Be a FLAMINGO

In Washington State, there is a group of women who are the caretakers of a lot of pink plastic birds. The flock "mysteriously" migrates from one front yard to another when a homeowner makes a donation to the American Cancer Society. The women, who call themselves the FLAMINGOS: Fun-Loving Adventurous Mothers In Nature's Garden Overcoming Stress, have raised, more than $100,000 so far.

Click here to read more about the Flamingos. Maybe you'll find inspiration for your own Adventure Club.

Happy Julio Day (Jul10)

My sister, who has had a weird fascination with Mario Day (Mar10) since we were kids, is branching out. Instead of just celebrating Mar 10 because it looks like the name "Mario" when squeezed together, she's also inviting everyone to be excited about today. July 10, is Jul10 Day.

I'm gonna guess that there aren't any parties happening in your neighborhood but that is a good reason for you to throw one. Get drinks and snacks and invite all the Julios you know over for a beer. If you don't know any Julios, have a party anyway!

To read more about Mario Day, click here

To read more about Julio Day, click here.

To become a fan of Julio Day on Facebook, click here.

Camping: Cook Bacon & Eggs in a Paper Bag

If you're a camper who longs for a hearty breakfast, Suniechick has an interesting video you should watch. The host prepares a meal of bacon and several eggs by cooking them over hot coals in an ordinary brown paper bag. I've cooked eggs in a pan, encased in toast, boiled in a bag, and simmered in a paper cup -- all over a campfire -- but this one is new to me. Click here to watch the video.

Obama's Summer Challenge

President Obama wants YOU to get involved! He has formally challenged all of us to spend the summer, June 22 to September 11, helping others and strengthening our country.

United We Serve, the official site for the summer volunteer challenge, promises to make it easy for you to lend a hand in the areas of education, health, energy & the environment, and community renewal. United We Serve will help you register your service project as well.

To get started, click here and visit United We Serve. Enter key words about the type of activity you are interested in or just type in your zip code. After entering my zip code, I had more options than I thought possible. Happily, I was able to narrow the selection by indicating "when" I want to work.

Are you ready for a challenge?

Building a Better You

Building on a fitness and training theme, I thought some of you would be interested in knowing just where you stand -- so to speak. Here are two health challenges that will help you identify your strengths and weaknesses. Once you know what you need to work on, both provide you with the exercises and inspiration to move ahead

The President's Challenge: (Less adventurous) Reminiscent of junior high school, the President's Challenge tests aerobic ability, strength & endurance, flexibility, and body composition. You can enter all your test data online and receive instant fitness scores along with tips for improving

Outside Magazine's Fitness Challenge: (More adventurous) The magazine helps you determine your levels of core stability, long-range power, strength, rest & nutrition. Take their tests then follow their exercise suggestions to become the woman you always knew you could be. Your challenge begins on page 52 of the July issue.

Learning to Run in 13 Weeks: Week 4

The theme for this week is "rest." The past couple of posts mentioned two of author Ian MacNeill's three rules for training (consistency and moderation). Looking at the training schedule for this week, it's pretty obvious that the author thinks rest is important -- this is our easiest week so far!

According to MacNeill, rest is key because it gives your body time to adapt to the changes you are creating through your physical efforts. These recovery periods are as important as other aspects of your training and should be part of your schedule. (Personally, I think this concept should be applied to life in general -- not just athletic training.) Rest means a stronger, more efficient, you.

As mentioned in earlier posts, we're following the gradual running program outlined in the The Beginning Runners Handbook: The Proven 13-Week Walk-Run Program *. Here's the schedule for this week and next.

Week 4 (Easy Recovery Week)

Day 1: 5-minute stretch, run 3 minutes, walk 2 minutes. Do this 8 times. 5-minute stretch

Day 1: 5-minute stretch, run 2 minutes, walk 2 minutes. Do this 7 times. 5-minute stretch

Day 1: 5-minute stretch, run 2 minutes, walk 3 minutes. Do this 7 times. 5-minute stretch


Week 5

Day 1: 5-minute stretch, run 3 minutes, walk 1 minutes. Do this 10 times. 5-minute stretch

Day 1: 5-minute stretch, run 2 minutes, walk 1 minute. Do this 10 times. 5-minute stretch

Day 1: 5-minute stretch, run 3 minutes, walk 1 minute. Do this 9 times. 5-minute stretch



*A few words about The Beginning Runner's Handbook. The 13-week program doesn't appear until page 151 because the authors (Ian MacNeill and the Sport Medicine Council of British Columbia) thought it was important to start with topics like moderation, choosing good shoes, training mind & body, pregnancy, cross-training, technique, diet, injuries and stretching. It is probably wise to do some reading of your own before you launch into this new exercise program. Please make sure you're healthy and ready for action and then join us!

