I never thought I'd fall in love with a backpack! MotoChic Lauren Bag hello! by Wendy Boucher

Did you even know this existed? I didn't until I saw it on-line and ordered it. Once it arrived I was floored by the quality and simple beauty of it.  

MotoChic : The Lauren Bag 

Once this cool bag arrived, I opened it up and started probing. 




The backpack straps tuck neatly into a zippered compartment. The tote strap pulls out from the top custom compartment to convert to a tote bag as seen in the pic below. There is a rain fly that pops out in case of a flash rain that you got caught in because you forgot to check the weather channel today.  Ooooh, I love riding in the rain.

The Lauren bag is surprisingly large inside (think of the clown car mini that twenty colourful dudes pour out of) and has little side closures to keep it small and reduce wind resistance. It is ultra organized on the inside too with smartly designed pockets perfect for fitting chapstick, wallet, iPhone, laptop, and my Swiss Army knife. Two outside pockets fit my flip flops and my water bottle. And here is the part that appeals to the safety girl inside of me - huge reflective panels on the back (and a reflective logo on the rain cover) so everyone behind you can see you - you insanely cool biker girl riding in the rain!



MotoChic says...

Our most popular MotoChic Gear bag is now available in cool white. Whether you’re commuting to the office, getting away for the weekend, or taking a Sunday afternoon motorcycle ride on curvy back roads, you’re good to go with the Lauren bag. Inspired by motorcyclist and style icon Lauren Hutton, this versatile bag can be worn as a backpack or a tote and combines classic styling with practical details that will stand the test of time.

So I quit looking at it, I pull out the backpack straps, and I ride!

See more at https://www.motochicgear.com.

Thanks Sea To Summit for saving my life

Sea to Summit X-Series Collapsible Dinnerware

My old potset and dishes took up about a small breadbox worth of size in my pack. Due to the awkward shape and size of pots, cups, and bowls, I have always wrestled with them in my pack. Not any more! Sea To Summit has a collapsible 3L pot, two bowls, and two cups that fit like a sweet simple jigsaw puzzle right into their frying pan home. Thats right, one big pot, one frying pan, two bowls, and two cups in a Frisbee amount of space. A Frisbee!

Sea to Summit Ultra-Sil Compression Sack

Quite apparent when my photographer Chris was packing his

sleeping bag in it’s standard container - my compression sack was a little bit of gold. This is one of those times when smaller is better. 

His sleeping bag was about the size of two motorcycle helmets. Mine - stuffed into the small compression sack, was smaller than a standard camping cook pot. Have you been to Sea to Summit's website? It's gear heaven on-line. Sea to Summit has a plethora of compression sacks, packing cells, dry sacks, mesh sacks, and even a sleeping mattress pump, which doubles as a stuff sack! They have enough colour and variety to make sense of your entire camping pack. Thanks Sea to Summit for keeping us organized and compressed. 

Sea to Summit Silk liner

I think I can say I may have died without this. Hypothermia is a reality when in the backwater, in the rain, in -2 degrees Celsius. I have a down sleeping bag rated for -7 but I find it’s good to about 0 for me.

When it got to -2 at bedtime, and I was wet, tired, and frustrated, I

poured myself into my bag and I was no warmer. Lightbulb. Wrap

yourself in the silk liner. It just seemed intuitive. I was instantly caressed by the soothing feeling of silk, and warmed up as though it was firing my body heat right back at me. It’s probably designed to do just that, but all I knew that night was that I was very thankful I had it. I later learned from Sea to Summit that this liner is made from super strong, ripstop silk and has stretch panels which allow the liner to move with you when you turn. Brilliant design and a life saver. 

Visit on-line gear heaven...
http://www.seatosummit.com

Revisiting Algonquin Park!

"Back country camping?”, I gasped. It had been a decade since I camped last, and I recalled it being a jam packed, smokey, noisy family campground. I had only been camping in the “real woods” once, and that was literally decades ago - four of them. And now, Wendy, who is a self-proclaimed Queen-of-the wilderness, introduced a weekend in the interior of Algonquin Park as one of our - Canadian Destinations. Really?!? 


Admittedly, I pretended that I didn’t hear her the first time she said it. I almost cowered as I envisioned myself being dirty, tired, wet, and cold as I tried to start a fire without the aid of a nearby store (where I could run out and pick up a fire-starting log or a gallon of petrol). My kids will testify that sometimes even that didn’t help my fire starter abilities. We often gave up on the idea of smokey smores and opted for peanut butter and jam sandwiches by the luminescence of my flashlight. Well, no matter my apprehension, the challenge was issued and, well, I am not one to back down! Bring on the back forty! 

This new back country concept got me recollecting my past experience in Algonquin Park when I was nine. Yes, I was single digits; I went with my father, uncle, and big brother Mike. 

It was a fun and exciting experience, other than the fact that I was terrified to meet up with a bear (I still kind of am - don’t tell the Queen, please). I remember portaging to some cool lake, having fun at the campsite, and exploring the area with Mike, both armed with wee Swiss Army knives. Kindly, it was suggested by my travel partner, “I will take you to the exact same place you went when you were a kid!”. That sweetened the deal. Dad passed away two years ago, so this was my chance to visit a far off land that he and I shared so many hundreds of moons ago. 

Wendy and I got right on-line and perused the Ontario Parks website (www.ontarioparks.com) to explore. We found it - Joe Lake. 20 minutes later we were grinning like kids - having effortlessly cruised the site, found our lake, registered our trip, paid, and started our packing list. Looking further into the website, I was very impressed at the vastness of Algonquin - its interior of maple hills, rocky ridges, and thousands of lakes, and the only way to explore the interior of this park is by canoe or on foot. ....

READ the rest of the story HERE

Make cooking your fave thing to do on the road, water, trail...

MSR Windburner Stove

So we don't really understand Reactor (insert registered trademark symbol here) technology, but what we do know is that the Windburner Stove is super easy to just throw in our backpack to take with us on any bicycle/motorbike/canoe/sailing trip that we take.

If that sounds a little like planes, trains, and automobiles then you are beginning to understand a week in the life of Canadian Destinations Mag travel writers! We take this little stove with us everywhere and it always lights, boils in about as much time as it takes us to find the coffee press, and has a great matching skillet.

My only complaint is - why didn’t you create this 15 years ago!? It’s my one-stop stove; all I ever need. It boils water in about 2.2 minutes, and that means fast coffee... who doesn't want fast coffee?!?

My favourite things about this hot little gem:

• One neat pot with all components fitting inside 
• One flick of my bic and it’s lit
• One hand pouring
• One second to pop the pot on it's radiant burner
• Simple 
• Safe 
• Stellar
• Stable
• It matches up with the MSR Windburner Skillet
• Boiling water is a pleasure
• It’s one of the few pots that actually does so when you watch it

MSR Windburner Skillet

This sweet little fold-up-able frying pan relieved me of the often felt guilt I experienced every camping trip when I'd burn whatever I was frying - then swear excessively.

This skillet is made to evenly distribute heat from the heat of the Windburner Stove to this complementing frypan without burning. How did they do that? Well, it's hard-anodized aluminum. It also has sloped sides for easy flipping, and an elevated design which disperses the heat much more evenly than any camping pan I have ever used. Effin' eh!

Did I mention it's non-stick. I’m nearly tempted to use it at home - but I’d hate to forget it in my pantry, and then will again be swearing excessively when I arrive at my site and realize my forgetfulness.

www.cascadedesigns.com