Hello Spring, we missed you.

To celebrate Spring's arrival, we’re listing out a few of our favorite ways to enjoy get outside and take advantage of all the new opportunities the nice weather brings to the table. First step, get outdoors!

Celebrating Spring Outdoors

Take a hike

Check trail conditions and make a plan.

No more daydreaming of the hours you COULD be on the trail. It’s time to get back out there.

Be sure to pick a hike or trail that won’t be covered in snow (or, if you do, bring the right equipment).

Before you head out, be sure to pack up a day bag, like the Everyday Fanny Pack. Light, versatile, and perfect for any weather, this pack will help you bring what you need on your first Spring hike. 

Lunch in the sun

To keep feeling excited about Spring all season long, move some of your inside winter activities back outside to where the sun’s at.

Turn your “sad desk lunch” into a “rad Spring lunch” by having your sandwich on a bench near a park.

Take a stroll to get a coffee. Listen to a podcast and walk to work instead of taking a car.

Enjoy the season while it lasts by making an effort.

Work on your garden

Spring is the perfect time to make headway in your garden.

From planting new bulbs to seeds, this is the key time to get a lot of things you want to bloom in summer or early fall into the ground.

For advice on what’s best in your area, check out a local plant store or Home Depot and chat with a rep who knows about local climates and optimal items to plant (and when!).

Ride a bike

Stretching your legs after a long hibernation session is an awesome way to see Spring in full effect.

Riding to work or riding for fun allows you to see more of the world (hint: beautiful blooming flowers, anyone?) and gets you some physical exercise.

Warm up the saddle and get back in it.

Get playful

Having fun isn’t a Spring requirement but we think it should be.

When this season of renewal takes over, we can’t help but feel a sense of childlike wonder and excitement. So, turn that excitement into a fun time by having a “Welcome Spring” game night.

Invite friends over for dinner and drinks and play some yard games!

Spend a weekend in the woods

The best way to celebrate the first day of Spring? Camping.

If it’s a bit nippy, bring an extra blanket. If you’re worried about rain, bring a tarp.

Take advantage of this moment as an excuse to get outdoors and remind yourself of all you love in the great outdoors.

Pro-Tip: Don’t forget your Trek Light Double Hammock or a handwoven blanket to stay cozy. Both are camping essentials!

When the workweek gets past Wednesday, that’s when we start dreaming up ways to make Saturday and Sunday special.

Quick romantic getaways? An off-the-beaten-path mini road trip? Camping out in the backyard?

We’re all for finding small ways to escape the monotony of the working week and seizing the weekend by the horns.

To us, adventure is a state of mind, not just a physical journey. Being excited to explore your own neighborhood can feel just as fun as hitting the trail at a nearby national park.

Below are a few places and weekend hikes we find ourselves day-dreaming about. When the weekend rolls around and the work emails take a back seat, here’s where you can find us taking a break.

Pro tip: Bring your double hammock and a cozy blanket on any of these adventures to make relaxation a top priority.

Weekend Getaway Ideas

Austin, Texas

Delicious food, a vibrant music scene, and art that can rival any national gallery?

Austin’s got it all.

Texas’ hip city is a perfect weekend getaway for a little R&R and really good tacos.

Two days is just enough time to take a stroll around Lady Bird Lake, visit some East Side art galleries, and chow down on some divine Tex-Mex.   

Miami, Florida

Visiting Miami feels like a quick vacation in which you don’t have to leave the country.

You’ve got sun-kissed beaches, a wild nightlife, and food that brings together the best of Haitian and Cuban cuisine.

Our advice: eat like a local in Little Havana, spend a day in South Beach, relaxing in the sun, and dance the night away at Mango’s Tropical Cafe. 

Detroit, MI

Over the last few years, Detroit has experienced an impressive revival.

Where there once was bankruptcy and foreclosure, there is now new real estate investment and bustling new industries.

We suggest: stopping by Motor City Brewing for a beer, taking a leisurely bike ride with one of the many bike companies in town, and marveling at the city’s beautiful architecture at the David Whitney Building or Fox Theater.

Burlington, Vermont

The birthplace of Phish. Home to award-winning beer. Lake Champlain.

These are just a few reasons to visit the lakeside city in verdant Vermont.

If you visit during the winter months, use the cold temperatures as an excuse to go on a beer-drinking tour: Switchback Brewery, Queen City Brewery, Zero Gravity Brewery, and Foam Brewery are our top picks.

Weekend Hikes

Art Loeb Trail

Listed as one of National Geographic’s best hikes in North America, this 30.1-mile hike in North Carolina is a great weekend jaunt that will have you walking through varied terrain and the exposed Quartz of Shining Rock Wilderness.

This might be better suited to a three-day weekend than a two, but if you push yourself you can likely make it work.

Four Pass Loop

Sure, we might be a bit biased toward Colorado (we do live here after all). But! That doesn’t mean we’re WRONG about the fact that our state has some excellent weekend getaways, one of which is definitely Four Pass Loop.

Traveling through four mountain passes, this 27-mile loop calls the White River National Forest home, and wildlife is abundant.

Kelso Dunes

Don’t have a long weekend to dedicate to hiking but still want to make the most of it?

Do this quick hike in the Mojave National Preserve at sunset for a beautiful, rewarding trek.

Located only 3 hours from LA, it’s not a hard hike and the views are worth it.

The Wave

You’ve likely seen this stunning place on social media or heard about it from a friend of a friend.

The Wave in Arizona is a unique place that only allows for 20 daily permits (i.e. it’s a bit exclusive or hard to visit).

Don’t fret though. Even if you don’t get a permit, there are numerous surrounding hikes that are just as gorgeous and worthwhile.

Hibernation season? Runny noses and sore throats? Slushy sidewalks and frozen windshields?

While you’re not *wrong*, winter can be so much more than a season to merely endure.

Just because the sun sets earlier and temps dip to frigid territory doesn’t mean you can’t work up a sweat by enjoying a great outdoor adventure during these long months of the year.

In that spirit, below are a few of our favorite winter activities and ways to make the most of the season.

Snowshoeing

We know what you’ve been asking yourself: what’s the history of snowshoeing?

No problem! We got you.

Believed to have originated in Central Asia more than 6,000 years ago, the act of strapping on “shoes” to walk over deep snow was (and still is) a survival technique. Snowshoes were created as a way to get from one hunting ground to another in an effort to find more food during the chilly and harsh winter months.

For most of us, though, times have changed. We have grocery stores and corner delis that can replenish our winter bellies, and our snowshoes can be used for recreation instead of a means to feed ourselves.

If you’re excited to try snowshoeing but have never done it, do a quick Internet search to find trails in your area. If you’ve got a trail nearby, odds are there’s somewhere to rent snowshoes from, too.

Pro-Tip: Bring a phone for emergencies, but turn it off so you're not constantly checking to see if you've got a signal. Winter months imbue a unique sense quietude in trails and forests, and time spent wandering on snowshoes can bring about an inner peace that’s worth relishing.

Ice skating

You don’t have to be a figure skater to hit the ice.

Ponds! Lakes! Man-made rinks! Skating is a quintessential winter activity that can be fun for any age and any skill level.

Never skated before? Start small.

Find a local rink that offers skating lessons and take a few to get comfortable. Like everything, your skills (and confidence) will grow with practice.

If you’re an expert and prefer a less crowded option, find a pond or lake that’s frozen over and lace up your boots. The wind in your face as you glide down the ice is one of the best feelings.

Pro-Tip: If you’re skating outside, be sure to check local conditions and ensure the ice is frozen through. Skating near the edges of a pond or lake is the best way to stay safe, but if you're not sure - don't risk it!

Nordic / Cross-Country Skiing

Cross-country skiing is a wonderful way to take in the best winter weather and get some exercise in the process. It’s a whole-body workout and the rewards are excellent.

Cross-country skiing can feel a bit difficult at first (mostly because the movement is one that isn’t fully natural), but once you get the hang of moving your legs in a stride as opposed to walking, everything will flow naturally.

Most states that get measurable winter snow have trails that can be used for cross-country skiing. Look some up before you set out on your adventure, and be sure to be prepared.

Cross-country skiing is tiring (and that’s why it’s such a great exercise), so wear layers and be sure to bring snacks and plenty of water for your time on the trail.

Hiking

Hiking isn’t just for spring, summer, and fall. Even if there’s snow on the ground, you can still hit the trail. You’ll just need to bring a few pieces of gear that will make things easier.

Dress for the weather! Wear long underwear and make sure you’ve got layers and a great pair of wool socks. Insulating clothing will help regulate your body’s heat and keep you feeling warm while on the trail. Avoid cotton because you'll still work up a sweat and you want clothing that will wick away moisture instead of absorbing it.

Additionally, invest good waterproof hiking boots so your feet stay dry and warm. Using gear that’s made for winter weather will make your hike much easier.

When you do hit the trail, bring along something warm to sip: coffee, hot cocoa, tea or soup. It will act as fuel AND warmth for your journey.

Pro-Tip: To make your winter jaunt a Trek Light Gear-inspired hike, bring along your Double Hammock and a cozy adventure blanket to make your mid-hike rest the highlight of the day.

Sledding

If none of the above pique your interest, or if they require a bit too much physical effort than you’re seeking, sledding might be your winter activity.

It’s both a thrill and a tiny bit of work. All you’ve gotta do? Find a hill and sled down it.

Enjoy the ride, get in some runs, and return home with flushed cheeks and a happy spirit.

Instead, we bundle up, hunker down, and enjoy all the great indoors has to offer (ahem - board games and roaring fires).

But, who’s to say that adventure has to take a back seat until the crisp air warms up?

Adventure is a state of mind and there are countless ways to find it.

Fuel your wanderlust and hunger for the world by diving into books or watching a film. Just don't forget to wrap yourself up in a cozy blanket while you read. Here a few fun suggestions...

Best Books for Fall 

Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania, by Erik Larson

Written in 2015, this book tells the captivating story of ocean liner, the Lusitania’s last voyage. Sunk by the Germans during WWI, it was carrying a record number of women, children, and infants and is one of the greatest disasters of maritime history (outside the Titanic).

Larson takes the story many may know and gives it life. Through a complicated cast of characters and dark drama, the story is like a deep, electric sink into the past.

If you’re a fan of nonfiction that reads like an action film, add this to your book list.

The River, by Peter Heller

College friends and adventure buddies, Wynn and Jack set out on a canoe trip along the Maskwa River in Northern Canada. Paddling their way through the wilderness, they spend their time stargazing and reading old Westerns by the campfire.

But after a chance encounter with another traveling couple, their heart-warming vacation becomes a tale of survival. With an ending twist that’ll surprise readers, this book is delightful read, full of visually stunning prose and delicious drama. 

The Good Lord Bird, by James McBride

John Brown was a radical American abolitionist who championed the violent overthrow (i.e. with brute force) of slave owners and the slave system. This is the fictional story (though inspired by very real events) is told from the POV of Henry, a young boy who accidentally encounters Brown in a tavern and ends up riding with him on his quest to free and takedown pro-slavery forces in the Deep South.

Humor, passion, and humility come together to form a true adventure tale – one that takes on race and history with a fast clip and eagerness. McBride is a capable storyteller and he takes this tumultuous and decisive period of time and brings it to life with precise details and comic plot twists.

If this book sounds good but you’re more of a TV person, you’re in luck—Showtime is turning it into a series.

Sense of Adventure Films 

Leave No Trace

Will and his daughter, Tom have lived in isolation and off the grid for many years. Taking shelter in the Pacific Northwest forests, they live a life that’s fueled by searching for food, protecting themselves, and staying on the lookout for predators (both human and non).

When the outside world uncovers their camp, both are put into social services and forced to become a part of the world they’ve avoided. A stunning film that gracefully and beautifully explores the relationships we have with nature and ourselves. Where we call home truly depends on who we are.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Forgive us, but if Indiana Jones were a real person, we have no doubt that he’d be a Trek Light Gear fan.

With that in mind, the final installment in the Indiana Jones franchise is the perfect film to fuel your adventure fire and get cozy to. 

It’s 1938, and Indy’s father, Professor Henry Jones has gone missing while pursuing the Holy Grail. Indy sets out on a crusade to find him and uncovers more than he expected (Nazis, catacombs, and his father’s crusty & trusty journal).

With its delightful banter, whip-cracking plot, and nostalgic effects, this is a classic you should visit or re-visit this fall.

Meru

Made in 2015, Meru is a documentary about the first ascent of the “Shark Fin” route on Meru Peak in the Indian Himalayas. Sitting 21,000 feet above the Ganges River, the Fin is a towering range that beckons the world’s toughest climbers and offers no easy (or even discernable path) up. As many have said before, it’s not a mountain but a wall.

