Photo: laihiu

Mashable recently named their top 7 places to watch great minds in action.

The list included the well-known conference TED, and a bunch of other ones based on the TED model (ok, we can easily deduce who is the leader of the great minds in action).

It got me thinking, where could you watch great travelers in action? Sure, there are plenty of great travel blogs out there, such as Nomadic Matt and Everything Everywhere, but what if you actually want to rub elbows with some of the top in the field? A place where you can get to know their secrets, and also find out what is happening in the world of health, sustainability, and cultural tourism?

I searched the internet, and found the top travel conferences that blend these important issues, gives you a chance to schmooze with some of the greats, and offers the opportunity to put your travel writing skills to good use. Here’s what I came up with:

Health/Industry

1. The World Medical Health Tourism Conference

Location: Phuket, Thailand (2009)
What they have to say: “The conference philosophy is designed to further improve the capabilities of healthcare institutions and tour operators who are key players in the medical tourism industry and to provide each individual patient to be well-informed on the standards of medical information worldwide.” Attendees include MDs, Spa & Massage Clinic Operators, travel agents, airline companies, tour operators, and anyone in the hospitality industry.

2. Adventures in Travel Expo

Location(s): New York, Washington D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle.
What they have to say: Marketplace for travelers, offering “unique” vacation options and travel information. Also includes travel seminars, hands-on activities, and cultural performances.

Sustainable and Cultural Tourism

3. Sustainable Tourism: Issues, Debates & Challenges

Photo: swimparallel

Location: Crete (2010)
What they have to say: “The aim of the conference is to provide a forum for academics, emerging researchers, policy-makers, industry practitioners, and destination management and marketing professionals to discuss and debate key issues in the development and management of sustainable tourism in an era of climate change.”
Writing opportunity: Themes include alternative tourism development, sustainability and economic restructuring, and eco tourism as a possible viable route to rural development. They are also accepting paper abstracts with an October 1, 2009 deadline. If chosen, there is an opportunity for possible post conference publication in either the Journal of Sustainable Tourism or the Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management.

4. Sustainable Tourism 2010

Location: New Forest, UK (2010)
What they have to say: “Sustainable Tourism 2010 aims to find ways to protect the natural and cultural landscape through the development of new solutions which minimize the adverse effects of tourism. This can be achieved through the development of new strategies involving the active collaboration of society as a whole. Such solutions ought to cope with the continuous growth of tourism impacts on the country including culture and society.”
Writing opportunity: You can also submit an abstract for a paper here. Papers chosen for the conference will be considered for publication in the International Journal of Sustainable Development and Planning.

5. World Cultural Tourism Association

Location: Bangkok, Thailand (2009)

What they have to say: “The aim of this conference is to provide a forum for international educators, scholars, researchers, industry professionals, policy-makers and graduate students with opportunity to explore and discuss issues in the topics on cultural tourism.”
Writing opportunity: They currently have a call for papers for the November 2009 conference due today, July 31st, that are relevant to culture and tourism.

Travel Writing

Photo: ExperienceLA

6. Book Passage Travel Writers & Photographers Conference

Location: Corte Madera, California
What they have to say: “The Conference offers an array of workshops, panels, and evening activities. There are many hours of informal interaction between faculty and students during lunch and in discussions that often last late into the evening. Alumni have published books, articles, and photos — many as the direct result of lessons learned and contacts made at the conference.”

7. Travel Classics International

Location: Quebec City, Canada (2010)
What they have to say: “Conference includes: low writer/editor ratio, editor presentations and panel discussions, scheduled one-on-one meetings with 4 or more editors, writer bios and clips sent to editors in advance, off site dinners and after hours networking, Writers contest judged by conference editors, pre and post conference trips, work showcased on TravelClassics.com.”

Any other great travel conferences we missed? Share your links below.

Community Connection

Want a foundation in travel writing before you venture to a conference? Check out Matador’s Travel Writing school, Matador U, to learn everything you need to know to become a successful travel writer.

Holy man / Photo: lylevincent

During my recent solo trip to India, I found myself thinking about the darker side of traveling – the sense of distrust, alienation, and confusion that can result from negative or disturbing experiences with another culture or traveler.

