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Pipe down the sun: Port Albert, Ontario
If you blink you could very well miss Port Albert. You’ll find this tiny speck on the map on the shores of Lake Huron in Southwestern Ontario. Home to such famous landmarks as the Port Albert General Store, the Inn at the Port and a fish ladder at the “old bridge,” you won’t find much…
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Perform a random act of kindness
It’s often the little things that have the biggest impact on our days. Whether it’s that stranger holding the door for you, your friend sending you flowers “just because,” or your fellow commuter waving you in when you’re trying to change lanes, little acts of kindness are just plain awesome.
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Sleep in a cave: Cappadocia, Turkey
I’ve slept in a lot of different places in my day. Couches, tents, floors, laundry rooms. At the foot of a volcano, in a village on stilts, on a beach, on a mountain, in a farmer’s field. Train stations, bus stations, airports. But I’ve never slept in a cave. And after seeing photos like this…
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Get your boots dirty: Volunteer overseas
Travel is awesome. Travel that helps other people is even better. Volunteer travel, or “Voluntourism“, is a great way to learn about another part of the world, learn more about yourself and the discover firsthand the joys of lending a hand. I recently wrote an article for BootsnAll magazine about a volunteer experience I had…
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Go tubing through the Elora Gorge, Ontario
Tubing through rapids at the Elora Gorge is awesome. Located within the Elora Gorge Conservation Area, about a half hour drive from Waterloo or Guelph, Ontario (an hour or so from Toronto), this activity offers visitors a chance to travel down the Grand River in a very cool way.
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Put your old milk bags to good use: Weaving mats for families in developing countries
“One person’s trash is another’s treasure.” Weaving old milk bags into sleeping mats for people living in poverty may be one of the coolest examples of this. For several years now, my Step-Mom and Dad have been turning bags of milk into Bags of Awesome.
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Play Extreme Croquet
Croquet: The Gentleman’s Game? Not where I come from. Growing up, my brothers and sisters used to play this backyard game in very un-gentlemanly ways. We’d send our opponents’ balls flying into the bush, down our long driveway and into the little creek that ran next to our house. Out-of-bounds was for babies, and sending…
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Go “Glamping”: Long Point Eco-Adventures, Ontario, Canada
Luxury camping, zip-lining, star-gazing, mountain-biking, hiking and more make Long Point Eco-Adventures a Mecca for outdoor awesomeness.
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Have a pillow fight for a good cause
This week’s Buddha Belly Badge of Awesome goes to Jon Webster and his youth group in Streetsville, Ontario. Though perhaps not as violent as the KO Cancer event I told you about last week, as the video below shows, this kick-ass pillow fight from a few years ago still packs a great punch.
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Play Desert Island Dream Team
Who would you want with you if you were stranded on a desert island? How useless would you or your friends be in a post-apocalyptic world? Desert Island Dream Team is a great game that aims to answer these questions. Here’s how it works: Some qualities you might want to look for when building your…
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Shoot a friend: Flag Raiders Paintball, Kitchener, Ontario
Games like “Call of Duty” let you shoot your friends in a video game setting. Sure, it’s fun. But shooting your friends in real life with paintballs, and getting to hear them cry out in pain, is better. Way better. Welcome to Flag Raiders Paintball, soldier.
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Knock out cancer: Canmore Fight Club’s KO Cancer event
Mom always told me that violence doesn’t solve anything. The Canmore Fight Club in Alberta, however, may beg to differ. For the past 3 years, Canmore Fight Club owner and Alberta Golden Gloves Champion (and this blogger’s baby brother), Nick Martin, has been hosting a Rumble in the Rockies as a fundraiser to fight cancer.…
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Visit the museum of broken relationships: Zagreb, Croatia
Ah, love. The heady surge of endorphins. The joy. The companionship. The matching tattoos. The disgustingly sweet pet names that make your friends want to punch you in the throat. But of course, love and break-ups go hand-in-hand. The pain. The binge eating. The binge drinking. The sweatpants. The Sarah McLaughlin purchases on iTunes. The…
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Raise money using poop: Cow Patty Bingo
I grew up in rural Southwestern Ontario. So I’m no stranger to cow poop. But in all my years of smelling it, stepping in it and hurling it at my cousins, it never once crossed my mind to use it to raise money for charity.
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Do a jungle tour, drink some jungle beer: Banos, Ecuador
Is it a problem that so many of my memorable travel experiences involve alcohol? I’ve already told you about the gin I shared with a chief in Africa, and the shot of whiskey I had in the Yukon that contained a human toe. For this week’s Blue Marble Badge, we head to the jungles of…
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SLAM your message home: Spoken word events
This week’s Buddha Belly Badge goes to Heather Smyth for sharing this video of the awesome piece she recited at a recent SLAM competition.
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Catch and eat your own shrimp dinner: Chiayi, Taiwan
It may not be as hardcore as hiring a ship in the Louisiana bayou to catch your own dinner. But still, the shrimp pool restaurants in Taiwan are pretty awesome. I can’t remember the name of the one I went to, (and likely couldn’t spell it if I did remember) but you’ll find these unique…
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Support kids’ crazy ideas: Caine’s Arcade
I’m not quite sure where the cockles of my heart are located. But, after watching this video of Caine’s Arcade, I know they’re pretty damn toasty right about now. You may have already seen this bouncing around the ol’ social media channels. If you haven’t, you need to.
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Build a Piano Staircase: Creative behaviour change
“…something as simple as fun is the easiest way to change people’s behaviour for the better. Be it for yourself, for the environment, or for something entirely different, the only thing that matters is that it’s change for the better.” – TheFunTheory.com Ever have your folks tell you they used to walk 40 miles to…
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Go for a Canyon Swing: New Zealand
My Dad built a kick-ass swing set in our backyard when we were kids. It was pretty awesome. Awesome as it was, however, it still pales in comparison to this week’s Blue Marble Badge recipient: the Shotover Canyon Swing in New Zealand.
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Ride a 400-metre Jungle Waterslide: Costa Rica
Waterslides aren’t always awesome. Take for instance the “waterslides” I used to play on as a kid: a length of cheap plastic stretched across our gently sloping lawn and a garden hose.
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Build a Human Foosball game
In recent years, the “dude-that’s-awesome” factor at my extended family’s Thanksgiving get-togethers has increased 10-fold. Why? Two words: human foosball. You may have seen this attraction at a corporate event or summer festival. But as my Aunt Jackie and Uncle Art demonstrated, there’s nothing stopping you from bringing it to your own backyard. What you’ll…
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Share your message with sidewalk chalk
What’s cheap, dusty and awesome all over? If you think sidewalk chalk is only good for hopscotch, tic tac toe or draw boobies on Old Man McCallum’s driveway with your grade school chum, think again.
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Sip Gin at the Stilted Village: Nzulezo, Ghana
I’ve woken up in my fair share of strange places after a night of drinking. But looking out my window at 6 am and seeing this has got to be one of the strangest. And, incidentally, one of the most awesome.
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Put on a Flash Mob
Flash mobs have become wildly popular in recent years. And for good reason. They’re fun, unexpected and can be an effective way to grab people’s attention. As such, a kick-ass flash mob can be a great way to raise awareness about your charitable cause or event. I got to participate in a flash mob in…