AWB Featured on "Blogging Women"

I'm happy to say that Blogging Women is featuring Adventurous Women Blog today. Blogging Women is great directory of blogs written by women. Organized by category, the site aims to be your comprehensive online resource. Check out Blogging Women if you are looking for a particular blog or type of blog. If you're a blogger yourself, you can submit your site for review.

Thanks, Fay for adding AWB to your terrific blog!

Fireworks!

No Fourth of July is complete without fireworks. Being lazy, I thought I'd re-post this AWB classic piece for your reading pleasure:




Fireworksguide.com will show you where to find the biggest, baddest fireworks displays on the planet. There are lots of shows happening throughout the year so keep your picnic basket at the ready.

Want to enjoy pyrotechnics without actually moving from your current spot? Click to watch London's AMAZING New Year's Eve show, Taipei's tower, Syndey's Harbor celebration, Swiss National Day, or a past Disney 4th of July display.



Photo credit: FIREWORKS
© Raynald Bélanger | Dreamstime.com

July 4 Fun: Water Balloons

Next to the Pie Eating Contest, the second most popular activity at our neighborhood Fourth of July party is the water balloon toss. I'm sure you've all filled water balloons and you've all thrown them at your friends in years past but if you've never done a water balloon contest for 100, here are a few tips.

First, fill all your balloons the night before. We fill more than 400 balloons and it takes a looooong time.

Second, float your balloons in a tub of water. You can't pile a bunch of water balloons into a big container because the bottom balloons will burst. However, if you add enough water to your containers so that the balloons float, you can store quite a few without any breakage.

Third, create a BIG finale! Our contest involves your standard 4" water balloon but for the very last round, a brave few get 9" balloons. I don't make a lot of these because they're hard to store.

The competition. Each contestant needs a teammate. Teams start facing each other about an arm-length apart. When you yell, "Go!" player A tosses her water balloon to player B and then takes a step back. Player B tosses the balloon back to Player A. Player B then takes one step back. This continues until the balloon breaks. The team that keeps their balloon in play the longest, wins.

Water balloons are a guilty pleasure for most adults. They act like they're beyond this kind of thing but secretly they're dying to do it. If you have a little kid ask an adult to please be his/her partner in the contest, the adult is sure to say, "yes."

Wow! A Whole New You -- for Free!

Here's a great opportunity that came to me this morning. FIRST for Women Magazine is seeking women who want a new look. Ready for a change? Want to go to New York City? Read on...

Looking for ladies needing a hair cut/color makeover!

Name: Carey, Assistant Beauty Editor

Email: costergard@bauerpublishing.com

Media Outlet: FIRST for Women Magazine

Region: New York or the Tri-state area

Deadline: 12:07pm EASTERN - 05 July

Query:We are recruiting ladies who are looking for a fabulous new 'do! So if you (or someone you know) is longing for fantastic (and free!) cut and color, this makeovers for you! (It will take place in NYC either July 16th,17th, 28th or 29th.)

We're matching the most beautiful celebrity-inspired hair colors with the most flattering celeb-inspired cuts to give you a gorgeous new look thats uniquely you!

For instance, if you love Jennifer Aniston's warm honey color, and Katie Holmes chic bob,
Voila- You can have both! You'd just have to put your trust in our (and an amazing celebrity colorist and stylist's) hands.

If you (or someone you know) are interested in applying for this makeover please shoot me an
e-mail with the following info and a recent, color photo with your hair down if possible:

Name: Birthday: Phone Number: Which celebrity's color you'd love to have: Which celebrity's haircut you'd love to have: Sizes (top, dress, pants, shoe): Are you able to take a full day off work on any of these dates?: If not which are you NOT available?: Do you live in/ or can you get to the NYC area?:

Please note: While we will take your celeb color/cut picks into consideration, our experts will be
suggesting the best styles/colors to flatter you (which may or may not be exactly the same as your picks.)So you'll have to be comfortable with putting your trust in our hands (even if that means bravely going fairly short) but don't worry, our goal is to make you look AMAZING!

Please feel free to e-mail me with any questions.

Thank you,

Carey Ostergard

First Magazine Assistant Beauty Editor

www.myfirstforwomen.com

July 4 Fun: Pie Eating Contest

Every year my family celebrates America's Independence Day with a big neighborhood party and one of the highlights of the afternoon is the pie eating contest. The standard "county fair" version of this competition would involve a bunch of big eaters each with his or her own double-crust fruit pie that they would try to consume as quickly as possible without using their hands.

We've developed our own take on this American classic for a couple of reasons. First, if you have read this blog for a while, you know that I can't bake a pie. Second, I didn't want anyone choking on a piece of crust and ruining all the fun. Third, I wanted a contest for all ages.

So, here's a fool-proof recipe for some easy Fourth of July fun:

Get Ready...

Prepare an enormous vat of chocolate pudding (I mix up a bunch of boxes of Jell-o instant pudding in my biggest spaghetti pot).

