Green Holidays

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Welcome to the final Green Holidays Blog Carnival of 2009.

It has been snowing where I am for days now and the ground is thick with snow! Great stuff - but not so good for all the people who are trying to get home before the new year!

And, not so many to choose from this month - maybe as everyone has been out visiting families or trying to escape to the countryside rather than be stuck in town on the holidays!

Anyway, we are here to talk about some green holidays - and lets start with a short one about voluntourism from Mircea: Tips for Volunteering and Traveling Abroad

Next, another short post about feelings running deep in some countries about cultural sites and landmarks where Dan gives us his opinions on The Ethical & Responsible Travel Minefield. Linking to this is a similar post by another writer: Take Care Not To Climb Uluru.

Ther is also another article about the ethics of travel these days, and poses some interesting questions and ideas.  Compare it to what you think when reading Should We Be More Travel Eco Friendly?

Lastly, Theo presents Green Christmas Ideas Revisited where he covers a few ideas for having greener holidays at home and with family at this time of year.

So, it’s ho ho ho and see you in 2010!

Looking for an alternative way to travel to Europe for your short break just got easier!

There has been a lot of talk about taking less flights to help reduce your carbon footprint, or stopping them altogether - but you still want a holiday, right?

So, use the train from Ashford International Station

There is a huge train network right across Europe with trains taking you to all number of destinations.  These include Paris, Istanbul, Rome, Madrid and even out further to Moscow and even China - although you can’t pop there for just the weekend!

I know everyone is talking about different modes of transport, but people still think that the train is ’slow’ so they don’t even consider it for continental travel.  But you should.

The UK now has an amazing International train terminal in Ashford, Kent, with over 2000 car parking spaces, one of the largest shopping centres in Europe and it is only an hour from the continent!

A quick visit to their helpful website will give you all the details you need for planning your journey through Ashford International, including links to other rail and coach networks across the UK. 

For example, a trip from Leeds to Paris for a long weekend over the new year with your partner will take less than 6 hours - where you can watch the British countryside pass by and a new country appear! 

Just For The Record:
It could take you around 7 hours just to get to Weymouth for the same weekend.  I know where I would rather go!

And even more suprisingly - there was very little in it costwise either, they were virtually the same price!

Obviously you don’t have to just visit Paris or Brussels, you could use Ashford Railway Station as your rail link to start your next longer holiday or overseas adventure! 

Just by stepping on a train at your local station, you could travel the world without a carbon chugging plane in sight! 

And Eurostar journeys are now completely carbon neutral - at no extra cost to you!!

So before you cancel your holidays overseas - check out the train.

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The best way to learn a second (or third) language is to go to where they speak it!

Apart from in school where it is compulsory to learn a second language - whether you want to or not - you shouldn’t rely on books and things to learn how to communicate with the locals.

By all means, get started with a basic introductory guide - but the real language can only be found in restaurants and stores in the place you are visiting.

Downside To Books:
Well, needless to say - books and cd’s are using energy and valuable resources to create, and there is only so much you can learn about a language from written text.

Learning how to pronounce the words is virtually impossible with their weird symbols representing unheard of English sounds - for example the Spanish double l in paella.  You need to hear it to have the confidence to use it.  So if I said you should use the ‘y’ sound from the happy cheer word ‘yeay’ (or yay) but also don’t forget to pronounce the ‘ey’ for the ‘e’ - could you come up with it?  Oh and don’t forget to use the emphasis on the correct syllable too!

Go!!!

Or in Egyptian - pronounce the word ‘ughniyya’ if the ‘gh’ should be rolled like a French ‘r’ and you must pronounce both y’s individually with the stress on the second to last syllable.  Any the wiser?

Also, books are also quite repetitive in the sense that if you buy one basic German book for example, it will cover your name, where you live and giving directions.  Any other basic or introductory or ‘one-day’ books will also contain the same things.  They will all go for the standard stuff first.

Yes, they may do it from a different angle and some may have more role play than others, but you will basically be giving directions to the post office or from the police station over and over again (via the second turning on the left…..!  It can be quite frustrating every time you take up learning again.

And they are heavy to carry abroad too!

The Real Thing:
After travelling quite a bit in South America, I get so much more confident when I am there than when I am at home. 

Ask me to order a cheese and ham sandwich and a cup of coffee in Spanish while sitting on the bus puts a whole different stress on your brain than standing in a restaurant queue in Peru trying to get something to eat!

It just all falls into place.  You have to say the words otherwise you hold up the people behind you and don’t get your lunch!

You don’t need word perfect grammar to get started - and if you have ever watched people ordering food in their own language, it’s never said literally and in perfect order and timing anyway.  It usually goes something like this; “Hi, yeah, can I have a, er, well I suppose, er, a quick sandwich for me; ham and cheese, and a tea.  Thanks.”

Alright, you may get the odd thing wrong and end up picking something you didn’t want out of your dinner - or getting a different dinner to the one you had planned - but you won’t make that mistake again! I always have a reference book abroad with just keywords in it - but I never use it when I am out - it’s just to check things before I go!

And of course, you could always get asked a question about your order after you made it, throwing you totally out of kilter - but just pick up on the words you do know and try to answer their question - this is when you could use pointing!

Fresh Approach:
Seeing as we should all be taking longer holidays now to counter the terrible effects of long haul flights - you will have plenty of time to perfect your new language skills.

