or sleeping pads and bag) and tossed them down at night. If we were staying in a hotel, we could lock all our bikes and such up in the van at night. If we had a huge group going floating, then put all the bench seats in, and have a great shuttle vehicle while pulling a trailer full of canoes and kayaks.

Anyway, if someone is building out for vanlife, I understand wanting to make it very personalized to the specific needs, but cargo vans are way too useful and flexible of a vehicle otherwise.

Oh also: keep that interior and flooring as industrial rubber cheap as possible, especially if you're hauling kids around. Being able to basically vacuum then mop out the interior is fantastic.

Sounds like you already know all of this, so I'm really just ranting at this point. :lol:

A snorkeling mask (and a snorkel) can be a lot of fun on the Buffalo if it's not muddy (we are getting insane amounts of rain currently, so not sure when your trip is planned).

Good sleeping pad (Paco Pad is the best for floating and sleeping riverside on rocks). For 3 days, I might want a canoe seat/chairback. NRS (or some other brand) straps.

Just finished Company of Bones, the first in the Pendulum series by Brennan Morton. Damn… this one took me by surprise. Really solid, and I hope the remaining books live up to the start. It’s like a little more lighthearted Black Company.

Start with a single. Probably, as a male in decent shape, you might want to start with a 20kg. Most males use a 24kg as their “base” weight once you aren’t in danger of hurting yourself.

Pavel, as others pointed out, is like the patron saint of hells. His certification system is called RKC (Russian kettlebell certification I think). StrongFirst is sort of the split off group from that. Both are solid and an intro course from a trainer certified by either is a great way to start out.


Regardless, most KB movements are dynamic and involved compound muscle groups. It’s definitely easy to jack up your back working with them, so make sure you have a good understanding of the mechanics of the swing, as that’s sort of the base movement that a lot of others branch out from.

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Derailleurs just work, no more fiddling around with tension screws or even hangers now.
Brakes are more powerful than ever and easy to bleed.
Carbon everything! Carbon wheels dont break all the time now, dont feel like riding rocks and actually stay true for a long time. Carbon cranks and bars are hard to break now also.
Everyone makes a good bike now. I can't tell you the last time I rode a bike that felt off.
Suspension doesnt wallow around on you.

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And you left off the most important:
If you're an informed buyer, the used MTB market is insanely cheap right now.

This is just my preference but don’t overschedule and allow for spontaneity. As others have pointed out: some of my best memories from travel were completely unplanned and happened when I “surrendered to the flow” of just sort of letting things happen and going with a whim. There can be some real feelings of the universe delivering experiences to you when traveling that’s hard to replicate in our regular lives. This can’t happen if you keep too tight of an itinerary.

Try to do “normal” things that people do in a destination, whether that’s eating at a neighborhood cafe, drinking at a dive bar, sitting for a coffee and reading all afternoon, grabbing a snack and sprawling on the grass at a park. These sorts of things tend to allow for interactions beyond sightseeing and normal tourist activities.

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If this is what you're looking for, you might consider heading a bit further east to the Cape San Blas/St. George Island area.

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This (although there ARE places on 30A where you can find a little less crowding, but you pay for it).

My family has been doing to the Gulf for over half a century. We started back before I was born when my uncle had a beach house out on Ft. Morgan that got destroyed by Hurricane Frederic in the 70s.

We then started going to Gulf Shores, then Destin, then 30A, constantly moving further east to "escape" the crowds. They were great years with multiple generations all getting a large house or condo together with grandparents, siblings, cousins, etc..

We ceased going probably 10 years ago due to family just sort of growing apart (and my parents passing away) as well as my own immediate family unit wanting to pursue other vacation interests, but our next move was to start looking to St. George Island.

Our kids are road trip warriors and have been since they were young. In the car, tablets and/or video screens on the headrests for movies. Just know, though, that you're going to end up with a kid whose crying in their car seat for long periods and just have to suck it up. It's just part of it. One trick we usually did was to leave either at night when they'd go to sleep or very very early in the morning (3-4am). We still do the early morning departures when we're road tripping if possible because everyone else sleeps while I drive and before first breakfast/coffee/gas fillup, you're 4 hours into the trip already while everyone else slept.

When ours were younger, we pretty much stuck to beach vacations (which was a 10 hour drive for us). The "rhythm" of a beach vacation works pretty well with young kids. I'd get up before dawn, go fish for a while, come back to breakfast with the family. Make the haul down to the beach and hang out for the morning. Back up to the house for lunch and maybe a swim if we had a pool. Then down for a nap for the kids. Then you can either take a nap if you need it or go have some adult time. Then back up, back ot the beach for later afternoon. Back up to house for dinner, and I'd usually go back down for sunset fishing. Put the kids down and hang out with the other adults after they're in bed.

My wife and I have always been pretty obsessive about our kids routines when they were young, though, so the thought of a busy tourist itinerary when they were young just didn't work for us. Once the boys got to 8-10 years old, then we started branching out in our travel and doing stuff that involved a much looser schedule.