Roam+Board :: Rolling Huts

[trip style = weekend getaway + camping & glamping]

{Editor's Note: As we mentioned on Monday, in addition to Travel Beauty, Roam+Board is now publishing every other Wednesday! Your mid-week just got a little more dreamy, we *hope.* Re: this property, I've never stayed here, but I hope to in the next year.}

What If quiet was a sound, you'd find it at Rolling Huts. Tucked into the Methow Valley between the North Cascades mountains, a herd of six warming huts stake a claim on the farmland below. Boxy bungalows with basic kitchenettes, wood-burning fireplaces and platform beds host your trip style = glamping + weekend getaway.

Replace your morning commute with a 6km cross-country ski to the nearest espresso bar and TV watching with stargazing. This is a place to mentally unplug and surround yourself with nature.

I first came across Rolling Huts in Sunset Magazine {<---Love} in an article about "The West's best romantic getaways", and though getting far, far away from it all at a property bathed in minimalism won't be everyone's version of a sultry weekend, you'd have no choice but to cozy-up in your cabin with hot cocoa!

Where Methow Valley, Washington; six hours from Vancouver, four hours from Seattle. During winter the WA-20 Washington Pass connector is closed, so you take a slight roundabout route to arrive. In the summer take 2.5 hours off the above-mentioned travel times.

When Year-round. Cross-country ski in winter, explore nearby towns in shoulder season, and hike and bike in summer.

Who/Why Modern, sparse architecture is your thing, or want to clear your head. You like to get away from it all, and don't mind a communal potty/shower barn that's a few steps from your pad.

Cost Cottages from $125. During holidays add a $10/night. Huts comfortably sleep two, and can be configured to sleep four. $25 pet fee per stay. Includes wifi.

More Roam+Board Golden Rock Inn - Nevis The Ace NYC – New York The Viceroy – Palm Springs The Parker – Palm Springs Sorobon Beach Resort – Bonaire Kura Hulanda – Curacao Hotel Kakslauttanen – Finland The Met – Vancouver Custom Hotel – LAX Bitter End Yacht Club – BVI Sleep On The Water – London A Woodsy Hideaway – Big Sur, CA

[photos via Rolling Huts]

Roam+Board :: Hotel Kakslauttanen

[trip style = glamping + active & adventure + sightseeing + ski]

What
There's the Arctic Circle and then there's 250km above it. With a suitcase full of thermal underwear and down-filled jackets, today's Roam+Board is traveling towards polar bears and polar dips. With 40 log cabins Hotel Kakslauttanen is open year-round, but if you're going to travel to the ends of the earth, you might as well trip style = glamp in an igloo! Open December/January---whenever it gets cold enough---to April, the Igloo Village has 20 thermal glass domes {read: that don't frost over or fog up} and a snowball fight's worth of snow igloos to give guests a frigid, first-hand experience.

Where
Finland. Hotel Kakslauttanen is 1085kms away from Helsinki. If you want to get there quickly, fly from Helsinki to Ivalo {via finnair or norwegian} and take a 35km {$33} transfer to the hotel. If you've got time and want to see the Finnish landscape---saunas and all---ride a train/bus combo.

When
During the Aurora Borealis viewing season {late August - April}. Though it's never guaranteed you're going to see the night skies flow like Joseph's technicolor dreamcoat, the hotel rings a signal bell when the Northern Lights are visible.

Who/Why
You're a modern-day Christopher Columbus, exploring the earth's far reaches in search of a green and pink-hued night sky and the world's largest smoke sauna.

Cost
Two people can stay in a glass igloo for $477 and a snow igloo for $472 in winter. Add $36 per person/day for breakfast and dinner. Don't worry, for this price, they won't leave you out in the cold, every glass igloo is equipped with a toilet, sink and luxury beds. Plus, in the words of the hotel: "on every evening a hot sauna and a refreshing ice hole are waiting for you." Hmm, ice hole. I can handle cold plunges, but polar dips are another story!