These thoughts came to me as I walked along the ghats in Varanasi. I’d been in India for less than 48 hours. Already I was joyfully immersed, but I’d also never felt so unsure of who to trust.

It wasn’t long before a male Sadhu (holy man) accosted me and made grotesque sexual advances. Without realizing it, I’d decided Sadhus were not to be trusted.

Later, a female Sadhu with an unflinching stare and a wide smile walked with me along the ghats. I grew uneasy in her presence and turned down an invitation (made with hand gestures) to go to her temple. At the last minute, I changed my mind. I ended up participating in a puja (worship), which now stands out amongst my most interesting experiences in Varanasi.

I realized that my fears had been unfounded – she’d had good intentions. But how was I to know how to distinguish between the false and the friendly?

The Threat Of Uncertainty

When frequent and intense interactions with strangers are combined with a lack of stable social support, our sense of safety can be challenged. The exhilaration of endless possibility can morph into threatening uncertainty.

Of course these challenges aren’t always related to travel. Our species is a social one, and thus we are forced to learn and re-learn about social trust and safety in our everyday lives. For these critical moments of uncertainty can determine whether or not we withdraw and cling rigidly to our perceptions or plunge forward into new territory despite our fears.

In the development of these skills, travel presents particularly difficult challenges – but the rewards can be vast.

What exactly tries our sense of trust and openness while we’re traveling? First, being in a new culture forces us to work harder to establish an initial sense of trust with local people.

Unable to understand cultural nuances, we must rely on facial expressions and body language, and recall abstract information we’ve absorbed from a book or a person. Local con-artists are quick to exploit this with false smiles which can fool even the most experienced travelers.

The Shock Of Deceit

Whatever the case, negative experiences can drain a person of their energy and enthusiasm for a place or culture. We may become bitter, withdraw, and experience feelings of anger and disappointment.

Begging woman / Photo: gregor_y

No matter how many people tell you beforehand to watch out for the tuk-tuk drivers in Bangkok or warn you of the false friendliness of the store owners in Varanasi, many of us have found ourselves in precisely the situations we were warned of.

We are duped, and if we imagine it happening again and again, this tends to fuel our feelings.

In the midst of navigating through strange physical and cultural territory, we often turn to other travelers or expats for relief.

One of the great joys of traveling is the opportunity to meet and share experiences with people from all over the world. Conversations flourish as we meet other excited travelers, opening ourselves up in ways that we might never do at home.

I’ve had unforgettable conversations and intense adventures with people I hardly knew, simply because of the open heart and spirit of adventure that so many travelers have.

But what happens when things go wrong? When you open up to someone who turns out to have ulterior motives, is dishonest or disrespectful? The sense of community, bonding, and intimacy is jeopardized. Feeling naive, we begin to question our ability to sense other people’s motivations.

A Woman’s Challenge

Women are bound to encounter more difficulty in establishing straightforward relationships with both locals and expats.

In India, I found that it just was not possible to be “friends” with an Indian man – even saying hello and making eye contact was seen as an invitation for sexual attention. In other places, such as South America, it can be outright dangerous to make eye contact, let alone speak with a man.

In some ways, this makes interactions simpler, but it also belies a sadness. As female guests in certain cultures, we are aware that any interaction with a local man may lead to a negative experience. Our only option, then, is to ignore them.

I’ve seen and heard of women who do meet the exceptions. I wonder what barriers these women came up against in establishing that rapport.

For much of my time spent in Varanasi, I felt quite raw – I’d had some negative experiences with locals, and had found that a new male expat friend was not someone to be trusted or respected.

I often had to withdraw and rest – I found that my continuous suspicion of people, my feelings of powerlessness and insecurity, were draining. Yet I kept on going – I continued to meet new people, reminded myself to keep an open heart, and reconciled myself with the culture and other travelers.

The Payoff

I won’t lie and say that this was easy. But it was worth it.

Looking back on my time spent in Varanasi, I realize how much I learned about myself and about our species. As humans, we take risks every day when we open ourselves up to other people. Unfortunately, many people who are willing to take advantage of that, whether consciously or unconsciously.

Our greatest task is to learn how we relate to others, why we relate to them in a certain way, and how our ways of relating affect not only ourselves and our intimates, but the entire world.

