Ten Best Backpacking FoodsWritten by Steve Gillman
Maybe your favorite backpacking food is a freeze-dried turkey dinner. There really is no "best" backpacking food. There are reasons to bring certain foods, though. Here are ten foods, and reasons you might want to consider them. 1. Nuts. This is one of most calorie-packed foods you can take. That means less weight to carry. With lots of protein and other nutritonal benefits, nuts are one of best backpacking foods. 2. Olive oil. Add a little to your soups or dip bread in it. The best of oils health-wise, you can eat it before sleeping, to stay warm, because fats generate heat when digested. 3. Trail mixes. Any mix with raisins and nuts is great for backpacking. Vitamins, minerals, protein, and best reason - convenience. 4. Corn products. Tortilla chips or corn nuts are convenient, and they don't seem to cause tiredness that potato chips and other simple carbohydrates can cause.
| | Vacation Hassles? Take a Picture!Written by Pauline Wallin, Ph.D.
Looking for some fiction to read this summer? Try a travel brochure. Those beautiful glossy pamphlets promise you time of your life, with nonstop fun. To illustrate their promises, they show pictures of perfect people with perfect bodies and perfect teeth, frolicking and smiling. No one has sunburn, sore feet or indigestion. The children always look squeaky clean, and they never have tantrums. There are no mosquitoes, no flat tires, no thunderstorms . . . and no inner brats!Meanwhile, back on earth, your actual vacation may look something like this: 1. You've been driving for several hours, when you notice that "check engine" light on your dashboard is illuminated. You get off highway at next exit and find a garage that can fix car, but it won't be finished till next day. And it's going to cost a small fortune. 2. You're on a camping trip. It's been raining for 2 days straight. The campground is one big mud puddle. And your matches are wet. 3. You splurge for a resort hotel, but when you get there they can't find your reservation, and hotel is fully booked. You produce your travel agent's confirmation, but reservations clerk merely says, "I'm sorry. There's nothing I can do." 4. Everything is crowded. You have to wait in line for food, for transportation, even for bathroom. Other people are loud, pushy and rude. You'll never see situations like these in a travel brochure. But I'll bet you've experienced at least one of them on your own trips. I know I have. And in retrospect I realize that my inner brat made things seem a lot worse than they were. It blamed and complained, making not only me miserable, but my family as well.
|
