4 Unique Valentine's Day Adventure Date Ideas

It’s that beautiful time of year again where sunny days and crisp spring air are inviting us outside. Here in Austin the wild flowers are blooming, and the creeks are filling with fresh rain—hopefully enough to keep the limestone falls sustained through the summer. Christian, our teammate up in Denver, just marked the coming of spring by waxing his skis and putting them away, trading them in for a pair of hiking boots he’ll be tackling some fourteeners with on the weekends. We hope you’re taking note of similar changes wherever you are, maybe the snow melting in the mountains, clearing the way for your next summit or filling the rivers for your next white water trip. Whatever the case, it’s time to start making those campsite reservations and packing up for the next adventure. Photo by @MoonMountainMan. Swiftlet & Roo Single No car camping site is complete without a comfortable place for an afternoon siesta, and we all know that means bringing a hammock along. If you’re going to a beach or desert campsite, the Swiftlet is the perfect solution for a treeless hang. Even in a pine forest, finding the two perfect trees for your hammock isn’t always easy. A Swiftlet combined with a Roo Single gives you the versatility you need to hang anywhere. Use the short bar for chair mode at the picnic table, and then switch to the long bar for lounge mode and a post-lunch nap. At night, you’ll be able to hang by the campfire or lay back and star gaze if the conditions are right. Shop our Memorial Day Sale for 20% off Roo Singles! Mantis One of the most convenient shelters you’ll ever pack is the Mantis all-in-one hammock. Ditch the bulky ground tent and opt for the minimalist camping approach. The Mantis is perfect for spring with a breathable body that allows you to enjoy the breeze while also sporting a built-in bug net to keep out pesky insects. If rain or high wind is in the forecast, the rain fly will make sure you stay out of the elements. Clear skies ahead? Keep the fly in the stuff sack, take in the view, and fall asleep under the stars. The Mantis’ ease of setup and all-in-one design make it the perfect choice for new hammock campers and experts alike. Now through May 31, get a free Ridgeline Organizer when you purchase a Mantis—the perfect place to stow your water bottle, headlamp, and other essentials you want easy access to. Firebelly 30 Trail Quilt This may be the most fought-over item at your campsite. The Firebelly is made with buttery-soft fabric that is just as durable as it is snuggly. Poncho mode makes it perfect for wearing around camp, and just like the name suggests, you’ll stay warm with or without a blazing campfire.The Firebelly is also adaptable to any condition: Use it as a top quilt in warmer conditions or as a minimalist sleeping bag on those especially chilly nights. If you’re hammock camping, the Firebelly 30 can be used as an underquilt as well, ensuring a warm night no matter what. This trail quilt might exchange hands quite a few times at camp, but if your name’s on the tag, you’re the one that gets to take it into your tent at night—lucky you.  Insulated Pongo Pad and Puffin Pillow Camping has a bad reputation for leading to rather uncomfortable sleeping. From day one here at Kammok, we’ve been designing products with the aim of changing this misconception, and our Insulated Pongo Pad and Puffin Pillow are no exception. No matter your preferred shelter, the comfort that this dynamic duo provides is unparalleled. The Pongo offers three-season support, with insulation for those colder nights and warm weather comfort as well. Add the Puffin to your kit, and you have a velvety-soft pillow that you can inflate to your liking. And you won’t believe what these two will do for your hammock game. Both the Insulated Pongo Pad and the Puffin Pillow fully integrate with our hammocks for a bed like no other. The comfort level is so high that you may prefer it to your plush pillow-top mattress at home. During our Memorial Day Sale, get 25% off our Spring Camp Kit that includes the Pongo, Puffin, and a Firebelly 30 for the ultimate sleep combo. A Frisbee and a Deck of Cards Camping lends itself to lots of down time—slow afternoons spent enjoying nature with your friends. That's why we love it! A frisbee is easy to pack and makes for a fun activity that everyone can be a part of. A Kammok fan reached out to say they always bring a frisbee to camp and pointed out that they can never go flat (major bonus points, especially where there's an abundance of cacti). We love having a frisbee on long road trips when all you want is to stretch your legs and get a break from driving. Similarly, a deck if cards is lightweight and takes up minimal space, but the payoff is huge. We love Uno, but a standard deck is great for all sorts of games. Personal favorites of ours are Spades, Euchre, and Tiến lên, or Vietnamese cards. Cards are great for rainy nights in the tent or around the table after dinner, and if you always have a deck in your pocket, you're always ready for a game. Hopefully all this talk of camping has gotten you jazzed for the next adventure. Now seriously: Head over to your favorite park’s reservation site and plan your trip.

