#frontier-life

#frontier-life

When the person you're pretending to be gets too heavy to carry, you realize that the mask you've worn for so long has become your actual face.

More than a third of the nation's local newspapers have folded in the last 20 years, with the Western U.S. being especially hard-hit, including significant losses in Utah and New Mexico.

"You don't wind up here by accident; you come here for a reason, and that reason is typically the abundant outdoor adventures and natural resources we have," Nathan Miller, the former executive director of the Copper Harbor Trails Club, told Travel + Leisure.

One of the most surprising things about van life is how convenient it is. For example, when we return from hikes, we can change clothes (and even shower) right at the trailhead.

Skiing in a whiteout can be a very scary experience, especially when you're in the backcountry and don't know the terrain very well. Of course the best way to avoid this is to keep an eye on the weather, but sometimes you're caught by surprise especially in the mountains.

Here dwells the indigenous Tzotzil community which has kept a pastoral way of life against the march of time. Apart from the odd forest ranger and passerby, Ruvalcaba's film focuses almost entirely on the Tzotzil women. Together, they tend herds of sheep which they still shear by hand, and use traditional tools for spinning yarns and natural dye for fabrics.

Wildlife populations are in decline. Recreation sites are crowded and often underfunded. Wildfires are larger, more destructive and harder to control. Climate change is reshaping natural systems, from ocean fisheries to mountain snowpacks, faster than institutions can respond. At the same time, communities are being asked to host new energy projects, transmission lines and mineral development - often without clear processes, adequate resources or trust that decisions are being made in the public interest.

To capture the biological impact of this extreme environment, I used a comprehensive suite of sensors and biomarker analyses. I wore a wireless electroencephalograph (EEG) system to monitor brain activity, sleep stages and neural signatures of stress and adaptation; the Oura Ring to continuously track sleep patterns, heart-rate variability and circadian-rhythm shifts; and the glucose monitor to follow metabolic responses in real time.

That someone "should get out more" is usually said as a joke, a light comment aimed at someone who seems stuck or overly absorbed in a narrow concern. It can sound dismissive or even sarcastic. Yet what if it contains serious psychological truth? We often praise people for being open-minded, creative, or flexible, as if these are stable personality traits that some individuals simply possess. We admire those who seem to think differently and assume they have access to something rare.

Countless books, movies and television shows chronicle the adventures (or misadventures) of people stranded on remote islands. Consider, for example, Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, the beloved Tom Hanks movie and the classic 1960s sitcom " Gilligan's Island." Now , a new Sam Raimi horror-thriller about a woman (played by Rachel McAdams) stuck with her overbearing boss (Dylan O'Brien) after a plane crash, is set to join the ranks of these survivalist stories.

"I thought I was going to die in the street on this day." Moses describes the moment his health deteriorated to the point where he collapsed outside Victoria Station, having lived on the streets for several months. "I was there for maybe one hour on my knees with my suitcase, and crying in a lot of pain. I was broken." Moses now says he has found a "new family" at the Salvation Army church in Chalk Farm but is still trying to find a permanent home.

Kimmerer proposes kindness as an act of resistance. We need to equip ourselves with a new language, she explains, something that affirms that this is what it means to be human. In a world where kindness breeds distrust or is scorned, kindness, she affirms, is becoming a militant gesture. When you're kind to someone, it's not universally expected that they'll respond with kindness, but if that seed is planted, both people feel better,

We have little physical evidence of these interactions turning violent, however, because burials were rare and carnivores were more likely to finish off their prey. That's why the embellished burial site of a 15-year-old from 27,000 years ago is an important window into the past: the teenager's bones indicate he was mauled by a bear. The finding represents some of the first evidence of its kind.

When I think about my neighbor who just turned 65, I'm struck by how different she seems from others her age. While some of her peers have settled into quiet routines, she radiates an energy that makes people assume she's a decade younger. The difference? She discovered salsa dancing last year and hasn't looked back. Age might be just a number, but let's be honest: How we spend our time shapes how others perceive our vitality.

The body is a shifting landscape transformed by surfaces and sensations. Each look captures a different tactile world: the heat of blood, the cool weight of metal, the yielding drift of water. The result is a sculptural study of how the elements carve, shield, and release the self. The materials we embody become the emotions we carry, and the body becomes a materialised exhibition of our emotions, from the pulse of Blood to the discipline of Metal to the surrender of Water.

We are all familiar with the idea of a library. You go, check out a book, read said book, and return the book when you are done. Yes, there is a bit more mixed in there, such as attaining a library card, due dates, and late fees, but I'm sure you get the general idea. We all know how libraries work.

I was five years old when I had my first encounter with a black bear. In the spring of 1990, my father, a wildlife biologist, brought home an orphaned three-month-old cub in a cardboard box. The cub's mother, having burrowed beneath the roots of an old tree, had been killed in the den by a logging excavator, but the cub, weighing barely more than a bag of apples, survived. Forestry workers caught the young bear and dropped it off at the Fish and Wildlife office in Peace River, Alberta, where my dad worked, and he called my mom with the news.

When it comes to prepping, look to the Mormons. It's right there, in the official name of the religion: To be a "Latter-day Saint" is explicitly to believe in, and prepare for, the end times. This is why, on a calm morning last September, I arrive just outside Salt Lake City in a place called American Fork and knock on the door of Tyler Stapleton, the chief product engineer for off-grid power products at 4Patriots, one of the biggest companies pushing preparedness into the mainstream.

I had trained for a full year to complete a self-supported bicycle tour from San Diego to Las Cruces, New Mexico. It was meant to be the next-to-last chapter in my coast-to-coast cycling journey - one more long stretch of road before the final piece fell into place. Thirty-four miles into the ride, it was over. A microfiber towel caught in my derailleur. A fluke. One of those things you never plan for and still struggle to explain afterward.

Nature is truly amazing, but it is also terrifying. Being the homebody that I am, I'm always wondering what would happen if I were ever in a situation where I'd have to survive out in the wild. It's tough out there, y'all. And it's important to know how to make it out alive. Do you think you have what it takes? Take this quiz to find out if you're a born forest lover, or you're better off on the couch like I am. Let's go!

When my neighbor Tom celebrated his 65th birthday last month, his kids threw him what they thought was the perfect party: comfortable chair, cozy slippers, and a stack of crossword puzzles. Meanwhile, three doors down, 68-year-old Margaret was booking her first skydiving lesson. The contrast struck me-why do we assume retirement means slowing down when some people are just getting started on their biggest adventures?

The terrain is choked with rhododendron and dog hobble, ground cover that makes it easy to get lost and hard to be found. There are eight hundred and forty-eight miles of trail, and countless manways, which masquerade as trails. The many waterfalls are fed by rain on par with that of the Pacific Northwest. The rivers rise and boil with astonishing speed. There's little to no cell service.

The idea of living out of a single carry-on bag for an entire year sounds impossible to most people. We're taught from childhood to accumulate more clothes, more products, more backups "just in case." Yet, for thousands of digital nomads and minimalist travelers, fitting their entire life into one small suitcase is not only doable but liberating. It's a lifestyle shift that forces you to prioritize what truly matters and let go of the clutter that weighs you down.