Anyone who has discussed vacation time with friends in foreign countries (other than the US) has experienced that pain in the gut after hearing things like… “What? You only get 15 days off? That’s horrible!”…. Then you ask the question..”Well how much time do you get?” And the reply is always a little blurry to remember because you pass out immediately afterward, falling to the floor and hitting your head.
Mercer Resources performed a study recently on this subject. (Time-off, not passing out) They have published the results of 44 countries they polled. The results are crazy and were used on CNN recently. Here are the juiciest parts.
The US ranks 39th out of the 44 polled
The US gets an average of 15 vacation and 10 holidays, totaling 25 days off a year
Finland gets 30 vacation days and 14 holidays, topping the list with 44 days off
Indians get 19 paid holidays
Along with Finland, United Arab Emirates and France also get 30 vacation days per year
35 of the 44 countries get 20 or more vacation days per year
9 of the 44 countries get 15 or more paid holidays per year
34 of the 44 countries get 30 or more total days off per year
The figures above are “averages” for each country. Proceed to vomit.
Elizabeth is at it again. This time with a review of a killer sleeping bag from REI. She was very excited to get her hands on this just before we headed to South America to go trekking in the Andes. This would be a real test with temps ranging from frosty-sub-freezing to humid-sweatin-your-booty-off.
Talk about love at first sight, that’s how I felt when I rubbed my hands down REI’s silky Sub Kilo +15 lavender sleeping bag. It looked perfect and with the temp rating, interior zip pocket, and 750 fill power goose down filling I was sure it would perform on my four day, 15 thousand foot Incan trek to Machu Picchu in Peru.
Pros:
This bag cinches way down for easy packing and it weighs almost nothing – 1.9 lbs. There was room for my pillow to fit in the hood and on really cold nights I cut the draft by closing up the neck area using the drawstrings.
I stretch out when I sleep and found plenty of leg room, plus the bag is soooo soft and fluffy!
Cons:
I am a very cold sleeper and found my feet and hips got cold whenever they touched the inside of the bag. I ended up wrapping my fleece around my feet and a thin jacket around my waist and had no problems getting to sleep.
If you sleep on your back or stomach this is the bag for you, but side sleepers may need more room.
If you live on the planet Earth, you’ve heard about the quake in Peru that took so many lives and left so many peoples lives in pieces. If you don’t live on the planet Earth, we come in peace.
If you’d like to make a donation to the Red Cross efforts in Peru you can donate on the Red Cross site. It’s a great cause for a truly kind people. I got the opportunity to hang out with the Peruvians for 2 weeks recently and I can’t say enough kind things about them. And like most charities you can write it off on your taxes. So there you go, points with your karma and points with your accountant.
School is starting back up for some. The business world is coming off Summer vacations with no hope of a break in the near future. And family, money, and relationship stresses are always on us in some capacity. So, how can you relax, release some of the tension? Often the things we think of as relaxing don’t slow us down too much (watching TV, movies, music, games, competitive events, video games). Sometimes you have to think outside the box, or just think in a more basic way. Here are a few ideas…
Take a Hike - Not a difficult hike. No Gu or Powerbars allowed. Just a stroll in the woods. Where you can just slow down and take a gander at all that is nature. Stop and pick a flower.
Yoga - Some people think yoga is dumb. Those people haven’t tried yoga. It is a slow form of exercise which doesn’t stress the body. It works you out through slow stretches and poses.
Take a Bath - Yeah, just run some hot water in the tub and get in. Don’t take a book or magazine, don’t talk to anyone. Just lay there and close your eyes. Bubbles optional.
Meditate - People have been meditating for thousands of years. It requires one thing, sitting. The Buddhists think it is the path to enlightenment. Many other religions such as Hinduism and Christianity use it to reach into themselves and find their faith. But meditation can be an amazing relaxation technique. Just sit, close your eyes or crack them, breathe deeply, and try not to think about anything.
Hammock Time - In nice weather this is an awesome relaxation method. All that is needed is a hammock, two trees, and a few hours to nap or stare at the clouds or swaying branches. Cold-uns recommended.
Napping - This doesn’t mean fall asleep because you are exhausted in front of the tube. It doesn’t mean going to bed early. It means taking some time after work or on a weekend afternoon and going to your bedroom, drawing the shades, and sleeping. Don’t set the alarm, just wake up whenever your body is ready. Seriously, just forget about that “stuff” you have to do for a few hours.
Religious Visit - If you are religious, visit a holy place. Don’t go seeking an answer this time. Don’t go to talk to anyone. Just go and walk around or sit. Be in the presence of something bigger.
