June 5, 2012 
With 26 comments on the Stoke the Fire 1.5 on February 17, I’ve got quite the round-up to do this time!
- Martin Trotter asked us: Can Adrenaline Junkies Spoil Your Outdoor Experience? He was referring to the World’s Largest Rope Swing, a popular YouTube video and a photo of Corona Arch from his own collection. Kurtis chimed in and said he loved the video.
- James from Joy Trip Project shared a link about a shortage of weight loss medication, commenting on how its a shame out much money is spent on such medication when “the simple solution to excessive weight gain is diet and exercise.” In response, Farzad shared a really interesting video and Marissa shared the link to her post about improving her health through a master cleanse.
- Greg of GC Creative Studio reminded us of the importance of getting outdoors when we’re feeling ‘blah.’ Kurtis rounded off a great discussion with “A good day out gets me through another week but a good day out with good friends feeds my soul.”
- Farzad wrote an essay about his dissatisfaction over the way Parks Canada handled the road closures to popular ice climbing routes, claiming there was wildlife moving through the area. He explained that “the climbing community is very small and… giving them access to the key and road wouldn’t be unreasonable.”
- Marissa shared her Outdoor Gear Faves board on Pinterest, and encouraged other people to share their favourite gear photos.
What will this round hold? This is your chance to Stoke the Fire with any topics you’re discussing on your blog, anything you’ve been thinking and writing about lately, the best post you saw on the internet this week, your latest travel log, the most dramatic photo that was sent you via Facebook, or a shot you took that turned out unexpectedly well. Anything.
If it’s something worth sharing around the campfire, it’s worth sharing here. Try to keep posts relevant to The Campsite, though don’t hesitate to post something you thought was just pretty darn cool.
So, go ahead. Brag, share, link, and promote. This is your day (again) to do it. Use the Comments feature below. Please refer to the Discussion guidelines under the Three D’s.
Let’s make this the biggest blaze the Internet has ever seen.
Wah – I haven’t written or blogged about _anything_ lately because I’ve been so busy working my full time job.
To that point, there’s a lively discussion on the Facebook “travel bloggers” forum about actually making money while video blogging about travel.
I’d like to know how folks like you, Meghan, make a living out of your adventures? How do you pay your bills? Is it selling articles to publications? On your blog? With videos?
Or are you like me, desperately trying to find a balance between a 40-hour work week with health benefits, and your “personal” or “fun” travel projects?
Here’s what I’m trying to balance while working:
–half way through yoga teacher training
–training for climbing Mt. Baker in August 2012
–blogging
–editing video content already shot last year & growing stale
–sleep
I did manage to get a few photos up from Bike The Drive 2012, the open Lake Shore Drive bicycle adventure hosted in Chicago on Memorial Day weekend every year. Prepping for that took time, too…
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.370047056389086.86888.158570784203382&type=1
Huzzah– Marissa
Marissa, you ask some really great questions here about how to make it all work. I think what I might do is put together an article for The Campsite on just that – how to make a living doing what we love (or at least try to).
I can tell you right now, that the process I have been through is in no way linear. It has been an ever-evolving process of listening to my heart, being realistic, putting integrity first, trusting and holding onto what I know is possible, and seeing where the need is. I can attribute some of my ‘success’ at being able to live entirely as a writer on the work I did early on to carve out a niche, which is actually tourism marketing/content development. That feeds the whole system, so that I can have the freedom to go play. That being said, all my years of gallivanting through the mountains has helped me to produce the content my corporate clients are asking for, so in essence, I was being paid to go play, just not right away.
There’s so much more to discuss on this, and I promise I will create an article out of the topic.
Fantastic! Can’t wait to read it. From what you described, it feels like I”m in a “zig-zag” moment myself. Looking forward to more…
Hi Marissa. I’ve just posted an answer to your questions here on my freelance website: http://meghanjoyward.com/2012/06/11/living-off-your-lifestyle/
PS: Alternate discussion – recently was _hammered_ by Sierra Club phone calls on my PERSONAL CELL PHONE to renew membership. So turned off I’m not renewing. Have you ever had a favorite “outdoor” organization resort to aggressive mail & telephone spamming for your dollars? I was appalled at Sierra Club & tweeted my dissatisfaction.
