Green Holidays

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I had 2 weeks booked off work to spend on days out - and I was very disappointed!

There are 2 main reason why planning a day out in the UK at this time of year can be a bit difficult - and it seems that when you do decide on where to go, it can let you down a bit too.

Planning:
I decided to look at houses and gardens for some day trips - and I don’t mind driving a few hours to get to them if they are going to be a full days entertainment with plenty of photo opportunities!

However, a lot of properties are closed for the winter either for cleaning and maintenance, or because the expected number of visitors won’t raise enough money to pay the staff that they will need for wardens, guides and ticket office staff.

Both of these are fair points when looked at on a personal level, but it doesn’t really go towards helping to keep holiday makers in the UK:  ‘It’s cold here and half the places are shut - let’s go on a cheap sunshine holiday instead!’

Most of the place I found open were ‘free entry’ landscape and beaches etc - so going there can be done anytime you want - so not worth making an effort to go and see while on your holidays!

Arriving:
We finally selected an ornamental gardens, with woodlands, water features, long walks and a special butterfly event in the glasshouses apparently with butterfly experts on hand to discuss wildlife tips and the butterflies themselves.  It also had a great garden centre attached so we could be sure of a full days fun.

Wrong.

Firstly, there was no butterfly expert on hand, there really weren’t even that many butterflies - and half of those in the glasshouse were still in a state of inactivity, having only just escaped from their chrysalis.  So they were hanging lifeless from branches with their wings all wrinkled up.

Secondly, most of the grassed areas and many of the large plant beds were closed off for re-working and planting.  Quite a lot of the beds from autumn were completely gone with just earth in their place, and many new projects hadn’t started yet, so were just fenced off.

I wasn’t expecting full beds of bright flowers and beautiful bushy shrubs - as I like plants in winter - but closing off these areas was a bit of a disappointment in my eyes.

Thirdly, we left an hour or so at the end to look around the garden centre and to take away some plants and seeds as well as a great cactus for a birthday pressie - but it was closed!

They hadn’t even told you this on the way in, or on the way out or even at the start of the path to get there.  You literally had to walk all the way to the doors to find that it was shut. 

After standing there for a minute or 2 in shock from this, you then walked back down the path past all the other people still walking up to the door to find out the terrible news for themselves!

The Result:
It’s a shame when you are charged the full amount for entry to somewhere, when they don’t tell you that around a 3rd of the attractions are closed!  I mean, there are plenty of other gardens out there - and you want to feel that you got value for money.

If that was the first time I had been there, it is possible that I wouldn’t return!  The butterflies were enough to make the day not a total waste, but having known about the closed plant centre, and the fenced off areas, we may have gone somewhere else that day and come back here another time.

I know the bosses won’t want to be turning people away, but if this one entry fee from Family A is all they ever get from them - then it wasn’t worth it.  But if Family A turn up and have the best day ever - then Family A may be coming back next holiday - or may even become members.

We won’t be!

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If local women are not allowed to visit somewhere - why should female tourists get access?

I was just reading an article in last months National Geographic about a peninsula in northern Greece filled with around 2000 monks.   This self-governing state is seen as the focal point of Orthodoxy in this region, and is home to over 20 monastical buildings and various other shelters and buildings - and not one single woman!

The males here have decreed that there should be no women allowed to visit, work or live on the peninsula - and they have lived here a long time holding on to this wish.

Mainly as they do not want to be distracted from their busy lives of worship and also as the land they occupy is hemmed in by great mountains, and only accessible by boat, so they have a certain amount of control over who enters.

Everything that happens here is ruled by the self appointed ‘rulers’ and they are sticking to their word.

However, now Greece has become involved in the European Union and many of the monasteries are receiving financial support from it - there is talk of ‘changes’ to modernise the area and bring it into line with the rest of the country.

And this could mean allowing women to visit!

Is That Wrong?
Just because we (as travelers) can visit virtually anywhere in the world that we want to, including remote Amazonian tribes in Brazil and Aboriginal families in the vast wilderness of Australia, does that mean we can ignore their culture - and their history - and in this case; their beliefs?