And yet, Conrad Anker and Renan Ozturk try to tackle it. Meru follows their journey, their failures, their physical demands, and their innate desire to conquer something so menacing and impossible.

It’s a documentary that gives us a powerful and inspiring glimpse of determination in action, and of human potential dangling above death, just able to grab hold of a ledge and haul itself up.

We’ve created a go-to car emergency kit featuring items to keep you prepared should anything happen while you’re on the road.

• No-Spill Gas Can: It’s hard to get in the habit of driving around with a small gas can, but trust us - you don’t need it until you do. And when you run out of gas, this will be your BFF.
• Jumper Cables: Essential for jump-starting a dead car battery. Why hope that someone else has the cables you need to get back on the road?
• Roadside glow sticks, flares, or flare alternatives: Stay visible, stay safe, and attract help when you need it most. Plus, flares are cool, right?
• Matches and a lighter: Let’s hope you don’t end up having to spend the night after a breakdown, but when you do - fire is life.
• Drinking Water: When you’re way out there, it’s best to bring extra water - whether you break down or not. One gallon per person per day is a smart starting point for setting out on any trip.
• Headlamp: Being able to see (and be seen) in the dark is a huge benefit should an issue arise. Whether it's working on your car, or walking through the woods, a headlamp is a much better alternative to a flashlight. Just don't shine that thing in my eyes though, okay?
• Trek Light Gear Blanket(s): Waiting for AAA or roadside assistance can get chilly. Keep a warm blanket in the car as an added piece of protection against the weather (or if you just want to lie off the side of the road while you wait). The blanket can be used as a backseat cover year-round so it doesn’t take up any extra space and you have it when you need it.
• Small Tool Kit: You don’t need your entire toolbox, but a small tool kit or multi-tool can come in handy for fixes you can do yourself.
• Spare Tire & Jack: Flat tires don’t need to slow you down (too much). Have the essentials ready - a suitable jack and lug wrench - and know how to change a flat. Don’t forget to check the air pressure on your spare tire periodically - there’s nothing worse than finding out your spare is just another flat.
• Work Gloves: A pair of good work gloves can do double-duty when you break down. They can help protect your hands when you need to change a tire or get near a hot engine, and they can also keep your hands warm when the temperatures drop. Keep them in the glove compartment, duh!
• First-Aid Kit: Small cuts, stomach aches, and minor issues can be handled with a kit that covers the basics. Whether changing a tire or working on the engine, injuries can happen when you’re broken down - a basic first aid kit is always a smart item to have with you.
• Hand crank radio: If you run into a crisis or natural disaster situation while on the road, a hand crank radio is easy to charge and can help you know where to go for safety (and where not to go) when you need it most.
• Portable Hammock: When you’re really broken down and not going anywhere, you don’t really want to sleep on the ground, do you? A compact and lightweight hammock stows easily in your car, and let’s be honest - you shouldn’t just use it in emergencies.
• Batteries: Keep a stash handy for flashlights, radios, and other items that might require power.
• Fire extinguisher: If a small fire ignites, you’ll be ready. Pack a small fire extinguisher designed specifically for automobiles and always be prepared for the worst.

Okay, you read the list - now put it to use and start adding the items you're missing to your car today!

Here's to safe travels and scenic drives.

We recently launched a very special collaboration, and I've been so excited about it I had to wait for my heartbeat to slow down for a bit just so I could write about it here.

Introducing the Tom Petty Wildflowers X Trek Light Limited Edition Blanket:

It's available exclusively through the TomPetty.com shop and won't be sold on our site - so, head over quick and pick one up because it's a limited run and they're already disappearing fast.

And, if you haven't listened to the Wildflowers & All The Rest release yet, go ahead and stream it right now or grab it on vinyl if you can. I can't say enough about the incredible job that Adria Petty, the Heartbreakers, Rick Rubin, and everyone involved with the release did to make this feel as special as it deserved to be.

OK - now that you know we collaborated with the Tom Petty estate to make a very special blanket in honor of the Wildflowers & All The Rest release, I'm going to attempt to write about why this matters so much to me on a personal level.

Here we go.

*****

When Tom Petty passed away in 2017, it hit me hard.

It feels like a weird thing to say. That the death of someone I didn't know really affected me, but if you know me well at all, which most of you don't, you would know that I loved Tom Petty just a little more than most. More on that in a bit. 

It's easy for me to remember the exact moment I learned the news - he passed away the day after Heather and I got engaged. We both returned from a blissful weekend in a cabin way-off-the-grid, excited to share our good news - and immediately regretted turning our phones back on.

I initially wanted to write about it right away. That's what I do when I feel like I have a story I need to share.

I wanted to at least share the story of when I first saw Tom Petty in 1995 as he was touring for the Wildflowers album. How 25 years later I can still remember exactly how I felt at that show. How his music was a soundtrack to so many of my formative memories, and how his music eventually became an echo in my life.

Instead, I found myself actually, real-tears crying over the death of a celebrity/artist/someone I didn't know. That had never happened before.

The more it sunk in, the more I realized I wasn't going to be writing a quick story about how I loved Tom Petty and how grateful I felt for his impact in my life. The words just weren't there, and it felt too big.

But now here we are, and thanks to that beautiful blanket up above the story has somehow grown a little bigger - so, it's time for me to get some Tom Petty storytelling off my chest. Where do I even begin?

With Wildflowers I suppose, but it really begins right before that.

The Greatest Hits

In the early 1990's, I was a teenager quickly becoming obsessed with music. I was moving past the teeny bopper music that had been force-fed to me and I was coming through my own tunnel of music discovery.

And here at the end of it was all the REAL MUSIC to be discovered.

I immediately had stacks of older stuff to obsess over - The Beatles. Led Zeppelin. Bob Dylan. Creedence. Pink Floyd. The Grateful Dead.

And at the same time, I was living through the glory days of MTV and a golden age of new music. In the early 90's I was a nearly perfect age to witness so many massive bands explode onto the scene: Pearl Jam. Nirvana. Sublime. Dave Matthews Band. Rage Against The Machine. Phish. The list goes on.

And somehow, right in the middle of it all, was Tom Petty.

I vaguely knew him as the guy with some cool music videos on MTV, and that's really all. But when the Greatest Hits album came out in 1993, it all clicked for me.

Tom Petty was instantly my new 14-year-old obsession.

I honestly had no idea, until they were all put together on a single album, that all of those random radio songs and music videos I had heard over the years were the same guy. How could they all be?

I remember just leaving the CD in the player and hitting the Repeat button so the album would start over again every time it finished. And - I know I'm not alone in this experience - every time that guitar riff to American Girl started up again as the first track, I was somehow as excited as the first time I ever heard it.

Wildflowers

Even after a year of listening to the Greatest Hits on repeat, I still hadn't dug any deeper into Tom Petty's catalog. I hadn't bought any other CD's and I just blindly trusted that, hey - these are all the best Tom Petty songs right? He's probably at the end of his career - that's how it usually worked when an artist put out a Greatest Hits album.

I thought of Tom Petty in the same way as some of my other recent musical obsessions like the Beatles or Led Zeppelin at the time - I loved it, but I still felt like I was catching up on my parent's music that I was born too late for.

And then came Wildflowers.

All of a sudden, I didn't just have old Tom Petty music to listen to - I had what felt like it could be the best album he had ever made, and it was brand new.

The minute I came home from the music store and unwrapped that beautiful, tan Wildflowers CD, Tom Petty went from being some other generation's music to being just as much MINE.

If you loved music as a teenager, you understand just how important of a distinction that is.

The Summer of '95

"It was a beautiful day, the sun beat down
I had the radio on, I was drivin'...'"

I got my driver's license in the summer of 1995 and if there's one universal truth in the world: that's what Tom Petty was made for.

He was the soundtrack to my new open road behind the wheel, but, like most 16 year-olds, my "open road" didn't feel all that big at the time. And I lived in Rhode Island, so I'd argue it was a little smaller than most.

To be more accurate, he was the soundtrack to all those nearby places I would drive to and dream about the real open road.

Those summer nights parked under the stars with friends, drinking beers I wasn't supposed to have, I found myself nodding my head, and understanding every story Tom Petty sang as if it were written for me: I was the waiting, the losers, I was every love song I wished I could write, and I was definitely a (wannabe) rebel without a fucking clue.

Tom Petty was a storyteller, and in my mind I was all the characters in those stories. If he was singing about something I hadn't experienced yet, I had a feeling I would someday soon.

Dogs With Wings

Tom Petty hadn't done a major US tour since 1991, but finally in that summer of 1995 I got my chance. The Wildflowers "Dogs With Wings" Tour.

August 14th, 1995 - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers at Great Woods

You'd think that my excitement to see Tom Petty as a 16 year-old that summer would be through the roof. In many ways it was, but the truth was that by the summer of 1995 when it came to live concerts, my musical tastes were shifting. The bands I loved seeing live by that summer were jam bands - young, improvisational, and playing different setlists every night.

No matter how much I loved his music, I was mentally preparing myself to be underwhelmed by an older 'legend' that presumably played the same set of 4-minute songs every night.

And then it happened.

The group took the stage, the energy level of the crowd was insane - and then I heard THE BAND.

I had no idea.

The second the Heartbreakers started to play, I instantly realized they weren't just a backing band - they were THE BAND.

And then the hits began.

Most 'classic' bands you'll ever see live will always play their big hits strategically in the setlist - they'll throw one in early to get you fired up, they'll put some in the middle after they've lost you with a few filler songs, and then they'll bring out the big guns to send you home thinking about how great the show was.

They can't all be hits. Right?

Not in Tom Petty's world. The Heartbreakers weren't fucking around with filler.

Every time I'd hear the first few notes of the next song it felt a little like I was being pranked. Was this going to be a 30 minute show? Had he screwed up and played all his best songs too soon?

Even the songs I had never heard before just felt like hits.

And they kept coming.

As I'd learn over the next 20+ years, and with every new album he released, and every older album I dug deep into - that first live experience I had was a metaphor for his entire career.

Greatest Hits? Damn near all of them.

Colorado Bound

"It's time to move on, time to get going
What lies ahead, I have no way of knowing"

When I decided to move to Colorado in the fall of 2001, I bought a 12-disc CD changer for my cross-country road trip and I was pumped. This was the biggest adventure of my life - moving at 22 years old to a place where I knew almost no one, and opening up every door in my life to the unknown.

Without really thinking about it much, I put Tom Petty's Greatest Hits in the first CD slot, loaded up 11 more road trip worthy albums, and off we went.

After our first pit stop, we learned something: Every time I turned the car off and started it again, the CD changer would start over and begin playing Disc 1, Track 1.

And every time, those opening notes to American Girl would hit the same way they did when I first heard them. You couldn't possibly skip it. And then the song would end, and we'd think "That was fun again, but man, we should probably listen to something else..." - and then those opening notes to Breakdown would ring out. And here we go again.

I can't begin to imagine how many times we listened to that entire album over the course of our week long road trip. We changed every other disc several times, but Tom Petty never left that the first slot. Just like when I'd leave that album on repeat at 14 years old, you somehow just couldn't overplay it. The songs, down to the exact order of the songs, were just too perfect to wear out.

The Echo

Here I was, now 22 years old and as I listened to those songs heading out on the biggest adventure of my life, it finally hit me that something had changed - I wasn't dreaming about the stories in the lyrics anymore, I was finally living it.

I was finally headed into the great wide open. I was running down a dream, learning to fly, and on and on. It was cliché as hell (I know, sorry), but it was everything.

Tom Petty's music had become an echo in my life. 

I knew I wasn't unique in identifying with Tom Petty's lyrics - hell, the genius of Tom Petty's songwriting (and any great artist) is that it feels so universally familiar to so many.

I knew I was identifying with the songs like millions of others because the themes were universal, but still it hit me like a ton of bricks:

I couldn't say for certain that listening to those songs all those years earlier hadn't somehow led me to exactly where I was in that moment. 

Great art is simultaneously a reflection and an inspiration. 

It's often impossible to decipher the difference between what initially inspired you, and what you were drawn to because of who you already were.

And that's the thing about an echo - once it starts, does it really matter where it began? 

****

There's plenty more I could say, and believe it or not there's plenty that I cut out when trying to share this with you.

But - there is just one more part of the story I need to tell to wrap this up, and in a way it's the point of me sharing everything I did above.

By now I'm sure it's pretty clear why making a Tom Petty X Trek Light blanket meant so much to me.

