Ha! Now this is funny. As you surely know, I love to whine and complain about things I don’t like, including banal, regurgitative, one-upsman, and/or... »
Tourism
Travelers: Embrace Your Inner Tourist
I’m happy to have permission from my friend writer Cynthia Ord to re-publish a blog post of hers: Us and Them in Travel Literature. She voices many of the same thoughts I’ve had over the years, especially regarding the pretension with traveler (seasoned=good) vs. tourist (amateur) although I must red-faced admit I looked for the mindfultraveler.com... »
Tourism Dollars and Sustainable Land Use vs. Loss of Culture at the Gocta Falls
This Slate story and the accompanying video are pretty interesting. They tell of a remote village in Peru whose people had been living in the shadow of a huge waterfall that no on else in the world knew about. Once it was “discovered” in 2005, tourism has become popular and the village has changed... »
The Around the World Dream Becomes a Reality (Soon)
Now this is exciting. We have a big new project that is going to keep us super busy (along with our paying jobs, volunteer activities, family obligations, soccer on the weekends, drinking red wine, and avoiding Facebook): Planning a year-long, around-the-world trip! Sadly, this trip is not for us, but it is for someone very... »
This Week’s New York Times: Homestay in Guatemala and a Low Opinion for Slum Tourism
Whenever we travel, we don’t feel like writing about travel – ironic, no? So, since we just got back from a nice road trip in Chile, we’ll leave you with the following two articles from this week’s New York Times: 1. An opinion column on the nastiness of slum tourism. We’ve written about this before but... »
Location, Location, Location! Eco-Retreat Center Needs Your Input
As you may know from our previous post about this super-exciting Life Pivot (new phrase – expect it to be all the rage on Twitter for a day), we are embarking on a quest to buy some land and develop our own humble eco-retreat center. Our plans have changed just a bit from what... »
Sustainable Tourism Innovations Awards - Nominate or Apply Before August 2
As a relatively new field, ecotourism tends to attract entrepreneurs and innovators so you’ll have to be at the top of your game to win the International Ecotourism Society’s annual Innovation Leadership in Sustainable Tourism Award. Good luck! See details below. Media Contacts: The International Ecotourism Society (TIES) Ayako Ezaki, Director of Communications 202.503.5066 x14 media@ecotourism.org For Immediate Release: Innovation... »
When Sustainable Tourism is at Odds with Sustainable Culture
Sometimes, sustainable tourism is a good thing. And sometimes, it’s a mask designed to demonstrate how progressive a country is when that country is in fact, catering to tourists more than to its own longtime culture and the health of its citizens. The latter is exactly what seems to be happening in Bostwana now. According... »
Bodhi Tree Foundation’s Goal of Sustainable Tourism
Over the past year, two new foundations focused on sustainable tourism have been formed. While in theory, this is great news for those of us who promote and believe in responsible, sustainable, socially-conscious, whatever you want to call it-tourism, there is also cause for slight concern. The Bodhi Tree Foundation was founded by Jena Gardner,... »
A Proactive Mindful Traveler
Jeremy Smith writes about how his vision of ecotourism has changed over the years. His personal epiphany is interesting but the best part of this article is the questioning of passive versus active ecotourism. That is, doing the least to harm a place is good, but isn’t doing the most to improve a place... »
Peace Through Tourism
Aside from the crazy and hateful “Freepers” who stand on the corner of Rt. 108 and Georgia yelling at the peaceful, old Quaker ladies holding signs like “Peace Lives” and “Honk for Peace,” who doesn’t like the idea of peace? We especially love the saying, “There is no way to peace; peace is the way.” ... »