Trip Styler Tip: Most people choose to stay in a glass or snow igloo for one night and in a cabin, starting at $338/dbl occ, for remaining nights. Why? All cabins have showers and personal saunas...

More Roam+Board
The Met - Vancouver
Custom Hotel - LAX
Bitter End Yacht Club - BVI

[photos assembled by @tripstyler via Hotel Kakslauttanen]

Beachside Camping [1/2]

[trip style = camping & glamping + weekend getaway]

When: July 29th - August 1st Where: Tofino, BC Why: Brush up on trip style = camping with camp-savvy friends How: From Vancouver, 1h 40min ferry to Nanaimo + 3-hour drive

{Editor's Note: This summer we're publishing Monday - Thursday since most people are taking off early for the weekends---if not physically, then mentally. But Monday was a BC provincial holiday, so we wanted to make sure you collected enough trip style miles this week! PS - Have you entered this week's petite porta-perfume giveaway? It takes 20 seconds or less, and all you have to do is comment on any TS post.}

Even getting up at 4:30am, I wasn't sure if we'd catch the 6:20am ferry. Miraculously we did by only a few cars, which made the earlier than thou wake-up just a little more bearable, perhaps even slightly satisfying. We were headed to Tofino, on the West Coast of Vancouver Island to trip style = camping. At our beachside campsite {see my review here}, there was nothing between us and Hawaii but a beach, the Pacific Ocean and a 6-hour flight.

Packing... Not-So Light In the past few years, we've done more glamping {in Africa, Australia, the US and Canada} than camping. Our skills were rusty to say the least; partly evidenced by an SUV filled to the brim with everything from extraneous gear to our dog Nacho. Honestly, it was humbling. How is it I'm able to bring a carry-on with me to Australia for 3 weeks, yet I can't go camping for the weekend without the entire contents of my condo? {Trip Styler Tip :: Resist the urge to bring everything. Warm clothes and earplugs are a must for any campsite. Even in the summer, a toque helps your head stay warm in your sleeping bag.}

The Camping Trip That Couldn't I had high hopes for this seaside camping trip. Given my love of home decor, I wanted to turn my campsite into a glampsite, take pictures and then write about it. My goal was to spend no more than $20, plus with a few things from home, decorate my tree-covered plot into a Moroccan-inspired beach retreat. Sadly, even with all the accoutrements---solar-powered lanterns, velvety pillows with tassels and plush blankets---I failed miserably, mostly due to time constraints, a full day of tent-leaking rain and a violent, in-tent, 3am vomiting episode with my dog. After 2 loads of laundry and 50+ disinfectant wipes, all I can do is laugh about it now. {Trip Styler Tip :: I can't stress enough the importance of disinfectant wipes while camping. They are helpful for cleaning your tablecloth or knife in a jiffy, and great for cleaning dirty hands!}

The Camping Trip That Could While my Saturday circumstances on the front steps of the Pacific Ocean were not looking so bright, Friday, Sunday and Monday sparkled. Friday night we started cooking beer can chicken on the hibachi at 5pm---my first experience cooking a whole chicken! At first there were some significant flames, causing me to think the bird was going to be a bust, but two hours later we pulled away the foil tent placed around the bbq---apparently even our chicken was tenting---set the picnic table with a wipeable red and white checked tablecloth and dined on the tender white meat with the slightest hint of brew. Friday's cooking adventures aside, Sunday was the day, both for me and my friends. After surfing at Cox Bay, beach walking with his gal and spending a lengthy sundown toast atop blankets on the beach Sunday night, my friend's boyfriend from Australia mentioned it was one of his best days in Canada. For some reason, I took it as a compliment on behalf of the natural beauty of my country. {Trip Styler Tip :: The ultra easy beer can chicken recipe can be found in Coleman's Camping Cookbook iPhone app, along with other campsite delicacies such as bocconcini s’mores.}