What do you think of the challenges of trust abroad? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Photo: xlordashx

Have to admit, I thought polyamory was a San Francisco Bay Area (specifically, Marin County) original.

Ok, ok, I knew it was probably happening in a few other enclaves throughout the world, like Paris, or Salt Lake City.

But whoa, nelly. Newsweek just did a spread on this type of extreme loving. For those who don’t know, polyamory means having a relationship with more than one person at a time.

What differentiates it from Mormonism is the fact that women also have multiple partners, and marriage isn’t necessarily involved. Newsweek also refers to it as “ethical nonmonogamy,” and estimates that the number of polyamorous couples in the US alone is over a half million.

Naturally, this growing movement has brought out commentary from the religious right. But they are taking a bit of a leap, with some leaders believing that if gay marriage becomes legal, polyamory will become “normalized.” Glenn Stanton, the director of family studies for Focus on the Family, had this to say:

This group is really rising up from the underground, emboldened by the success of the gay-marriage movement.

At the same time, some gay-rights activists are distancing themselves from the polyamory movement. Andrew Sullivan of the Atlantic recently wrote, “I believe that someone’s sexual orientation is a deeper issue than the number of people they want to express that orientation with.”

Exposing False Traditions

Photo: robad0b

Looks like not all Christians are against this lifestyle choice, though.

In my research, I came across the Liberated Christians site.

Here’s their mission statement:

Promoting positive intimacy and sexuality including responsible nonmonogamy or polyamory as a legitimate CHOICE for Christians and others/Exposing false traditions of sexual repression that have no biblical basis.

They believe that polyamory is simply the expression of the “God-given natural desire to connect emotionally and sexually with more than one person.” They say that cheating, so common in today’s society, comes from our repressed culture and the stigma that comes with expressing our true desires.

So, contrary to what both the religious right and the gay movements proclaim, maybe polyamory is the natural way. Or is it just an excuse to do whatever our heart desires?

Do you think that polyamory can be ethical and spiritual? Share your thoughts below.

I admit, I’ve had a few daydreams about visiting the mythical Bhutan. After watching this excellent short film from Current on their recent move from monarchy to democracy, it remains just as tempting a destination.

In a country like Burma, under the grip of a tyrannical junta, it’s easy to see why democracy is desirable. But for Bhutan, they see their strife ridden neighbours Nepal and India, and are fearful their “gross national happiness” will be the first thing to go.

The older Bhutanese blame their new ills on television and westernization… unavoidable products of democracy.

What do you think about the tradeoff? For a country like Bhutan, is it better to accept democracy, and self-determination, even if it’s deeply flawed?

Feature photo: Marina & Enrique

The author (right) with the baby elephant “Faa Mai” in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Scott Meredith (left) from Conscious Media Network

A decade ago, if you would have talked to me about communicating with animals I would have said you were nuts.

Unexpectedly over the last few years, my studies and work in the field of conflict resolution has led me to theories that link conflict between humans to conflict between humans, animals, and the natural world.

It is believed that all living beings have an innate capacity to communicate with one another (this includes plants). These theories claim that if we resolved our conflict with animals, we’d find that we can actually communicate with them.

I found the idea at first to be outrageous. Yet, with a curious spirit, an open mind and the willingness to experiment, I’ve had some fascinating and unexpected experiences.

When you communicate with an animal you will likely experience a “zone” that is unlike what you normally feel in communication with humans. The closest experience might be the non-verbal awareness of holding a baby or being with a lover.

It is an embodied physical experience. In this space we are tuned into our sensations. Our intuition guides us.

It is a long lost human capacity, that most, if not all, indigenous cultures once had. Derrick Jensen’s “A Language Beyond Words” and David Abrams’ “Spell of the Sensuous” are two great introductions to this topic. Trainings that can assist developing these capacities to engage with wild animals include the teachings of the animal tracker Tom Brown and Buddhist walking meditation.

Journey To Thailand

My most recent explorations of human-animal communication have occurred in northern Thailand, with an animal that has one of the most ancient relationships with humans – an animal that as a child I considered one of the most exotic creatures on earth – the elephant.

Statue in Bangkok / Photo: Ian MacKenzie

In Thailand, the relationship between humans and elephants is anything but exotic. An enduring symbol of Thailand, the elephant is at the very center of the culture and history of the region.