Buy many tubs of Cool Whip (I use Cool Whip Lite). Make sure to thaw them before the big event.

Purchase some disposable paper bowls and a lot of paper towel.

Get set...

Pick a spot for your contest. I suggest a grassy area or any place that you can hose off after the event.

Set up a table that can take abuse and have several rolls of paper towel nearby.

Make your pies. Add 1 cup of pudding to a disposable bowl. Top with 1/4 cup of Cool Whip. Make sure that every pie is identical so the contest is fair. I make about 10 pies at a time and have a "staff" making more as we need them (we go through a lot of pies).

Go!

Call "Round 1!" We start with 10 year olds. They're brave enough to go first and will inspire the younger kids. We save the adults for the grand finale.

Place a pie in front of each contestant. Have long-haired pie eaters tie their hair back. Make everyone put their hands behind their backs and explain that the first one to completely eat their pie -- without using hands -- is the winner.

Yell, "Ready! Set! Go!"

Stand back

Finally, announce the winner, hand out paper towel (they'll need it) and call "Round 2!"




Photo credit: Mike Scanlon

"National Geographic Adventure" Needs Your Getaway Ideas

This interesting bit came to me this morning. National Geographic Adventure magazine is looking for fabulous ideas for weekend getaways. They want specific information about novel places, unusual hikes, and out-of-the way destinations. If you have an adventure that you'd like to share, here's what you need to know:

Email: bob@howells.com

Title: Editor at Large

Deadline: 12:07pm PACIFIC - 10 July

I have an ongoing need for specific, detailed tips about adventurous outdoor weekend getaways. I'm looking for savvy angles: off-the- radar places and ways to experience them. These can be outfitted trips, lodge-based activities, or DIY adventures. Beauty and physical activity are paramount. Generalities like "There's lots of hiking in the Rockies" are worthless. Tell me what trail, where, why, how long, what we'll see, feel...

Lead time is five months. Immediate need is for November, but I keep all good leads on file. I write 16 of these per issue, so I rely on local expertise. Tips from the Midwest and South are especially welcome.

Region: U.S. and southern Canada

Remember to: Please put "Next Weekend" in the subject line.

Click here to get a sense of what NGA is looking for.

Learning to Run in 13 Weeks: Week 3

If you're following along with us, you too are entering week 3 of the 13-week running program. My group agrees that the program has been pretty reasonable so far and they are even looking for new and more interesting running areas. Two members have discovered a beautiful trail not far from our neighborhood that should make the longer runs more entertaining.

Last week, I mentioned that this program emphasizes consistency; meaning that you want to get into a regular training schedule. In this case, it means three days per week with at least one day of rest in between training days. Another important training rule is moderation. You need to give your body time to rest and adapt to the new stress you are inflicting on bones and tissues.

To my mind, the best part about moderation is that it allows you to feel good about what you are doing. If you hit the street thinking that you need to be "serious" and run several miles right off the bat, the odds are good that you won't enjoy your experience and it'll be that much harder to run the next time. If you start small, you'll find that you enjoy your effort and can feel good about your slow but steady progress as the weeks go by.

As mentioned in earlier posts, we're following the gradual program outlined in the The Beginning Runners Handbook: The Proven 13-Week Walk-Run Program *. Here's the schedule for this week and next.

Week 3

Day 1: 5-minute stretch, run 3 minutes, walk 2 minutes. Do this 10 times. 5-minute stretch

Day 2: 5-minute stretch, run 2 minutes, walk 2 minutes. Do this 9 times. 5-minute stretch

Day 3: 5-minute stretch, run 3 minutes, walk 2 minutes. Do this 9times. 5-minute stretch


Week 4 (Easy Recovery Week)

Day 1: 5-minute stretch, run 3 minutes, walk 2 minutes. Do this 8 times. 5-minute stretch

Day 1: 5-minute stretch, run 2 minutes, walk 2 minutes. Do this 7 times. 5-minute stretch

Day 1: 5-minute stretch, run 2 minutes, walk 3 minutes. Do this 7 times. 5-minute stretch


*A few words about The Beginning Runner's Handbook. The 13-week program doesn't appear until page 151 because the authors (Ian MacNeill and the Sport Medicine Council of British Columbia) thought it was important to start with topics like moderation, choosing good shoes, training mind & body, pregnancy, cross-training, technique, diet, injuries and stretching. It is probably wise to do some reading of your own before you launch into this new exercise program. Please make sure you're healthy and ready for action and then join us!

D'oh! It's National Recycling Week and I've been Tagged...

Until about an hour ago, I was on vacation in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. The lovely beach house that I shared with my long suffering husband and 6 teenage girls was spacious and comfortable and in a Internet wasteland. No computers, no email, no blogging (good thing Blogger lets you pre-schedule posts).