Back in 2017, when I was rocked by the death of one of my favorite artists, I never dreamed I'd have the chance to one day collaborate with his family and extended family on such a special product. 

But here's the craziest part I want to share with you:

I never pitched the Tom Petty estate to make a blanket. 

One day I opened my email and I came across a request. They were searching for small businesses with heart to make special products for the Wildflowers release, and in a simple twist of fate they had found Trek Light and wanted us to make a blanket with them. 

Nothing I consciously did led to that moment and this collaboration happening. Or maybe everything had.

How's that for an echo?

From DIY table cards to embellished floral trellises, couples are finding unique and beautiful ways to express themselves during their wedding with personal flourishes and touches.

One decor idea that won’t go out of style no? Blankets.

No matter what season you’re getting married in, blankets can be used in a variety of different ways on your wedding day.

They can add texture and warmth during a chilly fall night, a pop of color on a summer’s day, or be given as a gift to friends and family who’ve made the trek to your nuptials.

Below are a few more creative ways couples can incorporate our Trek Light blanket lineup into their special day and ceremony.

Dramatic drapery

Whether you’re having an outdoor ceremony or keeping the party inside, blankets can add to the ambiance.

• For benches and chairs, you can drape them over the surface or roll them up as an added bonus for those taking a seat.
• Dress up soft seating (couches and chairs people can lounge on when not dancing or eating) with a casually tossed blanket and some pillows.
• If you’re looking to spruce up your table surfaces, use Trek Light blankets as a tablecloth - the dynamic look of the patterns will contrast nicely against your floral arrangements.
• Got space on the walls for something a bit more vibrant? Hang blankets along the walls of the tent or dining room to make the interior decoration feel more striking and colorful.
• Lastly, you can even hang one of our vibrant blankets to act as a make-shift photo booth backdrop - just break out the props & fun poses!

Ceremonial decor

Take a stand...literally.

If you’re getting married in the summer and blankets for people to use feel like a bit of an overkill, repurpose one of our blankets as something to stand and get married on instead.

Pattern-centric and colorful blankets like the Positive Vibrations Blanket, the Mountains Blanket, and the Bowie Blanket work particularly well.

They’re eye-catching and will look great on top of grass, stone, or flooring.

Warmth in a pinch

People don’t like to be cold, particularly when watching a wedding ceremony.

If your wedding is outside during the fall or early winter, cozy blankets can be a welcome addition to the moment.

Even in summer, sunburned shoulders or crisp evenings can warrant a blanket or two and provide some much-needed warmth to guests.

Pro-Tip: You definitely don’t need to get enough blankets for the number of guests. Providing a handful in a basket near the ceremony will suffice.

Gifts galore

Wedding favors are a thing.

As a way of saying “thank you”, couples often offer tokens of their appreciation as a takeaway for attendees and/or the bridal parties.

Cue our blankets! If you’re looking to give your guests an item they’d actually use in the years after your wedding, consider Trek Light blankets.

Given the number of ways people can use them, we think they’d be a welcome gift people would be excited to take home.

Interested in adding some Trek Light to your wedding day? We offer bulk orders and even customization options for gifts.

Get in touch and we can chat about how to make your day extra special and love-filled!

Her forests, oceans, mountains, and deserts; there are so many beautiful spaces and places to cherish on this planet we call home.

Our planet gives us so much, but how often do we get to give back? How often do we take the time to appreciate all that life has to offer by caring for the things we love?

If you can’t remember the last time you volunteered – be it for your own community or for the great outdoors – now is the best time to reconnect and give back.

As 2020 continues to chug along, we’re excited to find more ways to get outside and take care of Earth. Read on down for some excellent ideas on volunteering and caring for our planet, even if you live in a dense city where trails and natural paths are hard to come by.

Kick Trash to the Curb

Trash is everywhere.

According to National Geographic, the U.S. produces roughly 4.4 pounds of trash per person, per day. Good thing there’s a handful of ways you can help out.

Try gathering a group of friends and cleaning up the litter around a bike path you love to ride on. Challenge yourself to not buy anything that contains plastic for one day a week. Chat with your HR rep about how you can make your office more trash-free.

Start small and stay committed.

Take an Active Role in Eliminating Food Waste

Much like trash, food waste is an enormous problem facing the world.

In the long line of climate change contributors, it’s #3. From making a plan before you shop to making more freezer-friendly recipes, there are tons of things you can do at home that will reduce the amount of food you waste weekly.

Check out this blog for some essential tools to help fight food waste in the kitchen.

Bike to Work

Biking to work is both a physical benefit to you and a way to reduce your carbon footprint. In fact, if cycling increased by about 20%, the world could cut carbon dioxide from urban transport by nearly 11% by 2050.

So, hit the pavement!

Join a bike-share program, dust off your old set of wheels, or partner with a coworker to ride to work together.

Advocate for Environmental Policy

The world needs more support – and the best way to do that is to get involved on a local level.

This doesn’t mean you have run for office (though, you should!), it simply means calling your senators and local representatives and insisting that climate change and Earth’s prosperity be more a priority.

Find out who to contact in your area here.

Hit up the Local Farmer’s Market

Eating local is a tasty and quick way to give back to the planet.

Instead of buying ingredients that have you take a plane ride to get to you, purchase local ingredients and goods from farmers or farms in your area.

They’ll taste a lot better fresh and organic, and your local farming community will appreciate the boost!

To some that might mean piles of pillows and thick blankets, to others it could mean silk sheets and blackout curtains.

However it is that you bring comfort to your bedroom, we applaud it--sleeping well is a healthy habit and working out ways to sleep better is vital.

And while we can’t make you meditate before bed, drink enough water, and minimize screen time before you hit the hay (all ways to sleep better, folks!), we can help make your bed a good-looking oasis.

Here are a few ways to make that bedroom of yours POP:

Decorate With Blankets

It’s no surprise, but we love blankets.

Layered blankets, draped blankets, folded blankets, tapestry blankets...

However you put a blanket on your bed, might we suggest a beautiful Trek Light blanket to really make your space shine?

The Cascade Blanket, Bowie Blanket, Mountains Blanket or a solid color like our Humboldt Blanket make for beautiful spreads on any bed.

You can still keep your comforter or matching blanket & sheet set that you love, just add a stylish blanket on top and your bedroom will instantly pop - and you've got some extra warmth whenever you need it.

Pile on the Pillows

The more pillows, the merrier. That’s our stance.

To make your bed pop or stand out, add different textured pillows and a varying degree of colors to the decoration.

If you’ve got a multi-colored bedspread, use solid color pillows and ones of different shapes and sizes.

If you’ve got a bedspread that’s the opposite, add in some patterns and textures to make your bed feel distinct.

Light a Candle

Candles make everything better.

Our sense of smell triggers memories, elicit feelings, and help us relax.

Light a candle to feel truly at peace and centered when reading in bed or watching a movie on your laptop.

It will help keep things cozy and make the vibe feel intimate and welcoming, which is just what you need after a long day of livin’.

Throw a rug under it (or a blanket)

Rugs!

They’re versatile. And they can really tie a room together.

From runners at the end of your bed or alongside the side to a big piece that runs underneath the entire bed, a rug feels luxurious and makes the space feel complete.

Sweet dreams!

Whether it be a feeling or a gesture, a gift or an action, we believe the world is a better and more meaningful place when kindness comes first.

Over the years, we’ve worked with some incredible people and wonderful partners who help us in our mission to give back and spread some good in the world.

Today we're highlighting one of our favorite non-profits that does an exceptional job of creating more beauty and purpose in the world:

Trees for the Future

Trees For the Future is a non-profit organization founded in 1989 that has planted over 145 million trees in dozens of countries around the world.

Instead of planting trees just for the sake of rebuilding dense forests, they plant trees with very specific purposes to help our human population - when trees are strategically planted for food, shade, wind mitigation, etc. they have the power to change communities and impact not just the environment but our own wellbeing.

In their words:

“Planting trees provides families with more than just food. It provides income, empowerment, unity, leadership, education and even saves lives. When we can teach people to value themselves and their environment, they see amazing improvements in their standard of living.”

That’s something we support wholeheartedly.

If you’ve browsed our website or purchased an item from Trek Light, you may have noticed our Give Back Program - when you buy any item on our site, we work with Trees For The Future to plant a tree on your behalf. When you buy a hammock, we even plant two trees!

Why did we decide to build our business around a 1-For-1 Giveback model like this?

Trees are essential to a healthy future. 

They generate clean air, reduce pollution, and regulate temperature (among many, many, other things).

We believe in a giving economy. 

The seeds we sow come to bear in myriad ways, and putting good energy and good work into the world will only ensure that our planet is a kinder, happier, healthier place.

Feel Good. Do Good. Pass It On!

Business Needs Balance. 

No matter how hard you try, it's extremely difficult to run even a very small business like ours without impacting the environment.

By creating a 1-For-1 Give Back program we ensure that every sale, every day, creates a ripple effect of good back into the world.

If we're growing as a business, it's crucial that the amount of good we're sending back into the world is growing at the exact same pace. 

Together with Trees for the Future, we’ve planted over 33,000 trees and counting!  

Planting trees is only one of the ways we give back - you learn more about our Happiness First and Give Back programs on our site and you can learn more about Trees for the Future by visiting their website.

Feel Good. Do Good. Pass it On!

UPDATE: Bloomberg recently profiled Trees For The Future and their Forest Garden approach to tree planting, check it out:

Why Planting a Trillion Trees Should Start With Small Farmers

But, if you’re in the mood to dance to, listen to, or feel soothed by something a bit more musical, we’ve got you.

Our Hammock Radio playlist series is back with a fresh playlist for these magical Fall days. Stream it below or find it directly on Spotify: Hammock Radio 6: Dance Into Fall. 

Want more?

Check out our all the Hammock Radio playlists on our site.

Subscribe/follow Trek Light on Spotify to be the first know about future mixtapes.

Likely not as often as blankets do, but that’s OK.

We’re here to show you the light and give you some new visual ideas for how to spice up your life with stickers.

UP YOUR STICKER GAME

Stick to a Plan

Where do you put your thoughts and feelings? If the answer is a journal, planner, or notebook, you can turn those bad boys into a vehicle for sticker self-expression.

Stick them on the outside, layer them on the inside – use them in any way you see fit to bring pages to life and get them to pop.

Want to encourage yourself to squeeze some more outdoors time into your daily life? Place your Outsider Sticker on the cover of your planner and it’ll be sure to do the trick.   

Hydrate & Stick

Reusable water bottles and coffee mugs – two great life essentials. And! Two excellent outlets for sticker-time.

Using stickers, you can turn a scratched bottle into a work of art.

If you and a co-worker have the same exact coffee mug, make yours more distinct with a sticker that reflects who you are. No more confusion at the coffee machine.

Recommendation: Our Home Sweet Hammock Sticker looks great on your water bottle or coffee mug.

Traveling Stickers

Remember the “My kid is an honor student” stickers your parents proudly displayed on the car?

Even if embarrassing as a kid (though great job on that GPA!), your car’s bumper is a great piece of sticker real estate you can utilize as an adult.

Want to remind other drivers to be kind behind the wheel? Stick our Human Kind Sticker in your back window.

Bulletin Reminders

Got a bulletin board hanging above your desk? Got one in the kitchen too? You can turn cork boards into collages of inspiration by using stickers to give them depth and variety. 

Whether placed on the board itself or on a piece of paper and then tacked in, stickers can serve as a daily reminder to get out there, do good, and be happy.

Our pick: The Hammock Time sticker is an awesome reminder to all.

Keep It Cool

Oversized coolers like Yeti's are all the rage these days for camping, beach days, and more. Why have a cooler that looks like everyone else's when you've got an awesome canvas for stickers?

Our This Must Be The Place Stickers look great on a cooler and each one represents a different vibe - the mountains, the ocean, or the desert.  Show off your personal style with your favorite or, if you're like us, add all three!

Laptop Layers

Covering a laptop in stickers isn’t just for college students.

Stickers (both on the outside of the laptop and laptop case) help distinguish and set yours apart from all the other computers out there.

The Be Excellent To Each Other Sticker on our laptops always makes a great conversation starter at the coffee shop.

BONUS: Spread The Sticker Love

Many of Trek Light's inspirational stickers share a message that have the capacity to make someone's day or spread good vibes. So, don't just limit your decorating to the house...take it out into the world and share your stickers with others!

Just remember to 'follow the rules' and adhere by some good sticker etiquette - don't deface public or private property with your sticker and definitely don't litter by putting stickers out in our wild spaces where they don't belong.  Many bars and restaurants encourage you to add stickers to their walls - you'll usually know it when you see it, but it's always smart to ask!

