BY: ROB HOFFMAN A motorcycle streams down the highway between the toothpick trees and iridescent Alaskan sky. In the driver’s seat, sits Mallory Paige, a motorcycle-virgin on a quest to replace the monotony of home life with the elegant spontaneity…
7 short stories that will turn you into a literary master over lunch
BY: ROB HOFFMAN A Good Man is Hard to Find By: Flannery O’Connor This piece of classic southern gothic literature offers a commentary on the fickle definition of morality. A family trip turns sour as the grandmother tries to persuade…
Dispensaries are giving wildfire survivors free weed in Northern California
BY: TYLER FYFE Two Northern California dispensaries understand the trauma of watching your home and entire property rise in plumes of smoke. This why Care By Design and AbsoluteXtracts medical marijuana dispenseries are attempting to ease the burden of stress with…
7 incredibly unique Airbnb rentals that will make you want to pack your bags right now
BY: JESSICA BEUKER A few years ago most people didn’t even know that Airbnb existed. Now it’s the go-to travel buddy for many travellers all over the world. With affordable listings in a wide range of accommodation types, Airbnb is…
The hypnotizing architecture of a city that is reaching towards the sky
BY: CONNOR BRIAN The word claustrophobia finds new definition in Hong Kong. The city is one of the most densely populated places in the world, with over 7.2 million people squished inside and the area of just 1,104 square kilometres.…
Lazy and eco-conscious? Painting your roof white is the easiest way to fight climate change
BY: ROB HOFFMAN When I first heard about urban rooftop gardens, I thought it was one of the coolest building-design ideas of all time. They’re good for the environment and provide the practical benefit of locally grown food. However, a…
Human Library gives people a chance to learn from people rather than books
BY: JESSICA BEUKER “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” That’s especially true if the book is a person. The Human Library lets people check out “interactive books” for half an hour, but the words come straight out of people…
A 12-year-old’s IQ result put her above Einstein and Hawking
BY: ROB HOFFMAN An unlikely genius has emerged in the heart of England’s gypsy community, scoring an IQ higher than some of the world’s most renowned geniuses. On a whim of intuition about his daughter’s exceptional intellect, James Barr took…
Apparently, a quaint English village for the learning disabled is being bullied by a charity
BY: JESSICA BEUKER In North Yorkshire, England there is a unique village—a community built on the principle of a level playing field for a group of people who are largely marginalized by society. This village is home to more than…
Michelle Obama’s campaign brings awareness to the #62milliongirls who are not in school
BY: JESSICA BEUKER Sixty-two million—that’s the staggering number of girls around the world who are not in school. This past Saturday, First Lady Michelle Obama announced a new campaign that is fighting to get more to school. “I see myself…
This video takes you on an incredible tour of the astonishing Pacific Crest Trail
BY: ROB HOFFMAN From the sun-bleached hills of Mexico’s boarder to the frozen edge of Canadian woodland—the Pacific Crest Trail has seen a lot of love ever since Cheryl Strayed’s novel-turned-blockbuster, Wild, hit the big screen. Though the true magic…
How to stop taking bullshit from your period
BY: STEFANIE PHILLIPS I’m sick and tired of being told to have a “happy period” by a company whose marketing director has obviously never had a period before. I’m fed up with forgetting to pack tampons on the first day…
An inclusive park just opened for children with disabilities so everyone can have fun
BY: SWIKAR OLI In the city of Kenosha, WI, a joint three-year dream of over 3,000 volunteers, organizers and contributors has come into sharp relief: a playground for children who otherwise had none. The Dream Playground has swings that fit…
Two university students from BC invented a robot that can plant trees
BY: KAROUN CHAHINIAN Natural fires and urbanization have put our beautiful forests in danger. Re-planting trees can literally be backbreaking work, but two University of Victoria students may have found a futuristic solution. Meet the “TreeRover”, a prototype robot that…
I hiked to 10,000 ft. in the High Sierras, and found the mountain top was powdered with coke
BY: TYLER FYFE We came to a wood cabin, drawn like moths to the smothered glow of oil lamps in foggy window panes. We had hiked nearly blind through the night—measuring our progress by the sound of crunching gravel. When…
Squatting communities are putting experience above objects on the fringes of London (Photos)
BY: TYLER FYFE While glossy advertisements on home decorating magazines might tell you different, home isn’t defined by space, it’s defined by the people who inhabit it. Photographer, Corinna Kern found a community of eclectics living on the fringes of…
Everest Sherpas are finally being honoured as the pillars of a glorified Western dream
BY: TYLER FYFE The word Sherpa is not a job title. It is the cultural name of an ethnic group living in the eastern Himalayas long before the first recorded ascent of Everest in 1953. Since that famous feat was…
This photographer helps children with cancer live out their wildest dreams
BY: JESSICA BEUKER “Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.” A line from a Shel Silverstein poem was all it took to inspire Jonathan Diaz to make dreams come true for child cancer patients. His ‘Anything Can Be’ project is…
The first driverless public transit to hit open roads is coming to the Netherlands this November
BY: ROB HOFFMAN The Netherlands just introduced the first publicly accessible driverless shuttles to hit the open roads this November. Holding up to six passengers per trip, the WEpod follows in the footsteps of Citymobil2, the Finnish cousin of the…
These photos from the greatest bedroom on earth give you a glimpse into the romance of van-life
BY: ROB HOFFMAN The Internet and social media outlets like Instagram have accelerated the world’s infatuation with the van-dwelling, road-tripping, vagabond lifestyle to near obsession. Though the lifestyle and form of travel is nothing new in-and-of itself, there is new…