I’ve had my Mt Peaks for about a year now so I think I can give a fair review of them.

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get the XT GTX version which I think would have been better simply because of the different leather used.

My Mt Peaks were comfortable even brand new not that it took all that long to break them in anyway, when I tried them on in the store I had a rather large blister at the time and I could not feel it at all. The leather is well waterproofed and dries surprisingly quickly, although I haven’t used them in too much wet weather the gusseted tongue does and excellent job of keeping the water out while the lining also does a good job of keeping your sweaty feet dry. They give excellent support tight or loosely worn and have already saved my weak ankles countless times. They are built tough and even on the hardest terrain I’ve put them to test on (large collapsed dolerite columns), they came out of the bashing they received with hardly a scratch. I have never had a blister using these boots. So it has been all good news so far.

My one complaint is cushioning in the sole to me it appears to be non-existent and the sole is very hard which means after 3-4 hours walking I do get quite sore on the soles of my feet especially my “Big Toe”, even after taking the sole inserts out of my very comfortable Keen Taos and putting them in on top of the original soles it is still not a huge improvement. I haven’t heard anyone else complain of this so it might just be me the newer version of the boots may have improved it too, I’m sure once I find a good insert these boots will be perfect.
Recommended? Yes, but go for the XT GTX version, every time I see them in the shop I had wish they had been available and I know regret not trying out a similar boot by Garmont, their Dakota which looks just as good to me, probably better because it is not quite as bulky.

P.S - If the pictures don’t look they are in the right place, sorry. I’m having terrible trouble with them and I’m beginning to think it is a theme related problem, the uselessness of the wordpress Visual editor doesn’t make it any easier. If it try to center or right align and images lately they are all still on the left when I Publish/Preview. Something to work on. This one doesn’t seem to bad on the site but in feed readers, who knows.

I’ve been a member of a gym for over a year now and to say the least my attendance has been dismal. A couple of weeks ago I started taking my dog for a run at a nearby trail and I found it much easier to motivate myself to do that but I still had the odd day where I just couldn’t be bothered.

Last week I was looking through Yahoo Widgets and came across a Nike+ widget that sparked my interest. I had heard of the Nike+ thing a while ago but I wasn’t interested back then, this time I checked around a bit. If you haven’t seen the Nike+ site check it out, there are a number of movies and other bits that explain what this neat little piece of tech does.

I had been looking for an MP3 player for a while to take with me exercising and when I start travelling next year. The Nike+ system requires an iPod Nano, I’ve long been anti-iPod but now I can see that it was through ignorance. Looking at the specs the Nano doesn’t quite measure up to others I was considering and if I purely wanted an MP3 player I would still go for something different, but that is not to say I’m not happy with the Nano, I am. In the end though it was the Nike+ system that made me take a chance and buy the iPod it needed.

No need to review the iPod as they have been around for a long time now and there are many better reviews around than what I could write here. Likewise the Nike+ has the best explanations on how the system works there so I’m just going to look at how I am using the online features to motivate me.

Above is the Home screen you see when you log into Nike+, it shows my last run and my pace throughout that run, there are markers along the graph that represent Ks/Miles, Powersong played and when you pressed the center button for your stats. This graph is pretty useful for seeing how much of your run you are putting in effort or are even actually running. You can also compare the run you are looking at to your best run.

You can view runs in a bar graph individually, by week, month or route which helps you see longer term improvements in time or distance. You can also select individual runs to show the graph we looked at first for past runs.

Seeing improvements over time is one thing but making them happen is another, this is where setting Goals is useful. You can set goals for how much you want to run, how far, how fast and how many calories. When viewing your progress towards a goal it also shows you a marker that you should be at to be on track to reach your target.

On the community side there are Challenges which are pretty much the same as goals except you compete against others to win. This is another great way to motivate yourself and even better if you know personally the people you are competing with. You can create your own challenges or choose them from the gallery, you can also participate as an individual or team.

Nike+ also gives something little in the way or rewards other than improved health and fitness, when you reach milestones for distances such as 100km, 500km and so on. You can print out certificates and they are also displayed in your My Records section which stores your stats for your furthest run, fastest mile and more. It also displays the Goals you have met and medals for any Challenges you win. Mine is still empty at the moment so there isn’t much point showing it off.

