Category: Giveaways

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Giveaways

Countdown to Summer Instagram Gear Giveaway

I’m starting to see signs of summer plans popping up all over social media. The snow photos are decreasing and people are looking forward to sunshine and warm weather.

We are excited for our summer plans too! This year will be different for us, but so far we have a month scheduled through Glacier, Waterton, Banff, Jasper, and Yoho National Parks in July. Super stoked to get up into some of the most beautiful parts of Canada.

To get you guys pumped for summer we reached out to our favorite gear companies and put together our biggest giveaway yet! I’ve been working on this for weeks and seriously can’t wait.

Details:

Everything is going down over on Instagram this week so make sure you are following us over there to be eligible to win awesome adventure gear:

Currently Wandering on Instagram

The contest begins on March 20, 2017. We will post giveaways Monday through Friday in the morning and evenings and leave the weekends for adventuring!

Here’s How This Works:

[1]  make sure you are following us (@currentlywandering) and whichever brands are involved.

[2] We want to hear your stories! Start thinking of your favorite adventures, family moments, or plans for this summer because we’ll be asking you to comment and like the photos.

[3] You can always tag ONE friend for an additional entry.

We have so much gear to hand out that we’ll be doing 2 giveaways per day for the next week and a half. Each contest will be open for 72 hours so make sure you are checking back every day. After each contest closes we will randomly choose a winner from the comments.

Super easy! See you on Instagram this week!

This contest is in no way sponsored, endorsed, administered by, or associated with, Instagram.

Here are our awesome sponsors – make sure you check out their websites and give them a huge thank you!

Nuu-Muu
Teton Sports
Eagle Nest Outfitters
Haiku Bags
Power Practical
Woombikes
KEEN Kids
Aventura & Ecoths Clothing
Wilde Nomad
Trail Foody
Liberty Sport
Enso Rings
Deuter
Peak Design
Nite Ize
GCI Oudoor
Hydro Flask
Tiny Big Adventure
Bug Protector – all Natural Bug Repellent
Bare Snacks
Leatherman
Mamoo Kids
Darn Tough Socks
Perky Jerky
Action Wipes
Granite Gear
Post for the Parks

Categories
Giveaways Homeschool

Learning the Guitar with jamstik+ & Four Chords {Plus a Giveaway!}

There are many perks to the traveling lifestyle, but there are also a lot of activities and hobbies we have put on hold. When we were selling the house and most of our stuff, I looked longingly at the guitar I had bought 6 months previously. I had every intention of learning to play, but naturally life got in the way and I never found time to dedicate to practicing. I grew up playing the piano and love to have music in our lives which is something we’ve definitely missed!

Last summer, Sam found a company called jamstik+.  We don’t have room for a full size guitar, but the jamstik+ is small, compact, and lightweight and comes with an app to actually teach me to play. We contacted the company and they graciously sent us two jamstik+ guitars so Rachel and I could both learn how to play.  Over the last 6 months we’ve written about our experience in three different posts for their blog (Part I & Part II), but I figured it was time to post over here as well!

The Guitar

The jamstik+ connects to our devices via Bluetooth, so there are no cords between the jamstik+ and the device we are using. Its also smaller than a normal guitar, and a bit harder to hold in your lap. We’ve found using the included neck strap helps keep it in a more comfortable position.

When we’ve gone back and forth between a regular guitar and the jamstik+ over the last few months, we have noticed the difference in fret board in size. Also, friends that can already play the guitar take a minute to get used to the smaller fret board and fingerings! Overall we’ve had success transitioning between the two and Rachel has already asked for a “real” guitar once we settle down somewhere.

Where to Buy: On Amazon or use code “CurrentlyWandering on jamstik.com for 15% off your order (more color choices here!)

The Lessons

JamTutor is their lesson app. Its easy to get set up and the lessons progress fairly naturally. The lessons include picking single notes, strumming, chords and introduce “Arcade Mode” which is a fun way to play with background music. Kind of like “Dance Dance Revolution” video games where you have to step on the correct arrows as they scroll down the screen. Arcade Mode is Rachel’s favorite and she spent close to an hour one day just going through the different challenges.

My favorite part about the jamTutor app is that we can start and stop as needed. I realize that for some that may be de-motivational, but for me it’s a perk. Sometimes life gets crazy busy and there is little time to practice. Not having the guilt of paying for lessons is such a blessing! Granted, it can be hard to get started again, but we’ve found that repeating a few lessons or arcade challenges brings us up to speed very quickly.

