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Posts Tagged ‘Getaway’

Unfold Your Getaway: Canoe for City Dwellers Packs Down to a Suitcase

30 Jul

[ By SA Rogers in Design & Products & Packaging. ]

onak fold up canoe 4

You can’t exactly fit a canoe through a narrow staircase in an apartment building, let alone take it on the metro, so for many sporty city dwellers, owning one may seem out of reach. Many canoes are so bulky, you can barely find enough space for them in a suburban garage. Playing with an origami canoe made of paper one day, Ghent-based designer Otto Van De Steene wondered whether a similar folding method translated to a sturdy, seaworthy material could help him get out onto the water more often. The result is ‘ONAK,’ a portable canoe that folds down to the size of a suitcase.

fold up canoe 1

Working at an outdoor recreation store, Van De Steene had seen plenty of other portable canoe designs that he found lacking. “You have the canoes that have really good performance on the water – they’re fast, but they’re quite heavy and take an hour to assemble. Nothing to do in an evening after work.”

onak fold up canoe 5

The Oru folding kayak had recently debuted, offering an intriguing possible solution, but Van De Steene thought its corrugated plastic construction could use an upgrade, and chose a custom-made polypropylene for his own design, explaining that it’s lighter and stiffer, improving the boat’s performance. About ten times as strong as standard polypropylene, the honeycomb-core composite material is also highly durable and fully recyclable.

onak fold up canoe 2

onak fold up canoe 3

“By making hundreds of paper models and fifteen real prototypes, we also refined the design of our patent pending hull. This was a huge challenge due to the limitations of origami. We opted for a narrow and fast canoe design that keeps its momentum very well, while still being delightfully easy and stable to maneuver for beginners.”

onak fold up canoe 6

The Onak may not fold down quite as small as Oru, but putting it on wheels makes it easier to haul around. From its compact 47”x15.7”x10” roller case, it expands to 183” long by 33.5” wide, and can carry about 440 pounds. There’s enough room inside for two adults, a child and gear. The process of assembling or packing up the portable canoe takes about ten minutes.

onak fold up canoe 8

With just a couple days left on its Kickstarter campaign, the Onak has met its goal, but you can still snag one for significantly less than retail cost if you back the project in time. It’ll sell for about $ 1450 with two paddles once it hits the market.

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[ By SA Rogers in Design & Products & Packaging. ]

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Exotic Green Getaway: Lush Villa Made of Local Materials

05 Apr

[ By Steph in Boutique & Art Hotels & Global. ]

Alila Villas Eco Travel 1

Merging traditional Balinese visual flair with the openness of modern architecture, Alila Villas Uluwatu is a picturesque resort with individual villas connected by bridges over sparkling expanses of water. The hotel is set on a gently sloping hillside, and eschews typical high, pointed Bali-style roofs in order to maintain a democratic view of the sea. Made of locally sourced materials, the hotel and villa development aims to balance environmental responsibility with a sense of luxury.

Alila Villas Eco Travel 5

Alila Villas Eco Travel 2

Located in Uluwatu on the Bukit Peninsula of Bali, Alila Villas has 50 hotel suites and 35 residential villas.  Rather than standing out in stark relief against the natural setting, like many other self-consciously tropical resorts in the area, Alila Villas follows the natural contours of the land.  The terraced, low-pitched roof of the main structure was made of Balinese volcanic pumice rock that can support the growth of ferns and other vegetation, mimicking the look of local hillside farms.

Alila Villas Eco Travel 4

Each of the hotel rooms faces the gardens, which are full of reflecting pools and native plants, making them feel as if they extend into the outdoor spaces. The villas are glass structures encased in slatted wood, which screens the sun and provides a bit of privacy. Each has its own pool with a cabana overlooking the ocean.