So, I had no idea that Lorna (over at CalifLorna) had tagged me in her post on National Recycling Week (June 22-28). If you haven't heard about National Recycling Week it may be because it's a British event. However, the Internet is a world without borders and Lorna, herself, was tagged to promote recycling and thought that I would be up for the challenge. Of course I am! Besides, National Recycling Week doesn't end until tomorrow.

My family is big on recycling. We have a very large bin for paper recycling (supplied by the county) that's bigger than our garbage can. We also have a county-supplied recycling bin for plastic and glass. In addition, Liz created a compost pile near our vegetable garden early this spring and my husband uses a recycling mower that allows lawn clippings to fall back into the grass.

Even on our vacation, the whole gang put all recyclable materials into bags and we drove them to the town's central collection point.

So where does the challenge come in? Well, I was supposed to visit RecycleNow.com and make a recycling-type pledge (I picked more composting), name a friend who would hold me to it (I picked Lorna), and then challenge someone else. Honestly, the clock is ticking on this one but it's such a good idea. So, I think the best option here is to challenge all of YOU!!

Your mission (should you choose to accept it) is to follow the rules below:

1. Visit Recycle Now and make a pledge

2. Write a post sharing the details of your pledge on your own blog

3. Tag another blogger who might also be up for the challenge (if you can do this quickly).

4. Come back to this post at The Rubbish Diet and share your pledge with others by placing a link to your pledge in the comment field.

Zip line in India: Too Fun!

If Sky Hike sounded interesting but Georgia isn't part of your summer travel plans, check out a very cool zip line in India called Flying Fox. You can put this on your fall calendar because it's re-opening in October. Click here for pix and video.

You can read more about Flying Fox on Wend Magazine's blog, click here.

Road Trip: Sky Hike in Georgia

According to their Web site, Sky Hike is the nation's largest adventure course. Within the confines of your safety harness, you'll be able to test your skill on a tight rope, leap through the air from one structure to another, climb vertical rope nets and cross suspended bridges. Sky Hike allows for the mildly adventurous by offering challenges at 12 feet above the ground but if you're into heights, the four-story-high Super Challenge Trail will be more to your liking. This seems like quite a bargain at only $14.

Where: Stone Mountain Park, Atlanta, Georgia

Closed-toe shoes required.

You can read more about Sky Hike here in an article from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Learning to Run in 13 Weeks: Week 2

Welcome to week 2 in our our summer running adventure! So far, so good. My group is in agreement that week 1 was easy and enjoyable. I hope you're having a similar experience. I've mentioned before that consistency is important so don't skip a week just because you're traveling. Five members of our group will be running in alternate locations for the next couple of sessions, two in Ireland, one in Italy and two in Delaware (the exotic Delaware will be yours truly and Liz).

As mentioned in earlier posts, we're following the gradual program outlined in the The Beginning Runners Handbook: The Proven 13-Week Walk-Run Program *. Here's the schedule for this week and next.


Week 2

Day 1: 5-minute stretch, Run 2 minute, walk 2 minutes. Do this 11 times. 5-minute stretch

Day 2: 5-minute stretch, Run 1 minute, walk 2 minutes. Do this 10 times. 5-minute stretch

Day 3: 5-minute stretch, Run 2 minute, walk 2 minutes. Do this 10 times. 5-minute stretch


Week 3

Day 1: 5-minute stretch, run 3 minutes, walk 2 minutes. Do this 10 times. 5-minute stretch

Day 2: 5-minute stretch, run 2 minutes, walk 2 minutes. Do this 9 times. 5-minute stretch

Day 3: 5-minute stretch, run 3 minutes, walk 2 minutes. Do this 9times. 5-minute stretch


*A few words about The Beginning Runner's Handbook. The 13-week program doesn't appear until page 151 because the authors (Ian MacNeill and the Sport Medicine Council of British Columbia) thought it was important to start with topics like moderation, choosing good shoes, training mind & body, pregnancy, cross-training, technique, diet, injuries and stretching. It is probably wise to do some reading of your own before you launch into this new exercise program. Please make sure you're healthy and ready for action and then join us!

World Refugee Day

Today is World Refugee Day. Designated by the UN General Assembly, the day is dedicated to raising awareness about the 42 million refugees around the planet and their struggles. This year's theme "Real People, Real Needs" should help focus attention on the women, men and children who have been uprooted by conflict and persecution. For more information about World Refugee Day, click here. To find out what your country is doing to mark this important day, click here. To link to the "Gimme Shelter" Facebook page, click here.




Image credit: WORLD MAP OR GLOBE BACKGROUND
© John Vernon | Dreamstime.com

Road Trip: Syncronized Fireflies in the Smokey Mountains

There is a very interesting post on Boing Boing about fireflies in the Smokey Mountains that flash in unison. Click here to read more about the bioluminescent bugs and to watch a video of their performance. I think this is worthy of a road trip, don't you?

