Sneeze Page: Reviews/Recommendations

Sneeze Page: Reviews/Recommendations

This post can be considered a list that will be continuously updated over time. It will consist of a list of products and backpacking trails that I have either reviewed or recommended during my time blogging for Tour De Backpack. Remember, this will be updated regularly, so make sure to stay tuned for updates.


Product Recommendation: Katadyn Hiker PRO Water Filter
http://tourdebackpack.blogspot.com/2016/02/product-recommendation-katadyn-hiker.html

Sneak Peak: Water is essential to surviving in the wilderness and should be taken very seriously when looking for proper equipment. I've used both water purification tablets and filters. Between the two, I would recommend backpackers use filters over the tablets. This is for two reasons. One, being that you can run out of tablets quickly. And two, filtered water from a flowing river is the best tasting water you will ever gulp down.

Product Review: Osprey Aether 60 Pack
http://tourdebackpack.blogspot.com/2016/02/product-review-osprey-aether-60-pack.html

Sneak Peak: When my father and I were preparing to backpack the Grand Canyon, we were prepared. We had our our food, supplies, and tools all packed to successfully hike in the Grand Canyon National Park. The sun had set and we were preparing to go to sleep for night. My dad decided he needed to try his ten year old backpack on just one last time before calling it a night.

Top 3 Backpacking Spots
http://tourdebackpack.blogspot.com/2016/02/top-3-backpacking-spots-hello-everyone.html
Sneak Peak: Hello everyone! Today, I will be providing a list of the most popular places to backpack within the United States of America. In the future, I will be providing recommendations for places outside of the United States (Europe, Asia, and South America). These backpacking locations are all within the borders of a national park and are easily accessible by road.

Promote/Analyze My Website Post

Promote/Analyze My Website Post

Today, I will be going over the advantages and disadvantages my website possesses. This is a reflection post both promoting my website, while also reviewing my blogging critically to look for improvements.

What first impression does my design give?
The design of my blogging website is rather simple. The simple CSS and HTML make it easy for readers to view. My website also lacks ads, which in my opinion builds trust between the reader and the blogger. The readers will know that I am posting for them first and not for money. This will create an incentive for readers to continue following my posts and perhaps purchase some merchandise in the future.

What have I done well?
My posts are well thought out and properly organized. My writing style mixes up sentence structure and can be enjoyable to read casually. I provided a place for readers to learn about the basics of backpacking in a short, easy to read segments that provide a lot of educational value. Hopefully with this style, I can build a bigger subscription base and become more popular on the backpacking blogging world.

What have I done poorly?
I've done a lot wrong since I have first started blogging. I do not promote myself well. I continue to do this by not reaching out to other bloggers, advertising in any way, or promoting my blog through the Tour De Backpack business. The original reason for the blog is to promote the business. I want readers to be encouraged to use my service after reading my blog. To fix this, I will start mentioning my service in every blog post I make. This should bring more revenue for Tour De Backpack.

Analyze a Top Blog in My Niche

Analyzing a Top Blog in My Niche

Today I will be analyzing a blog post posted by the bemused backpacker. The bemused backpacker makes posts intended to educate his readers ob how to effectively travel the globe. The link to the blog post can be found below.

The Bemused Backpacker: Top 10 Tips to Travel on a Budget

What topics are they covering? 
Tips/tricks on how to travel the world while spending as little money as possible. Traveling the world can get expensive rather quickly. Some people think they have to pay premium for everything when that is just not always the case. You can easily get away with traveling the world on a budget if you get outside of your comfort zone.

What topics are they ignoring?
The biggest thing missing from this article is more details. While the Bemused Backpacker gives wonderful tidbits about starting your travels, he does little to follow through with it. Instead, he gives broad advice without giving any real life examples. It makes for a quick read, but leaves me wanting more.

What voice/style do they post in? 
The style of this post is a list with some content written after every list number. The blog post is also advertised as a list. Since I've recently started blogging, I've noticed that lists are extremely popular and generate a lot of clicks. I mean, that is Buzzfeed's entire business. The tone of this post is also very relaxed. The Bemused Backpacker uses simple sentence structure and easy to understand vocabulary to get his point across to the viewers.