One Step Forward Two Steps Back Needing more than a tent and campfire for a successful camping trip, I suggest venturing into the outdoors with a fun group of people, the right gear and a fisherman! Saturday's deluge sent any affinity I have for "roughing it" two steps back, yet the 20+ pound Spring salmon my friend's husband caught and she seasoned and barbecued for dinner, redeemed it with one big step forward. Hoping to even out my camping experience with an additional step forward, I'm going to monitor the weather like a hawk, pack less, and do a "Beachside Camping 2/2" continuation at some point over the next two months. Who knows, hopefully my Moroccan beachside retreat won't be just a figment of my imagination! {Trip Styler Tip :: If there's even a 10% chance of rain, don't chance it. Set up a tarp over your tent in such a way that no part of it might cause water to run off and pool near your tent. PS - lots of rope, likely more than you think you'll need, is helpful too.}

If you have camping tips, send them along by commenting below, I'm sure all part- and full-time campers could use a refresher, about as much as sunny skies!

[photos by nstoik, @tripstyler & @nate_fri]

Off the Beaten Track :: Magic Carpet Ride

[trip style = glamping + active & adventure] {Photos: Ryan B. Robinson/Downtime Photo}

{Editor's note: This month we’re doing a four-part feature on the Pacific Northwest's off the beaten track destinations. See below for this month's earlier selections that sit in the shadow of bigger, fancier or legacy locales. This week we’re taking a magic carpet ride off the grid.}

Driving up BC's Fraser Canyon Highway, you pass through tunneled mountains, and when you emerge back into daylight, it's as though you've teleported to another time. Shops like "Barry's Trading Post" with "your one stop shop" written in script underneath, and your phone proclaiming the dreaded NO SERVICE signal make it more than apparent you're going off the grid. And what better way to spend a summer weekend?

Last weekend I drove three hours from Vancouver to overnight in a Moroccan-themed tent beside a frothy, raging river. I was a guest of REO Rafing's whitewater rafting, glamping and camping operation. After driving over the wide and chocolate milk-like Fraser River---which is lucky given the only way over used to be via a one-car, elevated cable tram---you reach a 14.5km half-paved, half-rocky residential-meets-logging road which escorts you down a semi-steep incline to REO's base camp.

The carefully selected headquarters are literally beside the Nahatlatch River, serving as a strong and constant reminder of what you're about to conquer the next morning. You can camp or glamp, but given my love for all things glamping, I glamped. The two nicest tents on the property are named after their themes: "Country" and "Moroccan." Luckily, I scored one of them and settled under a silky overhang into a carved wooden bed with linens and beaded pillows that made me want to break into song like Jasmine from Aladdin.

If I were Jasmine, I'd ride my magic carpet down the Nahatlach, but I was without Aladdin and his carpet, so the next morning, after a suiting up like a seal and listening to a 20-minute safety talk, my raft guide Mark instructed us on the ups and downs of charging class 3 and 4 rapids. In my humble opinion, we needed him more than he needed us. Like many of the other REO guides, he'd be rafting for 13+ years, so I was more than willing to battle one of BC's wildest rivers with him at the helm.

He yelled commands and each paddler on the eight person raft repeated them so the other members could hear the instruction over the roar and splash of the whitewater rapids. Paddle, back paddle, hold on, get down, on the job and high-five were a few rafting terms we became more than familiar with during our mastery of the 20km/hour wet rush. Crashing atop an overzealous wave, a member of our raft did a backwards somersault off the raft and became one with the river. No problemo. We were trained for this, and her rescue was quickly expedited by two willing men at the front of the raft. If she were to have stayed in the water for any length of time, there was a whitewater safety kayaker---who attends every river dance---to sweep her off her feet {and back into the raft}.

To say the Pacific Northwest's weather has been a little angry this year is an understatement. July has been more like Jul-ebruary. Driving up to REO in some of the worst rain we've had this summer, I was reminded that river rafting in BC---which incidentally has the most navigable sections of raftable river in the entire world---is the perfect cure for a wet summer. You're going to get wet anyway and there's always a hot chocolate and hot tub waiting at the end!

