Green Holidays

Take a step back in time when you go to South America – it is worth it’s weight in Gold!

Travelling to places because of their current beauty is a great choice for a vacation; and taking a holiday to a location rich in history is another great idea. So why not choose a place where both of these are plenty?

Peru holidays have it all wrapped up.

They have colonial towns, snow-capped mountains, ancient mountain cities, stone-paved Andean pathways, strange petroglyphs, beautiful people and of course – centuries of Inca Gold!

photo credit: timsnell

Wherever you go in Peru, you can’t help but wonder at the history of the place. How and why the people of this land made such wonderful buildings, temples and pathways in the mountains? How so much of it is preserved today, and how did they build Macchu Pichu without horses and wheels?

The wildlife in these mountains is also worth taking a closer look at – like the huge variety of hummingbirds that feed on the colourful cloud forest flowers. The native Chinchillas are all over the place as well as a variety of birds enough to keep even the non-twitchers happy.

Why Peru?
If you are going to take a vacation – you may a well make the most of it while you are there.

Seeing as most visitors would have had to travel by plane to get to South America in the first place, you should really make the effort to make the stay a long and busy one – cramming in a little bit of everything while you can.

Why take 2 short trips to one place when it makes eco sense to take a longer, slower trip in the first place.

Not only will you save on the fuel needed to get there, but you will get a feel of the culture better over a longer period; try all the foods on offer; get to know more about the local people as well as learn and practice a new language.

Talk about a new meaning for All Inclusive holidays!

You might be dying to walk the Inca Trail – but you don’t want to actually die!

You might not believe that 1 in 10 serious mountaineers actually die every year from altitude sickness; so if they can be affected by this strange affliction – then what makes you think you won’t?

And as we all know – avoiding dangerous situations in the first place is not only the best way to keep your adventures as eco friendly and as people friendly as possible – but makes for a better holiday than having to call out the emergency services and spending a while in recovery or hospital!

First Steps:
The first thing to think of is whether you are at risk in the first place.

So if you are trekking anywhere under 10,000ft you are probably ‘OK’ – but when you start going above this height (places like the Andes, the Himalayas, Kilamanjaro and Mount Kenya) you should really know the symptoms of mountain sickness in yourself and your climbing friends.

This is expecially true if you are flying into this height from sea level, catching a train into the mountains or driving to very high locations as you haven’t acclimatised yourself to the different physiological challenges of less atmospheric air and the extra strains it puts on the active body.

The main thing to remember at all times is that altitude sickness can strike quite fast, may only have a few seemingly random symptoms, can affect even the most fit and experienced climbers or trekkers, and can and does kill people.

So take it seriously.

photo credit: discosour

How To Avoid It:
The best way to avoid getting ill from mountain sickness is ascending very slowly when at high altitudes – preferably acclimatising slowly on arrival.

Following recommended climbing ‘rates’ is also a good plan – at about 1,000ft a day – or as slow as your slowest walker. And of course this means after you have acclimatised to being at 10,000ft in the first place.

Not planning a ‘rush climb’ is another key factor, as most stories of problems are from people who ignored earlier symptoms as they felt that they ‘had to get to so and so before stopping’. As a result they pushed too hard and their bodies reacted badly.

And make sure you are planning for stops along the way, take frequent breaks and always know where your descents are incase you need to get lower. It is better to arrive healthy in 5 days than have to stop after 3 and get air-lifted to a hospital!

Some of the earlier symptoms of altitude sickness could be mistaken for something else, or ignored if people don’t want to ’cause a scene’ – but if you are at height, you should always assume that it is altitude related and consider stopping for the day or descending slightly until the symptoms disappear.

Bearing in mind the headache you get is your brain swelling up, and the cough is due to fluid flooding your lungs – I think anyone in their right mind should think about descending anyway!

Why not try some new recipes to save money on the road?

There are plenty of new dishes you can try when you travel overseas – but when you are on a budget – or living in a remote location – you might need to try some new things!

There are a lot of new foods available in the countries that you are probably travelling through – so why not take advantage of them when you are working you way through a continent or working on a volunteer project.

Forget your normal ways of eating – and embrace the new!  Maybe this will involve taking a cooking book with you or just taking a few classes on cooking times and sauces!

The Standards:
Now, there are many combinations of foods that you could come across when cooking overseas – although to be honest most of them will be focused on rice!

However you might not have a fridge for most of it – so you need to be aware of how best to store fresh food – and how to limit what you buy in the first place!

Depending on how far away from stores you are – your menus will vary immensely.  I mean if you can get you hands on fresh veg almost every day, then buy as little as possible each day – but when you only get fresh supplies every so often – then you need to get creative!