So, should men be able to stop women visiting this region?  Well, I think so.  Or more correctly - women should see how important this is to the monks and refrain from going there.

It is directly comparable to our personal space.  For example: when we go to the gym - we don’t just wander into the men’s locker room?  When we visit someones home - we don’t just go looking around their bedroom - so why should we go and ‘look’ at their monasteries?

It’s a matter of respect really.

Preservation Of Culture:
We all know that as the world expands, so history and culture are lost - so why are we not helping to preserve them?  Things may well eventually have to change - but we shouldn’t be the one’s speeding it up.

There are plenty of people living in the world today that do not want to or do not need to become modernised and have everyone trampling all over their land to see what they are like.

They should be able to just continue doing what they have done for centuries before without being ’studied’ or dissected to see how they ‘fit in’.

It is amazing to think that their are still places in the world that we don’t know about - and I must admit that I enjoy reading about such places and the people who live there.  People living their whole lives in religious seclusion or totally isolated from the rest of the world.

And sometimes, I just hope it will stay that way.

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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!

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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.

Welcome back after several weeks - and are you ready for some more great tips to help you stay safe on-line!

Don’t Use Auto-save Tools While Travelling.
The number of times I went onto a computer abroad to find other users still logged in to things like Facebook and Hotmail was amazing!  Although these still require passwords for ordinary people to get in - other users can be a bit more creative at getting details.

And many sites will automatically bring up your logged in home page if you type in the URL again after not logging out.  My laptop remembers them all unless I log out or actually shut down the computer. 

Makes my day a lot easier - but it could spell disaster if you weren’t the only one logging in.  How many Internet cafes restart their computers between users?  I bet it is virtually none! 

Next time you hop on to a shared computer - go to the pc’s history and pull up some of the sites the last user went to and see if they left any of them ‘open’.  Then you can see for yourself how easy it is.

So, make sure you always click ‘log out’ and wait for it to show the log in screen again - checking that your details are not in there!

Not everyone does it by mistake though - a lady using a computer before me had unbelievably left her email inbox open - and on the screen for all to see!  Can you imagine the damage an open email account full of account confirmation details and passwords could have?  What about access to all those friends addresses and contact numbers that could have been used by a stranger!

Streams of Spam are almost certain to follow!

I think some people get so used to leaving these details on their own or friends computers that they just don’t think of all the dangers out there.  Even if you think you are the only one using the hotels computer - it doesn’t matter.  These are your personal details and you could be exploited.  Even if it’s only your email, they could check all the other sites you had been to that day and add things together - or, of course, just email your friends and ask them!

Delete Your Cookies And Your Internet History - Every Time.
If you were using Internet Explorer, you will be able to clear your history of sites visited and also clear your cookies (small files automatically saved on a pc, which can identify your personal details and what you did on the pc).

It’s very easy to clear these - and worth remembering.  And it means that whoever uses the computer after you (that day, week or month even) won’t be able to find out which sites you visited and any transactions of personal information you needed for that.

To do so: select Tools, then Internet Options, then click the Delete Cookies and Clear History buttons before pressing OK.

It may well take a few minutes to do this as it will be deleting not only your details, but also the hundreds of details before that no-one else bothered to clear.  It would be wise to start this about 5 minutes before your ‘paid’ time runs out to make sure it is done before you run out of minutes! 

If you are staying in the same location, it might be wise to then return to this same computer so that you know that you are safe every time rather than risking a different pc each visit!

Avoid Using Unsecured, Unencrypted Wi-Fi.
Using encrypted Wi-Fi isn’t the main concern here as this is generally very safe - but don’t assume all Wi-Fi is safe!  If you end up using unsecured, unencrypted Wi-Fi, you could leave yourself open to invasion.

Accessing the Internet via an unencrypted Wi-Fi hot-spot in a small cafe or hostel may well allow all your personal details to ’hang around’ that connected location.  It is here that anyone with knowledge of such things could access it!  Frightening stuff to think that someone can see what you did on your computer or laptop on their own screen just across the room from you! 

