Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Beautiful Bolivia

During my recent three week road trip, we spent one night sharing our camp with a couple of rock climbers from France.  They raved over dinner about their recent travels to Bolivia and highly recommended it as a place to visit.  They talked about how kind the people were, and that the sights were simply amazing.  This of course made me curious to learn more, see more, and well... maybe visit there too!  Take a look at a small sampling of the beauty that is Bolivia.





The World’s Largest Salt Flat is located in Salar de’Uyuni, Bolivia. During the rainy season, the water turns into the world’s largest mirror. The reflection of the sky creates a sense of infinity, like you’re walking among the clouds. It’s called the Border between Heaven and Earth.
Above photos courtesy of Carlos Diaz


As if that weren't already enough to convince anyone of a visit to Bolivia there's more, the Death Road...alternatively known as Grove's Road, Coroico Road, Camino de las YungasEl Camino de la Muerte, or Road of Death.  It is legendary for its extreme danger, one estimate is that 200 to 300 travellers are killed yearly along the road.  It seems only logical that the best way to enjoy it is via bike of course.




It is one of the few routes that connects the Amazon rainforest region of northern Bolivia, or Yungas, to its capital city. One of the local road rules specifies that the downhill driver never has the right of way and must move to the outer edge of the road. This forces fast vehicles to stop so that passing can be negotiated safely. Also, vehicles drive on the left, as opposed to the right like the rest of Bolivia. This gives a left hand drive vehicle's driver a better view over his outside wheel, making passing safer.  - Wikipedia


I'm fairly certain I'd love to bike this, but also certain I'd never want to do it via car or bus.

Camino de las Yungas (DeathRoad) from keksas on Vimeo.


Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Adventure Hiatus

One of the best parts of working for yourself in the outdoor industry is having more time and freedom for adventure.  In that spirit, SY Design will be closed May 27 - June 19 for some serious outside play time.  I'll be taking my four year old daughter, Bernese Mountain dog, and backpacking gear for a three week long adventure based out of our car.  We don't have a set plan in place of where/when just a plan to be outside playing everyday biking, hiking, fishing, swimming, climbing and whatever else comes our way.

You can follow us along in our adventures or misadventures at Meandering Mama our travel blog.  See you soon!

.  

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Did you do Railroad Revival?

If you missed it, too late now, but if you didn't, oh what an experience the Railroad Revival Tour was.  I read about it first on Twitter, and then tickets were bought before I even knew if I could get to the event, I wanted to be there and was pretty certain I would find a way.



I think there were many things that made this event stand out: all the band members of Old Crow Medicine Show, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, as well as Mumford & Sons + friends traveling via vintage railcars from venue to venue, the sweet unique tickets, and artist poster, serious artist collaboration on stage, equal billing, an event that spanned all ages and types of people, something cultural & different from everything else currently happening.  For me as a designer it was very inspiring so I thought I would share some of the images with you culled from the RRT facebook page, and from the Flickr page with fan photos from the event.  Looking forward to seeing what might happen next after the success of this event.













Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Tips for Living with Creative People

I read this last year on Brian Andreas' twitter feed, stumbled onto it again and had to share, he speaks the truth.

Tip #1: Don't ever think you can go behind their backs. It will backfire in VERY creative ways.  Because they're smart & creative. Duh.
Tip #2: quit whining about why they're with you in the 1st place. They CHOSE you. So, get over your neuroses. Or at least shut up about them.
Tip #3: don't expect them to think what you do is interesting. If it was interesting, they'd be doing it. Just be sure it interests you.  ( Note: If it's not interesting to you, don't tell them how it's driving you crazy. Because they'll ask Why the hell are you doing it then?)
Tip #4: DO NOT try & bend a smart & creative person to your will. It will go badly. It may take awhile, but IT'LL GO BADLY. Trust me on this.
Tip #5: Smart, creative people like presents (not always stuff) that intrigue them & say you thought about ways to make deeper conversation ( Note : If all you're doing is starting up a conversation by telling them the details of your day, you are killing them slowly)
**Tell them about the man you met who is trying to teach his canary to whistle opera. Or the lady who offered you 2 for 1 alien ray protectors.
Tip #6: Pay attention in your life. A smart & creative person is not there to entertain you. They are there to play with you. Big difference.
Tip #7. Chocolate & wine. Apply liberally. Be willing to laugh & dance & open more wine. This is the most useful tip
Tip #8: Be flexible & self-sustaining. Smart,creative people have an impetuous relationship with life, so their attention is not always on you
Tip #10: managing a smart, creative person is different than living with one...  (Note that creative people don’t always follow the rule, hence no #9)  You may THINK you can manage them. This is a delusion. The best you can do is lay it all out & ask what they want to do about it.... AND If you MUST manage smart, creative people, tell them about it up front & promise treats when they deliver. They work like demons for treats.