Got another call that night…
MK
I am thankful that none of the outdoor organizations that I’m part of have done this. I’m curious to know what you think this tells you about the state of the organization? Is membership down? Are they having trouble recruiting new members and having old members renew? What does this tell us about the general population, their connection to the outdoors and their willingness to invest in something like the Sierra Club?
Excellent points. Probably many of these are true for Sierra Club. It’s a shame, as desperation leads nowhere…
Over the weekend my wife and I were in the Bow Valley to photograph some awesome Roller Derby and after being there for 5 hours we were tired and needed some good food. We stopped in at BP’s, and 2 pubs all shutting down the kitchen at 11) before the last place to get some food. At everyone of those locations the lounge or bar sides were packed and blasting with night live. Now I lived in my share of mountain towns like Nelson and Whistler but these days I’m not so sure I would want to. I love being in a small town were I can bike down a quite street and take my kids to the park. I thought I might be getting old but I think the party-lifestyle in the mountain town is getting old. Do you move to the mountain town to get crazy and party while your young or do you move there to Zen-out and live peacefully with the animals and mountain air? When I walk around in Banff or Canmore I feel like you almost have to work hard at being authentic when so many people are just playing the part. Question is; is there such a thing as an authentic lifestyle in the mountain culture or is it trendy? I do realize I’m potentially offending people here but I’m looking for motivation.
Kurtis, I wrote about this topic because it’s been a hot one around these parts, not just in terms of the party scene but the general culture here in Banff. Many people have been complaining that the town lacks authenticity because of the types of businesses that we allow and the fact that so many kids come here in their gap year, never actually go into the mountains and get wrapped up in the party scene. The post is here: http://thecampsiteblog.com/2011/04/02/what-is-the-definition-of-an-authentic-mountain-community/
But, doesn’t every town, every city have a night scene? If you’re looking for dinner at 11pm, of course you’re going to be exposed to the people who like being out later on at night. I don’t think that this is an indicator that the town lacks authenticity. I bet there are people in some of the ‘idyllic’ mountain communities like Chamonix that like to go out later on at night for a drink.
This morning I was up early, so I took a walk down the Bow River to Bow Falls. The river was a chocolate milk colour, surging with debris and run-off from the mountains after warmer temperatures and some heavy rainfall. I stood close to the water, watching the clouds move in front of Rundle and taking in the incredible smells of springtime. It was an utterly authentic mountain experience, and I was only a 15 minutes walk from home. These kinds of opportunities define this mountain community for me. Everyone comes here looking for something different. I came here looking for this kind of experience, and found it. If kids want to go drink beer late at night, that’s up to them. I didn’t see them on my walk this morning.
Kurtis, I hear you on this. The worst example of this is what the Lake Tahoe area of Northern California has become. Met many cool peeps that live there, but at extreme costs of living for rents, with low pay. Not many jobs, etc. Like Meghan wrote, since the early 90′s it seems it’s been “hip” to take a year off before or after college to be a ski/mountain bum & party down. Sadly, with those folks ageing, towns then get gentrified like Telluride, which was a quiet little hippy community forever, former minig town, and now hosts the most famous Hollywood people w/ their 2nd or 3rd “McMansions” with “ski-in” access, who kvetch everytime their roofs leak from the snowpiles melting. That being said, there are a lot of great folks in these towns too, ekeing out a living & raising great kids. You just need to hang around longer to see these folks who carry 80% of the community (80/20 rule style), come out of their shell. From what I’ve experienced, they generally stick to themselves. My two cents at least…
I know that I had to give Banff a good shot. It was a tough community to crack into. Because of the transience, people who are here to live more permanently do keep a bit amongst themselves in a way. I totally get it, after seeing close friends leave every 6 months or so. It gets tiring, creating relationships only to have people move away. But, now I feel like I have integrated with the community and have some really rich relationships with people who are really invested in making this a great place. You’re right about the 80/20 rule, Marissa.