To answer a question

A lot of people have been asking what kind of stories I'm looking for, the simplest answer is that I am looking for first person accounts of outdoor adventures. If you have a story that starts off my friends and I.....road our bikes across the US, went on a road trip and everything that could go wrong did, I went into the mountains for an overnight trip and I almost died, I canoed the length of the Mississippi for a summer. Things along those lines but not limited to just those things. What I am NOT looking for would be things like festival reviews or political pieces.
I am paying $200 per story with a minimum of 1000 words with 3-4 photos if possible. Hope that helps clear things up a bit.

Update on the magazine.

Since it's a new year I thought I should update everyone one whats going on with the magazine. I have decided to nix the idea of the print version and go to a digital version for the iPad and then moving into the other tablets.

I am still looking for general outdoor adventure and travel stories in the 1,500 to 3,000 word range with photos as well as stand alone photo stories for the the gallery section.
The fun part about doing this for the e-reader market is that I can combine the print version with what would have been on a website like video. And beyond just stories I would like to add some interviews and some how-to articles to the mix but DON'T want that type of stuff to overpower the rest of the magazine like so many of the other publications do.
People will get paid for any submissions that get published and if you have any ideas feel free to hit me up at jonhellerphotography@yahoo.com

What is The Adventure Bum

     

This is a project I started a few years back as a "cheeky" photo project for a calendar, people really liked the images but the calendar was a flop. It was right around this time I was starting to have issues with most adventure magazines, mainly the fact that you were lucky to maybe get one actual first person story the rest was advertising, how-to pieces and write ups on places to go or great towns to live in and while that stuff is good to know it gets repeated pretty regular. I decided to start this site as a place to share stories from my own adventures, the final straw came recently when Backpacker re-ran their Editors Choice gear issue without changing a thing other then slapping a new cover on it. Hell the interior pages still said April 2012 while the cover said July 2012. To me that is bullshit, people are out there everyday having cool adventures but they feel they don't need to tell those stories. 

     Now I want to start my own adventure magazine to tell those stories. I am of the opinion that everyone has some sort of story to tell but they don't have a good outlet to do so. THE ADVENTURE BUM will be an iPad magazine that is NOTHING but stories and photos, NO gear reviews or How-To type stuff just good stories that you might tell while having beers with friends around a campfire. Weekend warriors and seasoned pros are all welcome.
Stories that will be excepted will be just about anything that is some sort of adventure. One issue could have a wide range of stories from climbing and backpacking to road trips, international trips are more then welcome as well. Along with the wide range of subjects I also want people to know that they don't have to water their stories down for mass consumption. When I do find a first person type story in the major magazines it has been so watered down so as to not offend some one or even worse an advertiser the story suffers. So if your style is more Edward Abbey or Hunter S. Thompson you are welcome here.
Stories should average around 1,500+ words and will need to have a couple photos to go with it.  There will also be a gallery section for photographers that will feature 4-5 images from a different photographer each issue. Images should be no larger then 8x12" @ 300ppi. I will be paying for stories and photos on publication. 

Please send all submissions to jonhellerphotography@yahoo.com and if you have any questions you can send them in an email or if it is something other people might be wondering ask it in the comment section below.

Lets see what we can get going with this.

Great Video

This is a great video, not only does it go a long way to answer the question "WHY" but the visuals are stunning. 

Single Track Mind

Bemidji has never been and probably will never be and adventure sports mecca but they have been trying. One big step in that direction is the addition of a single track mountain bike trail last year and the other day I got to try it out. I've ridden local logging roads and even some trails in Moab, UT but nothing as intense as this little trail. The corners of which there are many are tight and fast, lots of rolling hills and not much for tough climbs.

The trickiest part of the trail is one little climb that is very rocky and if you don't pick the right line your screwed, I took a little spill here.

I'm hoping to make it back there later this week as I prepare for a race this coming weekend.

Fishing opener.

Today was the opening day for fishing here in Minnesota and for most people that is a pretty big deal, think Christmas. I used to really get into it but as I got older and liked crowds less and less I tend to shy away from major holidays like this that tend to bring out the yahoo's.. So while everyone else was out on the lakes I headed to the little trout stream that I live on and proceeded to catch my limit of rainbow and brown trout. This was the first time in about four years I have been able to catch a limit in an afternoon and I had it all to myself while everyone else was jockeying for position at various boat landings all over Minnesota.

Have a great weekend.

A walk in the woods.

Spring in Minnesota is typically what I refer to as mud season which will usually keep me out of the woods till mushroom hunting starts. There is one spot on my property where I find morel mushrooms each spring. It's the time of year for the morels so I thought I would head out and see if I could find any.

The place where I find them is down in this gully that is constantly clogged with downfalls.

Even though the mushrooms haven't come up yet the moss is nice and lush.

It also started to rain while I was out.

Makes me wonder where this came from.