Each week we have too many stories that come our way than we actually have time to cover. To compensate, we share a round-up of those stories on Fridays in a post called "Adventure Quickies." This is this week's edition of that post, with some fascinating, wild, and unusual items to share as usual.
- California Tops List of Most Adventurous States: A new research study ranked all 50 U.S. states based on the number of outdoor activities that they all have to offer. The state that came out on top was California, which isn't too much of a surprise considering the access to mountains, beaches, deserts, and other terrain there. Colorado ranked second, while New York, Washington, and Wisconsin rounded out the top five. Check out the full list here.
- Japanese Billionaire Seeks Girlfriend for Trip to the Moon: Yusaku Maezawa made headlines around the world as the Japanese billionaire who signed up with SpaceX to take the first commercial flight to the moon. Now, he's looking to bring a special someone along for the ride and is taking part in a reality television show that hopes to find him a girlfriend (or wife) who is willing to join him on this adventure.
- Should Nike's Vaporfly Running Shoe Be Banned?: When Eliud Kipchoge became the first person to run a sub-two hour marathon, he was wearing a prototype running shoe from Nike called the Vaporfly. In fact, most of the marathon records in recent years have been accomplished while wearing the shoe. Now, there are questions as to whether or not it gives runners an unfair advantage and should be banned from competition. Gear Junkie investigates.
- IndisdeAsia Tours May Have Your Next Dream Job: Want to travel the world on someone else's dime and help them promote some exciting new destinations? InsideAsia Tours is looking for some help in that area. It's going to send some lucky "employees" off on new trips to China, South Korea, Malaysia, and Borneo. If this sounds like your kind of work, you can apply here.
- Yamaha Donates $115,000 in Third Quarter Alone: Last week, Yamaha announced that in the third quarter of 2019 alone, it handed out $115, 000 in grands and donations as part of its Outdoor Access Initiative. That brings its total to $4 million since the project began back in 2008.
- REI Has Gear at 50% Off: With the holidays behind us, REI is running a major January Clearance Sale with a lot of gear marked down by as much as 50% off the regular price. This is a good time to stock up on new products or get yourself that Christmas present no one else did.
- Dogsled Guide Fends Off Polar Bear with a Rope: Any experienced polar traveler will tell you that the scariest thing they face in the Arctic is a polar bear. Turns out maybe those creatures aren't so scary after all, because recently a dogsled guide drove one off using nothing but a rope.