Basically anyone, with this kind of thing in mind, could be sitting near you - or even across the street - depending on the strength of the signal - accessing your laptop through theirs and ’seeing’ the pages that you visit.  They may even see the user-names and passwords which you type in.  They could also infect your laptop with a virus and access your accounts while you are in them yourself!

Take Care!

How can a country do so well in some things and so bad in others?

We all know from our own experiences that we are better at some aspects of green living, but not so hot on others. 

For example, recycling, reusing and reducing everything, having your own allotment and not having kids may well earn you massive green brownie points - but then you can easily talk yourself into that sunshine break in the Caribbean!

So, how do countries make those choices?

I was recently reading about Malta in the Mediterranean Sea in southern Europe and I was very pleased with their green credentials.

They have several de-salination parks and have done so for decades.  They have a natural shortage of water being so hot and so small that they also don’t really have gardens either - so that they don’t have to waste resources watering them.

The Maltese people build on every square inch of ground so that no land is wasted - and they build small and dark properties in tiny thin streets to maximise the shade and shadow around their properties.  This means that they don’t have to cool themselves with energy-sapping air conditioning.

Their tiny windows stop the sun from heating their houses back up the following morning (unlike all the tourist flats that have great big sliding windows to let in as much sun and heat as possible - well, the air con will cool it down afterwards!).

Their public transport - old buses - runs a regular cheap service so car use can be reduced, and they recycle almost everything.

And, as the evening arrives, everyone files out onto the streets and promenades and parks to mix with friends which keeps community spirit high (no one is going to grafitti, drop litter or cause damage to the areas their family and friends visit every day!).  It also, as a result, reduces energy consumption indoors as nobody is watching TV and leaving their lights on!

Sounds great for an eco destination?

Until you put everything else together, like how to get there.  Most people will fly there as it is still about an hour or so from it’s nearest neighbour Sicily.  Even overland commuters need to get to the very toe of Italy, before boating to Sicily, then crossing most of the island to get the ferry to Malta.  Other boat crossings are available - but if you are thinking of a cruise ship - you may as well fly for all the eco credentials they have!

They are also building all the time, building upwards and outwards.  Recent developments all along the main Strand in Sleima - right to the very end.  All hi-rise apartments for more and more tourists. 

The whole region is just one great big dust cloud.  All the parked cars are covered with a layer of dust - as well as some of the stray cats!  Just in 1 photo of the skyline there were about 10 different cranes at work!

The regular buses are all old though, and the fumes that come ballooning out of the exhausts are not always a pretty site!

And lets not even go into detail about the wildlife offences that this country is often remembered for.

I could go on, but I only wanted to touch on the fact that many countries are touting how well they are doing in green tourism and development - and many of the things they achieve are to be rewarded and applauded - but it cannot be at the loss of other standard requirements - like peace and quiet!

So, whenever you are sizing up one destination against the other, don’t just look at what you know is good - maybe make a comparison list of the things that are bad as well, and think about those.

For example would you be more annoyed if someone shot dead 500 endangered birds than if they crammed 500 more holiday apartments on the coast?  Would you rather a country reduced their water consumption or decreased the number of buses they use?

Interesting discussions.

Can wearing a bikini top be the rudest thing ever?

If you are visiting a local island in the Maldives - then yes, very much so!  It is almost like spitting in the locals faces if you want to relate it to our ideals.  I mean the thought of women baring their shoulders in the Maldivian culture is very offensive and can make local women very uncomfortable.

It also creates a boundary between the people who actually live there and the tourists who want to visit these islands.

And it isn’t just these Indian Ocean islands that have something that seems to normal to us to be so offensive to local communities.

Why Act Like The Local People?
Well, if you relate it to something in western culture it always makes a lot more sense - for example most people in the US would be offended if tourists began to walk into peoples front yards and having lunch, or pushing to the front of shopping queues in the UK.

However, some Americans are happy to wander around a church taking pictures and eating ice creams, or British parents allowing their children to climb all over city monuments or scream and run around in local stores or museums.

I am only using these 2 as examples, but there are plenty of other things that travellers don’t think twice about - yet are so rude in the eyes of others.

I mean some people are even this rude when visiting places in their own country!  However, when trying to experience another culture, you need to at least research the basics and try to blend in with the community you plan to visit.