In a small space, it is also nice to have a guitar with headphones! Rachel can play right next to Sam while he’s working and both are able to accomplish their tasks. Occasionally I’ll have her practice without headphones just so I can hear her progress, but mostly she will have them in.

Learning Songs

Rachel has far surpassed me in skill as she is assigned practice for school and I get, well, lazy. Distracted? Otherwise engaged? She’s been fairly diligent and has learned to love and look forward to playing. I’m so proud of her.  I love listening to her sing and even our other two kids will sing along with whatever song she’s playing.

She now practices songs mostly using the FourChords app. From their website: “FourChords Guitar Karaoke is the fastest way to learn new songs! The songs are displayed in adjustable karaoke-style display with easy chords, an acoustic backing track and lyrics. Songs are re-arranged into easy versions, no knowledge of tabs or sheet music needed. Each song includes chord charts.”

Her current favorite songs are: “Eye of the Tiger”, “Gironimo”, and “Pompeii”. Using the app, she’s easily able to filter songs by chords. She can choose to exclude the pesky B chord, for example, and only look through songs she knows the chords for. She loves there are culturally popular songs as well as achievement awards that keep her motivated to practice! She’s also learned a few strumming patterns (something not included in jamTutor right now) and can easily switch between chords as she plays. I’m very jealous.

Last week out in the grasslands we utilized Sam’s video skills and put together a little music video of her playing. Notice the drone footage. Yep. More on that later!

The Giveaway!

Now to the REALLY good part! We’ve teamed up with jamstik+ to give away a guitar, travel case, and a 1 year subscription to the Four Chords app! We are super grateful for their generosity and can’t wait to get this instrument into one of our reader’s hands. Use the widget to enter below. Contest ends on February 5, 2017 at midnight Mountain Standard Time. Good luck!

jamstik+ & Four Chords Giveaway

Categories
Airstream Accessories Giveaways Outdoor Gear

Ultimate Summer Gear 10K Giveaway!

10K Giveaway

We are pretty stoked here at CurrentlyWandering to have reached over 10,000 followers on Instagram! I’m still blown away by the communities we’ve found with both our Airstream/full time family travelers and our outdoor adventure friends. There are so many amazing people that we’ve been able to connect with, be inspired by, and best of all meet in real life and become friends! If you don’t follow us over there, please do! Instagram is always up to date as far as where we are and our most current crazy adventure.

As a HUGE thank you to our amazing community, we put together the Ultimate Summer Gear Giveaway. Over the last few months I reached out to many of our favorite brands who generously donated some of our favorite gear so we could pass it on to you! We’ve tested every single piece of gear and given them all two thumbs up, falling in to the “I can’t imagine traveling without this stuff” category.

Peak Design Capture Clip

We backed the Capture Clip v.1 on Kickstarter over 3 years ago. We’ve since upgraded to the v2 (see blog post here) and Peak Design continually amazes us with the gear they produce. The best part? Their gear is not just for professional photographers, but really for anyone! We use their Field Pouch as a GoPro bag, I bought Sam the Messenger Bag this year for Father’s Day, and with their most recent Kickstarter Project, they released 4 new everyday bags! I’ve got my eye on the tote. Check them out on Kickstarter here. Really, though, it all comes down to the Capture Clip. I use it almost everyday strapped to our Flash Pack when we are out exploring. I love that my camera isn’t hanging by a strap around my neck to get in the way, but its still easily accessible. Paired with the Cuff wrist strap I feel like my camera is totally safe.

peak design

Power Practical 10 ft Luminoodle w/ Battery Pack

We have a laziness struggle with putting lights outside our Airstream. I love the look of the party lights hanging from the awning, but in the summer when its practically bedtime by the time it gets dark we don’t put them out. WINTER, however, is an entirely different story. We love having lights outside and the Luminoodle is an easy solution. Its lightweight, packable, and with some of their new designs they even have color options and dimmer switches (blog post here). They are giving away a 10 ft Luminoodle with battery pack.

