Pacific Northwest & Beyond

I spent two and a half weeks on the road with a rooftop tent. Here’s a general review with some things to think about if you’re considering buying a rooftop tent.

I’m from Seattle, where there seems to be a Starbucks on every corner. So when travel, I tend keep away. But I’m glad I ended up going into the Gion Starbucks in Kyoto — it’s a different world than your average Starbucks.

I guess the Thule Hullavator is like an elevator, only for your hull (of your kayak). I’ve used the Hullavator for a few years now — overall it’s a nice piece of gear and lets me schlep my kayak around solo. But it does have a few drawbacks as well. Here’s what I think, with a video demo.

Tokyo, of course, is known for its Anime, Manga, pop culture — but what about Kyoto? When I toted my Anime-loving daughter along to Kyoto, I was worried that she would simply hang out at the AirBNB which, largely, she did. But we did find some loosely “Otaku” things to do in Kyoto (my daughter’s objection to the term duly noted).

Looking for info about days gone by in Seattle? Here are eight online resources to soothe your retro Seattle soul, including groups, archives of historic Seattle photos, and other resources.

While I was visiting a temple in Kyoto, I heard someone repeating “this is the heart of Zen.” Kyoto is, at least, the center of the Rinzai sect of Zen Buddhism and there were far more temples than I could visit during my time there. Here are ten that I visited from the highly touristed to the more remote.