Early in 2020, the quarantine blues laid heavy on our hearts and across the community. Our favorite parks closed, adventure travels were taken off the map, and spending time outside was put on indefinite hold. It’s no surprise if you picked up bread baking as your new hobby or turned your home into a lush nursery for house plants. Our conversations in the office kitchen moved to video calls where we expressed our woes and reflected what it meant to spend time outside in a world where you had to stay home. Going out was not an option, but there was nothing stopping us from bringing camp to our homes. The thought of pitching a tent in the living room, streaming a campfire video, and playing ambient critter noises seemed downright ridiculous in all the right ways we needed. And so we simply declared March 27th as National Camp at Home Day.  We rallied our community of Outsiders and our fellow outdoor brands to challenge themselves, to get creative, and join us for a global camp-in. From living room pillow forts to backyard basecamps, we called on the community to bring the magic of camp to our homes.The story is short, but the impact was huge. On March 27, 2020, over 2,600 campers and campsites joined us for the first-ever National Camp At Home Day.   #NationalCampAtHomeDay Join the community on March 27, 2022 for National Camp at Home Day. Get ready to break out the headlamps, sleeping bags, tents, and camp stoves. We’re calling on everyone to bring the magic of camp to your living room or backyard.  How to Participate Lead a camp. Rally the crew to participate at camp! Invite your friends and family, and settle in for ghost stories around the campfire or an adventure-themed movie night. Share your adventures. We want to see how you camp at home. Share your campsite photos with us by using #NationalCampAtHomeDay in your caption and tagging @kammok. Learn from the community. Join our Time Outside Facebook Group and get inspired by fellow campers across the world.   Learn more about this year's National Camp at Home Day, including our huge sale and giveaway, here.

Our outdoor community is built upon adventure seekers. While sometimes this means spending time in harsh weather and challenging ourselves physically, other times it means having difficult conversations and changing our perspective. In this three-part series on The Outpost, we will share the stories of individuals redefining what it means to be outside. Written by Luisa Vargas.   As a first-generation immigrant from Colombia, I was lucky enough to have parents who taught me the value of spending time in nature. However, the first time a friend called me “outdoorsy” I thought it couldn’t be true. I didn’t look like anyone who shopped at REI. Growing up, I was an artistic kid, not an athletic one. I’m afraid of heights and I’m brown. Little did I know I was fed the same story as most people: That to identify as outdoorsy, you have to spend time outside doing physically draining activities like multi-day hiking trips, climbing up giant rocks or kayaking through rough waters. And that you’re white. It took years to finally consider myself an outdoor enthusiast. Looking back, I realize I was just as outdoorsy then as I am now, but I kept wondering why it took me so long to realize this.  To explore that question, I talked with three incredible adventurers who defy the mainstream standards of being outdoorsy. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing their stories. The first story is from Rocío, a trail runner, social justice advocate, mentor and native Austinite. Although we barely scratch the surface, these are thirst-quenching conversations that reexamine how we ask questions about diversity in outdoor spaces. They share their journey of transformation in the outdoors and talk about how we can cultivate inclusive spaces that honor history and tradition. Rocío Villalobos at Caprock Canyon State Park When I first talked with Rocío Villalobos over Zoom, I instantly felt calming energy. As an avid trail runner, she spends a copious amount of time outside, but her true gift is blending her outdoor experiences with a commitment to social justice. She currently works in the city of Austin’s Equity Office as an Immigrant Affairs Coordinator and has experience working with various environmental and social justice organizations including PODER (People Organizing in Defense of the Earth and Her Resources).  Rocío shares that her great grandparents were indigenous people from tribes in what we now call Mexico. Reconnecting with the land and her ancestors is one of the many reasons she finds spending time outside so impactful. “My grandparents learned it was worth assimilating into this broader Mexican identity rather than holding onto their customs. For me, a part of going outside is reconnecting with the land and my ancestors,” Rocío says. As we explore the reasons why she values spending time outside, she describes how simply having the time to be in nature is a privilege. Growing up, Rocío wasn’t outside much.  Her parents worked long hours and were worried about allowing their kids to wander alone. It wasn’t until she was an adult and faced depression that she turned to running as one of her remedies.  “It made me feel confident and shifted some of the internal talk that I know was really negative,” Rocío says.  