Even the basics can bridge the gap between you and the people you are hoping to communicate with during your stay.

Culture differences are always important, but even more so when language is already a barrier, and different religions or beliefs can only make things worse and the difference even greater.

It doesn’t take a minute to learn a few polite phrases and some of the most important ‘don’ts’ of the location you plan to visit - so please take the time to do so and make your visit better for the people you are visiting as well as yourself and your family!

How do you stay safe when using an Internet cafe abroad or at home?

If you have transferred most of your subscriptions and bank accounts over to the Internet to save on paper and to increase your accessibility - why throw it all open to intruders?

I mean - when you use a computer that is used by more than one person - like in a hotel reception of Internet cafe - you don’t know who you are sharing your security with.  For example and pc in an Internet cafe could have 10 or more users every day downloading or uploading all sorts of data.

As a result of all these people and all their activities (downloading their photos, or transferring videos or other files from one place to another) each computer could be the host of all sorts of nasty viruses and potentially ‘bad’ software that people have accidentally allowed into the system - or who have done so on purpose!

Using my own experiences as a guide - and a bit of help from some of my ‘computery friends’ I have put together some simple security tips to help minimise the risk you take when using a shared pc.  This will help to keep your personal details safe from prying eyes where you least expect it - and help to stop people viewing your Internet history and reading about you in your cookies……

Start How You Mean To Go On.
The most important thing here is to look for a popular haunt for other travellers.  Is it busy with other travellers and/or was it recommended by your hotel? 

Inside, you could check whether their systems have any ‘anti-virus’ software running on them such as Norton (the yellow circle with the green tick) or AVG logo? 

If you see people downloading pictures from digital cameras, uploading videos and mp3s etc from the Internet, the greater the chance will be that they pass on viruses.  This is due to the increased interaction between the computers and other technology - where someone less careful than yourself has used a ‘dodgy’ computer and picked something up which they then ‘transfer’ onto a computer in your cafe. 

If they have powerful anti-virus software then this isn’t so much of an issue - although if the anti-virus picks something up and the pc users ignores or over-rides the warning then it can render this pointless to a certain extent!

Start A Quick Spy-ware Sweep Of Your Own.
If in any doubt at all about the safety of the pc - which is true for most shared computers abroad - find a free online spy-sweeper tool to run some quick checks for you. 

HouseCall is easy to find online - but there are many others you could use.  The idea of this is for it to identify obvious security problems with the computer before you type any passwords or personal details in - including your name and address.

And don’t forget that a virus in a computer can move onto anything else that you connect to it - it doesn’t just affect the pc.  For example - you could be trying to move your holiday snaps onto Facebook and suddenly the camera gets infected and you lose all your photos - your memory card will never work again! 

Imagine if you were trying to download the amazing footage of you rescuing a wild animal or flying a plane for the first time - lost in an instant along with everything else on your Flip camera.

There will be tears!

Password Protect Your Laptop.
If travelling with your own equipment you are still prone to many of the risks above and in Part 2 - but also to your data and laptop being stolen. 

One great stalling point is to add a decent password to it.  By this I don’t mean something obvious like the country you are in or your dogs name (as these may be obvious if you have been talking to people).  Make it long and difficult to guess like greenbeanandlean or bigbeesbotherbabies!

That way, even if someone steals your laptop - they may well never get to access any of your files.  It’s so simple -  but very effective.

See you later for Part 2 of Online Security For Your Online Lifestyle.

When you are traveling around the place, either locally or nationally - do you ever think about what a difference your tiny car can make on the environment you are travelling through?

I don’t mean anything about the carbon emissions you chug out your exhaust or the energy needed to produce your car in the first place or the natural resources that are being plundered for fuel and spare parts - I mean the fact that you are where you are when you are.

How Can 1 Little Car Make A Difference?
Well, quite a lot if you are in the wrong place at the wrong time really.  And the wrong time may not be so obvious to yourself - only the person behind you!

How many times have you been cursing the traffic in front of you for the hold up?  But how many of those times have you actually needed to be in that traffic in the first place?