Power Practical

 

Ultimate Hammocks Double Hammock + Straps

Hammocks are all the craze right now and for good reason. We use ours all the time and have found ways to rig it to the truck when two trees are not readily available. We’ve been impressed with the quality of Ultimate Hammocks, their prices, and most recently their Ultimate Hammock Straps. Definitely the lightest, smallest ones on the market right now (blog post here).ultimate hammocks

Action Wipes Survival Kit

Cleaning up after an adventure can sometimes take the experience from great to amazing! There’s nothing like a quick “shower” after a really hard ride, or being able to freshen up in the backcountry. Action Wipes has donated their “Survival Kit”  to “Cleanse, Soothe, and Protect”. It’s a BPA-Free Loksak bag that contains 6 Action Wipes Singles to cleanse, a 1/2 oz Healing Honey Stick and Healing Honey Lip Goo to Soothe (dry skin, bug bites, rashes, sunburns, you name it) and a 1/2 oz Natural Sun Screen to protect your skin from harmful UV rays (blog post on Action Wipes here).
Action Wipes

Enso Rings $50 Gift Card

We love our silicon wedding rings! Durable, light weight, and flexible these things are super comfortable. We’ve worn ours canoeing, mountain biking, hiking, weight lifting, swimming, rock climbing, pageant acting, and canyoneering. We also have worn them to church, social events, and during our everyday activities. In fact, Sam never takes his off anymore (blog post here).

enso rings blog

REI Flash 18 Pack

Turns out REI is a *really* hard company to work with (we are still too small to garner their attention!) but since the Flash Pack is pretty much a staple on our adventures we’ve decided to fork up the cash and donate one ourselves! This is a slightly newer version but the concept is still the same and I do love the improvements they’ve made over the years. They’ve added a removable back panel for extra padding, and now the top fully closes when cinched tight. We pair this with a 2 Liter Platypus Big Zip Reservoir and the capture clip and take it everywhere! Actual color: Green.

flash pack

21 oz Hydroflask & Sport Cap

Saving us from lukewarm, the Hydro flask is our newest “can’t live without this” item. Originally we bought it for hot chocolate while backpacking (and it stays HOT) but once we added the sport cap we now use it everyday. So much that we own 2. I’ve been tempted to buy a larger wide-mouth version but haven’t made the jump yet.

Hydroflask

Now to the fun part! ONE lucky winner will take home the ENTIRE Ultimate Summer Gear Pack! How awesome is that? Enter below using the rafflecopter wideget and spread the word for additional entries. Contest ends Monday, August 15, 2016 @ midnight Pacific Standard Time. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Categories
Biking Giveaways Texas

Visiting Woom HQ in Austin + a Helmet Giveaway!

During our visit to Austin, we made a visit to the Woom Bike USA Headquarters. You might remember Woom Bikes from our experience teaching Cara to ride a bike last year. We’ve loved Cara’s bike, and it has been a wonderful year zooming around. We were pretty stoked to visit HQ and meet Mathias and the team!

Woom HQ Austin_17

The first thing we did was learn about all the new bike upgrades they’ve made over the last year. Their already great bikes are now even better. The Woom 3 is the bike Cara has been riding around, and the new upgrades to that bike are substantial. The bike now ships with a freewheel hub (instead of requiring a replacement) and it is lighter. The rear hand brake is now colored green for easy identification and teaching kids. Their other bikes have similar upgrades.

We also got a really good look at the Woom 1, their smallest balance bike. We were into balance bikes far before Woom came on the scene, and this thing is amazing compared to what we used with our kids. Most notable is a hand brake, which would have been VERY nice, particularly since we took Cara on some (easy) mountain bike trails.

The Woom 1 comes in a variety of colors and can be ordered from their website or on Amazon. They periodically do pre-orders when they know shipments are coming in from overseas so plan ahead if you are getting one for a special occasion!

Woom HQ Austin_01

The office has a poster filled with Instagram pictures of kids and their awesome bikes, and we found Cara! The staff was amazing, explaining to both us and our kids about how bikes are assembled and prepared for their new owners before shipping. Also, did we mention how light these bikes were? A lighter bike is both easier to control and is much more fun for kid and parent alike.

Woom HQ Austin_04

All the talk of newer bike features made us want to try them out! Cara tried out a new Woom 4 (green, in the picture below), Andrew a Woom 5, and even Rachel tried out a Woom 6, their new large bike in the series.

Woom HQ Austin_14 Woom HQ Austin_05

Our visit was preceded by a new shipment of bikes, and the warehouse was PACKED with bikes to prep and ship to customers. Business is so good they are being forced into a larger space to continue to meet demand.

Woom HQ Austin_07

While we were there, the Fedex truck came to pick up a shipment of bikes. They packed the truck full, and had to send another truck for the rest! Now every time Cara sees a Fed Ex truck she points it out and wonders aloud if they are Woombikes inside!

Woom HQ Austin_09

To more fully test these new bikes, we borrowed 3 bikes for a weekend of mountain biking in the hill country outside Comfort, Texas.

