By Vladimir Brezina
Ailsa’s travel-themed photo challenge this week is Simplify.
We are bringing all that on our kayak trip? We should simplify!
And we have. We’ve learned that Nature will provide what we need—
— an easy chair to relax in after a long paddle
— a beer cooler
— a stove to cook dinner
Nature is very helpful these days ;-)
... kayaked the waters around New York for more than 15 years in his red Feathercraft folding kayak. He was originally from (the former) Czechoslovakia and lived in the U.K. and California before settling down in New York. He was a neuroscientist at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. He died in 2016.
... is a kayaker and technology researcher at Nemertes Research. She's an erstwhile engineer, particle physicist, and science fiction writer. She was born in California and has lived in Italy, Norway, Hawaii, and a few other places. She currently resides in New York City.
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| Johna Till Johnson on The First Leg! |
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| CurlsnSkirls on The First Leg! |
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| Johna Till Johnson on Halfway There! |
| CurlsnSkirls on Halfway There! |
| Johna Till Johnson on And They’re Off! |
Wind Against Current 
Is that a dictator chair?!
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A prime exemplar!
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Although, now that I look at it again closely, some dictators might think that cup-holders might present the wrong image…
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That’s my kind of simplify!
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It works! — You simply have to have rather low expectations ;-)
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Can’t believe you get all that in your canoe.
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How on earth do you do that?
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There’s plenty of room—that’s the problem ;-)
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All that and more!
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You guys are amazing!!! And as dictator, I would have a cup and a long loopy crazy straw. And my order of my dictatorship, would dictate nothing.
Xo c!
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Some dictators are like that, but unfortunately they don’t last long. It seems dictators need to dictate…
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And sometimes the dictator’s woman doesn’t want to be dictated to! Not that Johna would ever withhold your beer :)
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Who is the dictator and who the dictatee depends on who sits in the dictator chair. And, unfortunately, we hardly ever seem to find two dictator chairs together—there is usually just the one…
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So true. . . I didn’t stop to think she might have beat you to the chair!
I so enjoy being able to laugh with both of you and how healthy your relationship is. It’s a joy to see the two of you together.
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Well, going on these long trips together has a lot to do with keeping it so :-)
Thanks, Nancy!!
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The first shot made me laugh. I hope all that stuff was for a group, a large group. :)
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No, just the two of us. But a lot of what you see in the first photo are just empty bags, spread out. After some organization the load was much more compact. And to the extent that we did bring a lot, we did need to bring everything for an self-sufficient eight-day paddle, including all food and water…
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:-D :-D Great!
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Thanks, Dina!! :-)
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Wonderful post….but how on earth did all that fit inside your kayaks? They must be like Dr Who’s tardis and break all the rules of time and space :-)
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We wish! It would be nice to speed along sometimes, even directly into the wind, without lifting a paddle… of course, that’s why motors were invented ;-)
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Guten Start in die neue Woche wünsch ich ;-)
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Thank you—to you too! :-)
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One learns to be alert for luxury goods when traveling light, and you’ve done well. Rolling Block beer no less…
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Only the best!
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looks like all you would need!…simplify was my word for last year…and it works wonders if you follow it!
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Unfortunately there’s always that one thing that you find you’ve simplified away when you most need it :-)
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You need it all!
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The easiest thing to do is to bring everything. But there’s a core group of items that you really need—the rest are nice to have but not essential. Unfortunately you only learn which items are which through bitter experience ;-)
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This was great…funny to see the huge amount of stuff in the first pic and how smart you’ve become by the last!
I take as little as possible everywhere I go..i really HATE dragging stuff around: it wrecks the whole experience!
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On the other hand, you don’t want to be in the Florida Everglades on a stormy night without shelter, food, or water—and, worst of all, no protection from the bugs :-)
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As funny as that picture is, that’s exactly why the hubby and I drive to our vacations for our photography. Between the camera gear, tripods, several types of hiking boots, different weight of coats and outer gear (especially if we’re doing mountains and valleys), and just clothes, etc., we really can’t fly.
Of course, our schedule is different than yours too, since we’re up early for sunrise and late for sunset / night shots. Afternoon is when we relax, nap, and get a nice meal.
Hope all is well! I’m enjoying the pictures as always.
Nancy
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Our trips are also a lot more relaxing when we can drive, rather than fly. We don’t have to think about whether to bring this item or that one—we can bring both! But in the end we still have to pack everything into the boats, and we know that if we bring both, at least one will get in the way. So the hard choice has merely been postponed… :-)
Thanks, Nancy!!
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Love you beer cooler :)
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That was one we were forced to build, out of locally available materials :-)
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Love this post!
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Thank you so much! :-)
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Pingback: Simply Hashing – Bhimdhunga, Kathmandu | rfljenksy – Practicing Simplicity
I’d put air quotes around “Nature” :)
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Exactly! That was the point of the post… :-)
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Even as we talk about what we shouldn’t bring kayak camping we’re always coming up with even more to replace the space with.
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Gear expands to fill the space available…
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