Lorna Reviews: "Those Who Save Us"

Contributor Lorna Harris continues her series of adventure book reviews with Those Who Save Us.

Those Who Save Us
by Jenna Blum

Those Who Save Us is beautifully written. The story takes place during WWII and present day. The main characters are a woman and her daughter, both of whom lead adventurous lives but for very different reasons.

The story begins in the present day with the awkwardness between mother and daughter. As the plot develops, we learn that the mother, Anna, a German, has lived through the trauma of WWII. Anna gives birth to a daughter by her Jewish lover during the war and we see the lengths she must go to protect the child and try to help her lover who has been sent to a concentration camp. The conditions in which she must live and try to raise a child are harrowing. The hunger, freezing conditions and threats from German officers are terrifying.

Trudy, the daughter, is completely unaware of the risks her mother has taken during the war and lives a very different life in the States. However, the events Trudy has witnessed, as a child, have taken their toll without her realizing. Trudy’s childhood has effected her relationships as she has grown up and her marriage. As Trudy embarks on a project to interview German citizens and their experiences during the war, Trudy finally begins to understand her mother’s behavior.

The story goes back and forth between WWII and modern day but it’s seamlessly written. The women both have strength of character you can admire. The book makes you question the decisions Anna made during the war but you also start to wonder how you would cope with such terrifying situations and how far you would go to protect your loved ones.

With the anniversary of D-Day on June 6, this book truly makes you realize how fortunate we are that we can have amazing adventures and the freedom of choice to do so.


Lorna is editor-in-chief of Boudica.com and has her own blog, Calif Lorna.

Learning to Run in 13 Weeks: Week 1

Here's the plan. My Daughter, Liz, needs to get back in shape after a prolonged sports injury. After consulting with her doctor, we decided to use the The Beginning Runners Handbook: The Proven 13-Week Walk-Run Program to slowly increase her strength and endurance. As luck would have it, I have a crowd of women who like this idea and who want to spend their summer "learning to run."

I'm going to post our training schedule for weeks 1 and 2 that you can follow along at your own pace. My group is going to meet on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday evenings. However, they all have a copy of the schedule so that if they can't run with the group, they can run on their own. Consistency is very important. Also, according to the book, you want at least one day between training sessions and you want to make sure to begin each session with a 5-minute warm up and conclude with a 5-minute cool down. The Handbook has a number of stretching exercises for these 5-minute periods.

With that in mind, here is the schedule:

Week 1

Day 1: 5-minute stretch, Run 1 minute, walk 2 minutes. Do this 12 times. 5-minute stretch

Day 2: 5-minute stretch, Run 1 minute, walk 2 minutes. Do this 9 times. 5-minute stretch

Day 3: 5-minute stretch, Run 1 minute, walk 2 minutes. Do this 11 times. 5-minute stretch

Week 2

Day 1: 5-minute stretch, Run 2 minute, walk 2 minutes. Do this 11 times. 5-minute stretch

Day 2: 5-minute stretch, Run 1 minute, walk 2 minutes. Do this 10 times. 5-minute stretch

Day 3: 5-minute stretch, Run 2 minute, walk 2 minutes. Do this 10 times. 5-minute stretch


A few words about The Beginning Runner's Handbook. The 13-week program doesn't appear until page 151 because the authors (Ian MacNeill and the Sport Medicine Council of British Columbia) thought it was important to start with topics like moderation, choosing good shoes, training mind & body, pregnancy, cross-training, technique, diet, injuries and stretching. It is probably wise to do some reading of your own before you launch into this new exercise program. Please make sure you're healthy and ready for action and then join us!

Getting Liz Back on Track...

Last fall, my daughter, Liz, suffered a sports injury that put her on enforced couch potato status. She's been bored, she's been very bored and she's itching to move. Happily, the last MRI showed that she's ready for action -- if she goes slowly.

My friend, Carol, found an interesting book called The Beginning Runners Handbook: The Proven 13-Week Walk-Run Program at our local library and thought it might be just the thing to get Liz back on her feet. The basic premise is that you build up strength and endurance by alternating running and walking -- extending the running and decreasing the walking segments as the weeks go by.

I've told a number of people that Liz and I are going to spend the summer "learning to run" and to my surprise I had a bunch of women say that they wanted to join us. After a while, it occurred to me that some of you might want to join us as well. So, once a week for the next 13 weeks, I'll tell you what we're doing and if you're in the mood for something new, I hope you'll come along. You know, this would be a great activity for an Adventure Club! Everything is more fun when you do it with friends.

A few words about The Beginning Runner's Handbook. The 13-week program doesn't appear until page 151 because the authors (Ian MacNeill and the Sport Medicine Council of British Columbia) thought it was important to start with topics like moderation, choosing good shoes, training mind & body, pregnancy, cross-training, technique, diet, injuries and stretching. It is probably wise to do some reading of your own before you launch into this new exercise program. Please make sure you're healthy and ready for action and then join us!


