Author: Pauline Alba

Review by Pauline Alba.

It all began with one fly, then another joined the party, and before we knew it, we had a full-blown insect invasion during our camping trip. I had invited some friends to enjoy the great outdoors in the warm, dry weather, but the flies seemed to think it was an all-you-can-bug buffet. It was sweltering, and we didn’t want to bundle up in extra layers, but those little feet tap-dancing all over us were driving us nuts.

That’s when I remembered I had brought read more

Pauline Alba tries out and reports on the Kamui Sleeping Pad.

Sleeping anywhere other than your bed you struggle to get a good night’s rest.  It can even be more difficult when camping when you need to transport and provide your own sleeping mats.  Finding a product that works for you, transports well, and is easy to use can make the process easier. This review will focus on the self-inflating sleeping pads from Kamui.

Kamui

This company was formed by Yumi Ohkura an outdoor enthusiast read more

By Pauline Alba.

Christmas in July is how I felt when I received my newest item to review.  When the temperature is in the high 80s and the air conditioning was running non-stop, I received the Women’s Heated Vest 7.4V from Venustas.

Christmas for me is snow, wind, and freezing temperatures, and when that vest came, I was ready to skip the rest of summer and go straight to winter.   I sat in my air conditioning feeling the heat on my neck, shoulders, and abdomen.  Now that Minnesota has finally read more

Pauline Alba checks out this nifty waterproof nylon pack

We all have our ways and habits and when we are encouraged to try something new, we may not always be all in when we try it. I had to admit I had some of this resistance when I was sent the Wautton Best Hiking Fanny pack. I had just purchased a lighter backpack for our day hiking trips.  Even though I really liked my backpack, I was carrying a big pack of very little stuff.

Since we hike with dogs, we are carrying extra water, snacks, bug read more

Pauline Alba puts the Sansbug Pop Up Tent to the test

I had the joy of growing up with a camping family.  So many memories of sleeping in the tent and spending all day outside.  This was something that my husband and I made sure that our kids enjoyed as well.

One thing I don’t remember when I was younger was the bugs.  As my kids grew, so did the size of the lumps from mosquito bites. Every night as we sit by the campfire, the mosquitoes start to change the ratio of humans to flying minibeasts. read more

By Pauline Alba

Everything in moderation. Unless it is coffee, then I tend to get excessive. My favorite part of the camping trip is waking before everybody else, making my coffee, maybe a fire, and watching everything wake up. Since I am an earlier riser everybody else gets reheated coffee. We have tried some other products, but nothing is like camp coffee in a percolator, until I received Wildland Coffee.

The Coffee

Wildland Coffee is coffee on the go. The coffee comes in cute little packets and inside read more

Reviewer Pauline Alba tries out the Tesalate Sand Free Beach Towel

Background

Water seems to be the area that I find myself most content. It does not matter if I am sitting next to a still lake, flowing river, or rolling ocean. I love it all. It is possibly why I spent 20 years of my life teaching water safety and helping people to learn to swim. I have spent a lot of time being wet.

Even though I have spent most of my past career in the water, when I plan vacations, I am always trying to find water that I can enjoy. In the summer I love getting in my kayak and finding a read more