Adventure Quickies: Advice for Traveling in Polar Regions, Hubble Celebrates 30 Years, and More

Even now, when many expeditions are closed and we remain on lockdown, I still get more adventure stories, travel news briefs, and gear reviews than I have the time or space to share on The Adventure Blog. On Fridays, I post a set of Adventure Quickies to help share a few more of those stories that may be of interest. These are this week’s entries to keep you informed and entertained as we head into the weekend.

  • 10 Things To Avoid Doing in the Polar Regions: For those planning their next big adventure in the Arctic or Antarctic, ExWeb had some advice this week. Their article on 10 things to avoid doing in the polar regions offers some nice insights, like what foods to bring, how to more efficiently pull your sled, and keeping your head out of the interior of your sleeping bag.
  • Hubble Celebrates 30th Anniversary with Images: This week marks 30 years since the Hubble Telescope went into operation and to celebrate, NASA has launched a new search tool that allows you to see what images the Hubble took on your birthday day. The one above was taken on mine.
  • Historians Discover Site of Hannibal’s First Big Victory: During the first Punic War (circa 218 BCE), Carthaginian general Hannibal Barca put the fear of god into Rome with his daring tactics and use of elephants on the battle field. Now, researchers say they have found the site of his first major victory, which took place in what is now modern day Spain.
  • Lifeproof Launches Phone Cases Made of Recycled Plastic: Despite the fact that a global pandemic has distracted us from most other things, it is important to remember to continue to be good to the planet. Lifeproof is doing just that by launching is Wāke line of phone cases, which are made from plastic that has been recovered from the ocean and recycled.
  • Osprey Offering 25% All Travel Bags: Travel may not be on the agenda for the immediate future, but Osprey is inviting us to starting thinking ahead to a time when we are free to go where we want once again. To help with that, the company is currently offering all of its travel bags, packs, and duffels at 25% off the regular price.
  • Kahtoola Holds Virtual Run to Benefit Havasupai Tribe: Want to get in a little exercise while on lockdown and do some good at the same time? Our friends at Kahtoola are holding a virtual run to raise funds to assist the Havasupai Tribe. The goal is to hit $10,000 and as of this writing, they are closing in on the halfway point.
  • Good-To-Go Delivers 900 Meals to Food Banks: In this strange time, we’re all trying to do our part to help. That includes many companies and organizations within the outdoor industry. This week, Good-To-Go, which makes some of the best freeze-dried meals for backpacking and camping, announced that it had donated more than 900 of those meals to food banks in Mine, Chicago, and Los Angles.
  • Tailwind Nutrition Pitches in to Support Hospitals Across the U.S.: While there has been a lot of attention given to the needs of healthcare workers in terms of PPE and face masks over the past few weeks, not much attention has been given to their nutritional needs. But Tailwnd Nutrition is looking to change that by donating more than 7000 single-serve packets of its exercise and nutritional supplements to more than 50 hospitals, helping those on the frontline to stay as healthy as possible too.

That’s all for this week. Stay safe and healthy. Thanks for reading!

Kraig Becker