Carry a few stickers with you at all times, and you can really make someone's day by gifting them a sticker you know they'll love - a simple act of kindness that goes a long way. 

Stickers can change the world, get out there and spread the love!

But if personal stories aren’t in the cards, we’ve rounded up some of our favorite scary stories to bring a little fun and fright to the fireside.

The Vanishing Hitchhiker Legend in North Carolina

This bridge outside of Greensboro, North Carolina is said to be haunted by a phantom hitchhiker named Lydia.

The Bell Witch in Adams, Tennessee

Former president Andrew Jackson was quoted as saying "I had rather face the entire British Army than to spend another night with the Bell Witch" after he and some of his troops spent a night at the Bell's farm.

The Surrency Georgia Haunting

It was at first an idyllic life for the Surrency family for a time, until a strange series of events would unfold that would go on to become one of the most widely witnessed, well-documented hauntings, and most intense the world has ever seen.

The Headless Pirate of Deer Island

According to the legend, a pirate captain once steered his ship into Biloxi Bay to bury a large treasure. He and his men buried their gold on Deer Island, chopping off the head of one of their own men and leaving his body behind to guard their ill-gotten gains.

The Flying Canoe

La Chasse-galerie also known as "The Bewitched Canoe" or "The Flying Canoe" is a popular French-Canadian tale of voyageurs who make a deal with the devil.

Bonus: Podcast Chills

If the stories above don’t pique your interest, try listening to a podcast for inspiration.

Lore has an excellent selection of spook-tastic stories that’ll send a shiver up anyone’s spine. 

On the walls, on the couches, on the beds. Handwoven blankets are a great home decor statement piece, no matter where you put them.

Here are five ways to add some blanket flair to your interior spaces:

Layer over the back of a chair

Drape, fold, cascade. There are many ways to arrange a blanket over the back of a chair, across the length of a couch or at the foot of your bed.

Different styles create different vibes. Precise folds might be more your style, or a casual drape might fit better with your space.

Try out a few things and see what brings the room together.

Hang it like a tapestry

Hanging blankets on the wall is a statement. Depending on a blanket’s look, they can be a truly special accent that adds to your room’s decor.

We suggest assessing the walls you have at your disposal and picking the one that gets the most light (when the light hits the blanket, it really helps it shine).

Cover up worn furniture

Got a chair that needs a little rehab? Throw a blanket over it. Corner of your couch looking shabby? Drape a colorful pattern blanket over it.

Get creative in how you spruce up your space - blankets can help hide unsightly blemishes AND elevate your room’s style.

Take ‘em outside

We’re of the mind that a great blanket is one you can take outside. While we’re all about sleeping under the stars, you can use blankets in the great outdoors right on your patio.

Lay them across your outdoor furniture or place them in a basket so guests and family can use them when the nights get chilly.

Use it as a make-shift headboard

Itching for a headboard for your bed but don’t want to spend too much?

Our blankets make a great, vibrant substitute. Hang them in place of a headboard and see how it really brings the room together in a unique way.

As an artist, she uses the most unlikely of mediums as her canvas - a collection of discarded items and trash she finds along nature's trails and walkways. Hubcaps, water bottles, diving goggles, shin guards, hiking boots and beer cans.

Mariah's mission is to draw attention to the discarded items she finds and encourage her audience to ask ourselves how and why they ended up there.

Trek Light recently had the chance to interview Mariah and ask her about her process and where she finds her inspiration.

Where did your interest in art first begin?

My parents instilled in me a deep appreciation for the discipline of art. I remember listening to my dad tell glorious art school stories about pulling deadline crunch all-nighters and having the opportunity to be creative on a daily basis. It was these talks and my parent’s encouragement that lead me to pursue art seriously. Early on, my brother (who is an incredibly dedicated artist/muralist!) and I were sent on a yellow school bus to a summer camp called Windover Art Center. From the age of five to fifteen, we spent our summers creating in the lush rolling green hills of Newburgh, Maine. Recently, I have reflected on my experience there and realized the monumental effect this outdoor arts school had on the artist I am today. Classes ranged from pottery on the wheel to 35mm photography and blow-torched glass beads. This freedom to explore media while being outside directly informed my interests and passions. The director of the camp, Mari Abercrombie, told us about her dream of starting an art school in the mountains of Maine. Lo and behold that is exactly what she did! Along with having supportive parents, witnessing the success of this strong female artist impacted my desire to create as well as my love of the natural landscape.

 Do you have a favorite particular piece? What’s the story behind it?

My favorite piece is “El (Hub)Capitan” because it started the current trajectory of my Recycled Landscapes project. I created this piece while an Arts in the Parks Volunteer at the Guadalupe Mountains National Park in West Texas. Before I found this one particular piece of trash, I had been creating my own canvases from multiple pieces of debris. However, when I found this hubcap I was struck by the way it had cracked off in the perfect place to form the unique, jagged mountain range of the Guadalupe Mountains. I realized then that I had to leave this piece of litter as it was. This led me to the pun of painting El Capitan on the hubcap, and further photographing the hubcap aligned with the landscape. The way an individual piece of trash can stand on its own continues to fuel the inspiration behind this project.



What do you hope people take away from your art?

I hope that my work helps viewers to see that art is accessible to all and purchasing expensive materials is not essential in the creative process. You can truly make art from anything, including debris. The objective of my art is to make the world a more beautiful place. By using trash as a surface to paint on, I hope viewers are encouraged to clean up their own cherished landscapes and think more deeply about leaving no trace.

You use such an amazing variety of mediums, which is your favorite to use and why?

I have always had a soft spot for painting. Applying paint to anything is a meditative process that is essential for me in maintaining a balanced life. In college, I was a hardcore oil paints gal because I loved the textured and sculptural quality they offered. But recently, I have learned to appreciate the fast-drying effects of acrylics. They make layering colors easier in the field and have allowed me to capture more precisely the ever-changing details of an active landscape, which is becoming a more integrated ingredient in my practice.

Who are your current favorite artists?

My favorite artist right now is Sean Yoro (Hula)! I am moved by his work because it combines portraiture with land art to shed light on the ways humans impact the landscape. One of my favorite pieces he has done was a portrait on actual ice in Iqaluit, Nunavut to display the way climate change has contributed to the increasing loss of glaciers and arctic ice. Once the ice melted, the painting was gone.

Another one of my favorites is Andrew Faris, who creates large color block paintings and then photographs them interacting within a landscape. Liu Bolin and Alexa Meade have also been two artists who I have closely followed for some time. I wrote a paper comparing them in college, as they both paint directly onto humans. Bolin paints on himself to blend into the environment, and Meade paints on people to make them appear as two-dimensional portraits. The relationship humans have with their environment is clearly something I gravitate towards. From a historical standpoint, I admire the work of René Magritte and M.C. Escher for their attention to detail, their connection of art to math and the sciences, and their surrealist perspective of viewing the natural world.

What is the best part about creating art using various mediums and found objects? What is the most difficult part?

I have valued that the product is always unexpected because I cannot anticipate the trash I find on trails. I imagine this improvised aspect is why this project has been so fulfilling over a long period of time. All I must do to ignite the creative process is take a step outside and notice my surroundings. As for the most difficult part, it has been hard for me to let certain things go. Painting on debris has given me a heightened sense for spotting trash everywhere, and at times it can be overwhelming to realize how much there is. I know that as a single human I am unable to pick up every piece of trash I encounter, especially when driving. I see these really crazy things off the side of the road (shoes, forgotten traffic cones, car parts, etc.) and desperately want to stop and grab them, but I also don’t want to get run down. So safety has become a big concern. But, hopefully, my art can be used to encourage others to dispose of waste responsibly, so eventually there will be less of a need to pull over on the side of a highway.

Mariah’s incredible art holds an important meaning and reminds us that beauty can be found in unlikely places.

Her art also is a reminder of how trash spoils nature and how much work we have ahead of us to reduce our footprint on Planet Earth.

We need this planet more than it needs us and it’s our responsibility to respect and love the outdoors.

Pick up trash (even if it’s not yours) as often as you can, because Mariah can’t do it all herself!

You can find out more about Mariah on her website here.

Give her a follow on Instagram - @mariahreading

Twenty years ago. It’s crazy to even think that much time has passed.

Twenty years ago, I was a freshman at college in Hartford, CT and my friends and I were die-hard Dave Matthews Band fans. (If that's not your thing, just insert your favorite band when you were 18 years old and read on)

I had been going to Dave Matthews concerts since 1995, though I had been trying to see the band even before that. I'll never forget calling a nightclub (Lupo's in Providence) in 1994 and asking them if a 15-year-old could attend the show if I brought an adult with me.

The answer was no.

So instead of getting to see the band in a small nightclub in '94 right before they took MTV by storm, I had to settle for seeing them at a sold-out amphitheater just a year later in 1995. That was a very early lesson in not liking rules.

So here I am a few years later in 1998 and the band had just finished an album of never-heard-before songs (Before These Crowded Streets). None of the songs had leaked out yet and the buzz was strong about the album being their best yet. They announced that they were starting the summer tour with a home state show in Virginia and I knew it was a safe bet they’d be debuting many of the new songs there before anyone else had heard them.

Adventure called. I bought the tickets with no clue how we'd get there, I just knew I had to be there.

Hartford to Roanoke was an 18-hour round trip drive and not only had my 18-year-old self never taken a real road trip before - none of us had a car that could be reliably trusted to make that kind of trip. And we were far too young to rent a car.

Step 1: Find someone at school willing to let us borrow their car.

It wasn’t easy.

But surprisingly, here’s the truth: you can actually convince a friend you’ve known for less than a semester to let you borrow their car and drive it over 1000 miles into the unknown. You just need to supply them with a lot of beer.

5 dudes in a tiny car, here we go.

Step 2: When you can’t leave for a 9-hour road trip until after class, you need a place to crash along the way.

A friend of a friend was a freshman at Georgetown - perfect. Except, when we got in late at night we couldn't wake him up. Not without waking up the entire floor with our knocking anyways. Alcohol is a hell of a sleeping aid.

And that's when we decided to sleep in the study lounge.

Those were the long straws, here's what the short straw looked like:

If you're wondering where I got the idea to start a lightweight hammock company, it's safe to say these photos do a good job of showing the pivotal moments that led up to it. 

Here’s a quick break to also remind you that in 1998 we had no cell phones, let alone smartphones. Our map was a highlighted AAA TripTik, which is great until you deviate from the course and have to find your way back.

Here's me calling home on a pay phone to let my folks know I wasn't dead.

Our next stop was Charlottesville.

We geeked out on all the DMB 'history' we could find - it was surreal seeing all the bars, clubs, and coffee shops that had been the birthplace of all the live tapes I had been trading since '93.

Then, while walking around Charlottesville and thinking about how these music heroes once used to just wander around these streets like regular people - we run into this regular guy named Boyd. 

What were the odds?

The knowledge that road trips are sacred adventures & that the journey is the destination was solidified for me in that moment. The road trip romanticism of Kerouac, Hunter S. Thompson and Cameron Crowe had become as real to me as anything.

Things were HAPPENING and it was obvious it was already a life-shaping trip and we hadn't even arrived at our destination yet.

Which is about when the reality of not planning things out kicked in for us.

We soon realized we had no plan for where to sleep that night and had run out of study lounges to sleep in. We needed a plan.

The show was a General Admission show & started at 2pm the next day (Bruce Hornsby & Robert Bradley opened) so we decided to give up on looking for a free place to stay and just drive to the venue, sleep in the parking lot, and line up early for the show so we could get in the front row.

I have no words (and no pictures) for what it was like sleeping upright in a small car with 5 guys who hadn't showered since Hartford.

Our necks and our backs were wrecked and the foot smell was a force to be reckoned with. But the thought of being front row for a show can fuel just about any fire - and nothing was going to stop us at this point.

And nothing did.

Later that day we found ourselves in the front row, getting squeezed and crushed by a crazy hometown crowd for a band that was on fire. Seeing any band or artist at a point like this in their career is epic - they knew the wave they were riding was big and the crowd knew it too.

We held our spot in the front row through both opening acts, we held our piss, we dealt with the rain, and we had the time of our lives.

Did you know cameras in the 90's took panoramic photos? Awesome.

Miss you Leroi. (If you don't know, the sax player on the right sadly passed away in 2008)

The show was everything we had hoped for. We got to see the first live versions of so many songs that would become classics for the band - Crush, The Stone, Stay, The Last Stop, DDTW.