Historically, elephants were used in war and as beasts of burden to build the country. Spiritually, the elephant is significant because of a legend that Buddha’s mother dreamt of a white elephant before she conceived, and also because of Ganesha, the Hindu god with an elephant’s head.

Africa is the ultimate destination for a wilderness experience of the largest land animal, but for a human-animal experience, the place to go is northern Thailand where the slightly smaller Asian elephant resides.

It is unlikely that anyone visiting Thailand won’t see real elephants. Many tourists ride elephants on treks through the jungle and go to elephant shows, where the animals perform tricks that demonstrate incredible coordination and intelligence.

But the unavoidable elephant experience in Thailand is the surreal slow sight of a colossal grey-brown creature delicately stepping down the middle of a hectic tourist-filled street led by young men begging for money.

The Elephant Whisperer

Elephants are renowned for their intelligence and sensitivity. Some people studying elephants wonder if the emotional intelligence of elephants is comparable to or even greater than that of humans.

Lek with the elephant / Photo: Azriel Cohen

Whatever the truth is, there is no question that the human-elephant relationship is very special.

My most insightful encounters with human-elephant communication have been around the Elephant Nature Park, an elephant sanctuary and rescue center about one hour outside of Chiang Mai, northern Thailand.

I spent time with Sanduen ‘Lek’ Chailert, founder of the park who some refer to as The Elephant Whisperer, because of her special ability to communicate with elephants.

When she was five years old, her grandfather, the healer and shaman of her hill tribe village, received an elephant as a gift for saving a child’s life. He gave the elephant to Lek and mentored her as to how to engage with and heal wild animals.

Most Thais working with elephants believe that without breaking an elephant’s spirit, the elephant is incredibly dangerous. Lek believes that the elephants can be trained to have a safe relationship with humans, solely through the use of positive reinforcement and love.

Breaking Them Down

One of the goals of the park is to gently influence the tourism market so that elephants that live naturally are more attractive to visit than elephant shows.

Most tourists have no idea that in order to train elephants to submit to the guidance of a mahout (the elephant’s friend, caretaker and trainer) and to do tricks – such as painting and playing soccer – the elephant must have its spirit broken.

There is a long tradition in Thailand of a training ritual called phajan, where the elephant is confined in a cage for a number of days, poked and beaten, until it becomes scared of humans and loses its natural self-confidence.

Lek’s approach is revolutionizing the way people think about elephants and elephant tourism.

The elephants at the park, many of them physically and psychologically damaged from work injuries and abuse, are encouraged to lead as natural a life as possible. There are no elephant shows or elephant rides. Visitors can observe them, feed them, bathe them and walk with them.

During my visit, the park was at an historic moment – for the first time a baby elephant was born to one of Lek’s elephants. The new baby elephant, called Faa Mai (meaning “new sky”), Lek hopes, will offer her the opportunity to demonstrate to the world that her theory of disciplining elephants is realistic.

Into The Pen

I watched Lek as she entered a closed pen, and began to play with the 25 day old baby elephant beneath the shadow of her massive mother elephant (adults can be up to 4 meters/12 feet high and weigh 3,000–5,000 kgs/6,500–11,000 lbs).

Lek invited my friend and I into the pen.

Under normal conditions it is extremely dangerous to be close to a mother and baby elephant. Tiny Lek, with absolute confidence and clarity conveyed to us that it was safe and explained to us where to go and what to do, so the mother would feel safe with us physically playing with her baby.

With an almost comically undersized trunk that it is still trying to figure out how to coordinate, a baby elephant is unbelievably cute…and bizarre.

From a human vantage point it has features that make it look much older than the adult elephants. Humans get more facial creases as we age, while baby elephants go in reverse like Benjamin Button, beginning with ancient creased faces that smooth out as they mature.

Zoning With Baby

The baby sleeps / Photo: Azriel Cohen

The 100 kg hairy baby “played,” trying to knock us over like a crazed rugby player.

When it tired, the elephant placed its head onto the lap of my friend, nearly crushing him in the process. But the baby was restless. I sensed that it was waiting for a specific kind of touch somewhere on its body.

When I “listened” to my own body I felt that I should lay my palm on the baby’s head, on its leathery cheek, just under and in front of its ear. The baby responded.