Nothing beats turning up at a train station somewhere needing to find you hotel to bring out all your learnt vocabulary.  Even if it is just a few words strung together - you will get by, get to your hotel and probably order something to eat as well.

You really shouldn’t be afraid to start chatting to locals with what you know - they will always be happy to help fill in the gaps.  They can also help you with colloquial terms and phrases too, like the way different regions of your own country refer to their parents (mum, mom, mammy, mother, ma) or their friends etc.

I had more fun learning a language whilst on my holiday than any number of lessons back at school.

So, take your time on your next vacation - and come home with a new language under your (money) belt!

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Learning to Tango in Argentina can be just as important as visiting a rainforest…….

There are a whole host of festival and events that may well rely on your visit to survive the next 30 years or so. 

I’m not talking about the modern Rio Carnival or Oktoberfest - I’m talking about traditions that have lived for centuries in small communities across the world.

UNESCO has set about preserving these traditions with their Intangible Cultural Heritage scheme - to which they have recently added the Tango - but which holds many many more already including many little known cultural delights from across the globe.

Take for example, the Indonesian Wayang Puppet Theatre. This art of story telling has been used in Indonesia for 10 thousand years, across the royal courts and in towns and villages, to bring the regions epic history to life.

There is still an interest in the puppets - either 3-dimensional or brought alive by shadows - accompanied by musicians and singers, but it is having to compete with television and the internet for viewers. 

By making sure you add a visit to a traditional theatre show on your trip to the area, you could be making sure that it is worth continuing the tradion and worth training for.  Would you invest your time learning a skill that people might not need in 5 years?

Or a trip to Mexico in late fall could coincide with the huge festival: el dia de los muertos - the Day of the Dead.  Thousands of local villagers spend the day in celebration of their lost loved ones who are said to come alive for the day and to bring properity and good luck to the families.

Cultural Heritage:

We all know how important it is to encourage traditions and festivals, but of course we need to make sure that we don’t make them into a side show, like the Kayan women from Thailand have become, but we want to make sure that they know the importance of their traditions.

Also, they do not want to freeze cultures in time.  There is no intention to force people to continue with customs that are no longer relevant, but to empower cultures with their past - rather than force them into an uncomfortable future.

Things like Morris Dancing in the UK are well known not to be a part of modern culture - yet we all love the tradition of the dancing and the people who dress up for this know the history and pass on the reasons behind the colors and the stick-bashing!

Society will always evolve - but why not hold on to the things that were once important.  Hopefully governments are working with these groups to make sure that these traditions are not lost forever like many languages around the world have been.

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Are You A Vet or Vet Nurse and want to be involved in something for the community of Peru?

A friend of mine has just got back from an amazing eco adventure in the Amazon, doing the very thing that she loves doing!  Helping animals and their owners with Amazon Cares - a charity that has been working in Peru since 2004.

She took part in a fantastic charity drive to help treat and neuter pets in Iquitos for those people who cannot afford private treatment - and in a region that is so heavily visited by tourists and other travellers that it is surprising that there is no state care on offer.

Their website is constantly updated with blogs and (great) photographs of the workers and patients throughout the day - and it is a job to keep up with all that they get through!

How Can You Help?
If you are a qualified veterinary surgeon or veterinary nurse - you can apply to help with their volunteer drives; next one is starting on the 21st December through to the New Year - although they run regular trips outside of the holiday season.

Use your surgical skills and improve your CV with this short trip to help others and see some amazing sites; the veterinary team have to take a boat down the Amazon to and from work every day!  It’s a hard life!!!

If you aren’t qualified in the trade, you can still help by signing up to follow their twitter account and by becoming a CARES member (which is free). 

This way you can show your support for their work and let the team know that there are people out there who think that this is a great cause - and they can work in this location as part of a team of complete strangers knowing that people on the other side of the world are watching what they do and spreading the word.

People Like Me:
And finally (and possibly in conjunction with one of the above) you can donate money to them!  So that means hard cash or it could mean going shopping!  If you shop through We-Care.com for your Amazon books or your pet food from PetCo - then huge amounts can go to Amazon Cares absolutely free!

Buy your gifts and personal items through their site and raise funds without thinking!  There is even a donate-o-meter to help you keep tabs on how much you have actually donated just by going shopping!

The RGS are hosting a fantastic EcoFair on the 5th and 6th of December in London.

They are bringing together some fantastic international eco friendly companies and charities to fill your day with excitement and fill your bags with great goodies!

Stalls include some of the old favourites like the RSPB selling wildlife gifts, memberships and information for your gardens and great days out and the CO-OP will be promoting their eco friendly and fair trade clothing ranges.

There are also products available from around the world, with alpaca clothing from Peru, ethical accessories from Nepal, hand-made silks from Cambodia and Luxury fabrics from India.

There are also creations from the UK, including recycled household goods, hand-made bespoke jewelry, fair trade organic babywear and luxurious oils and soaps.

There is also a free puppet show being performed at the show just after lunch time - called the Forest of Fables, and is performed using Japanese style puppets (made from recycled materials) to African music depicting well known Greek fables!

In addition, there is even a puppet making session beforehand - so your children can make their own recycled pupet like those from the show and learn how the show is put together - including a sneak preview at some of the songs - and they get to keep their puppet!

The whole show is free entry to all - with free fairtrade wine for all RGS members and guests - see the RGS website for more details……..