Oscar Wilde said, If you want to be a grocer, or a general, or a politician, or a judge, you will invariably become it; that is your punishment. 　　Long before living a nomad life, I had wanted to be a software engineer. But when I became one, it felt like a punishment. It is not to say that a Ph.D....

　　Travel Chaos Our Pakistan expedition started out with high stress levels, to say the least. Our bags were painstakingly packed—gear organized, packed, organized again, double-checked, and repacked. As we celebrated our last night in the US with some friends in Denver, Colorado before catching our morning flight, Allen received a terrible email—our flight was canceled! 　　When we had started planning...

　　Words and photography by Joe Yelverton 　　Night falling, calf muscles burning, a heavy pack pulling on my shoulders. All good reasons to sit down and enjoy the twilight from our rarified perch in the Chugach Mountains. To the west, a crimson glow on Cook Inlet, and beyond this massive body of water, the Southern Alaska Range painted in alpenglow. Stunning...

　　Words by MSR athlete Nina Caprez, photos by Jimmy Martinello 　　I dream a lot. Almost every morning I wake up and remember, for a moment, dreams from the night before. Some say it’s a way for the subconscious to process. Maybe I don’t have enough down time to do it any differently. 　　I had dreams my first days in Makatea,...

　　By: David Woronets 　　 　　Photo by: David Woronets The ideal time to visit Oregon’s Cascade Lakes region is just after the mosquitoes abate and before the snow returns. And one of the best ways to do it is by mountain bike. This fall, my friend Josh and I decided to connect a couple of iconic high-mile mountain bike trails that would...

　　By Josh Perez Most of us work a 9-5 and eagerly await the weekend to squeeze in as much adventure as possible. Or we wake up at extreme hours and pull all-nighters when we absolutely must get into the mountains during the week. 　　Occasionally we’re blessed with a holiday weekend, which seems like gold for us weekend warriors. With July...

　　By McKenzie Barney, Comfort Theory producer and thru-hiker 　　 　　It’s no PCT, AT, CDT, or Camino. The TA is its own irreplaceable beast—dangerous at times if you’re not prepared—but with a silver lining of beauty that, with an open mind, can change your life. Our team just completed the 3000 km long-distance trail, which stretches tip-to-tip across New Zealand’s two...

　　Flying with a camping stove can be trickier than you might think. Don’t waste time, fuel or lose your stove. Follow these steps and check up with TSA to make sure you’re flying right with your backcountry stove! 　　 　　TSA Rules You are allowed to bring a stove in a carry-on or checked baggage, but ONLY if you take the...

　　Words by Sammy Podhurst 　　Photos by Sammy Podhurst and Anna Pfaff 　　Climbing in the Himalaya is interesting. There are many layers to the equation here. The acclimatization period requires patience. The lack of resources requires a lot of forethought and pre-planning. There is little infrastructure as far as rescue and medical goes. But at the same time, all of that...

　　Story and Recipe by Kieran Creevy 　　Images by Cat Vinton 　　 　　Iron studded wood doors, gnarled and black with age, rise before drawbridge chains: We’re in the tiny fortified village of Villefranche De Conflent, our home for the next few days. Wandering down the narrow streets toward our apartment, we begin to see more elements of ironwork. Shops, bars and...

　　Something about bikepacking Death Valley drew us in—maybe it was the iconic sand dunes, the deep canyons, salty-dry basins, or moving rocks, but more likely it was just the empty space and lack of cell service. After a year of chaos, we all wanted a break. What better way to get out the angst than to hammer pedals for a...

　　Words and photos by George Terrizzi 　　The sun baked the back of my neck and simultaneously my face as we slowly mashed the pedals through what can only be described as miles of playground sand in the mid-day sun. I clinched my eyes shut from the stinging sensation of sweat that was pouring down my brow mixing with the sunscreen...