Taking along 3 extra bikes for a weekend of testing presented a problem: How to fit 8 bikes on a truck with racks for only 4. The solution was found in the Woom Seersucker rack, attached atop the cab of the truck. This suction mount was easy to place, and gave us places for an extra 2 bikes. We headed immediately over to REI, and bought another Yakima High Roller  Rooftop Bike Rack for our normal bars to complete the setup. (We had been planning to buy another when Cara got a bigger bike, and now was the time!)

Woom HQ Austin_18

We’ll talk more specifically about the Woom4 and Woom5 bikes in a few later posts, but that’s long enough for now.

Giveaway!

**Contest Closed***

While we were there, we got a look at the Woom kids Melon helmets. We are big believers in wearing helmets, and this is a great one. There are two features that this helmet has that are unfortunately rare among kids helmets.

First, the helmet is extremely lightweight. It provides ample protection, yet doesn’t drag a kid down with an uncomfortably heavy head. Internal replaceable pads allow the helmet to be sized down to smaller heads and grow with them.

Second, the latch has been designed to be worked by kid fingers, AND be pinch free. The buckles typically found on bike helmets can be hard for a kid to work. This buckle is magnetic to allow for easy opening and closing, yet remains just as strong while under the kind of stress common in an accident. Cara has always struggled to work her helmet buckles with previous helmets, but just once or twice on this helmet and she had it figured out. The buckle slides together from the side and holds in place with a magnet. The buckle remains fixed tightly when pulled from the straps.

Woom HQ Austin_21

Does this sound like a helmet you would like to have? You are in luck! Woom Bikes is giving one away! These helmets are a size small – so definitely for younger kids. Melon recommends ages 18 months to 5/6 years old. You have two options for style pictured below:

4260182014769_1-1

To enter, comment below on your favorite place to take your kids biking and we’ll randomly draw a winner Wednesday, May 18th at 10pm MST!

As always, thanks for shopping through our Amazon affiliate links when you can – you spend the same amount and we earn a few pennies to help maintain our blog!

 

Yakima High Roller Rooftop Bike Rack

We now own 4 of these and use them on the back of our truck to carry our bikes. We love that you don’t have to take the front wheels off!

WoomBikes Balance Bike

Hand brake, super light weight, and will help your child learn to balance as young as 18 months old!

woom bikes

Categories
Airstream Accessories Giveaways Outdoor Adventures Outdoor Gear

The Currently Wandering Holiday Gift Guide

IMG_3343-2 copy

We seriously own 90% of this gear, and the other 10% we would own if we could fit it in our Airstream (ahem! Vacilando quilt!).  This post contains Amazon & REI affiliate links which help to fund the blog in a small, small way. Thanks for helping us out by clicking through to shop!

Now that Thanksgiving is over we get to celebrate Christmas!! I love this time of year, and amid all the presents, the lights and everything else we try to concentrate on spending time together as a family. While we are big on experiences (not presents) for Christmas and birthdays we do have our favorite gear to help facilitate our adventures. We have very little space to store things, so we make sure they are our favorites. If you are looking for the perfect gift for a child, for family time, outdoor adventure, the adventure mom, or even a traveler, read on!

Gifts For Kids
1. REI Sahara Convertible Pants – My kids wear these EVERYWHERE. Hiking, mountain biking, or just playing. Great because if they get too hot they can stash the legs in their pockets.

2. Drawstring Backpack from Mamoo Kids – Super comfortable, great adventure bag! Stash their nature journal, a pen, a water bottle, and some sunglasses and head out to explore.

3. Nite Ize Bug Lite – We have three of these (one for each!) and they make fantastic backcountry night lights. They also wrap around hiking poles or wrists for exploring in caves. Just sayin’….

4. Woom Bike – I’m not sure I can express how much we LOVE our Woom. So much that the older two kids are begging for one. Full review here.

5. My USA Adventures Map – I can’t think of a more adorable way to keep track of your adventures. A 12×18 map of the USA comes with 16 stickers to highlight your trips. They also have a world map if you are a bit more adventurous.

Family Time Gifts6. Aerobie SuperDisc – people are surprised with how well my kids can throw a frisbee. This thing is soft, flexible and flies well. Perfect for an afternoon out in the campground (or the lawn, or the park!).

7. Forbidden Desert – Everyone we’ve taught to play this game loves it. Its a cooperative game – so your family against piling sand, thirst, and a huge storm. Just be prepared to lose your first few times playing.