Storage Skills:
Something in the kitchen almost as important as the cooking is the storing!

If you don’t look after your ingredients or use them in the right order – then you are wasting them.  So you need to think ahead as soon as you get raw materials.

Thinking of basic recipes can really help you – but learning how to create new recipes and to store things to get the best shelf-life out of them is key to making you food go further and saving on waste.

Food doesn’t normally come with more than a few days freshness when picked and left on the kitchen table – especially in tropical climates.  And even in the fridge, dairy products and watery vegetables don’t pass the week really.

So you need to work out which things can be used fresh, which need cooking before storing and those which can be treated in some way to preserve them for many months – and many of these things you will find already in use by the local people.

photo credit: andrewrennie

Local Skills:
There are many ‘specialist’ foods that have evolved not due to their great taste – but because they are locally found foods and this is the way they need to be cooked or stored to best serve the communities they are found in – and learning a bit about them won’t do you any harm!

For example ‘stir-fried’ food was used in China where they didn’t have a lot of fuel for cooking over a long period of time – so they invented a food that took just minutes to heat up. 

Many colder European countries needed to grow all the root vegetables they needed for the year in their short growing season – so they learned to pickle a huge amount of them to last them through the cold winters when nothing would grow – like sauerkraut!

And if you didn’t have a car or supermarket – or a lot of money – wouldn’t you eat things that was found close to home and that you could make last a long time!

Stores where you visit might sell brands from back home – but you don’t need to buy them….

Thinking ahead to what you enjoy on holiday can influence your savings!

Did you think that your savings just sat in a drawer at the bank the whole time – earning you interest by just being there?

No, of course not.  Your money is sent all around the world by your bank or financial company and invested into all sorts of ventures from gold to technology, and from energy to vaccinations.

But what if your bank is funding things that you disapprove of?  Have you even asked them who they lend your money to?

Why Should You Care?
Well, firstly – you surely don’t want to be giving your money to any company that isn’t environmentally friendly do you?  Or a company that abuses people or landscapes? 

Would you give your money to a company that clears forests, pollutes waterways or displaces communities? Or one that abuses people, destroys homes and causes illness and disease?

What if you are spending money each month donating to charities which are using your money to fight certain developments – yet your savings are helping to fund the other side.

One set of funds is destroying a habitat – and you other money is trying to clean up the pieces!

What Could You Be Doing?
Well, you could be responsible for destroying the very places that you want to visit in the future. 

Your funds could be clearing landscapes for farming, energy exploration, transport connections, and any number of other technologies without you really knowing that you are doing it.

photo credit: L Gnome

If you were only looking at the financial returns at the end of your term or for when you retire then you are missing the point of the word: investment!

What is the point of investing in purely your own financial future – when the rest of the world is still being changed beyond your control.

So what you should be doing is making sure that the companies you invest in are doing what you want them to be doing.  Check with your bank where they are sending your money before you give it to them.

You try to only travel with ethical companies and you buy products that are fair trade and sustainable – so why not check where all your money is going in the bank!

You could be paying an oil drilling company to cut holes in the Amazon with your pension – and also giving to a charity to try to relocate all the people and animals that used to live where an oil well is now situated.

And if you want to ever see those orangutans in the wild – make sure your savings account isn’t funding oil palm plantations!

You can do a lot of things with your money – so plan to spend it well!

Could Supporting Local Bee Farmers Help Reduce Demands On The Environment?

We need to think big these days – and certainly look to be sympathetic to the developing world – who are living in conditions similar to those that we were only a few 100 years ago.

They are mainly subsistence farmers or herders who live on what they can grow and the little that they can sell.  They have to rely on resources that are local to them and are as good as free – just as those in the US and Europe did not so long ago.

Now, unfortunately – we are painfully aware that living like this is not going to be possible for the millions of people now currently living in the developing world.

The climate is changing to make herding and farming virtually impossible in some areas; the population has risen to ridiculous and unsustainable numbers making a few trees for the family firewood become a whole woodland for the expanding village; and the demands of the (comparatively) richer individuals are stripping whole countries bare of resources, taking land and water from local people and dumping waste in their backyards.

So – What Can We Do?
Well, as we know what is currently ‘damaging’ to our planet – we can use our buying power to make the right choices.

Just as back home – what you buy determines what manufacturers make – the same applies to internationally traded goods.  Although the honest truth sometimes slips by us:

If you keep buying illegally logged hardwoods (ie. by not opting for FSC approved alternatives) you are actively supporting the destruction of the rainforests and the extermination of orangutans, jaguars, and the endless number of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and plants that depend on them.