Alila Villas Eco Travel 3

The stone walls of the resort came directly from the site itself, and all other materials were sourced from either Bali or the neighboring island of Java. Sustainable materials, careful preservation of vegetation, rainwater collection, a greywater recycling system and large roof overhangs that provide natural cooling come together for an eco-friendly getaway that honors the local culture and history.

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[ By Steph in Boutique & Art Hotels & Global. ]

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Surreal La Balade des Gnomes Hotel Offers Fantasy Getaway

19 Feb

[ By Steph in Boutique & Art Hotels & Global. ]

Surreal La Balade des Gnomes Hotel 1

If your idea of a romantic getaway is to sleep in surreal, vaguely medieval rooms within a Trojan horse, perhaps you should be spending your Valentine’s Day at the bizarre La Balade des Gnomes Hotel in Belgium. ‘The Walk of the Gnomes’ offers ten themed rentals made of natural materials – the polar opposite of typical sterile, cookie cutter hotel rooms.

Surreal La Balade des Gnomes Hotel 2

Surreal La Balade des Gnomes 4Surreal La Balade des Gnomes Hotel 6

Architect Mr. Noel created the hotel on what was formerly an ordinary farm in the charming historic town of Durbuy, to complement his restaurant next door. The most stunning suite, from the outside, is the Trojan Horse, but the hotel also offers a troll’s lair and a Macquarie Island room with a boat-shaped bed.

Surreal La Balade des Gnomes 3

The natural building material cob, which is mud mixed with lime and straw, provides an ideal medium with which to sculpt irregular walls inlaid with mosaics and twisted branches. Some rooms look like castles straight out of Game of Thrones while others resemble alien landscapes.

Surreal La Balade des Gnomes 5

Surreal La Balade des Gnomes Hotel 7

No matter which room you choose, staying at this highly unusual hotel is bound to be an experience to remember. Rooms start at just €115 ($ 153).

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Surreal La Balade des Gnomes Hotel Offers Fantasy Getaway

15 Feb

[ By Steph in Boutique & Art Hotels & Global. ]

Surreal La Balade des Gnomes Hotel 1

If your idea of a romantic getaway is to sleep in surreal, vaguely medieval rooms within a Trojan horse, perhaps you should be spending your Valentine’s Day at the bizarre La Balade des Gnomes Hotel in Belgium. ‘The Walk of the Gnomes’ offers ten themed rentals made of natural materials – the polar opposite of typical sterile, cookie cutter hotel rooms.

Surreal La Balade des Gnomes Hotel 2

Surreal La Balade des Gnomes 4Surreal La Balade des Gnomes Hotel 6

Architect Mr. Noel created the hotel on what was formerly an ordinary farm in the charming historic town of Durbuy, to complement his restaurant next door. The most stunning suite, from the outside, is the Trojan Horse, but the hotel also offers a troll’s lair and a Macquarie Island room with a boat-shaped bed.

Surreal La Balade des Gnomes 3

The natural building material cob, which is mud mixed with lime and straw, provides an ideal medium with which to sculpt irregular walls inlaid with mosaics and twisted branches. Some rooms look like castles straight out of Game of Thrones while others resemble alien landscapes.

Surreal La Balade des Gnomes 5

Surreal La Balade des Gnomes Hotel 7

No matter which room you choose, staying at this highly unusual hotel is bound to be an experience to remember. Rooms start at just €115 ($ 153).

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Luxury Campground Getaway, Huettenpalast Campground, Fuji X-Pro 1 Globe-Trotter

26 Jan

In this episode of AskMen Aspire, we look at the Huettenpalast Campground, the Doubleback camper, & Fuji’s X-Pro 1 Globe-Trotter camera kit! Huettenpalast Campground www.huettenpalast.de Doubleback www.doubleback.co.uk Fuji X-Pro 1 Globe-Trotter fujifilm-x.com AskMen: www.askmen.com Follow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com Follow us on Foursquare: foursquare.com Let us know know your opinions by commenting below!
Video Rating: 3 / 5

 
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