I’ve done it myself - stuck in heavy traffic on the way to just browse an out-of-town book store!  I went at a quiet time - but failed to return home before the rush hour - and have become a terrible part of it!

I’m not saying that people who don’t work should never drive in the rush hour - but we should all bear it in mind when we do drive.  And this is especially so when you are on vacation and driving in and about unknown towns and country lanes.

The Lunch Time Rush:
Have you ever had just a few minutes to grab your lunch in town or at a services only to find the person in front of your has all the time in the world and is sorting through coupons in their purse for a pathetically tiny discount off their shopping?  Or the other person who decides that stopping in the doorway of a store to re-organise their shopping bags is absolutely fine - but basically is just in everyone’s way!

That’s what your are if you are on the roads during the rush hour.  You are wasting everyone else’s time - as well as your own - sitting there jamming up the roads.

It’s not just the commuters or school-run moms that are sitting in that traffic - you are too - and we all know that it is no fun at all!  And if you are on vacation - it is a disaster!

So, Take Your Time:
Before heading out on a non-essential journey check what times you will be on the road and think about the traffic.  Could you take the bus instead?  Could you visit a friend before or after to delay your journey and keep the roads that little bit clearer?  Could you stay in these woods for a few hours more - or enjoy one more drink by the river before heading off.

It’s not just in rush hour that this is an issue.  If you are on the road with 5 other non-essentials on Monday, and there are another 6 on Tuesday, 4 on Wednesday, etc, you are making the road seem busier than it needs to be.  And this can multiply up.

If town roads always seem to get crowded and snarled up almost everyday, the local government or council may think that something needs to be done - and this can only go one of 2 ways:  A massive by-pass or more traffic signals, speed restrictions and road works!  Do you want any of them in your town?  In any town?

If you are using the roads, people are going to build more.  If you are congesting the roads, people are going to make bigger roads, and so on.

You may only be 1 little car - but there are loads of people just like you out there - and added together, they are clogging our roads, making people get home from work later in the evenings and creating an awful lot of pollution.

So, try to do your bit to stop this traffic problem - just pick the right time and avoid the congestion!

Is Buying A Last Minute Seat Better Than Buying An Advanced One?

A friend of mine was asking whether booking a last minute cheap flight didn’t technically create as many carbon emissions per person as booking a ticket many months in advance.

What they meant by this was that the flight was going anyway, so then by her filling up one more seat, it would actually making the flight more ‘efficient’.

What Are The Facts?
Well, you could say that booking a flight in advance was actually making sure that the plane actually flew on that date.

By booking a seat on a scheduled plane for example, you are virtually making sure that the airline let that plane go - as scheduled flights are like buses, they fly from a to b regardless of how many people are in them.

This also means that even if no-one books a seat on a scheduled flight it may still fly if there are a large number of people already booked on the return flight!

Therefore if a plane is flying from a to b with only a few customers on board - then you buying a last minute ticket WILL technically make this single flight more efficient and environmentally friendly per person as you will take on your share of emissions.

However, those emissions you take on will be huge compared to flying on a charter flight - which are normally crammed full of people!

Charter flights are normally associated with package holidays, have smaller seat pitches and are not so generous with the free drinks! However, they get more bodies into every plane and will not fly under a certain capacity.

The Other Side Of The Argument:
Alternatively, if you buy a last minute flight on either scheduled or charter you are proving to the airlines that the flight is worth continuing - ie - enough people are using it.

I would imagine that if the same plane flew from a to b every day of the week, and every day there were less than 20 people on it - it wouldn’t take them long to realise that this wasn’t cost efficient. Therefore they would not doubt eventually strike off that flight from the schedule.

So, by not buying the last minute flights from these quieter routes, you could actually help to lower the total number of flights that these airlines flew.

If people buying cheap last minute flights kept booking seats on these quiet planes, then they may continue to fly at great environmental cost.

The Answer:
Therefore, if you are flying on your next vacation and are looking for a last minute deal to save money, then try to find out if the plane is near full or near empty - and avoid the latter.

By leaving the more empty planes empty, this should eventually result in their disappearance from the skies - leaving only the fullest, most efficient flights!