Within seconds its energy shifted from twitching around and flapping its ears to completely dropping into a deep sleep. From the tip of its undersized trunk, I could hear snoring. I had put a baby elephant to sleep!

For 10 minutes, I held my hand on the baby elephant while using some further techniques (which I’ll describe in a future article).

Later, walking with Lek among a small group of elephants in knee high grass, The Elephant Whisperer turned to me and said “People might say I am crazy to say this…but elephants can read thoughts.”

I wondered what it means that elephants can read thoughts. Perhaps, with enough effort, it is another lost human capacity waiting to be reclaimed.

Update: Watch Conscious Media Network’s interview with Lek Chailert

Have you experienced this physical “knowing” with an animal? Share your experiences in the comments!

The nose knows the beach is best / Photo: oblivion head

Recent studies in the world of nutrition have found that our nose knows what foods are best for us.

Our taste preferences for certain foods actually begin with how they smell, and researchers have found these preferences may be linked to the nutritional value of the food.

Not sure how McDonald’s fits into this scenario. But the idea of following your nose for the health benefits led me to ponder about what it might mean to follow your nose when it comes to travel.

No, I don’t think you can smell your way to the best locale of the moment. Yet, what connects the idea of following your nose when it comes to both food and travel is basic intuition. It’s the belief that our bodies know best, or at least a whole lot better than our brains do.

Instinct and intuition aren’t exactly the same thing, but they can both fall into the category of showing up as that first “hit.” This is the hit we often play down once we begin to think about the pros and cons of an issue.

So, what if you decided to follow the first hit you have about where you want to travel next, and stop yourself from going through the pros and cons process? You hop on Hotwire to find a last minute cheap hotel in that town you’ve been wanting to visit, or you log on to Couchsurfing and email a few people to see if they have an open spot.

Maybe Craigslist has a cheap vacation rental, or even a trade. If none of those pan out, you know it’s not meant to be. Or you throw the tent in the car, hit the supermarket to fill your cooler with food and ice, and just take off.

This may be easier to do starting with say, a day trip out of town, but who knows? That day trip may lead you to an overnight, a week away, or to becoming a complete travel vagabond.

Or you may end up back at home because you kind of have work and a family to take care of, and that’s perfectly fine, too.

Yes, it’s a bit of traveling without a plan, but it might just lead you to exactly where you are supposed to be.

Do you think follow your nose travel is a viable option? Share your thoughts below.

Community Connection

See how following her instincts led to amazing travels in Emily Hansen’s piece, Reflections From A Female Solo Traveler. Experience the taste of travel freedom in Carlo Alcos’ article, Why You Should Travel Independently on the Trans Siberian Railway.

Photo: Evil Erin

At first I thought this would be an easy topic. Five things that bring me happiness. Simple. But then I started to actually think about it. What makes me happy might not make you happy (and vice versa).

So I asked around the Matador team for what they thought brings them happiness, hoping for at least a couple of unanimous points. The responses were as random and varied as lottery results.

The more common replies were related to friends, family and health. While all of these do bring most people happiness, my concern was with those who preferred being alone and people in poor health.

If I included these things, what does this mean for them? Is it impossible for the loners and the sick to be happy? I don’t think so.

Borrowing a page from Buddhist philosophy

Buddhists recognize that happiness — unfailing happiness — can only be found internally. The goal is to stop trying to change the world around us to bring happiness, but to change our minds.

Anything external that we chase cannot bring everlasting happiness, only temporary and fleeting happiness; at some point it will let us down.

Many things that we think will bring us happiness — a new car, new house, more friends — usually just cause us more pain and suffering. We’re constantly worried someone’s going to scratch or bump our vehicle, rob our home, or break our hearts and hurt our feelings. A source of true happiness would not be able to cause us any suffering.

To find happiness is a lofty goal and takes a dedication that most of us aren’t willing to give, even though it’s in our own best interests. Instead, we continue to try to shape the world outside us, rather than trying to fix the inside.