In the days before the Internet connected us all, that was everything. No one else would hear these songs until the album was released and that was awesome.

Also, I was really proud of this photo on my little crappy camera.

As the show ended and we shuffled out towards the exit, I found myself walking past the gate to what I realized was the backstage area.

In that exact moment, the security guy standing at the gate took a few steps away to talk to someone, and you can probably guess what happened next.

Sneaking backstage? I had never done anything like that in my life.

Not knowing if I would get asked to leave, or get arrested for trespassing. I just knew that it felt like what I needed to do in that moment, and that all my friends followed and we were in it together.

And then suddenly there was Dave Matthews, the mythical hero of our 18-year-old music lives. 

The fear began to really kick in when we saw how familiar everything and everyone was.

It was a hometown show. These people were mostly friends and family and people the band knew well. We were screwed.

And then he approached.

"Hey, how are you guys? Where are you from?" he asked.

So we told him.

He interrupted us moments into our story with a big smile on his face: "You're the guys that drove all the way from Hartford?! Boyd told me about you! I was hoping we'd get to meet!"

Our music idol just said he heard about our road trip and wanted to meet us?

Mind blown. This was the craziest trip of our young lives.

The rest of our talk was a blur.

When security finally caught on to our lack of badges he told them we were 'cool'. Whoa. We took a photo & chatted, he signed our ticket stubs - he was gracious & kind and the 5 of us walked away realizing we had met a music hero who lived up to our expectations. That's really something.

**

I learned a lot on that long weekend in 1998.

About following dreams, the magic of road trips, how human our heroes are, and how badly feet can smell in a car.

But most importantly, I learned in those three days that anything was possible if you set out on an adventure.

We had no cell phones, no idea where we would sleep, just concert tickets & gas in the tank (of a car that wasn’t even ours). And it all worked out better than we could have ever dreamed.

In the days after, Dave Matthews led to chasing Phish around. Then it was studying abroad in Australia and finding myself in Boulder, the unmarked dirt roads of Colorado, and starting a hammock business at 24 years old that kept me following that quest for adventure. (But, still, chasing Phish around)

The point is that this story could be about any band or any destination.

At some point, we all learn to love the unknown or we continue to keep fearing it. And in that trip, a giant part of who I am today took shape.

Embrace the unknown. Choose adventure. Take chances. Sneak backstage (just kidding?). Sleep in the car. Take road trips. Do things that scare you.

And always remember to live in a way that creates stories worth telling 20 years later.

It's never too late to start.

Many universities have outdoors or hiking clubs but are lacking a designated hammocking club.

Hammocks are a great fit for any outdoors or hiking clubs, but when you're a full-fledged hammock lover you know that hammocking as an activity really has its own niche outside of those uses as well. From indoor hangs in the dorm to hammock study groups on the quad - you don't always have to be going on outdoor adventures to get your hammock on.   

So, how do you get a hammock club started?

1 - First, get registered!

You can usually find a list of all registered clubs and organizations on your university’s website. While you’re checking out what other clubs are on campus, sign up to register your very own hammocking club - this is where it all begins!!

When you're asked to describe your club, remember that this is your chance to set yourself apart from the outdoors and hiking clubs that already exist on your campus. Let them know that your goal is to promote relaxation, happiness, a healthy study/life balance and to create a social group that brings people with similar interests together.

All universities have different regulations to what will be considered as a registered club or organization, but it's usually a very simple process!

2 - Start spreading the word and get your friends/peers on board!

You most likely have a couple friends who love hammocking just as much as you. If you're on your own to get things started, no worries - you're a hammock pioneer!

If your school has them, the existing outdoors and hiking clubs will likely have members that are into hammocking and this is a great place to get started. Send any other outdoor related clubs an email and ask if you can introduce your new hammocking club at their next meeting. These are usually pretty groovy people that would be more than happy to share the hammocking love and help you get things going.

Other ways to get the word out? Fliers are a great idea on campus. Be ready though - when you start posting around campus asking if people want to join a hammock club you should expect a big response! Many schools have posting boards in on-campus buildings, so stick a few up with handles to your social media pages so they can learn more.

3 - Which gets us to the point, SOCIAL MEDIA!

Get your name out there! Create profiles and use your social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) to let people know the important info - when you're meeting, what's being organized, and how to get discounts on hammock gear (more on that below).

Use your social media just like you're building a brand, in a lot of ways you are! Post pictures of club founders and members on campus in hammock-friendly places and adventuring around the world, obviously with their hammocks. The more content the better, but remember to focus on quality photos & videos - it's what helps you stand out and shows people that you're serious...about having fun!

Finding campus influencers is also a huge plus. Reach out to travel gurus and avid hikers on campus who never leave home without their hammock. Ask if you can share their content on your page and tag them to increase your followers and engagement.

4 - Start planning events!

Figure out when to have official meetings as a club and plan group outings to sweet hammock spots nearby and around campus. Like any group, structure and planning goes a long way towards bringing everyone together and gives you lots of opportunities to find new members!

If you can, plan at least one big off-campus trip a semester - a hammock camping overnight if you're into it! This is a great opportunity to partner with the other outdoors groups on campus to see if you can all get together for a trip.

Big trips are fun, but think small to get started. Create a weekly Hammock Happy Hour that's easy for members to attend regularly. Focus on scheduling frequent, but casual, get-togethers and you'll find that the club gets better and better with every meeting.

5 - Create club merch

Calling all design friends! Reach out to a friend that studies or enjoys design and ask them to create a logo for the club. This is great for creating stickers/shirts and more once the club secures members. 

After you get people showing interest in the club, you can begin charging a small amount ($5-10) as a club membership fee. This money will go towards stickers, swag, club trips, pizza and more. It's also a good idea to have the club own a few hammocks so you can loan them out to new members who need a little more convincing before they buy their own. 

Having to organize and collect money as a group may sound a bit complicated, but I promise it's not! Club fees are very commonly charged with functioning campus clubs that go on trips and need to buy gear, apparel, etc. You should also check with your school about their guidelines for raising money as a club, some schools even provide a small budget to their approved clubs so don't forget to ask!

6 - Establish roles and officers within the club

This will help keep everything organized and create clear communication between members. It may seem silly to think about needing a Vice President Of Hammocking, but trust me, it's awesome.

Remember that you're building a real organization here - sure, it's an organization that exists solely to be laid back, but the structure is what will help you achieve that.

Some positions to consider - President, Vice President, Treasurer, Event Planner, Social Media Manager, Campus Outreach/Recruitment, Photographer/Videographer, Secretary, Chief Pizza Officer...

7 - Stock up on hammocks!

Reach out to your favorite hammock company - hey Trek Light! Forming an official relationship with a hammock company is a win-win for everyone involved. You get to offer all of your members hammock gear at awesome discounts and having a brand on board can help you entice new members and spread the word about your club. Not all hammock companies are as keen to help so I highly recommend working with Trek Light - they've been really incredible at supporting our group. 

Remember also to respect the fact that the brand you're working with isn't really there to 'sponsor' you and that the support goes both ways. If a small business is giving you wholesale pricing on gear and other hookups, they're likely not making much on your orders. Don't forget to tag them frequently in your social media posts and spread the word about how they're helping you out!

8 - Work with your school to establish 'hammock safe zones'

This is VERY important!

If you attend a university with a lot of trees, that’s perfect - but you should make sure that the administration is okay with using school property to hammock on! If you don't have a lot of trees around campus, don't fret, you still have options to work with your school and find the best solution for hammocking on and around your campus.

At Michigan State, we ran into issues because of our campus' arboretum status. (Please read for more info: http://ipf.msu.edu/news/features/hammocking.html)

As soon as hammocking became more popular around campus, restrictions were drawn. Several meetings were conducted between our club executive members and MSU board members along with campus curators. In order to find resolutions, several hammocking posts were established allowing 24/7 hammocking access. Go green!

9 - Find ways to give back

As an organization, you've now got strength in numbers to make a difference - use it! Forget about hammocks for a moment and plan a give-back day for your club: do a trash pickup around your city/town, volunteer at a food share or soup kitchen, etc. What started as a way for you to relax with some friends is capable of really having an impact, embrace it!

10 - Have fun!

Forming an official hammock club with your school means that you're taking on some new responsibilities (meetings, finances, planning, etc.). If you ever feel overwhelmed, make sure you're following #6 above - spread out the responsibilities and you'll find that running a hammock club is really as easy as it sounds. The most important thing in all of this is to remember why you started this club in the first place - so go relax in a hammock and have some fun!

{A note from us: We’ve been helping student hammock clubs for over a decade and would love to help support you! Whether you're just getting started or already have a club up and running, just send us an email and we'll help you get the fun started!}

Alli got her first taste of Boulder hiking when she moved to Colorado at the age of 28. After leaving for the East Coast for six years, she returned to the hiking haven of Boulder in 2013 and upon returning to Colorado, she decided to use hiking as more than just a simple workout.

In the years since, she has turned her love of hiking into a way to connect with and empower women, to set personal goals, and to explore every inch of Boulder’s amazing trail system.

Photo: Karen Jacot

This year you set yourself a challenge to hike Bear Peak 50 times, what made you decide on this trail?

I like to give myself yearly outdoor adventure challenges to encourage myself to use my Boulder backyard to the fullest. In past years I gave myself mileage challenges and exceeded my 1000 miles on trail goal. Last December, I decided to set the goal to summit Bear Peak 50 times in one year.

Working a part-time job and being a full-time mom, I wanted a challenge that was accessible but still pushed my limits. Lots of people do amazing challenges with 14ers and out country exploration, but Boulder offers epic adventures that don’t require hours of driving.

Bear Peak, to those who aren’t familiar, is one of the most strenuous Boulder Peaks, at an elevation of 8,459 ft. While there are various approaches to the summit, the trail Alli hiked the most was through the Cragmoor neighborhood up Fern Canyon, which happens to be notoriously steep and difficult.

Alli completed her goal in September 2017 surrounded by her friends and they all dressed up as superheroes. Epic!

How did the trail change as you did it more and more?

I chose to do the same mountain because it offers an opportunity to reflect on my personal growth. When you do the same hike over and over again you’re able to track progress, notice changes in your time, and overall appreciate different aspects of the trail every time you complete it. I’ve seen this mountain in various seasons and weather conditions. The first time I did the hike in January it took me five hours, and now I do the same route in under three. 

Alli has done this trail in all seasons, once completing it through a field of waist-deep snow, and having to sit down and 'carefully' slide down the icy steep parts.

Photo: Karen Jacot

Other than Bear Peak, you’ve done tons of other trails this summer, what are your favorite Colorado hikes?

South Arapahoe Peak is definitely a favorite. It’s a bit of a hassle to get to. You need four wheel drive to get up Fourth of July Road but it’s definitely worth it. The summit block is very dramatic looking and has a set of amazing switchbacks. This 13er is challenging but worth it with a view of Boulder’s own glacier to the right and beautiful Colorado wildflowers throughout it. This hike is one of two Arapahoe twin peaks and offers incredible views and is decently challenging.

What is your advice to someone who wants to start hiking?

I think the best part about hiking is that you can make it as challenging or difficult as you want. Rather than feeling like you have to complete a trail, like Bear Peak, as quickly as possible, you can approach it however you want. Some people want a quick, fast workout, while others will make a day trip out of a hike filled with lots of water breaks.

If you’re trying to get into Boulder hiking, I say start small and work your way up. There are plenty of moderate hikes that are a perfect entrance to trying out the five Boulder peaks. You can build up your strength and endurance by doing each mountain a few times. I would start with Sanitas, which is the smallest of the five, and is a quick but challenging hike. Then, work your way up to Flagstaff. From there, the final three Peaks are definitely more difficult but doable!

Your passion for hiking has transformed into an amazing women hiking group, Boulder Hiker Chicks, how did this all start?

When I came back to Colorado in 2013, I had a lot more time to make hiking a priority. I had heard about the Skyline Traverse (a brutal 16.5-mile hike that connects all the Boulder peaks) but seriously doubted that I could do it myself. All the blogs I had found online were written by either professional athletes or men, but I wondered if any regular person had done it. I am a casual trail runner and seasoned hiker, but by no means a professional. I confided in my friend Kari Armstrong, and we researched the hike more and more until we convinced ourselves to finally do it.

We began to train for the hike, breaking up the route trail by trail. We invited people along the way to train with us and by the end of May 2014, joined by 6 others, we completed the trek. We decided, why not make this hike annual? Skyline Traverse was the catalyst for Boulder Hiker Chicks, and we realized lots of regular women like ourselves wanted to feel confident in doing some bad ass hikes.

