The Life Outside

Heard the news? Thanks to some fancy new antennas recently installed near Mt. Everest base camp, climbers can now text and make cell phone calls from one of the world's most remote destinations. Is this a good thing? I'm not so certain as my Outside Television blog, The Life Outside, attests today. If you're interested in joining the conversation—and listening to the very first phone call recorded from the summit of Mt. Everest—then head on over to Outside Television and read today's featured post, "Can You Hear Me Now?" If not, then stayed tuned until tomorrow when your regularly scheduled Bermuda Shorts programming will continue.

On Taking Waves

Bermuda's not necessarily known for its surfing—a trait mostly due to the healthy barrier reef encircling the island—but when certain friends come to visit, that doesn't stop us from trying. The picture above is from a mushy day on Horseshoe Bay, a break which pales in comparison to waves found in the South Pacific and beyond. So why all the surf rhetoric you ask? It's Tuesday, which means I'm blogging on The Life Outside, my Outside Television blog about my adventures in the great outdoors. Today I'm talking about surfing in Fiji; more specifically about new legislation making all surf spots within the South Pacific archipelago open anyone. If you're interested in learning about the sport's newest destination now open to the public, then click on over to The Life Outside and read On Taking Waves. In the meantime, I'll be back tomorrow with your regularly scheduled Bermuda Shorts programming.

Take a hike. No, really.

I'm an active guy, which is one of the many reasons I love living in Bermuda. A few weeks ago I told you about SCUBA diving alongside some of the island's submerged shipwrecks and if a good friend is in town, I almost always rent a small boat so we can go snorkeling at our own leisure. One of my favorite island activities? Hiking along the stunning south shore, ducking into secluded pink sand beaches and climbing over challenging rock formations along the way (see above). In fact, I go hiking pretty much wherever I travel, which is why I was so shocked to hear the story of American teacher Sarah Shourd, who was recently released from an Iranian prison after allegedly crossing the border while hiking with friends Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal. The story's been all over the news lately, so I thought I'd take a crack at advancing Sarah's cause with a short piece about hiking safety on my Outside Television blog, The Life Outside. If you're interested in staying safe while on your next outdoor excursion, read all about it here. And if you'd like to help Sarah get her friends home, sign the petition to release Shane and Josh over at FreeTheHikers.org. In the meantime, I'll be back tomorrow with your regularly scheduled Bermuda Shorts programming.

The Life Outside In London!

Considering I have nothing to report on from days two and three of the Bermuda Music Festival—all I really needed was a little Ziggy in my life—I'll make today's post short and sweet. As many of you know, Tuesday has long been reserved for my Outside Television blog, The Life Outside, which in past weeks has covered golf in Scotland, hiking in Aspen and diving right here in Bermuda. Today's post is all about what you should do if you've got 24 Hours in London. As you'll see, I spent the majority of my time wandering the city by foot, touring free museums and eating in jammed Chinatown restaurants. All in all a successful day spent in the British capital. If you're interested head on over to The Life Outside to read all about it. In the meantime, I'll be back tomorrow with your regularly scheduled Bermuda Shorts programming.

Just Back: Scotland

You might've noticed a serious lack of posts about Bermuda last week. Well, that's because I was in Scotland, covering the golf-crazed nation for Outside Television. If you're at all into fine single malt whiskeys, coastal links golf courses and towering medieval castles, I strongly encourage you to head on over to my Outside Television blog, The Life Outside, and read all about my trip to Scotland. If not, well, that's fine too. I'll be back tomorrow with your regularly scheduled Bermuda Shorts programming. In the meantime, thanks for reading!

Live From Telluride!

We interrupt this regularly scheduled Bermuda Shorts program to bring you The Life Outside, my Outside Television blog about my latest assignment in Telluride, Colorado. As you'll see, I'm blogging from the road from a vibrant town filled with arts, culture and some of the best mountain views I've seen in awhile. Interested? Then head on over to The Life Outside for updates about my show, the Outside Film Festival, complete with production photos from our latest shoot. In the meantime thanks for reading! (And have no fear, I'll be back with your island news and tropical updates very, very soon).

The Life Outside

As most of you now know, Tropical Storm Colin was officially a bust—the storm that wasn't times ten shall we say—so I won't bore you with nonsensical musings about hunkering down for a punishing rain that never came. Long story short: It was a lovely weekend in Bermuda. In other news it's Tuesday, so I'm filling the web with tales of The Life Outside over on Outside Television. Today's topic? Twitter, the micro-blogging service that opened my eyes to some pretty incredible things last week, like Mount Everest mysteries solved, sustainable woods for Gibson guitars and Northern Rockies wolves getting put back on the Endangered Species list (which, as you'll see, is a good thing). You can read all about it here or just bookmark OutsideTelevision.com and pop in every Tuesday for your weekly update about The Life Outside. Thanks for reading!

The Life Outside

Today is Tuesday—you know what that means. I'm interrupting my regularly scheduled Bermuda Shorts program to bring you my take on The Life Outside (otherwise known as my weekly blog for Outside Television). Last week I told you about acclaimed underwater photographer Wes Skiles who died tragically while filming in Florida. And the week before it was all about humanitarian Greg Mortenson, who I met while filming at Mountainfilm in Telluride. Well, it turns out that film festival was chock full of interesting folks so today I bring you a story about Tom Iselin who I also met while shooting in Colorado. Tom is the founder of Higher Ground, a program of Sun Valley Adaptive Sports that helps America's wounded veterans overcome mental and physical disabilities—including PTSD and other injuries—by engaging them in outdoor activities, like fly-fishing in Ketchum, Idaho. It's a stellar program, as the documentary Fish Out Of Water clearly demonstrates. You'll have to head on over to Outside Television to learn the latest about Tom and what he's doing to assist our wounded warriors, but let's just say if you've got any extra cash lying around and are itching to make a big donation, I've got the cause for you.

The Life Outside

It’s Tuesday, so that means I’m filling the pages of my Outside Television blog, The Life Outside. As you’ll see, today’s post is a tribute to world-renown cave-diver and underwater photographer Wes Skiles, who died last week while filming for National Geographic in the waters of Florida (that's him, courtesy of Louis Lamar). I met Wes after my Mountainfilm shoot in Telluride and all it took was a one-hour shuttle ride from Main street to Montrose to learn that he truly was one of the world’s great pioneers of the life outside. If you have a few minutes visit Outside Television and read all about him. And the next time you think about sitting on your fanny instead of exploring this great big world of ours, think about Wes.

The Life Outside

As some of you may know, in addition to writing for publications like The New York Times and Caribbean Travel+Life, I’m also an on-camera correspondent for Outside Television, a brand new network that’s affiliated with Outside magazine, which just launched in June. It’s a fantastic gig, as earlier posts about filming for the network in Telluride clearly attest. But today’s not about Mountainfilm. It's not even about Bermuda. Today is about my latest network gig: Introducing The Life Outside, my weekly blog over on Outside Television. Last week I introduced myself to the network’s millions of active, inspired viewers with a run down of what I was up to in Colorado. And today you can read all about my experience with mountain-climber-turned-humanitarian Greg Mortenson, who I met while in filming in Colorado (that's us at a book signing during the festival). As you’ll see, he’s a very interesting guy. The New York Times sure thinks so and I'm pleased that I got to share just one hour with this amazing citizen of the world. Now what are you waiting for? Go read The Life Outside. Enjoy!