Here are five points to ponder as you search for your own happiness:

1. Introspection

Facing your demons…being a victim. ‘Everything is always fucked up for me, nobody understands’. It took me years of not being honest with myself, running from the truth, denying what was in my face, blaming everybody else. ‘She’s nasty, she’s fucked up…look at her, look at them’…but then there was a common denominator: Me. – Liza Jessie Peterson

If we can’t face ourselves and recognize that we are the source of our own happiness, what chance do we have? Happiness is not “out there.” It’s in here. Easy to say, hard to put into practice.

But the first step to solving a problem is to recognize the source of it. Once we admit to ourselves that we — and only we — are responsible for our own happiness, then we can move forward in trying to attain it.

2. Freedom

I do think people could fall into the trap of understanding freedom as ‘I do what I like’. I don’t really think that’s freedom because you’re still bound by your desires. So where is the freedom? Freedom would be…you understand your desires, the compulsion of those desires, the addiction of that, and you are able to transcend that. Otherwise…your passion is determining your behaviour. – Father Lancy Prabhu

Photo: Capture Queen

Freedom as we know it in the Westernized world is not true freedom. And this “freedom” will not bring us happiness. One need look no further than free-market capitalism. Go on, you’re free to do whatever you want.

Combine this with our society’s way of making us feel inadequate and marketing manipulation by the media (who, ironically, are exercising their freedom), and we find ourselves always wanting. This wanting and the attachment to things we’ve managed to accumulate are the banes to our happiness. We must free ourselves from our own desires to find true happiness.

Freedom and restraint are two sides of one thing. How can there be freedom without restraint? It’s impossible. – Prof Xu Yuangzhong

3. Compassion

Why are we compassionate towards friends and family, but rarely towards strangers? It’s because we share a connection with our family and friends, either through blood or through similar interests.

What if we could find a connection with complete strangers? With the rest of humanity? Might it make us more compassionate towards everybody? Because we do share something common: everybody — no exceptions — wants to be happy.

This desire to be happy is the motivating force behind every single thing that we do, from the moment we wake up to the time we fall asleep. So recognizing that the people we see on TV, the people we pass on the street, the people we’ve never seen and never will see — want to be happy. Just like us.

Compassion gained through accepting this will make us better humans, will help us help each other, and will help to make ourselves happy.

4. Generosity

The mind has a very bad habit, which we call self-cherishing. And I call it ‘What about me?’…it’s a bore. And it’s a drag. And nobody wants to hear it. So you can just shut up…and get off of it. And give. That’s all. GIVE. Be here and give. Connect with people…and you’re so busy giving, you don’t have time to think about yourself…um, you’re gonna be a lot happier. – Baghavan Das

This is closely linked to compassion. After gaining compassion comes our willingness to help out others, even complete strangers.

Photo: pattista

5. Contentment

If you substitute ‘content’ for ‘happy’ you’ll probably find that you’re happy. ‘Cause we’ve associated happiness with laughing and smiling…throwing beach balls to your children…and I’ve never been that guy.

So I’ve thought maybe I’m not happy. If you switch it for content…the practice of contentment…’oh god I’m happy. I’m a happy man. Oh, look at me! – Billy Connolly

I would venture to guess that all of us, anyone right now who is reading this article, has everything they need to be happy. So why does continued happiness seem so elusive?

In general, we may say we’re happy. We might even have those moments where we sit back and realize how privileged we are, count our lucky stars, and genuinely feel like we have the world in our palms.

But how long does this last? How long until the next person pisses us off, until we see the next thing we “need,” until the next feelings of anxiousness steal away our happiness? If we can make the wanting stop and be content with what we have, we would find we can be more consistently happy.

Do you think these are the keys to happiness, or are there other important points we missed? Share your thoughts below.

*All quotes used are from 1 Giant Leap’s documentary What About Me?.

Man on the mountain, Lisbon, Portugal. / Photo: Julia Dimon

Hot of the press, fresh for your weekend reading, here’s BNT’s Best of the Week. Enjoy!

• 10 Reasons why Superman is better than Jesus – The Good Atheist
• How To End Suffering – Think Simple Now
• Are Your A Spiritual Pioneer? – Write to Done
• 9 Spiritual Ways To Be Green – Intent
• 7 Ways To Better Recall Your Dreams – Reader’s Digest
• The Eight Irresistable Principles Of Fun – animated slideshow
• The Top 10 Existential Movies Of All Time – Sentient Developments

Any links we missed? Share in the comments!