The last time I felt optimistic about a new year I was dealt the single worst year of my life. So since then, allowing myself to feel anything but apprehension or caution when it comes to the new year has become an unintentional norm that I have cocooned myself in. Because of this, I was caught off guard when, for the first time in years I counted down the seconds to the new year and can honestly say I felt, dare I say, some excitement and hope for what the new year has to bring. That being said, whether you are stepping into the new year filled with optimism or find yourself apprehensively a ..read more

Let’s face it, when it comes to outdoor clothing brands, the options are infinite with everything from budget-focused brands to sustainable and high-end backcountry specialists. After years of experience, and testing a wide range of hiking, camping and general outdoor apparel, I’ve found a handful of brands that I tend to gravitate toward. For those looking to save some time from scouring to all ends of the outdoor gear aisles, here are six of my favorite outdoor brands and their specific apparel items that you may want to give a try. Khul ,Kuhl is one of the few privately owned and independen ..read more

While Nevada has a number of state parks, when it comes to camping, we have limited options near us. With the logistics of planning a camping trip taken into consideration, the one detail that makes camping at Nevada State Parks a gamble (no pun intended) is the fact that most of the campgrounds are first come first serve. Add to the equation that most of these first come first serve campgrounds are hours away from home, and you can see why these camping trips become a little bit more complex to plan. Since our initial Eastern Nevada camping trip (with reservations) had been canceled earlier t ..read more

Today marks the last day of 90-degree weather in Las Vegas --- at least that’s what is forecasted, and I couldn’t be any more excited. Those fall temperatures and vibes are finally here! One of the many things I hear from people all the time is in reference to the fact that I am a nature lover who lives in the city. Am I out of my element? How does not living where there's landscape not drive me crazy? The truth is, if Las Vegas was, in fact, only the Las Vegas city limits I probably would go mad. The great thing though, is the number of escapes and natural options that surround it, and when i ..read more

When it comes to my birthday, each year brings the usual birthday planning cycle; get immensely excited about some sort of nature outing, research the logistics for timing and location, and then reconsider everything once I discover that the daytime temperatures are still 100+ degrees. Which brings me to this year’s plans; an overnight trip to the Grand Canyon the weekend before to celebrate. The benefit of my birthday is that a three-day weekend is always nearby, and due to the opportunity for an extra day off, we booked the trip a few months out, as we typically do. Like many of our trips th ..read more

Campervans, small RV options, roof top tents, trailers, we’ve spent the past year or so researching them all. Then, thanks to pandemic, we spent a few more months persuasively narrowing down our favorites by looking into pricing premiums and, with an interest in camping suddenly surging amongst pandemic closures, availabilities. After discussing our camping desires, storage space, setup requirements and adventure options, we finally settled on our next camping upgrade setup; an iKamper Skycamp Mini. Not only did this option come in at a perfect price point, it utilizes our TRD Off Road Taco (T ..read more

Saturday marked another relatively early weekend morning, not for brunch or a lazy morning, but for another road trip and venture to Death Valley National Park for an overnight camping trip and plenty of exploring. For the weekend, we had two main objectives for sightseeing and hiking undertakings; Ubehebe Crater and Mosaic Canyon. Starting our trip, we took just short of a four-hour drive, checked in with the rangers for our park pass and headed to our first location of Ubehebe Crater. Removed from the majority of the park the long drive out to the crater was scenic and removed from any prese ..read more

In June 2019, I was assigned to compose the most difficult piece I’ve ever been requested to write – my dad’s obituary. While I managed to put together a nice tribute to his life, there is only so much you can properly portray in 20 short lines of text. And so, here is the written tribute that my dad deserves. Born March 31, 1948 in Brooklyn, New York, Robert Michael Villoria, age 71, died June 13, 2019 in his home in Las Vegas after battling cancer for the second time. A hopeless romantic and an uncontrollably, blind optimist. He’d regularly joke that even the slightest heartfelt commercial ..read more

With the continued cases and risk of COVID-19, it’s safe to say that this year’s vacation plans were nixed. But I was more than excited to have the opportunity to head to the local mountains to pitch a tent and camp out under the stars for a couple nights and escape the city, the accompanying heat and be well distanced from people. Needless to say, this was a much-needed reprieve after the past year of events and happenings. Because of the pandemic, we took a few extra precautions on our camping trip this summer including the additional packing of facemasks and hand sanitizer in case any human ..read more

I can’t help but reflect on the progression that our camping adventures have taken over the years. From our initial camping trip in a small tent, sleeping on the ground in borrowed sleeping bags and cooking all our meals over a campfire in 40-degree weather; to a larger tent with room to stand and fit the added comfort of an air mattress, and enjoy the ease of a cooking on a portable camp stove; to the arrangements we have now. It has been a little over one year since we upgraded our camping accommodations and after months of camping retreats and weekend getaways, as we head into a new season ..read more