We started a Facebook page to post about hikes for friends and family to join. One day, on a scheduled hike, two women that weren’t friends showed up to join us. They said they had found out about it through a Facebook post, and that’s when we realized the potential this group could transform into.

Photo: Karen Jacot

The Boulder Hiker Chicks group now consists of over 3,000 women, a community of badass adventure seekers connecting through the outdoors.

Each year, the group holds two major hiking excursions: The Seven Mountain Summit and the Winter Trifecta. In addition, Alli creates a schedule for anyone to join 3-4 free hikes per month. People can reserve a spot by getting an Eventbrite ticket through the Facebook page. The hikes are capped at 25 ladies at a time and fill up fast!

Over the past years, over 70 women have embarked on the two huge excursion hikes. These intense hikes include refueling stations along the trail lead by a team of ladies who cheer on the hikers and hand out candy, snacks, and water.

What is the goal of Boulder Hiker Chicks?

Boulder Hiker Chicks is for regular women who want to experience awesome outdoor adventures. This group connects women of all strengths and levels to hike together. The goal is always to have fun and embrace the amazing Colorado terrain in a positive atmosphere. Maybe the hike ends with topless summit photos, or cracking open a beer, regardless we are always looking to have a good time! BHC has fostered so many connections and women together. Whether it’s someone new to town looking for friends, or a person traveling across the country, together we experience Colorado’s beauty in an empowering group setting. It’s never about record-setting, or who’s fastest, it’s about taking silly summit photos, eating snacks, and always having fun.

Why do you think everyone should hike?

I love hiking because it’s accessible to anyone who can walk, and for those who can’t, there are plenty of trails with wheelchair access. Every time you hike, it’s a completely new experience. Even if you’re doing the same trail, the conditions, the weather, the people you’re with, is never the same. Every time you hike - you create a connection. If I’m by myself, I’m connecting with my thoughts and nature. If I’m with friends, I get to connect with them without distraction. I also enjoy how hikes can range so vastly. You can do a relaxing, laid-back hike that takes all day, or you can do a lung buster and have the hardest hike of your life.

What are your must-haves for a hike?

Other than always having sufficient water and food, I have two must-haves: Cliff Shot Blocks and potato chips. I love the Cliff Black Cherry Gummies because they give me a caffeine boost on hikes and push me through. And while potato chips physically replenish me, they also always sound perfect on a hike. No matter the trail, potato chips are a must-have. In addition, it’s always a good idea to bring tissues, Bandaids, all that stuff just in case you need it, you’ll have it.

What’s your perfect day in Boulder?

My perfect day would start out in my backyard, listening to the birds chirping with a morning tea in hand. After chatting with my husband and daughter, I would hit the trails and have a beautiful hike, thinking what meal I reward myself with. After the hike, I would go to Centro and get a big plate of nachos accompanied by a beer or margarita. Finally, I’d take my dog for a walk near the Boulder Creek Path and finish the day with another incredible meal.

To learn more about Alli and see more photos of her adventures give her a follow on Instagram - @theboulderhikerchick & @boulderhikerchicks. Or better yet, join the Boulder Hiker Chicks on Facebook.

un·set·tled (adjective):

1. lacking stability
2. worried and uneasy
3. liable to change, unpredictable
4. not yet resolved

November 2016 wasn't a normal month in my life.

It was a life-changing, battery charging month filled with discovery, introspection, growth, and love.

I lived for 30 days in a continent I had never been to before. I formed lifelong friendships with people from nearly 20 different countries around the world. For these and so many reasons it was a month that I'll never forget, but here's the most amazing part: I wasn't on vacation, I was working.

It was only a few weeks earlier that I had connected with the incredible founders of a young startup with the intriguing name of Unsettled.  I reached out to learn more, listened to their story, and quickly began to dream. 

The core premise of Unsettled is to give people the chance to "live and work anywhere, one month at a time".  The 'work' part is what makes the opportunity what it is because let's be honest, unless you're independently wealthy or have a job with an incredible vacation policy the idea of a full month off the grid in a beautiful destination is likely an elusive dream. It certainly was for me.

The Unsettled program solves the work/life problem by including everything you need to work remotely as if you were right at home - a private apartment or shared suite with WiFi, a SIM card for your phone if you need it, and daily access to a fully equipped co-working space with high-speed internet, conference rooms, and most importantly, all the coffee you can drink. (Or in my case, the start of a lifelong addiction to cortados - thank you Argentina)

Being spontaneous is something you can do as a business owner: Leave the office early to go to happy hour. Take a day off when you need a mental health break.

But, move to Buenos Aires for a month?

That's never been in the cards for me as a small business owner of a physical product brand with a small staff and a constant feeling of needing to be present to be efficient. 

And yet somehow - a few short weeks after my phone call with Unsettled, I found myself riding in a cab from the Buenos Aires airport heading to my new home for the next month.

And that's when I started to sweat. Big time.

Let me be clear: I love adventures, I love travel, I love meeting new people - and getting out of the country for a full month was a dream I had been pushing back ever since I started a small business 15 years ago. 

But, as I rode in the cab it became obvious that my rusty Spanish wasn't enough to understand anything my driver was saying to me. Zero. Zilch. Nada.

It was too fast, dripping with the accent and thickness of a lifelong native that you never experience when you study a language in a classroom. I made several attempts to simplify the conversation and find common ground and so did he, but the worldly conversation I had looked forward to the entire flight was instead replaced with an hour-long silence.

I got to my apartment and went for a walk to ease the anxious feeling I had, but instead of making me feel better the language barrier became more apparent with every minute I explored.

Hunger kicked in and so I decided to focus my nervous energy on getting my first meal. And I quickly realized that every menu I encountered was also filled with words my rusty vocabulary had long since forgotten. I had this burning desire to not screw up my first meal in Argentina, but I realized what was happening - I was walking around this incredible new city looking for the least intimidating option, and that isn't like me at all.

So I decided to do what I'd do if I was traveling anywhere else and looking for the best food - ask a local.

I practiced the question in my head over and over, found the friendliest face I could and felt a huge relief as the question came out exactly like I intended and was met with recognition.

And one second later that relief went right out the window as I heard how fast and unintelligible the response was.

I didn't stand a chance.
And that's when a wave of panic set in.

Asking questions is one of the great joys of travel, but I wasn't at all prepared to not understand the answers.

Here I was alone, facing a much stronger than expected language barrier, and realizing that for some crazy reason I had taken the first opportunity I'd had to really travel in years - and I chose to make it stressful?

I chose to live in a massive city when my happy place is almost always surrounded by nature and outdoor adventures?

The surge of panic kicked in even harder and I'll honestly never forget those moments of fear, doubt and intense introspection as long as I live.

Sure I love to travel, but how did I confuse getting outside of my comfort zone with adventure?

Was this all a huge mistake?

And then all of a sudden, like a storm, the panic passed.

Anxiety turned into adrenaline and then excitement as my whole body and soul remembered something I had somehow forgotten in those few short hours after I landed:

Being lost and overwhelmed and on your own is exactly what makes us who we are. And it always leads to our finest chapters in life.

Think back to your first days of school as a young kid. Your first day in college. The fears you have while falling in love, buying your first home, starting your own business, a new job or moving to a new town. 

Lacking stability. Worried and uneasy. Unpredictable. Not yet resolved.

Unsettled.

I was there. And instantly I realized that was the whole damn point.

(If the Unsettled program was a futuristic game show and a million viewers at home had been watching me panic and listening in on my thoughts - this was the moment when the curtain would open and I'd realize that I had won.) 

I smiled. And at that moment, my brain was re-wired.

That fear and anxiety now had a name - Unsettled - and it led to joy and not panic.

Don't get me wrong, it's a very real, authentic anxiety and panic that comes in those moments and it can be scary as hell. But it's that exact same fear and instability that reminds you that you're not in the same place doing the same thing you were yesterday.

You realize in those moments you know nothing about what's to come and that means you get to evolve, adapt, and learn new things about yourself and the world around you every day.

Being unsettled is what opens the door to change. And change, not repetitiveness, is the greatest part of life's journey.

Over the next 30 days, I embraced the notion of getting outside of my routine every chance I got.

I walked everywhere I could, and I walked a different way every time. I worked from coffee shops and busy bars, and I practiced my Spanish by not being afraid to fail.

I took my very first Yoga class (in Spanish no less), attended a meditation workshop, and made sure that I said Yes to everything that felt outside of my normal routine. 

I discovered that working remotely actually made me work harder on my business and made me more productive. I laid the groundwork for exciting things to come for Trek Light - and I did it all while checking things off my bucket list, undergoing intense personal growth and experiencing the joys of travel and exploration at the same time.

That's a hell of a way to spend a single month working - and different from anything I've ever experienced in my life to date.

Stability Or Unpredictability? Choose Both

Routine and comfort are noble aspirations and there's absolutely nothing wrong with finding your comfort zone or seeking stability in your life. Plan ahead, be smart about your future and don't leave everything to chance.

But, I'm here to tell you that there is life-changing joy and transformation to be found in unsettling yourself regularly.

Even your good habits need to be shaken up and stepped away from - that's where real growth comes. 

If you're reading this and thinking that it's not feasible for you to spend a month in another country whether it's because of finances, family, or your job just wouldn't allow it - that's perfectly fine.

You don't have to go to a foreign country to get unsettled (but I can tell you it certainly helps).

If you can't take part in a program like Unsettled, what you can do right now is to take just one month out of every year, one month out of 11 others just like it, and live completely differently.

Attend new clubs or meetups and surround yourself with people you don't know, spend a month taking public transportation or biking instead of driving to work. Be a month-long vegetarian, start a journal, do an open-mic once a week or anything else that makes you feel more than a little scared and uneasy. 

Unplug the TV, hide the phone, and force yourself to figure out what you would do every night for a month if you didn't have either. Go be a tourist in your own state and if you're already an extrovert then spend a month being less social and discovering yourself, reading more and meditating.

Don't just do one thing differently, do several and flip your normal routine upside down.

Bring unpredictability back into your life and embrace the outcome.
For one month.

When you're done, I promise you'll be a different person and a better person.

That's the joy of becoming unsettled.

It's Time For You To Get Unsettled

Are you interested in the Unsettled experience I took part in?

First, here's a great video you should watch that was filmed while I was in Buenos Aires - look at that sweet hammock!

(Awesome side-note: The video above was filmed and produced by Wayne Culpepper at Wayne Wandering. Wayne and I met in Argentina and a few months later he was helping Trek Light bring the amazing David Cross Hammock Hero videos to life - living proof that Unsettled works!)

The Unsettled team is now running month-long experiences in a growing number of incredible locations around the world: Cape Town, Bali, Morocco, Peru, Medellin, Barcelona, and more.

They're also now offering online workshops and groups designed to help you go through the same soul-searching and connections you might find when traveling without having to leave the country to do it. 

Here's the best part:

I was able to get the good folks at Unsettled to allow me to offer you a $150 discount off your trip as a special thank you for being part of the TLG community.

If you're feeling the pull (and trust me you should be), all you have to do is click the link below and use the code FRIENDSOFUNSETTLED when you book a trip.

I'd tell you to think about it, but if you read this far it means you already belong. Just sign up, dive into the unknown and don't look back.

Get Unsettled 

If you've got questions about my experience in Buenos Aires or the Unsettled program itself, ask me in the comments!

How a small biz like Trek Light ended up with one of our favorite comedic actors starring in a video series for us is a story for the ages, but suffice to say that when you go looking for your biggest fan you never know who you'll find.

We'll be releasing new videos weekly throughout the end of the year, so make sure you subscribe to our email or YouTube channel so you don't miss out!

Our local paper, The Daily Camera, recently gave us some love in honor of our 15th year in business (14th Birthday? 13th Anniversary of turning 1?). check it out:

Check it out:

Boulder hammocks maker Trek Light celebrates 15th anniversary

By Shay Castle
Staff Writer
Boulder Daily Camera
Posted:Thu Jul 20 16:45:37 MDT 2017

Money can't buy happiness. But it can buy a hammock, and a hammock will make you happy. Seth Haber guarantees it.

Haber is owner, founder and CEO of Boulder-based Trek Light. Locals may be familiar with the company's kiosk on the Pearl Street Mall, parked in the 1200 block for the past eight years. Each hammock sold comes with a handwritten note, lifetime warranty and a promise that your purchase will bring you joy.

As Haber is fond of saying, "Life's better in a hammock." He starts every morning with at least 10 minutes in one, and has been selling them full-time since 2008.