Massage - I got a massage recently, I did a 3 hours day spa while in Peru… ahhhhhh. It was the first time I had been through anything like that. Stone massages, hot tubs, Swedish massage, aromatherapy, reflexology… they all work.
Pet Time - If you have a pet, you know how they can stress you out sometimes. But on the flip side, they can be extremely calming. Just lay on the floor with your pooch or kitty for a while and chill.
Plan a Vacation - Pick a place on your top 10 list of places to go, or just spin the globe and point at a place. Hop online and look for deals. Grab the calendar and set a date. Get your significant other or friends on board. Ask for time off work. And make a deposit on the trip to commit yourself. Travel is easier than most people think, and it gives you something to be excited about and look forward to.
Obviously everyone has their own way to relax. But trying a new or different way to relax can be a great way to reward yourself or get away from it all.
I just returned from Peru (just before the big quake… wow). And since the center piece of my trip there was to trek through the Andes and up over a high pass which skirts the glaciers on Mt. Salkantay, I thought this was a good opportunity to showcase this beautiful mountain. Not the highest in the Andes, but certainly a beautiful mountain that is apparently rarely climbed due to its difficulty according to our guide.
Mount Salkantay - (20,574 ft - 6,271M)
From Wikipedia -
Salcantay is a large, steep peak, “the most spectacular peak of the region”,[9] with great vertical relief, particularly above the low valleys to the north, which are tributaries of the Amazon River.
Salcantay was first climbed in 1952 by a French-American expedition comprising Fred D. Ayres, David Michael, Jr., John C. Oberlin, W. V. Graham Matthews, Austen F. Riggs, George I. Bell, Claude Kogan, M. Bernard Pierre, and Jean Guillemin. All except Oberlin, Riggs, and Guillemin made the summit.[9]
The standard route on the mountain is the Northeast ridge. Accessing the route typically involves three days of travel from Cusco. The climb involves about 1,800 m (5,900 ft) of vertical gain, on glacier, snow, ice, and some rock. The route is graded AD on the French adjectival scale.[4]
The name Salcantay is from salqa meaning wild, uncivilized, or savage, and was recorded as early as 1583.[10] The name is thus often translated as “Savage Mountain”.
Directly to the north of Salcantay lies Machu Picchu, which is at the end of a ridge that extends down from this mountain. Viewed from Machu Picchu, the Southern Cross is above Salcantay’s summit when at its highest point in the sky during the rainy season. The Incas associated this alignment with concepts of rain and fertility, and considered Salcantay to be one of the principal deities controlling weather and fertility in the region west of Cuzco. [11]
Portland Oregon is known for being bike friendly. They have miles and miles of bike lanes, and cater to cyclists. But apparently this guy hadn’t heard about all that. A janitor was on his way to work in his car when he passed a cyclist. Apparently they got into an argument (not sure what that was about) then the cyclist kicked the side of his car then pedaled off. After that the driver of the car sped up and sideswiped a car parked on the side of the road, then HIT the cyclist, rolling him up onto the hood and smashing his windshield.
And if that wasn’t enough… another cyclist… this guy just a random passer by, was pulling up from another street. The driver of the car took off again and HIT THAT GUY!
Road rage is nuts. The guy was charged with “attempted assault”. I don’t really understand that… sounds like he did more than “attempt” it.
Tim Ferriss author of the book “The 4 Hour Workweek” has some great tips on how to pack light and some other things we all might want to run out and buy before our next trek.
Just an FYI - our image uploading process is currently down. See this related post for more info. So no profile, trip report, gear, classified images until:
1. our hosting company gets a clue and figures out the problem
2. I spend the weekend re-writing code that worked 2 days ago
3. Wade and I make Emile manually upload & resize all images.
After talking to 2 people in support that are “looking in to it”, I’m not holding my breath for option 1. And option 3 would be funny for a while, but we’ll probably have to go with option #2.
Since we’re on a kick of posting videos this week. This is a classic climbing video. I remember the first time I saw this. My roommate at the time, Nomad75, showed it to me. It was right around the time of Dan’s death in 1998. For those who don’t know, Dan Osman was a “free-solo” climber who would speed climb on rock WITHOUT A ROPE. He was a crazy crazy man. One hell of an athlete though.
I got the opportunity to hang out with the Peruvians for 2 weeks recently and I can’t say enough kind things about them. And like most charities you can write it off on your taxes. So there you go, points with your karma and points with your accountant.
And if that wasn’t enough… another cyclist… this guy just a random passer by, was pulling up from another street. The driver of the car took off again and HIT THAT GUY!