What to know

• REO has been in operation for 29 years and has a pristine safety record
• Because of the unseasonably cold and wet spring, this summer has delivered optimal whitewater rafting conditions throughout BC
• Overnight whitewater rafting packages start at $219/person
• If you want something a little closer to home, check out REO's Whistler options
• See my detailed review of REO on Trip Advisor here

Photos {Photo: Ryan B. Robinson/Downtime Photo}

{Photo: Ryan B. Robinson/Downtime Photo}

{River rafting is a signature adventure in British Columbia that attracts guests worldwide. For more information, or to find a safety certified member company anywhere in the Province, go to http://www.bcroa.com/find-bc-river-rafting-tours.}

Other Off The Beaten Track Features Lodges and Cabins Spotlight on Bellevue, WA

[Rafting photos by Ryan B. Robinson/Downtime Photo, grounds photos by @tripstyler]

Off The Beaten Track :: Lodges & Cabins

[trip style = beach + glamping + budget + luxury]

This month we're doing a four-part feature on need-to-know Pacific Northwest destinations, resorts and lodges that sit in the shadow of bigger, fancier or legacy destinations.

Last week the spotlight was on Bellevue, the oft-forgotten and woodsy suburb where Microsofters mingle and shoppers spend, as an alternative to Seattle. This week we're escaping busy streets and crowded highways in search of lodges and cabins where sipping steaming coffee in a lakeside Adirondack chair and evening fireside chats are a detox for the soul.

The Alders Running barefoot along the sun-dried grass from beach to cabin {and back again} for a grape popsicle or nacho-flavored chips was my main commute. Roasting marshmallows for a little too long---to the point of incurring a small campfire on the end of my stick---was my big night out. The daily commute and hot smoky evenings took place at the Alders, a family-friendly summer escape near Campbell River on Vancouver Island. I spent close to every summer at this collection of vintage, wood-framed, beach-side cabins growing up. I remember retro stoves, orange and green geographic print curtains and beds with a slight canoe effect. To me, it was perfect. With no TVs or phones---though these days that doesn't mean much with portable e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g---this place is all about the sandbar, campfire songs and cozy cabins. Cost: From $1,160/week in the summer. Prices drop in shoulder season.

Sakinaw Lake Lodge After a 40-minute ferry ride from Vancouver, plus a 50-minute drive through artsy beach-front towns, you've arrived at the part salt, part fresh water lake. From the outside, Sakinaw Lake Lodge resembles any other other renovated cabin on the lake, but upon closer inspection, it's more more catered to and current than most weekend summer-use cabins. After a glass of wine is handed to you at pick-up, you stay in one of two lakefront suites {or rent the whole lodge} that give secluded relaxation a new meaning. There's even a luxury canvas tent for those of you who like to glamp! Cost: From $229/night during summer.

King Pacific Lodge Anywhere that calls Princess Royal Island and The Great Bear Rainforest home must be a remote eco-feast for the eyes. When you glide into this luxury wilderness resort on British Columbia's North Coast via float plane---the only way to arrive---you realize why it's an all-inclusive fit for royalty, pairing fishing and whale watching with epicurean indulgences and fine wines. Beware, this curated, multi-award winning, once-in-a-lifetime---or yearly, depending on how you roll---experience can only be had between June and September. By now, I'm sure you can guess the price. Cost: From $4,750 per person for a 3-night stay.

Bonus Selection: Skoki Lodge Even though this week's Off the Beaten Path feature is focused on lodges and cabins around the Pacific Northwest, I'd be remiss not to mention Skoki Lodge near Lake Louise, Alberta, where Will and Kate spent a night away from the eyes of the world on their royal tour of Canada. Rather than bring their entourage to a swanky lodge, they opted for a removed and understated retreat with no electricity or running water, originally built in 1930. PS. I hear the pair asked for at least one modern world luxury: running water. {Fair enough.} Cost: Summer rates from $169 - $263 per person.

[photos by Geoff & Ana-Maria, Sakinaw Lake Lodge, King Pacific Lodge, Parks Canada]