Shared links
If you live in Phoenix, you are often told that—especially with a warming planet—the city will soon be uninhabitable. Here’s a counterargument:
Despite the flood of east-coaster think pieces, I think there’s an argument to be made that Phoenix is well-positioned to thrive in the climate crisis.
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When it comes to redesigning our civilization around renewable energy, it makes much more sense for people to live in places where the big temperature-based energy needs come during summer days, when sunlight is most abundant, rather than needing that energy on winter nights, when photons are scarce.
Chris La Tray is feeling like a poet again (and also shares some poems from 2025’s Voices for the West compilation).
What I mean by “feeling like a poet” is the sense of awareness to the world beyond the task list. It means looking for and acknowledging the return of all my bird friends and relatives, more who arrive at the end of their migration here every day. When we cloister indoors all the time it is easy to overlook, or even forget, all the lives that are being boisterously lived all around us, all the time. Recognizing this and reveling in it is what makes me feel like a poet again.
I love the adventure that Robert put together for the summer.
Here’s a listing of how to remove your personal information from data brokers. It’s a loooong list and definitely an endeavor, but start with the 14 marked 💐 and work your way deeper, if you can.
Really love this Nevada skiing quest:
The Idea
To ski every peak in Nevada, USA with over 3,000‘ of prominence (64 total).
Why?
To lure myself into skiing Nevada’s lesser-visited places.
This sort of thing is exactly why I love quests so much.
It’s hard to argue with Bob Wertz’s take on how writing on the web eventually became secondary to marketing. It’s not that way everywhere, of course, and it’s still within our collective power to return it back to its original promise.
Earth Roulette: a random destination picker for your next trip. (Maybe we’ll try this next year instead of letting the internet randomly choose our road trip destination).
After trying to find a chicken stew recipe online, Brandon bought a cookbook, noting:
There was a time when the internet was superior (or at least it felt that way) than books. But with the amount of misinformation and SEO/AI trash online, I feel like trusting a book for my information is the better deal these days. It cuts down on the clutter and gets things back to the basics. In a way, it’s much easier than the internet, which is funny because having all of this information at our fingertips was supposed to be easy.
Agreed. I’ve returned to travel guidebooks over blog posts and social media.
My favorite video spoofing Daylight Savings (err…Saving) time is funny as hell and worth the 2.5 minutes of your time. www.youtube.com/watch
This reminds me of soooo many travel blogs these days…
It’s hard to disagree with the opening sentences of Nicholas Kristoff’s piece Forget the Yacht. The Best Travel Is on Foot, Through Wilderness:
Some think that the best thing about America is its wealth, technology and modernity. Others point to its Democratic institutions. But I’m with the writer Wallace Stegner that America’s “best idea” is our spectacular inheritance of public lands — purple mountain majesties — amounting to about 40 percent of our nation. As Stegner said of our national parks: “Absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best.”
My buddy Mikah’s short film “Canyon Chorus” is playing at the Flagstaff Film Festival in September, and he’ll be there to speak live, too. You can also watch it on his website.
A Sense of Belonging. A lovely little post by @alexskunz@mas.to on how he’s rooted himself to San Diego County.
I’ve “grown roots” here also through the connection with the landscape, the chaparral ecosystem, and its plants.
These are the people who think the best things that have happened over the last fifteen years have come out of Silicon Valley, even though virtually all of those things are not profitable and have come with major downsides.
Reflections from the past
Backcountry badassery, or an immersive experience?
This has been one of the most cited posts on my website since I published it in 2017. And the older I’ve gotten, the more I find myself focusing more on the journey and less about the outcome. If you’ve ever asked me about how long it takes to complete a specific trail, you’ve probably gotten a shortened version of this post.
#outdoors #hiking #backpacking #trailrunning #NationalParks
Brr.fyi provided an interesting glimpse into life in Antarctica. #Junited2024
If you’re interested in travel journaling, here are a bunch of notes I’ve written on the topic. #travel #journaling
My buddy Mikah made a poignant, short film about coming out and being yourself, filmed during a rafting trip with his mentor and three other gay friends. It’s worth a watch.