Photo credit: Abbie Mulvihill

100 Years Ago...Alice Ramsey and the first coast to coast road trip

100 years ago today, Alice Ramsey left New York in a specially outfitted, four-cylinder, 30 horsepower automobile and began a grand cross-country adventure. Drafted by the Maxwell-Briscoe automobile company to help promote their brand, Alice was a 22-year-old Vassar grad who knew her way around cars and who had the strength to handle rack-and-pinion steering for 3,800 miles. Her skill and spirit (and a little help from some friends) resulted in a successful journey that landed Ms. Ramsey in the record books as the first woman to make a coast-to-coast road trip. While a few men had already accomplished the feat, Alice also set the best time.

Margery Krevsky wrote a nice story about Alice and her three traveling companions for the Detroit News. To read the article, click here.



Image credit: SUMMER LANDSCAPE
© Alexey Arkhipov | Dreamstime.com

Life as an Ex Pat

It's not easy to pull up roots and set them down again in a foreign land but many, many women do just that. I thought you might like to get a perspective from several different international adventurers who are testing new cultures, new foods and new ways of life:

A Canadian mom with 3 preschoolers, writes about life in Cape Town, South Africa in "A Day"

A Canadian teaching English in China, Amy writes about "My Least Favourite Word"

An English woman re-rooting in California, Lorna writes about "How to be an Ex-Pat."

An American in Saudi Arabia, Susie writes "On Being Normal." (By the way, I'm happy to report that the KSA government has unblocked Susie's blog and Saudi citizens can once again read Susie's Big Adventure.)


If you're an expat and looking for kindred spirits, click here to visit Expat Women: Helping Women Living Overseas. To read blogs by women from all over the world, click here.

This Weekend: Treat Your Friends to an "Exploding" Soda

Ok, maybe this isn't really an adventure but I thought it was hilarious. Wired has a great "how to" for creating an exploding drink by freezing Mentos candy into ice cubes and then adding the cubes to a glass of pop. Wired created a Manhattan (my grandmother's favorite cocktail) for this prank but it would work just as well with plain ol' Diet Coke. If you haven't seen what happens when you mix Mentos and Coke, click here, otherwise I know you're already giggling.

Click here for step-by-step instructions for making Mentos ice cubes.

For an amazing display of what you can do with lots of Coke, lots of Mentos (and some corporate funding), click here.

Today is Meet Your Neighbor Day

Happy Meet Your Neighbor Day!

Go forth and introduce yourself!

Meet Your Neighbor Day on Facebook

Join the "Meet Your Neighbor Day" group on Facebook. Click here.

Get Ready for "Meet Your Neighbor Day"

On Monday, I wrote that I am declaring June 5, "Meet Your Neighbor Day." Why? Because June 5, is AWB's first birthday and I want to create an adventure that we can all do together. Meeting an unknown neighbor will probably push your comfort zone just a bit. Depending on the neighbor, it could expand your horizons quite a lot! Here are a few suggestions.

How to Meet Your Neighbor:

You can simply walk up and say, "Hi" or you can take thing up a notch by doing a little more.

The calling card: In my current neighborhood, there is a nice tradition of greeting new neighbors with a hand written card that includes your name (and others in your family) plus your address and phone number. It helps the new neighbor remember you and it gives them a way of contacting you if they need assistance. This might be an easy way to meet an elderly person in your area.

Food Part I: Who doesn't like receiving a tasty treat? You can always knock on your neighbor's door with food in hand and tell them it's Meet Your Neighbor Day and you've come by to be friendly.

Food Part II: Why not invite several neighbors over for drinks and appetizers? You can enjoy the company of the neighbors you know and take the opportunity to meet some new friends.

Food Part III: Party! Grab a friend and organize a get-together for all the people who live on your street, in your complex or who work in your office. You can invite everyone for tea, you can do drinks and appetizers, you make it a potluck*, or you can go all out and have a BBQ with music and limbo.

Some of these things will be hard to pull off by Friday but as long as you're in the planning process, it counts for Meet Your Neighbor Day!


To be part of Meet Your Neighbor Day on Facebook, click here!



*I've hosted a bunch of foreign exchange students who are mystified by the concept of a potluck dinner. If it's new to you, click on the link to learn more.

Things to do with your new neighbor friend:
National Good Neighbor Day (September)
Dinner Day (2nd Saturday in January)

Celebrating AWB's First Anniversary

Almost a year ago, on June 5, actually, I started Adventurous Women Blog. If you've been reading along, you know that my plan for this blog was, and is, to encourage women to leave their comfort zones and try new things. That might mean mountaineering to you but it might mean starting martial arts to your co-worker or entering a cooking contest to your sister.