Product Recommendation: Katadyn Hiker PRO Water Filter

Product Recommendation: Katadyn Hiker PRO Water Filter

With my tenure in the back-country, I've had many experiences looking for water. Water is essential to surviving in the wilderness and should be taken very seriously when looking for proper equipment. I've used both water purification tablets and filters. Between the two, I would recommend backpackers use filters over the tablets. This is for two reasons. One, being that you can run out of tablets quickly. And two, filtered water from a flowing river is the best tasting water you will ever gulp down.

That's I'll be recommending the Katadyn Hiker PRO Water Filter for anyone looking for water purification equipment.

Pros

• Guaranteed to remove any viscous disease you can pick up in the water. You can even use this product in extremely dirty, non-running water, and it will still work.
• It is very easy to use. The pump has no learning curve. You simply put one end in the water source, one end in the bottle, and start pumping. You'll have a full canteen in about ten to twelve pumps depending on the size of the canteen.
• This product comes with a field maintenance kit to help you fix the water filter if anything were to happen to it. Fixing it is also rather easy and you will thank the heavens if you ever need to fix it while out in the back-country.

Cons

• The filter can be heavy, but it is worth carrying around. Some backpackers like to pack as lightly as they can. This depends on what you want to do.
• The filter is bulky. While the water filter is incredible at what it does, it is big for its intended purpose and can take up a lot of space in you backpack. This is the biggest trade off when choosing use this product because space is valuable. 

Essential Preparations (Link Post)

Essential Preparations for Backpacking

Today, I will be going over the basics of preparing for a backpacking trip. I will be providing helpful links along the way for further research. I recommend doing some extra reading. There is no such thing as being too prepared, knowledge wise. Packing wise, it is definitely a thing to be too prepared. Extra gear that is not needed can really bog you down and make your experience less enjoyable.

Packing

First, I would recommend learning how to pack for your backpacking trip properly. Remember this, it is very possible, and very likely, that you will over-pack. Avoid this at all costs! Your back and older self will thank me in the future for this important advice. A solid tip I heard is pack tools that have multiple functions. For instance, don't bring a hammer and a hatchet. A hatch can function as hammer if you just use the blunt end. Get creative!

This blog by thehipmunk goes extensively into packing for a trip...

https://www.hipmunk.com/tailwind/how-to-pack-light-for-any-trip-anywhere/

Food
As everyone knows, you need food to survive. Sadly, you will die quickly and painfully if you do not bring food to eat. Many ask, "Kevin, how do I fit food in my tiny backpack with all of my gear?". Well, there are simple solutions. Don't expect to be eating steak or a whole salmon while in the back-country. Pack lightly and pack smart. There are plenty of delicious foods you can bring along on your backpacking trip.

Eric the Black, a popular backpacking blogger. Provides a list of some great foods to bring along.
http://blackwoodspress.com/blog/5521/10-ultralight-backpacking-foods/

Take a look at Brain Green's fantastic blog!

Brian Green is a Backpacking Guru

Over the years, I've learned plenty of outdoor skills. I've learned from extremely experienced people, but only because I have been backpacking for such a long time. I've also learned plenty from the internet. When I discovered Brian Green, I was blown away by the amount of content he has. His blog consists of product reviews, hiking recommendations, and valuable knowledge you should know to survive in the wild.

Check out this link: http://briangreen.net/search/label/basics

Brian has a detailed basics section that can get anyone interested in backpacking a solid start. Brian Green is talented both in his outdoor skills and teaching skills. Brian Green has plenty of experience under his belt and has traveled the world. Personally, I would love to meet Brian. I could talk about backpacking and my experiences with him all day.

One of my personal favorite blog series from Brian Green is his content on navigating without a compass. Navigation is extremely important when it comes to backpacking. If you are lost in the wild and have no exit strategy, you are good for dead. Depending on where you are, you may perish from the weather, starve to death trying to get out, or worse, be eaten by an animal. Nobody wishes for that fate. Please, read this three part series!

Navigating without a compass - Brian Green

Part 1: http://briangreen.net/2010/11/navigating-without-compass-part-1-2.html

Part 2: http://briangreen.net/2011/01/navigating-without-compass-part-2.html

Part 3: http://briangreen.net/2011/02/navigating-without-compass-part-3.html

Top 3 Backpacking Spots (List Post)

Top 3 Backpacking Spots

Hello everyone! Today, I will be providing a list of the most popular places to backpack within the United States of America. In the future, I will be providing recommendations for places outside of the United States (Europe, Asia, and South America). These backpacking locations are all within the borders of a national park and are easily accessible by road. 