Rocío participating in a trail race  As Rocío continued finding joy in outdoor spaces while doing social justice work, the two began merging. She worked in various environmental organizations and began mentoring girls with Explore Austin where she finds an opportunity to connect with young women who are developing their own connection to the land.  Mentorship is a big part of Rocío's life. She’s continually sharing resources and adventure gear with people who want to spend more time outside, particularly women of color.  When I asked Rocío why we don’t see more women of color in traditional outdoor spaces despite the growing interest, her answer was transformative.  Rocío suggests that instead of asking why we don’t see certain groups outside, we should be asking if communities are already spending time outdoors in ways that don’t fit the mainstream idea of what we think as outdoor time. Spending time outside could be something as simple as preparing your soil for a garden or hanging in a hammock listening to the birds.  She describes the popular vision of the outdoors as, “Feeling like an almost hypermasculine idea,” where you have to do something physically draining.  According to Rocío, there is value in trying new, challenging things, but this doesn’t have to be the only way we enjoy the outdoors. The goal should be connecting to the land, and that’s going to look different for everyone. As we begin addressing inclusivity in these spaces, it’s important to remember we’re not here to force change upon people. Rocío says the bigger questions are, “What do our institutions look like? What have they done to create barriers or opportunities to get to spend time in certain places?” Addressing institutional change is an important part of racial equity work everywhere, not just in outdoor spaces. Many times institutions are out of touch with what is happening in their own communities and that becomes another layer of the problem.  She explains that social inequities are hundreds of years old and are going to take just as long to undo. “Find a balance of being grounded in reality but still holding onto that hope of transformation,” Rocío says. I believe Rocío excels at racial equity work and ultramarathons because both require preparation and endurance for a long and difficult path while still believing transformation is possible.  Redefining what it means to identify as an outdoorsy person will open doors for people to benefit from the transformative power of being outside, despite the restrictions placed by mainstream ideas.  Next time you catch yourself wishing you had more time to spend outside, remember that your backyard and your hammock are waiting. Here you can explore some ideas on spending more time outdoors. “How is this helping me develop a deeper relationship with the land? That’s what our goal should be.” -Rocío Villalobos Organizations Rocío has worked with: Austin Racial Equity Office PODER The University of Texas Multicultural Engagement Center Explore Austin Other organizations and companies supporting diversity in the outdoors: Black Outside Native Women’s Wilderness Tawa Threads  Latinos Outdoors

A recent survey found that more than half of adults spend five hours or less in nature each week. Competing priorities and access to the outdoors were the leading reasons to explain this decline in outdoor experiences. We get it. Spending time outside is low on most people’s to-do list, especially in our digital age.  In line with our mission to elevate time outside, we want to offer the Kammok community different ways to enjoy and experience time outside. We took a look at seven daily activities our team takes part in, no matter how crazy the week, and asked how we might move those from indoor to outdoor. Take your calls on a walk-and-talk basis Having to listen in on calls for work? Head to the nearest green space for a walk and talk. It’s an easy way to get moving and spend time outside during the work week. Bonus: take your lunch break outside, too.  Commute to work by foot, bike or bus Walking to work or even walking to the bus station drastically reduces your carbon footprint, and allows you to spend more time outside. Try one of these options for your commute at least once a week, if you can. Move wind-down activities - reading, yoga, meditating - outside Nature provides the best environment for restorative experiences, allowing you to de-stress even if only for a few minutes each day. Ditch the gym, head for the greenbelt Free and open to everyone, greenbelts and walking trails can provide an alternative to running and working out in the gym. Try a picnic for date night For next week’s date night, switch it up with a charcuterie board and a bottle of wine at a local park or vista. Spending time outside, among other benefits, has shown to improve prosocial behaviors and connectivity among people. Swap a tv series with a podcast, and listen in your hammock We might be biased, but Dirtbag Diaries is our favorite podcast this year. Hang your hammock, close your eyes, and listen uninterrupted.  Turn weekend getaways into escapes outdoors Typically more affordable than hotels or airbnbs, campsites and cabins at local state and national parks are an alternate way to spend the weekend. Try HipCamp for even more options on private lands. Among the benefits to spending more time outside are better health, reduced stress, and improved relational and social skills.