If you keep buying any old fish or seafood that you like the look of (rather than opting for MSC approved sustainable alternatives) you are actively supporting the extinction of many endangered species that are being over-fished.  You are also actively supporting the wasteful and destructive nature of bottom-trawling and long-line fishing that are killing off more than just the fish you get to eat; this includes all sorts of birds, mammals, other fish and sea creatures.

I could go on with this list – but sometimes we don’t think or the end result of our ‘easy’ food choices.

Alternative Living:
So back to the bees: They reproduce extremely fast, do all the hard work themselves and don’t need a huge amount of space to grow. What a great alternative to cattle and dessicated crops! But they need someone to buy the honey.

And so, if a family has chosen to ‘farm’ these insects rather than farm something illegal or damaging to the environment – then shouldn’t we support that?

All across the globe we are trying to help communities to become more self-sufficient and sustainable by introducing bee-keeping, fairtrade specialist products and co-ops so that they don’t have to plunder their local area just to survive. 

We are also helping to make sure that they have access to biomass heating, solar cookers, water purifiers and education and skills so that they don’t have to depend on limited rainwater, local forests, bushmeat and food handouts.

So, make sure that you support these efforts back home with your shopping choices.  If they are making something that you don’t buy – then they won’t be sustainable alternatives, will they?

If they are saving the rainforest and it’s endangered wildlife buy manufacturing fairtrade honey, organic coffee or FSC approved furniture – then you had better make sure that you buy it over the ‘not so eco friendly’ alternatives.

If not – then they will have to go back to living off the land – even if that means killing another tiger, clearing some lush forests or over-grazing their land with cattle.

Your choice!

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Should you avoid holiday destinations that require extra vaccinations or tablets?

I know it is only a small thing – but taking malaria tablets does have an impact on the environment as do specific vaccinations like Rabies and Yellow Fever – just like any medication or remedy.

Now I am not saying that you should travel to regions of the world that have these risks WITHOUT taking the necessary precautions – I’m just considering the option of not visiting those areas just for a vacation.

Taking a 2 week sunshine holiday in Kenya might mean 6 weeks of malaria tablets and a Yellow Fever vaccine.  All are using natural resources – all being used up for you here when a trip to the Maldives requires neither (nor the expensive Visa!).

The Maldives

If it was the safari you were after then consider Southern Botswana (Kalihari) and Lesotho (Drackensburg) which are both virtually malaria free.

The Holiday:
If you are just after a holiday somewhere warm with a few interesting sites to visit then there are plenty of places to choose from around the world where you are at no risk of malaria or other diseases.

Take the Seychelles, the Bahamas, Cuba, the Canary Islands, Japan, Hawaii and anywhere in Australia and New Zealand – all free from Malaria and Yellow Fever – and nearly all of these are rabies free too!

Not only are you limiting the initial purchase and use of very strong medications – you are also planning to not use any more in the future – as opposed to exposing yourself to the disease in the first place and having to have follow up treatment for months or years to come afterwards!   

The Green Holiday:
However, if you are planning to help out either paid or voluntarily abroad for a specific cause – then you might not have such a choice in the matter of destination.

And depending on what you are doing, you might need to have extra vaccinations or medications, so why not make it worth while by staying for longer and/or visiting the same locations over and over again. For example, if you have had all the vaccinations to work with animals in Asia – then keep doing so.

Planning Ahead:
The same goes for all sort of other medications – including headaches tablets, antiseptics, after sun remedies and even anti-diarrheals!  Try to avoid the reason to use them.

Don’t sit in the sun unprotected – and wear a hat.  Use natural insect repellents and wear suitable clothing.  Don’t drink untreated water or eat uncooked or unknown foods. Avoid excessive alcohol and unprotected intercourse.  And on and on….

All these obvious things can reduce your requirements for routine medications and lotions, and keep chemicals away from delicate habitats.  As they all get urinated out or washed off – by reducing your reliance on remedies and therefore using less product – you will help to reduce the concentrations of pollutants in community drinking water and wetland habitats as well.

And don’t get me started on packaging and transporting these things around the world in the first place!

Think. Plan. Prevent

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Hello again, and I hope you haven’t been caught up in all this airline trouble at the moment!

No doubt if you had booked a quiet trip by train across Europe, it could have been affected by thousands of other holidaymakers who couldn’t get on a plane! 

Your quiet out-of-the-way hotel could have been besieged by families waiting for a ferry or coach to turn up!  It could make for some really interesting articles but wasn’t much fun I’d imagine!

Anyway, lets get on with those already in the system – starting with a great post about travelling around the States using car-shares rather than the hassle of hiring one yourself or dragging your car across the country!  Follow the tips offered by Byteful Travel in How to Get Paid to Travel 1,000 miles: Craigslist and see if you can go on a great plane-free car-sharing friend-making adventure!