Trek Light is celebrating its 15th year in business. Technically, it's the 14th anniversary, since it was founded in 2003, but Haber likes to round up. The kiosk, which debuted in 2007 near the courthouse, is now a decade old, but Haber has decided to turn it up to 11.

"This is our 11th season out on Pearl, so we're having our 11th anniversary," he said.

However you count them, Trek Light is marking both milestones Saturday, which happens to be National Hammock Day. Haber will spend it as he has for many years — working and giving things away. Past schemes included raffles and a get-inked challenge: a free hammock to anyone who tattoos a company logo on their body.

"The first year, we got one person to get a tattoo," he recalled. "We brought it back the next year and it was five people, and then in the third and fourth years it got to the point where we had so many people, we ended up having to stop the contest."

This year, Trek Light is going a different route with a buy-one-get-one-free sale. Though a costly venture — hammocks start about $60 — it's one that fits with Haber's ethos. Every hammock purchased pays for the planting of two trees; pack sales fund school supplies.

"There are things I can look at and say our business might have been more successful if we had done this differently," he said. "If I start running it by accountants and lawyers that want to put a dollar value to it, it's just not how we look at it.

"We know that if we make every customer happy, our business is going to grow. And if the business grows, good things are going to happen because of all these trees being planted and the school supplies and the happiness hammocks bring to people."

Trek Light has stayed small, with just two full-time employees, plus part-time workers for the kiosk. But it has outlasted many a brick-and-mortar store on the mall.

"Most of the carts that are out there have been there for a long time," said Downtown Boulder Partnership CEO Sean Maher. "When there's an opening, it's a very competitive process — you might have 10 to 12 people vying for one permit."

Trek Light is a great example of a "cool, uniquely Boulder businesses," Maher said. The popularity of its products are visible mere blocks from the mall, where dozens of hammock-loungers line the banks of Boulder Creek in the summer.

The apparatus are technically illegal on city property due to ordinances banning the attachment of anything to trees, according to Denise White, a spokesperson for Boulder's parks and recreation department. Enforcement of the rule is lax, to say the least, but White warned that people can be ticketed if spotted suspended in the shade by an officer.

Certain exceptions have been made for slacklines as a result of lobbying, but no such relief has been granted to hammocks. But, White said, "If there's a group of hammock community members who want to pursue changing that, we're open to a conversation."

Read the original story here: http://www.dailycamera.com/boulder-business/ci_31156066/boulder-hammocks-seller-trek-light-gear-celebrates-15th

Let me get right to it: Being an entrepreneur and running a company (even when you're the sole employee) is like living life on a roller coaster along the erratic path of a heart rate monitor.

At its peaks, entrepreneurship is easily the most rewarding and enlightening experience I've ever undertaken.

At its low points, it's discouraging, isolating, and relentlessly stressful. And it can wreak havoc on your health. 

It's those low points that many entrepreneurs don't like to talk about.

And I believe there's a good reason why: Being positive in the face of adversity, showing strength instead of fear, and confidence in place of self-doubt - these are some of the most necessary (and expected) qualities for an entrepreneur, or any leader, to have.

But ask anyone who's been mentally, emotionally and physically taxed with starting and growing a business about their mental health and, if they're sharing the truth with you, you may be shocked by what you hear - no matter how successful and happy they may seem:  

The reality is great highs, terrible lows and unrelenting stress. Don't think people want to hear about the last two.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 30, 2017

A recent survey found that 30% of entrepreneurs report ongoing depression in their daily lives. Another 27% reported feelings of anxiety and another 29% experienced symptoms of ADHD. Startup Grind reports that a staggering 72% of entrepreneurs are affected by mental health conditions. In the tech community alone, a survey by Open Sourcing Mental Illness discovered that 51% of those surveyed report that they have been officially diagnosed with a mental illness of some form. 

The de-romanticizing of the entrepreneurial life is gaining attention - and that's a really good thing.

In Forbes, Amy Morin wrote about the darker side of being an entrepreneur: the stress, the isolation and the reality of depression, addiction and anxiety. Kevin Xu speaks to the detrimental effects mental health can have on one’s company and recommends a few ways of managing mental health as an entrepreneur. 

Fifteen years ago I started Trek Light because I was searching for balance - I knew I needed a way to balance a busy life and a passion for adventure along with the need to get a good night's sleep and recharge my mental well-being at the same time. And that was even before I understood the toll that starting a small business would take on me.

For over a decade now, I've been living the entrepreneurial life with all of its highs and lows, uncertainties, and challenges. And if there's one thing I know for sure it's that self-care is crucial to mental wellness. 

A leader must first take care of themselves before they can lead others.

This need for self-care is easy to forget with a never-ending to-do list, but this is precisely when self-care matters the most.

Consider a car. When you go on a long road trip, would you avoid filling up the gas tank because you're worried about how many miles you have to cover on the trip? We all know the answer - if you avoid filling up because you're too busy or too worried about the future your car will break down, and so will you.

Self-care refills your gas tank so you can go further. And it works best as prevention, not cure.  

Hammocks and Mental Health

At Trek Light we've got a saying:

“You should spend 10 minutes in a hammock every single day. Unless you're too busy, then you should spend an hour.”

The quote is more than just a cute tagline; it's rooted in science.

Dr. Jennifer Akullian, a psychologist working with dozens of entrepreneurs and developers in the fast-paced, high-stress tech community, explains that swinging engages the vestibular system, which is responsible for balance and focus and plays an even bigger role in emotional regulation. Experiencing a gentle swinging motion can also improve attention and facilitate calm. 

Spending time swaying in a hammock is inextricably linked to self-care and positive mental wellness. And of course, if you're thinking of sleeping in a hammock on a part-time or full-time basis there's been a lot of research showing that sleeping in a hammock is really good for you. Surprised? You shouldn't be.

Taking the time to relax, re-focus, and re-fill your “tank” is the key to a well-balanced life.

A hammock is a simple, centuries-old solution, that forces you to slow down and disconnect - it gets you swaying, relaxing, and de-stressing - all steps necessary to improve your mental health and help prevent issues down the road.

If you're an entrepreneur and any of the above hits close to home, it's time for you to invest in your own self-care before the burn-out (or worse) begins.  

The Entrepreneur's Guide To Hammock Self-Care:

• Have an Office Hammock
• If you've got the space in your office, have a hammock (or a few) available just like you would a couch or a comfy chair. Look around - do you have exposed ceiling beams or wall supports you could hang a hammock from? If not, don't fret, you can easily use a hammock stand to put a hammock wherever you want it indoors or out. A hammock frame is also easy to move where you need it (hammock meeting!) and is easy to pack away if you need to reclaim the space.
• The Hammock Lunch Break
• Lightweight portable hammocks pack down into a tiny carrying pouch and can be easily setup and taken down in mere seconds. Next time you're thinking of eating lunch at your desk or spending your lunch break staring at your phone in a Chipotle, choose instead to head outside and spend a quick 10 minutes (or more) in a hammock. Forget the view - your mid-day hammock spot can be in the office parking lot, what matters is that you take those few minutes to float freely and break away from your routine.
• Be A Hammock Digital Nomad
• Hammocks aren't only beneficial when you're taking a break, they can actually fuel your productivity. If you work remotely, it's time to trade in your coffee shop routine for a hammock and a hotspot. With technology these days it's easy to work from a hammock in a relaxing and inspiring location and still use a tethered phone or wi-fi hotspot to remain productive and connected. (Pro-Tip: When you post that "Today's Office. #hammocklife" picture on Instagram, just be prepared for the jealousy that ensues. And don't forget to tag us!)
• Be A Hammock Boss
• Happy employees = happy boss. If you've got employees, show them that their mental health and happiness is important to you by giving them the best employee gift ever. By encouraging your employees to take hammock breaks when needed and to spend their weekends getting outdoors and disconnecting you not only get to look like the coolest boss ever - you'll be investing in their mental health and happiness and that's an investment in your own as well. (Bonus: We can even make your business custom branded hammocks with your logo...justifying the tax write-off just got even easier)

Are you ready to see what the effects of spending a few minutes in a hammock can do for your mental health, your business, and your happiness?

(Here's my favorite hammock in case you're wondering)

Whether you're a startup founder, small business owner, freelancer or digital nomad - we're here to help!

From going all out to create a hammock lounge for your employees or just advising you on the best way to hang your hammock anywhere, let us know what we can do to help you find balance and promote a healthy self-care routine.

If you're an entrepreneur and you've already incorporated a hammock into your self-care routine I'd love to hear about it in the comments.

(And if you're not an entrepreneur but you now wish your boss would invest in some office hammocks, you might want to share this post with the management)

Hammocks are for lovers, and this mix is for you.

Click here to listen or stream below:

Check out the entire Hammock Radio series here.

For more info, see the following:

Captain Earthman dies at 61: Iconic Coors Field beer vendor battled brain cancer 

Saying Goodbye To Captain Earthman One Coors Field Game At A Time 

Somewhere around a decade ago I bought a beer. That's how any good story begins right?

This particular ice cold beverage wasn't from the liquor store or the bar, but from an eccentric beer vendor roaming the seats at Red Rocks. If you've been to Red Rocks, there's nothing too unusual about that.

What was unusual however, was that he then gave me his business card, 'Captain Earthman' it said, along with his cell phone number and a promise: I could call or text him with my row and seat number anytime - if he was at the event he'd show up directly to my seats to sell me ice cold beer whenever I needed it. In those pre-Uber, pre-everything-on-demand-from-your-smartphone days, that was a hell of an offer.

Photo: johnbcrane.com

Even in 2016, technology hasn't changed much in this area - we still find ourselves leaving our seats at events to stand in beer lines, or waiting longingly for a glimpse of your roaming beer vendor and hoping you can get his or her attention. For a thirsty guy like myself who doesn't like to miss a great song to stand in a line, it was one of the best business cards I had ever been, or will ever be, handed.

For the next decade, Earthman kept his promise - but more incredibly, it wasn't just at Red Rocks. It seemed that no matter where I was, from a music venue to a sporting arena, if I called the Captain he was somehow there. I learned he attended every single Rockies game at Coors Field and still would magically appear whenever I called from various other music and sporting venues in Colorado.

Space travel? I believe.

While I remember all the times he showed up to save the day, it's the times he wasn't there that stand out just as much.

I vividly remember the time he answered his phone, late on a Saturday night, just to apologize to me - he was in Arizona for Spring Training and felt bad that he couldn't help out with my beer needs. What?

All I could think was how easily he could have just let that call go.

I had to be one of hundreds, more likely thousands, who had received his card over the years and enjoyed the brief and fleeting moments of what you could, perhaps just vaguely, call a real friendship.

Did he have me in his phone as 'Seth - Good Guy' and go out of his way to help me out each time? Or was I just another un-saved phone number that he still treated like an old friend every time? It didn't matter.

Whether I was one of a few or one of many, Captain Earthman has always seemed to care about one thing: making you happy by being happy. It's something I've always emulated as a person and as a business owner. Happiness is contagious and if you're willing to treat strangers like family and give your customers the best of yourself then you get the world in return.

It's not easy to transform a seemingly ordinary job into a life long passion that turns you into an icon, but Captain Earthman did just that over the last 20+ years. It didn't take long before I realized he wasn't a secret by any means, he's been featured on ESPN and countless news stories, and if you've been to a Rockies game or a show at Red Rocks you've seen the alien who calls himself an Earthman.

Which brings me now to the real point of writing this. The world's greatest, kindest and most dedicated beer vendor on this planet or any other is in need of your help and support.

A few weeks ago, Brent 'Earthman' Doeden, was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor.

He's beginning chemo and radiation, which will hopefully slow the growth of the tumor and give him as much time as possible. A GoFundMe page has been setup to raise money for the Captain and his family and I'm writing this post with the hope that even if you've never been graced with his presence you'll take a moment to learn about this incredible human alien and chip in whatever you can.

Brent, along with his loving wife Becky, has 6 daughters and 8 grandchildren (with one more on the way). A man who has given so much to so many complete strangers deserves the same in return.

If you can, please contribute to Captain Earthman's GoFundMe page here.  If you can't, simply sharing this post will go a long way.

Check out the article Mashable just ran, "The ballad of 'Captain Earthman', baseball fans' most beloved beer vendor"

However, like most good solutions, it’s spawned problems of it’s own.

Are you familiar with the term ‘vocal minority’?

In this case the people who take the time to review businesses are more often the people who are upset and have complaints, not the ones that are happy. And though it may be an incredibly small number of people compared to those that have had good experiences, those voices become incredibly amplified and powerful because they’re the ones speaking up.