8. Talkabout Radios – These are great for hiking, for sending your kids off exploring (together) or just to general keep track of each other at Disneyland. Blog post here.

9. Bora Single Line Parafoil Kite – We have a stunt kite, but this one is MUCH easier for the kids to fly. Whether on the Oregon coast, or in the deserts surrounding Las Vegas we’ve loved pulling it out.

10. YayLabs! Soft Ice Cream Ball – We don’t own one of these (yet) but friends have said they are a blast! Who doesn’t love ice cream?

11. Trekking the Parks Board Game – Visit the National Parks, earn points, and enjoy the beautiful photos and artwork on this family game. Full review here.

Gifts For Outdoor Adventure

12. Sea to Summit Aeros Pillow Premium -We recently bought me one of these for backpacking as I was struggling to sleep, and then we ended up buying another one. Love that one side is soft so my face doesn’t slip off while I’m sleeping.

13. REI Flash 22 Bag – We use this as a super light-weight everyday bag. It packs up small and doesn’t weigh much so that the kids can carry it pretty easy as well. Great for short hikes or exploring a city.

14. Samsung NX500 – This is the big brother of the Samsung NX300 that we own (full review here). On this one the screen actually swings all the way around for video and selfies.

15. Capture Pro Camera Clip – I use this ALL the time. Its super easy to carry a camera around and have it easily accessible. I’ll even strap it to our REI Flash Bag.

16. Hydro Flask – We bought this on a whim before our backpacking trip on the Apostle Islands and it was fabulous for keeping our hot chocolate warm in the morning. Actually, the Hydro Flask keeps things almost too warm!

17. REI Stratus Thermarest – We bought one for me awhile ago, and its so small and compact, we’ve now bought one for Rachel and Andrew.  Its not self-inflatable so you have to blow a little, but its worth it for the weight savings.

Gifts For Adventure Moms 18. REI Co-Op Down Vest – We dress is layers, and having a puffy vest has been absolutely spectacular. I looked at a bunch, and the REI Co-op vest has a great design and is reasonably priced.

 

19. Smart Wool Candy Cane Beanie – I am in LOVE with this beanie. Warm and stylish. And it goes with my vest.

 

20. Haiku Bag Bucket Bag – I heard about these bags from some outdoor friends and decided to give it a try. I needed something that could hold my wallet, my Kindle, and my Nexus 300 but not be overly large. Its perfect.

 

21. Broken Compass Trading Handmade Notebook– I ran into Sarah on Instagram as they live out of their Airstream and just bought some land in Colorado to call home. She makes beautiful, hand made notebooks and jewelry! I can think of a million ways to use these notebooks, but a nature journal would be epic.

 

22. Title Nine Dress – Can you tell I’m in the mood to recommend clothes? When a girl has a tiny closet, I have to love everything in it, right? I just bought this dress from their store in Utah, and dressed up with leggings and a scarf its trendy, warm, and super-duper comfortable!

 

23. REI Venturi Hoodie – My favorite shirt. Its functional, cute and works great for hanging around or going on a short hike.

 

24. Tarma Designs Charms – I’ve had the Cairn & bicycle charms for years and wear them religiously on a chain around my neck. I love that they represent activities in my life that I love and are a huge part of my identity!

 

Gfits for RV Travellers 25. Eno Double Nest Hammock & Atlas Straps: I think everyone needs a hammock, and this is the best. Super comfy and Sam and I can both fit in it. The Atlas straps are great for wrapping around trees, rocks, or whatever else is handy.

26. Wander T-Shirt: We picked this up at the Airstream factory, but you can always buy it online. Subtle and simple, its one of Sam’s favorites.

27. Frostfire Solar Ice Rocks: We use these outside our trailer for a little more light at night. They charge via sunlight, so as long as you leave them out during the day you’ll be good to go!

28. Airstream USB Keychain: GREAT for the Airstream lover. How awesome is this?

29. Quilt or Subway Tote from Vacilando Quilting: Laura & her boyfriend traveled in an Airstream for awhile under the Democratic Travelers. They’ve since “settled” in the Bay area and Laura is using her seamstress talents to make amazingly beautiful quilts & tote bags!

30. Camper Leveler Blocks: These are on our wishlist. Lego blocks are great until they aren’t. These allow to precisely level at any increment between 1/2 inch and 4 inches.

If this isn’t quite what you are looking for, check out this other amazing Gift Guides from some of the best adventuring family experts I know!