I've been thinking about ways to celebrate the first 12 months as an adventurous blog--I wanted to find something that we could all do together. That's not an easy feat considering that you wonderful readers come from all parts of the globe. Clearly, we're not going to have a party at my house.

Going back to the idea that adventure means expanding your horizons, learning new things and leaving your comfort zone I decided the one thing that we all share is a fear of the unknown. And what's one thing that is universally unknown? Our neighbors.

We all have a strange older woman or a reclusive gentleman or a wacky family that we generally ignore or avoid. We also have people whom we see regularly but have never met. All of these people can enrich our lives with their stories, their traditions and their perspectives.

So, in honor of AWB's birthday, I am declaring June 5 "Meet Your Neighbor Day" and I challenge you to introduce yourself to one new person. I'll have some ideas on how to do that on Wednesday.

To join Meet Your Neighbor Day on Facebook, click here!

This Weekend: Spicy Ice Cream!

Ever since seeing Chocolat, I've had a passion for adding a little heat to anything sweet (no, that's not a reference to Johnny Depp). I've included smoked ancho chili powder in my chocolate biscotti recipe, I added a dash of cayenne to hot chocolate. Both were delicious!

So, naturally, I was intrigued by a post on SeriousEats about spicy ice cream. If you're up for a little food fun this weekend, why not try a scoop of your favorite cold dessert with dash of fire: chocolate with cinnamon & cayenne or maybe watermelon-jalapeno?

Click here to read the article. Click here for SeriousEats' recipe for Cinnamon-Cayenne Ice Cream. Yummmm!



Image credit: RED CHILI PEPPERS
© Vertes Edmond Mihai | Dreamstime.com

Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence...really!

There are plenty of reasons to visit Puerto Rico, perfect climate, beautiful beaches, lots of history, and one gigantic reason that you may not know about. An hour and a half from San Juan, sits the Arecibo Observatory; home to the world's largest single-dish radio telescope. You may have seen it in Contact with Jodi Foster. You may have seen it in the James Bond flick, GoldenEye. But you may not know that what happens at Arecibo can connect you with E.T. and the depths of the cosmos.

Stretching 1000 feet across and covering nearly 20 acres, the Arecibo dish listens for sounds that aren't part of the natural noises of space. Arecibo is seeking radio signals that indicate the presence of intelligent life beyond our planet.

If you think about the vast expanse of sky, the great depth of space and the many different radio frequencies you start to get a sense of the tremendous amount of data that the telescope collects as it does its job. To analyze all that data, scientists would need an enormous super computer, which, of course, means enormous amounts of money. Lacking that, some very creative people thought it would make a lot more sense to use not one supercomputer but many, many, many small computers; each one working on a little chunk of data. This is where you come in.

The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) developed SETI@Home so they can send manageable amounts of information to computers just like yours. Basically, you go to the SETI@Home site and download a special "screensaver" called BOINC. Once that's done, you can connect to SETI and have data transmitted to your computer. Then BOINC goes to work. According to the SETI site, "Like other screensavers it starts up when you leave your computer unattended, and it shuts down as soon as you return to work. What it does in the interim is unique. While you are getting coffee, or having lunch or sleeping, your computer will be helping the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence by analyzing data specially captured by the world's largest radio telescope." When your computer has finished working on its data, it lets you know it's ready to transmit its results. The site says transmission takes less than five minutes and you control when your computer reconnects with SETI.

SETI@Home just celebrated its 10-year anniversary. In the course of the past decade, 5 million people in 200 countries have been part of the search for life outside our world and about one million people are currently part of this most amazing research project. If you are a woman who dreams of off-world adventures as she gazes at the night sky or you just love the idea of being part of something really, really big, click here to check out the SETI@Home web page.

To listen to SETI Director Dan Werthimer talking with Ira Flatow on NPR's Science Friday, click here.




Image credit: BLUE BACKGROUND WITH STARS
© Robertas Pėžas | Dreamstime.com

Saudi Arabia is Blocking "Susie's Big Adventure"

Back in January I introduced you to "Susie of Arabia," an American woman who moved to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with her Saudi husband and son. Susie has been chronicling her experience as a Western woman in an Islamic country through her blog, Susie's Big Adventure and has gained a large international following.

Her efforts to teach readers about life in the Kingdom -- everything from shopping malls to schools to family -- have earned her both a a 2009 Weblog Award and a Best of Blogs Award in Travel & Leisure. Susie also has posted quite a few pieces about being a woman in the Saudi culture. She has been very frank in writing about restrictions, treatment and the absence rights that those in the West may take for granted.

Well, it appears that someone in the KSA government has noticed Susie's Big Adventure and that person isn't happy. Over the weekend, the government blocked the blog. Susie has the ability to write new posts but neither she nor anyone else in Saudi Arabia can read them.