While every opinion is valid, think about how many times you’ve read someone’s negative review on Yelp or elsewhere and thought ‘Wow, that person sounds like they just love to complain’. Or how about all the people who fancy themselves professional food critics that you just want to shake your head at? The truth is, their vote counts for way more than yours does because you never stepped up to vote.

As a business owner, I’ve seen it first hand. You can make thousands of people happy a year, they may even go out of their way to say thanks on the phone or send an email of gratitude, but it’s the one person who simply doesn’t like the font on your website that actually takes the time to leave a 1 star review where everyone can see it. It’s an odd world we live in.

The fact is that small businesses you love are suffering in a very real and significant way right now because of something as trivial as this vocal minority of negative online reviews. Your favorite restaurant or coffee shop is getting passed over because a mere 20 people decided to go online and complain (with only a percentage of those being ‘valid’ complaints). No matter that hundreds or thousands of people love it, that business likely has a much lower rating as a result of the vocal minority. It sounds crazy, but even a 3.5 star rating these days can lead to enough lost business for a small company to put them out of business – that’s fine if the business is terrible, but it’s certainly not always the case.

Let’s forget for a second how this affects small businesses though, this is a problem for you and I as consumers just the same. If you’re like me and you read online reviews before you make a lot of buying decisions it can easily turn into a black hole of indecision. Far too often there’s just not enough reviews to help you make an informed decision – when only 70 people have shared their opinion and 20 of those are complaints does that mean it’s bad? More than twice as many people said they loved it, but which opinion is more valid?

Here’s what YOU can do to fix this:

1.) Make a list.

Take a few seconds right now to make a list of 3-5 businesses you’ve interacted with in the last month and had a good experience with. It might be hard because we tend to remember the negative experiences much more than the positive ones – getting your car repaired or buying that new shovel from the hardware store probably wasn’t the highlight of your month.

Restaurants are an easy target for online reviews because we’re so opinionated about food, but try to focus beyond just restaurants and include both local and online interactions:

Have you bought any furniture, gear, clothing, flowers, even batteries from your local convenience store? Did you use a plumber, a landscaper, or have any other maintenance or repairs done to your home? Did you visit your dentist or doctor? Your list should be considerably longer than 3-5 once you get going, so pick the ones that made you the happiest or the small businesses that need your support the most and set the others aside for another day.

2.) Go online and share your positive experience.  

It’s not as easy to write a positive review as it is to list your complaints. It can be intimidating to try to think of a paragraph’s worth of things to say for why you liked a place or a product, but the truth is a simple thank you and 5 stars is all that’s needed – “Great experience”, “I’ve used _____ many times now and I love it”, “Prices were fair and they did a great job”, “No complaints, I’d give them my business again”. The more you can share and the more personal you can be the more effective your review will be, but just the act of leaving a positive review is enough.

(Where you leave the review really depends on the business. If it’s a physical product and the company sells on Amazon, a review there usually goes a very long way. Other businesses rely on TripAdvisor, Yelp, Google, internal reviews, etc. If you’re unsure, contact the company and ask them the best way to share your review with others.)

3.) Repeat monthly.

That’s it. Just take those few seconds to share that a business made you happy, did their job well, or simply made a good product and we all become part of the vocal majority.

Let’s start shining a positive light to counteract the negativity that the Internet is so capable of breeding. You’re doing a good deed, helping others like yourself to make informed decisions, and helping all the businesses that you want to still be around the next time you need them.

4.) Bonus Lesson! Take everything above and apply it to your offline life as well. Whether it’s your loved ones, co-workers, employees, or your boss – chances are you’ve been more vocal about the things you criticize then those you appreciate. Start handing out some more 5 star Thank You’s along with those 1 star complaints and we really will make the world a better place.

Happiness is contagious, and so is negativity.  Let’s spread the right one.

Want to help a little more? Share this post and let’s make positive change go viral.

This playlist covers one of my favorite genres of music - a genre that takes any box you try to put it in and and bounces off those walls until there is no box and the only thing you know is the infectious rhythm of your head nodding to the beat.

Is it Acid Jazz, Funky Jazz, Jazzy Funk, or something else entirely? It just is.

This is the domain of key masters like Jimmy Smith, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Herbie Hancock and Jimmy McGriff.  It's the stomping grounds of greats like Grant Green, Boogaloo Joe Jones and Melvin Sparks - guitarists whose fingers don't just play the notes, they pop from one note to the next without constraint.  

If music is a stew, this is the genre that stirs and stirs until a giant whirlpool forms - and in the end all that's left is that mighty groove. Have fun.

1. Follow Trek Light on Spotify
2. Follow This Playlist
3. Rock out with your hammock out!

(Don't have a Spotify account? No worries, it's completely free to sign up and start listening. If you don't have an account click here to register and within a few seconds you'll be able to listen to Hammock Radio from anywhere.

As always please remember to follow the playlist itself so we know you're enjoying it and click the button below to follow along so you'll always get notified about future Hammock Radio releases.

Our follower count is starting to grow, if you like what we're doing please spread the word and tell your friends to follow along too!

I'll do my best to put out playlists more frequently this year, if you've got a suggestion for a theme or a genre to explore in an upcoming mix let me know. I sincerely hope you have as much fun listening to these as I do making them - let me know what you think of it in the comments!

Chad Patzer - Mr. #1

Three years ago we had a contest.

And as a final, late minute addition to that contest I decided to include an 'instant win' option. All you had to do to win the prize: get a Trek Light themed tattoo somewhere on your body.

I'll be honest, I never expected in a million years that anyone would step up to say 'I'm getting a Trek Light Tattoo' - but a bearded champion by the name of Chad Patzer did just that.

Looking back, it was over 10 years ago that Trek Light was born, and truth be told - at the time it felt more like a small idea than a big one. When it came time to create "the branding" I didn't consult with a big marketing firm to develop a company name and logo, I wrote names down on a paper and repeated them over and over until they stopped making sense and one rose to the surface.  (The Colorado Hammock Company, Haber's Hammocks and Happy Hammock Co. are just a small taste of what could have been)

But then a funny thing happened: People started passionately identifying with the brand. I began receiving emails from happy customers with photos of them using their Trek Light products in countries around the world, people were putting Trek Light stickers on their water bottles, and proudly wearing our T-shirts. 

I heard incredible stories: from married couples who had first met while using their hammock, couples who had gotten engaged in their hammock, and even a couple who had lost their home to a fire and made sure their Trek Light hammock was the first thing they replaced when they rebuilt. 

Something was happening that went beyond this seemingly small idea I had to show people that life is better in a hammock.

Trek Light is still just a small business, relying on word of mouth and grassroots growth to reach every customer. And yet, a year after the first Trek Light Tattoo entered the world we did the contest again - and incredibly another amazing fan stepped forward to show their support with a Trek Light Tattoo.

Which brings us to 2014. In case you missed it, a new Trek Light Tattoo Challenge just ended, and I've got something incredible to announce: FOUR new Trek Light heroes, two men and two women, have left their mark (literally) in Trek Light's history.

Congratulations (in no particular order) to these new Trek Light Heroes: Casey Shoemaker, Chad Allison, Ashleigh Nicolle, and Jefferey Robinson! Not only have you all won a package of our best hammock camping gear, you've made me proud of what we've all accomplished together and where we're going.

On behalf of Trek Light, I can't say thanks enough to all of you for the incredible outpouring of support you've shown for our small lifestyle brand that began 10+ years ago.

We're still doing everything we can to spread the word about our small business and constantly striving to make the world a better place with every sale we make.  The passion you show for our brand is what drives us forward and proves to me that the Trek Light movement is not only resonating out there in the world, but getting stronger every day.

To the now 6 Tattooed Trek Light Heroes and to everyone else who supports small business with your passion and knows what it means to Trek Light, thank you!

When I asked other people around me I heard familiar things like eating all the ice cream you want, going to bed whenever you want, having pizza for breakfast, etc.  But at the same time I also heard very different things like having your own money, owning nice things, raising a family, building a home, traveling where you want and more.

The different answers echoed the thoughts in my own head and the answer immediately became clear to me.

Sometimes the best part of being a grown up is actually just that: being an adult.  It’s the personal and financial success that comes from maturity, the freedom of adulthood, the respect you get from your peers and the joy of working hard to play hard.

But sometimes the best part of being an adult is the exact opposite – it’s the freedom to still act like a kid whenever you want, to go against the grain, to quit your job and take that road trip and figure it all out when you get back, to follow your dreams and take the kind of chances you know would get you a lecture on responsibility from your parents. Sometimes you just gotta let loose and live.

What’s the best part of being a grown up?  It’s being able to choose when you want to grow up and when you don’t.

It’s a choice that ultimately defines us and it’s a balance. Focus too much on being a ‘responsible adult’ and you’ll find yourself missing out on many of the joys in life while you’re young enough to enjoy them.  Focus too much on being a carefree kid and there will likely be a wake-up call when your priorities shift.

Things obviously change once you have a family and children of your own.  You may find yourself feeling like you have no choice but to be a grown up all the time and that the balance is decided for you.  It isn’t true. You’re busier, you have more on your plate and more responsibility than ever before in life, but you’re still you and you still have the freedom to dream and to follow your dreams.  You might just have a few more people along for the ride and a few more detours to make on the way there.

Life moves fast.  Take a moment soon to be a carefree kid again - do something risky, let your responsibilities pile up a bit, they'll still be there when you get back to them and you'll be ready to take them on. If you’ve been finding yourself being a little too much of a kid lately, do something positive that moves you forward and sets the stage for the success and happiness you want in life.

And if nothing else, take a moment to put everything on hold and just relax in your hammock for a bit.  You’re an adult and you can do what you want.

There’s nothing wrong with a little bit of rowdy to celebrate a festive holiday. However, St. Paddy’s Day falls on a Monday this year which means many of you will likely be doing all your celebrating over the weekend and all your recovering on Monday.  So, Hammock Radio is here to give you a soundtrack you can raise a drink to this weekend and continue to enjoy on the big day itself – without the musical headache.

This St. Paddy’s Mix has much more of a traditional Irish theme to it, with a combination of old Irish folk standards, instrumentals, protest songs and yes, plenty of great drinking songs as well (including such gems as “A Pub With No Beer”, “Seven Drunken Nights”, “Beer, Beer, Beer” and “Whiskey On A Sunday”).

Cheers to a great, safe and fun St. Patrick's Day weekend.

Hammock Radio #3:
St. Paddy’s Mix

(Don't have a Spotify account?  No worries, it's completely free to sign up and start listening.  If you don't have an account click here to register and within a few seconds you'll be able to listen to Hammock Radio from anywhere.)

As always please remember to click Follow on our account & playlist to follow along so you'll always get notified about future Hammock Radio releases. And if you like what we're doing please spread the word and tell your friends to follow along too.

• Follow Trek Light On Spotify
• Follow This Playlist
• Rock out with your hammock out!

The mark of being a truly great songwriter is often defined by how many other artists cover your songs.  Some will reinterpret, some will do their best to mimic the original, and many times the cover version of a song even achieves much more fame than the original ever did.

In the music world, it’s not uncommon for the original writer of a song to be completely unknown by the masses or quickly forgotten in place of whoever put the song highest into the hit radio rotation. 

Case in point: Dazed and Confused? Cover. Hey Joe? Cover. Tainted Love? Cover. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun? Cover.  Many of our favorite songs were written and sung by someone else much less famous before they became classics.

The Covers Series naturally begins with Bob Dylan, a man whose songs were being covered quite nearly from the moment he wrote them.

The reason I love covers of Dylan’s songs so much is that his voice was such an instrumental part of his music that it can sometimes take your attention away from the words themselves.  I’m in the camp of people who love Dylan’s voice and singing style, but it goes without saying that his voice is and always has been polarizing.  So to make this collection I purposefully chose singers and styles vastly different from the man himself  - it’s through these covers by female vocalists, soul singers, as bluegrass tunes, jazz interpretations, and raging rock n’ roll that the genius of his songwriting has been able to transcend genres and connect with so many.

While working on this playlist I ended up with so many songs, so many truly great covers, that it quickly approached a 4 hour playlist without repeating a single song title from Dylan’s catalog.  So, I split the collection in half and today I’m releasing Part 1 -  stay tuned for the second half down the road!

Hammock Radio - Covers Series: Dylan (Part 1)

Hop in your hammock, kick back and enjoy the music - and don’t forget to follow us on Spotify to make sure you’re the first to know about future Hammock Radio releases!

Which cover is your favorite?  What original Bob Dylan song is your favorite?  Let us know below!

1. Follow Trek Light on Spotify
2. Follow This Playlist
3. Get Your Dylan On!