If you are traveling north to Canada instead then why not take a peek at the photos in Mark H’s article: Wicked But Stunning (Jasper National Park, Canada) where you can see images of pure tranquility! And imagine if you a life there for next too nothing – wouldn’t that make it all the more magical?

Eco Living Advice wants to share with you some destinations on the other side of the Atlantic with 7 Eco Friendly Tourist Destinations in the UK, showing that you don’t need to travel across oceans to see some great sites – you have plenty right where you are now!

And if you want to take along some pretty unique clothing and accessories when you travel – maybe for yourself (laptop bag) or for others (hair bands and wallets) – then take a look at some of the links which Gabriella White has in the post 100 Amazing Upcycling Ideas Anyone Can Do and maybe give one a try! It makes using all your rubbish so easy – and you get something totally unique virtually for free!

However, if you want a taste of a country without actually going there, take a look at the huge choice given by Rowena Hebert for travel literature that summons up the taste and feel of exotic or distant destinations that could interest and inspire you: 100 Novels That Let You Travel The World Without Leaving Home. I have added a few to my reading list that I hadn’t heard of before……

……but if you want to see rather than read, then take a look at Daniel Jones’ list of Top 100 Travel Photography Blogs and see some amazing shots – and like me you might wonder why you aren’t doing your own travel journal like this!

And finally, Jerry Rogers offers up a huge list of links for the student and includes a small section on green travel links 100 Essential Blog Posts for Students Going Green, and you might even find something else inspiringly green that you weren’t really looking for as well!

So, get reading and change today for the better…….

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Which charity should you donate to, to help the Haitians get through this terrible natural disaster?

Well, that is the point of the DEC – the Disasters Emergency Committee which have been working hard for humans since 1963 – basically they join all the main humanitarian charities together to fight one cause.

These humanitarian agencies include Save The Children, Help The Aged and the British Red Cross, and in times of emergency – like the earthquake that recently devastated Haiti – they join together to make big things happen – and fast!

This way funds, supplies and more importantly – information, gets passed to the right people at the right time  – rather than having all of the 13 single charities all trying to ‘do their bit’ to help separately but at the same time basically treading on each others toes!

It makes perfect sense to organise emergency relief this way – otherwise there will be too many people all on the same place at the same time all using valuable funds to do the same thing.

The DEC makes sure that none of the funds are wasted and that every charity can work in it’s area of expertise without wasting time deciding who is going to do what.

Your Donations:
By donating directly to the DEC, you can save even more of these funds by limiting the administration costs (and wasted time) of transferring money to Help The Aged, who then have to process and bank this money, only to then process these funds again when working with the DEC.

And, donating directly to the Disasters Committee means that that is exactly what your donation is going to be used for.  It isn’t going to pay wages for charity workers who are not directly helping the victims of the earthquake; it is going straight to the problem – and fast!

The DEC can also call upon huge international broadcasting agencies and distribution companies to help spread the word and facilitate collections and direct action – like free-phone numbers and televised broadcast appeals.  Your money makes this possible – and gets results.

Emergencies:
No one can plan for such emergencies, so these ‘on demand’ appeals are the best way to get the publics attention and to get one-off donations from companies and individuals.  These disasters don’t happen every week – so treat them as a rare event that you can help out with.

I mean, no-one is going to become a member of the DEC and get newsletters from it – it is an instant decision charity, and everyone can help by lifting the phone or getting online.

If everyone in your street gave just £5 that could be over £500 raised - multiply up your close neighbourhood – and it rises to £3000+. 

It might only be a small amount to you – but it soon treats thousands of wounded people – feeds hundreds of families and eventually helps to rebuild homes, hospitals, schools and cities.

Have you donated your £5 yet?  Donate Now.

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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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I know it’s early yet – but keep the date clear in your diary!

I have been to this show for several years now – and I love it! 

It has got everything from volunteering, gap year advice, great products, specific seminars and great food!

I would really recommend a visit here for any travel related queries. The experts on hand can offer you all sorts of tips and tricks and new ideas – whether you know what you want already or you want to be taken completely by surprise!

This show has inspired us to finally travel to Costa Rica for a month to watch the wildlife – which was one of my best travel experiences yet – as well as numerous other trips and ideas!

I remember sitting in the Overland tours bus that was rolled into the hall watching a great video about Africa wondering where on earth anyone was supposed to go to the toilet!

So whether you are looking for inspiration or want to fine tune your ideas – this is the place!

Go to their website: Adventure Show 2010 for more details and to sign up for their newsletter…..