1. Great Smokey Mountains National Park. This is by far one the most popular national parks in the United States. According the National Geographic, "the [national park] hosted a record-breaking 307.2 million visits in 2015". I would recommend visiting this national park if you are new to the outdoors. Be careful what time of the year you visit as a lot of people tend to go in the fall too witness the trees changing colors.
2. Yellowstone National Park. Yellowstone is an iconic place within the United States. It is one of the biggest national parks and has a lot of territory to explore. Some of the wildlife include bison, grizzly bears, moose, and even packs of wolves. I would recommend backpacking at this park if you are an experienced hiker. Rangers give great guided tours and the super-massive volcano underneath the park is fascinating.
3. Olympic National Park. This park is by far one of my favorites. There are many different kinds of terrains to view. The altitude climbs extremely fast. During your backpacking trip here, expect to climb all the way to the top of the mountain ranges. One of the best trails in the world, the great divide, is within this park.

Grand Canyon National Park

Example Trip - Part 2

Day 3

The third day, your team will hike to the north rim. This side of the Grand Canyon National Park is pretty remote. While the south rim is bustling with activity such as tourism, restaurants, and family friendly activities; the north rim is barren and has maybe a parking lot if anything. Once your team reaches the north rim, we will do a series of team exercises testing leadership skills. Here, you will find out what kind of leader you are and how you can lead others successfully. Before the end of the day, we will hike back down the north rim and return to base camp to sleep for the night.

Day 4

This will be the day your team hikes out of the Grand Canyon. We will take the bright angel route out. This path is beautiful because you can see the top of the canyon the entire way up. You can appreciate the how massive the Grand Canyon really is. The experience will put your life into perspective. The bright angel path is a switchback that climbs all the way up to the top. It is a brutal route, but one worth conquering. Hiking out will take about four hours. Your team will return to the original camp we arrived at and stay another night before leaving.

If you would like to sign your group up for this tour, feel free to contact me on the contact page!

Grand Canyon National Park

Example Trip

Since this might be new to a lot of people, I wanted to give everyone an example of what a team building trip would look like. Again, if you have any questions contact me with the form provided on the contact page. I will respond very quickly and will be happy to help!

Day 1

On the first day we will arrive at Grand Canyon National Park. Here, we'll set up camp and get all of our equipment organized for the trip. Your group will familiarized with the staff and the proper paperwork will get signed. After all the legal information is taken care of, we'll go through a bunch of basic survival tactics just in case someone gets hurt or lost. We'll spend the night on the northern rim and prepare to go down tomorrow.

Day 2

We'll leave early in the morning. Prepare to up at 5am! You'll thank us when your team won't have to hike through the mid day sun. It is very dangerous to be walking around in the canyon between 12pm and 2pm. This is when it is the hottest outside during the day. Temperatures can get up to 120 degrees Fahrenheit. When your team gets to the bottom, we will split up and commence on day hikes in separate groups. From this point, we will set up a challenge between the different groups.

To find out what the rest of the trip will look like, check into the blog tomorrow!

If you want to check out more about the Grand Canyon, check out the link below.

http://www.nps.gov/grca/index.htm

About Me

About Me

Who am I?
My name is Kevin Jerome. My passion is the outdoors and my mission is to share it with as many people as I can. The experiences I have had backpacking have shaped me into who I am today. I started Tour De Backpack this year to provide an outdoor experience for everyone through customized guided tours. My specialty is leading team building exercises and creating a strong cohesion between a group of people.

What are my expertise?
I have been involved in outdoor activities for a number of years. When I was child, my dad made it an important part of my life. I learned how to face adversity and take on challenges out in the wild. The back-country shaped me into who I am today. It gave me the confidence to face other obstacles in my life and I want to share that experience with others.

What am I offering?
Whether it be a small or large group, if you are looking to build a strong team look no further. The guided tours provided by Tour De Backpack will provide plenty of experiences. Participants will undergo a series of both personal and team tests in order to figure out how their team truly bonds. You will find out who you are and what you can bring to solving problems with others. In conclusion, if you want to learn how to work collectively sign your group up with Tour De Backpack.

Contact Information
Contact information is listed on the Contact page. Group rates will be determined depending on how large the group is and which trip package is selected.