How To Explore The World (from home) | Stoke-Ness
Well shoot, things sure have changed since last month.
I know things are rough out there and that you have lost or know someone who has lost their job. I am sure things will get better. Hopefully, this email gives you some needed inspiration, distraction or encouragement.
In this month’s issue, I share list of resources for Creatives that are struggling with Covid-19 shutdown effects, some ways to cure your wanderlust while stuck inside and a few of my favorite albums to help the time pass more quickly.
Be stoked,
Isaac
Who I'm loving on Instagram
You know David Spade from the movie Joe Dirt and any Adam Sandler movie in the last 20 years.
His Instagram has become a daily ritual of comedy for me. It’s a light hearted break from heavier things. He also recently interviewed the entire cast of characters from the “Tiger King” documentary with his dry humor.
Give him a follow Here
Photo/Video Technique
COVID-19 Crisis Resources for Creatives: A Giant List of Helpful Links for Artists
I am pausing this month’s Photo/Video technique section to share a list Booooooom! has created for artists to find resources to help them through the current situation.
Here is a link to the list.
https://www.booooooom.com/2020/03/20/covid-19-resources-for-artists/
I found that Adobe is able to offer 3 months free to help during the current situation.
I hope it is as helpful to you as it was for me.
New Places
Elliot’s explorer portal during the Covid-19 shutdown.
Exploring the World from Home
If you are like me then you would go anywhere right now if you could. Not only are we all cooped up in our houses, but Spring always gives me the itch to explore.
Here is a list of ways to explore from your desktop with help from the master of PC exploring (and a damn good real-life explorer, Elliot Whitehead @sincerly.elliot.
Google Earth is the best way to fly. Elliot recommends following rivers, railroads, and mountain ranges until you find interesting places.
Elliot Pro Tip #1 - change your view modes to see names and interesting locations or view in “clean mode to really focus on the contours of the earth.
Elliot Pro Tip #2 - Hold the shift key while clicking and dragging to adjust the angle of the map and see the world in 3D.
Elliot Pro Tip #3 - Save pins of places you want to travel or have visited so that the next road trip you can link them all together. Elliot has hundreds of pins on his maps.
Here are three of Elliot’s favorite Google Maps locations
“This massive desert of intricate sand dunes in Algeria, stretching out as far as the eye can see. Almost looks like a scene out of Aliens or something....”
https://goo.gl/maps/E5dYhoyeRLvXVMTK6
“Diavik Diamond Mines burrowing into the earth, deep in the Canadian Arctic”
https://goo.gl/maps/DLUXyF19i96i6dYR9
“Glacial Fingers of the Chugach Range, AK”
https://goo.gl/maps/K7XiWx4NZQvJmAae8
Google Earth View is a plugin for the Chrome browser that displays a new Google Earth location whenever you open a new tab. It’s perfect for distracting you with interesting places while you were looking for the latest bad news. I just found this wild location in Saudi Arabia using it.
GeoGuessr is a fun Google Maps Streetview based guessing game. It places you somewhere in the world and you have to guess where you are by pinning a map with your location. The closer you are to the exact location they place you, the more points you get. They obscure signs but let you move around the map. It’s very addicting and fun to challenge your friends.
Gear
Union Expedition 2.0 splitboard bindings
I just received these from Union Binding company. My first impressions are that they are more rugged and more like real snowboard bindings than any other bindings on the market. For me that’s a good thing, I want my bindings to be the best they can be on the way down so the ride is that much sweeter.
I am waiting on a new Weston splitboard to mount them to and will give a full review then. In the meantime, my friends over at Field Mag have this to say “If you value the experience of snowboarding above all else, then look no further than the Union Expedition splitboard binding.”
Read more on Field Mag HERE
Music I'm Diggin'
Photo by @avinaim
Listen to a Full Album
This month I think we need more than a song to get us through. We need an entire album we can listen to on the couch while we zone out and dream of what adventures we are going to get up to when we get back outside.
Listening to a full album is a lost art and there has never been a better time to rediscover it.
Here are a few I recommend:
Videos, Movies, and TV
Can FREE snowshoes keep up with backcountry skiers?
In my newest youtube video, I just released today, I take a pair of old snowshoes backcountry snowboarding and see if I can keep up with my friends on skins/skis.
It’s the latest in a series of videos I’ve made about attainable adventures. I hope you give it a watch and I’d love to know if you like the format.
Watch it HERE (or click the play button above)
Reads
The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown
The subtitle of this book is “Nine Americans and their epic quest for gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics” but It doesn’t do the book justice.
This isn’t a book about a sports victory, but a saga of what it was like in the United States during the hard times of the great depression and what a hardscrabble team of Olympic rowers meant to lift the heads of a nation that needed it badly.
It’s uncanny to see the parallels to what we are going through now. If you want to feel gratitude and hope, this book is important to read.
Get it Here
I mentioned last month that I have my first product for sale ever releasing near the end of the month. It’s been delayed until mid-April, but I am still looking for help getting it out there.
If you or someone you know would be able to help promote it, I’d love to chat. Send me an email or text me at 406-471-4662.
Be stoked and have a great month,
Isaac
