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Lock and load at Splatzone! Paintball — Cambridge, Ontario
Keen to try paintballing but worried it hurts too much? Splatzone! Paintball‘s low-impact games in Cambridge, Ontario offer all the action — with half the welts.
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Discover a cool way to watch Old Faithful blow: Yellowstone National Park, USA
Jam-packed with the world’s largest collection of geysers, Yellowstone National Park literally explodes with awesomeness. No visit to the park is complete without a visit to Old Faithful, the world-famous thermal pressure cooker that spews a roaring column of boiling hot water over 100 feet in the air every 91 minutes or so.
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Take a cooking class
The best thing I can say about my egg salad is that it rarely gives me diarrhoea. I’m not much of a cook. That said, I’m trying to get better and think learning how to cook is a great path to eating healthier and showing off to your friends.
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Play Dodgeball World Domination
My brother Dan added a comment on the Tri-Pong post, introducing me to a great variation of classic Dodgeball. Here’s Dan to explain:
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Do a Photo Scavenger Hunt
Photo scavenger hunts are a great, low-impact, low-cost alternative to the classic “find and collect” game. Whether you’re looking for a fun activity for your corporate event or just want something to do with your buddies on a Saturday afternoon, a photo scavenger hunt is a quick and easy thing to whip together.
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Donate Blood
One of the most awesome, simple and selfless ways you can help somebody is by being a blood donor. In 2008, at age 27, I was diagnosed with Chronic Mylogenous Leukemia. The doctors gave me 40-50% of surviving. Despite the odds, my doctors and I were determined to do everything in our power to beat […]
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Do a polar bear dip… for no good reason.
A lot of people do Polar Bear Dips as part of a charity event or some other noble cause. Then there are the Van Osches. These cousins of mine are a special breed of people. You may remember them from a few of my earlier posts, including the awesome Blindfold Game.
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Remember: Wartime letters from my Grandpa
Remembrance Day is November 11 – a time for us to reflect on our freedom and honour the brave men and women who served (and continue to serve) our country in both times of war and peace.
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Assemble a Book of Encouragement
A couple weeks ago I wrote about the birthday “human art show” my friends and family performed for me while I was in the hospital undergoing chemotherapy treatment. Another uplifting and awesome thing they pulled together was a “book of encouragement.”
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Host a recipe swap night
Here’s a simple idea that’s both a fun social activity as well as a way of beefing up your personal cookbook (or vegging up as the case may be). Throw a Recipe Swap party. The rules are simple.
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Build a House: Volunteer with Habitat for Humanity
I may have dropped my hammer off the roof five times, but even so, I had a great day recently volunteering on a Habitat for Humanity build. In addition to lending a hand for a great cause, it was great to just get out of the house and do something different.
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Align your gearbox: the drinking game
Backpacking can introduce you to all sorts of fascinating customs and traditions. Hostels and guest houses serve as the hippie equivalent of the United Nations – a convergence of cultures, nationalities and ideas. This exchange of ideas can revolve around politics, music, religion, philosophies, worldviews and other big discussions. It also facilitates the spread another […]
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Perform a human art show
On October 15th I celebrated my 4-year bone marrow transplant anniversary. Or, “transplantiversary”, as my friend Tina calls it. Four years! Holy crap! In many ways it seems like yesterday I was undergoing treatment for leukemia. In other ways, it seems like a lifetime ago. Either way, I have to pinch myself sometimes to remind […]
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Play Tri-Pong
Rainy days at cottages are the mothers of invention. This week’s Backyard Badge goes to Rob Shirkey for introducing me to the awesome game of Tri-Pong. A couple years ago, while visiting his cottage near Minden, Ontario, Rob taught us how to play this simple, yet exhausting version of ping pong.
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Yarnstorm the streets: Graffiti Knitting
When I think of knitting, my 86-year-old grandma comes to mind. When I think of graffiti, an angry youth who wasn’t hugged enough as a child comes to mind. When I think of combining knitting and graffiti, my mind explodes from the ensuing awesomeness.
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Go Geocaching
Ever wanted to be a pirate and search for buried treasure? Is your favourite part about Easter the egg hunt? Do you pride yourself in your ability to find lost car keys? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then geocaching just may be for you. I’ve wanted to go geocaching for years. […]
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Host a pasta dinner fundraiser for your birthday
Last week I introduced you to Nicole Smith, who completed the Susan G. Komen 3-Day walk to end breast cancer. Well apparently the apple doesn’t fall too far the tree. Because this week’s Badge of Awesome goes to her son, Keagan, who recently celebrated his 10th birthday in a very awesome way.
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Play Spoons (with vigour)
Spoons is a card game that was very popular in the Martin household growing up. I’ve played a few variations of it over the years but the general idea remains the same.
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Walk to end breast cancer: The Susan G. Komen 3-Day
Today’s post is dedicated to my friend and mentor, Myrta Rivera, who passed away of cancer earlier this week. One of the best people I’ve ever known. Cancer sucks. Fighting cancer is awesome. As a cancer survivor myself, I know all too well how important family, friends and community are to the journey. One of […]
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Build a trebuchet (and launch flaming pumpkins)
I never took physics in high school. But friends of mine did and I remember them having to build miniature catapults (and other medieval instruments of destruction) as part of their coursework. I’m all for kids getting excited about education. But what happens when your students get too excited about physics, and decide to apply […]
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Go WWOOF’ing: World Wide Opportunities On Organic Farms
A couple weeks ago I talked about my experience volunteering on a refugee camp in Ghana. Keeping up with the theme of volunteer travel, this week’s Buddha Belly Badge is all about WWOOF’ing. WWOOF stands for World Wide Opprtunities On Organic Farms. It pairs willing workers (affectionately known as WWOOFers) with organic farmers looking for […]
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Attend a local festival
A recent visit to Cowapolooza (Woodstock, Ontario’s annual cow festival) got me thinking about all the cool events happening in our own backyard. You could spend an entire year hopping from one local festival to the next. It seems every community has one, even if some of them make you scratch your head.
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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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Get Lost (I mean that in the nicest way, I swear): Random road trips
This week’s Backyard Badge of Awesome comes to us via Kendra Barrick of Ottawa, Ontario. Sometimes having no destination in mind at all leads to the best journeys. Random road trips where the only goal is to have a fun time are awesome. Here’s Kendra with her version of “Get Lost”:
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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 […]