Camp tips

It seems, on some level, like an im-possibility. In the semi-arid highlands of Angola, hundreds of trickling streams join forces with two mighty rivers, the Cuito and the Cubango, which flow through Namibia and into Botswana as the Okavango, then spill into a fan-shaped 4,600-square-mile wetland before vanishing into the sands of the Kalahari Desert. Poof.

Will your intended observing location on April 8 actually experience a total solar eclipse? If you completely trust the travel industry and the media, you might do. Or you might not.

There is never a bad time to explore the deep and rippled beauty of Grand Canyon National Park. But depending on the nature of your trip, be it a rugged multi-day hike through jagged switchbacks and river ravines; a spot of family camping; or a quick budget-friendly adventure, when you visit will make all the difference.

Yosemite, established in 1864, is a superstar of the National Park System for good reason. A visit, whether you stay in well-connected Yosemite Valley or head out into the vast wilderness, is a humbling experience. 

I was three weeks out from a 23-day travel itinerary with my toddler, Julian, when my dad died suddenly. The trip was something I had planned months earlier, determined to prove to all the face-palming naysayers (and myself) that you don’t have to give up traveling after having a baby; you just have to find new ways to move through the world. Due to grief, I considered canceling, but ultimately I decided against it. My father was a textbook agoraphobic who shut himself off from the world and at the end was leaving his house only once or twice a year. But travel was how I learned who I was and who I wanted to be. I’d been to more than 80 countries and spent four years traveling full-time with a 35-liter rucksack and a tiny hatchback. If I could bestow any qualities onto my child, I hoped they’d be my strongest ones: insatiable curiosity, relentless optimism, fiery resilience, and a willingness to bend to my environment rather than expecting my environment to bend to me.

We’re all familiar with the Scandinavian concept of hygge, which is all about hunkering down and staying cosy in winter. So it will come as no surprise to learn that the Scandis have also got it sussed when it comes to making the most of the summer. Friluftsliv, a Norwegian word that translates as “open-air living”, is all about getting out into the great outdoors, connecting with nature and leaving a minimal environmental footprint. Whether it’s hiring a Swedish summer house, camping on a Danish island or kayaking in Norwegian fjords, we’d love to hear your recommendations for outdoorsy summer holidays in Scandinavia.

Let’s be honest: Alaska isn’t exactly a budget destination.

I typically fall into two camps when it comes to booking places to stay: full-service luxury hotels and independently-owned boutique properties.

Camping along California’s popular Big Sur region is about to get a bit pricier when officials implement a two year ban of the only free camping spot.

The Scotland-based company Slow Adventure advocates a more mindful approach to activity holidays. Options include climbing and yoga in the Italian Alps, mountain biking in Sweden and horse riding and rambling in Iceland. On the Finnish Happiness trip, guests stay in log cabins by a lake in Lapland and activities include canoeing under the midnight sun, hiking, swimming, swamp foraging and daily saunas. On all trips, 5% of the fee goes to local conservation projects, which in Finland could mean helping protect the rare Saimaa ringed seal, preserving forests or supporting a children’s environmental charity.From £876 for five nights, slow-adventure.com

A total solar eclipse is not just for science geeks. Memories of April 8’s brief moments of totality—reserved only for those inside the 115-mile-wide path across North America—will live forever in the mind of anyone who experiences it, whatever the level of their scientific knowledge.

It’s essential to consider the age of the group you’re camping with, as the spookier activities are better suited for adults.

Kanchha Sherpa was part of the team that first conquered Mount Everest more than seven decades ago, but he's worried these days.

Safari is a once in a lifetime event so it calls for a well-thought-out wardrobe. This exhilarating outdoor experience usually starts early in the morning and ends in the evening when the sun sets, meaning you’ll experience cooler and warmer temperatures throughout the day. You’ll also have to pack some clothing for sundowners or dinners when you’re not seated in your safari vehicle. Here are five pieces you’ll love wearing on safari in Africa.

Safari presents a challenge for travel writers. It’s a trip of a lifetime, something we dream of. It’s captivating to do, immersive in the extreme—the unfamiliar scents, the strange bird trillips, the unrelenting vastness of it all.

In the early days of our relationship, my now husband and I gave up our jobs, packed our harem pants into oversized backpacks, and set off on a six-month sojourn around Southeast Asia. Those carefree, whirlwind months set the bar for every trip we've taken since, including Christmas in Oman's desolate Al Hajar Mountains. So when the time came for us to get married last year, we decided to head into the bush on our first safari—with a guest list that stopped at the two of us.

When I first stepped into Snow Peak's Williamsburg store, I knew this wasn't the rickety, mismatched camping gear I'd grown up with. As I pawed through racks of quilted jackets and pants, in shades of ivory and denim blue, and poked my head into a campground setup where everything boasted clean, taut lines, and gleaming titanium details (these pieces were sturdy), I found myself yearning for the simplicity of the outdoors—well, the simplicity I would be afforded by having this entire, gleaming collection and spending a weekend living among it.

Not long ago, visiting exotic animals in their habitats was the stuff of intrepid explorers who ventured weeks into remote wilds. Today, sleek new nature lodges bring adventurous luxury to fragile but closely cared-for ecosystems.

Cold temperatures shouldn’t stop you from enjoying the outdoors. With the right heated clothing, any place, and temperature, are bearable. Even if it’s Banff in the middle of winter, or in my experience this year, -35 Fahrenheit in Mongolia.

A four-hour drive from Denver, the rural town of Granada, Colorado, is home to just 450 people—and, at the end of a bumpy dirt road, the now-empty barracks and haunting buildings of “Camp Amache.” Also known as the Granada Relocation Center, Amache was once an internment camp for nearly 10,000 Japanese Americans who were forcibly removed from their homes between 1942 and 1945. Now, after decades of preservation efforts by local volunteers, this site has officially become America's newest national park.

So you want to see a lion in the wild? Terrific. Now comes the tricky part: choosing where to go on your first safari.