One last feature that is really cool is Map It, where you can map your run routes and view the routes of other runners. It will be super cool if next year I can map runs while I am overseas.

Another thing worth a mention is the accuracy, I’ve read a number of reviews criticising the Nike+ kit for it’s inaccuracy. I have no doubt that they were being honest but just so you don’t only hear bad things regarding accuracy, mine was very accurate right out of the box, I still haven’t calibrated it because there is no urgent need to. If you use the Nike+ and find it inaccurate, calibrate, multiple times at different paces and distances if needed and if that doesn’t work get it replaced under warranty.Read more on accuracy at Podophile.

Maybe parents could use this to get their kids off the computer or away from the TV, Cabel has an interesting and humorous article on how he thinks Nike+ is the online Multiplayer Game of the Year. I think Nike+definitely has that potential. At least it seems to be working for me.

A few days ago (my birthday) I got home from work and found A Map For Saturday had arrived I was very happy (very fast shipping) and launched it right into the DVD player.

Brook Silva-Braga decided to leave his job and travel around the world for 11 months, with him he took 30lbs of video equipment to shoot his experiences and discover more about the people who take the time for long term travel. The result is a solid and original documentary. It gives an insight that might help prepare future world travelers and impart a little understanding for protective parents or those who just don’t get it.

For a one man show (except for the odd hand from fellow travelers) you could be forgiven for thinking that Brook didn’t do this alone and the fact that he did is a feat in itself. Contrary to the cliches he has also shown that the travelers he meets at least are more intelligent than most give them credit for. The film has a bit of Morgan Spurlock feel about it but I can’t quite put my finger on why, but as a fan of 30 Days I can say that it is definitely not a bad thing.

Although the story follows Brook through 4 Continents it focuses mostly on the travelers and the experience rather than the sights. It destroys romantic ideas of travel and at the same time reinforces them, for the anti-backpacker it may even convince them to soak up a little of one of the biggest travel cultures out there while they are soaking up the local culture as well. A Map For Saturday isn’t black and white in exploring it’s niche, it’s not even all shades of gray, it’s a rainbow, just like the real world and just like it should be.

A Map For Saturday also comes with some of the standard extras, deleted scenes and audio commentary and these especially the commentary are really worth watching, reflections from Brook and the travelers he met on the road about their trip change quite a bit from how they spoke while they were still traveling. Seeing a person change in front of you as a result of their travel experience is maybe a little scary but seeing the change is where the emotional connection is made and you will find it hard as a result to not be inspired to travel.

Vagabonding isn’t your regular travel book it’s not a guidebook, it’s not a travelogue and it’s not a ‘how to’ in the traditional sense. The overwhelming message Potts gives us is simply ‘don’t force it’, You see Vagabonding is a very philosophical book and the philosophy is how to travel well without preconceived ideas of what ‘well’ is it’s about travelling with a mindset that allows this to happen. But that’s not all there is to it, Potts also provides some useful practical information about things like working on the road and volunteering, however it’s not the usual advice you get from more specific guide books this book is tailored to everyone. Potts discusses topics in such a way that it can apply to almost everyone so that you can take from it what is best for you, it does not recommend how, where’s or when’s but guides you on how to decide for yourself and makes you feel much more at ease in doing so yourself and taking on things as they come.

Vagabonding does have a few annoying traits, at times when making a point Potts rambles quite a bit, you may also like I get tired of the use of the word “vagabonding”, I’ve read some other reviews that didn’t like the number of quotes throughout the book but I personally enjoyed them. The great thing about Vagabonding is its open minded approach, it’s not at all pretentious about the style of travel, it actually advocates making travel personal and reflecting on certain truths that in other travel cultures can be negatives depending on how you look at it. I found that the philosophy Potts describes is parallel at times with Buddhist philosophies like ‘the middle way’ and others.

I have to say that Vagabonding is essential reading for all, I think that anyone can take something away from it traveller or not. The internet resources alone would be justification enough for some to buy this book but even that valuable part is just a shadow of what this book has to offer, this is one I’ll be re-reading later.

[tags]Review, Book, Travel, Vagabonding[/tags]