Provisions: Cool things for recreation and travel

A guide for what you need to buy, read or consume to enhance your travel experience

United by Blue Bison Socks

$38; unitedbyblue.com

For those of you who find 100 percent merino wool socks just not cozy and warm enough, there’s a new, pricey sock on the market for outdoor types. It is made from 24 percent bison down, along with the merino wool. It’s said to be uber-warm. And, really, have you ever seen a bison in Yellowstone shivering in the cold? I didn’t think so.

RaceDots

$19.99 (pack of four); Racedots.com

The marketing for this product snarkily proclaims: “Don’t be a pinhead.” In other words, if you’re still using safety pins to affix your bib number to your race singlet, you’re so 2010. Instead, try these “strong rare-earth magnets in a thin metal shell” to keep the bib number snug. One advantage: RaceDots won’t put holes in your favorite shirts. Then again, safety pins at races are free.

“Top 10 Reasons Belgium Isn’t Boring”

www.lonelyplanet.com

Writer Oliver Bennett of Lonely Planet says Belgium isn’t the yawn fest that many people assume. His reasons:

1. Double- and triple-fried frites

2. Famous people (examples: René Magritte, Django Reinhardt, Jean-Claude Van Damme, the Smurfs)

3. Cartoon culture (check out the Belgian Comics Art Museum)

4. Christmas markets (medieval town centers)

5. Art nouveau

6. Beer (“Belgium is the Bordeaux of beer”)

7. Gent (and the town’s Gravensteen castle)

8. Fashion in Antwerp

9. The seaside

10. Magritte (visit his museum in Brussels)

Compiled by

Sam McManis, smcmanis@sacbee.com

This story was originally published June 12, 2015 at 5:01 PM with the headline "Provisions: Cool things for recreation and travel."