Keep your fingers crossed that Susie's blog is re-released to ALL readers in the very near future! In the mean time, celebrate freedom of speech, by clicking here to read Susie's Big Adventure.

To read my January interview with Susie of Arabia, click here.

7 Eco-Adventures That Might Be Your Last...

TreeHugger has a fun piece about seven eco-adventures that might just get the better of you: Bolivia's Death Road, volcano boarding, saving the crocs...

Click here...if you dare....

It's Official, World Oceans Day is June 8

World Oceans Day was started by the Canadian government in 1992 and has been celebrated, unofficially, around the world ever since. Happily, 2009 marks the year that our oceans get an OFFICIAL day. The United Nations has declared that June 8 will forever foreword be known as World Oceans Day.

According to The Ocean Project's Web site, "World Oceans Day provides an opportunity each year to celebrate our world ocean and our personal connection to the sea. The Ocean Project, working closely with the World Ocean Network each year, helps to coordinate events and activities with aquariums, zoos, museums, conservation organizations, universities, schools, businesses." All of those events and activities will be working with this year's theme, "One ocean, one climate, one future."

So, what oceanic happenings are scheduled for your part of the globe? Click here to find out.

Image courtesy of The Ocean Project

NOLS: The Natonal Outdoor Leadership School

My boss likes to say that people need to hear something 7 times before they remember it. I know that's true with my kids but in the case of NOLS, it applies to me. I had seen the famous mountain and sun logo. I saw their booth at the Adventures in Travel Expo, (my sister won a NOLS T-shirt), but I didn't put it all together until last week: school...outdoors...wilderness...education...SCHOOL! And then I requested a catalog and spent this past weekend drooling over pictures and dreaming of rock climbing in Arizona, sea kayaking in Alaska & Mexico, wilderness canoeing in the Yukon, flyfishing in Patagonia, mountaineering in India, backpacking in Australia & Scandinavia.... Ah! What a catalog it is!

With more than 40 years of experience and courses ranging from 10 days to a full academic year, The National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) calls itself "the leader in wilderness education." They back that up by taking students of all ages on "real wilderness expeditions, teaching outdoor skills, leadership, and environmental ethics in some of the world's wildest and most awe-inspiring classrooms." Did you notice the part about the "academic year"? Many of NOLS' students take their courses for college credit -- credit that has transferred to more than 400 colleges around the country. Financial aid is also available through more than $1 million in scholarships annually.

So are you wondering what you can learn in a NOLS course? How's this for starters: backpacking, canoeing, caving, rock climbing, culture, fly-fishing, horsepacking, river kayaking, sea kayaking, mountaineering, rafting, sailing, skiing, snowboarding, leadership, teamwork, environmental studies, and risk management.

If you are interested in honing your leadership and outdoor skills or in taking the trip of a lifetime you've got to check out the NOLS course catalog. Click here.

American Hiking Society: Volunteer Vacations

You have a lot of vacation options for the summer but here's a terrific, affordable idea that you may not have heard about. The American Hiking Society offers an entire catalog full of Volunteer Vacations where you can spend time working on a trail stewardship project on America's public lands. You don't need any experience to become a volunteer-- just a love of the outdoors and a desire to get dirty. Here's what you need to know.

You pick the kind of adventure you want: Easy-moderate, moderate-difficult or strenuous-very strenuous. Each vacation in the AHS catalog has a difficulty rating as well as information about the kind of hiking or backpacking to expect and accommodations. Your trip may involve a primitive camp site, bunk house or cabin. Volunteer crews range from six to 15 individuals plus a crew leader and AHS says their participants range in age from 18 to 82. And then we get to the locations...because you'll be working on public lands, you have lots of spectacular choices: from Chugach National Forest in Alaska to Moosehorn National wildlife Refuge in Maine, to New Mexico's Cibola National Forest and Virgin Island National Park in, yep, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and lots and lots of beautiful places in between.

Costwise, this is a bargain! Your first trip will run you $275 ($245 if you're an AHS member) and each additional trip only $175.

What a great way to "get out and give back."

For more information about the American Hiking Society and volunteer vacations, click here.

To download the volunteer vacation catalog, click here.

FYI: I added a permanent link to the American Hiking Society in the resources section on the right side of the blog.

Image credit: Andrea Ketchmark taken by Allison Waterbury, American Hiking Society

California Woman Sky Dives at 89

I love this story in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune. Maxine Moreau has celebrated her birthdays with an adventure ever since she turned 85. First it was a helicopter ride over LA, then came the balloon ride and this year, at 89, Maxine opted for sky diving. Click here to read a terrific story by Jennifer McLain.

Here's my favorite quote from the article, "'People think I'm nuts,' Moreau said. 'When I was young, I was never that adventurous. Well, I never did anything stupid, I'll put it that way.'"

Happy birthday Maxine!