Apollo Belvedere / Photo: alun salt

“If life is a journey, then philosophy is like a compass. It helps us to find our way through the jungle of possibilities that life presents.”

With these words, Thomas Knierim articulates his reason for creating The Big View, a website with the goal of “rendering a bird’s eye perspective on various philosophical topics, hence, the name.” Topics as diverse as Space Time, Buddhism, and Greek Philosophy are all presented clearly…and more importantly, concisely.

I caught up with Thomas to discuss the site, the importance of cutting through noise on the web, and the growing realization that everything is connected.

The Interview

BNT: How has philosophy acted as a compass in your life?

THOMAS: I mentioned this because some people believe that philosophy is a boring academic pursuit or perhaps just mind acrobatics. This is a misconception. Philosophy deals with the big questions in life and these questions affect everyone. Philosophy informs us about our limitations and our possibilities.

Thomas Knierim, The Big View

In my case, it has provided me with insight into human nature and with good advice about which goals in life are worthy following. Most people seek happiness in external things, such as wealth, love affairs, lifestyle, adventures, etc., and they put an enormous amount of energy into these pursuits.

True happiness, however, is a state of mind, and as such it does not depend on external conditions. This sounds like a cliché, but it’s true.

Philosophy directs attention away from the external world to the inner world. It directs the attention towards the development of self-knowledge and perfection of mental qualities… which are difficult but worthy goals.

You currently live in Chiang Mai, Thailand. What effect has traveling and living in Southeast Asia had on your own Western worldview? On the other hand, what do you see are the pitfalls of only relying on Eastern ideas?

I am living in Thailand for 16 years, so the Buddhist worldview has shaped my own worldview. If you live in Thailand you are sort of forced to learn Buddhism, because you cannot really understand the Thai culture without understanding Buddhism.

There is also a notable Chinese influence, especially in Bangkok, where I lived before. To experience Asian culture first-hand is quite educating, as it sets things into perspective. Things that I once considered universally valid turned out to be just culturally conditioned. I found Eastern philosophies, especially Buddhism and Taoism, very deep and enriching.

The major trap, on the other hand, is to see Eastern ideas as silver bullets, or magical solutions. Westerners tend to either ignore Eastern ideas altogether or develop disproportionate reverence for them. I think it is always a bad idea to forgo critical analysis.

You also say “Most people with Internet access are familiar with the problem of information overload.” How does information overload affect a person’s ability to discern quality ideas and philosophical teachings from the noise?

The major challenge is probably not to get carried away. There is such an enormous amount of information out there and it is so easy to get lost. This is facilitated by the interactive nature of the Internet and its associativity brought about by the hyperlink.

It’s eerily similar to the way the human mind works. Just as you can get lost in a train of thought, you can get lost surfing web pages. I have observed this process in myself.

For example, when I start looking for a specific piece of information, I inevitably come across some link that sounds interesting. If I decide to follow that link and to dig deeper, I might end up watching a video or reading a page that has little or nothing to do with the initial quest.

Another problem is the sheer amount of information that is available on each topic, which forces us to learn how to select information by specificity, presentation and scope.

How did you decide what philosophies (and philosophers) to include on your site?

I simply chose the topics and philosophers that interested me. Some of the material about Greek philosophy goes back to the pre-Internet Bulletin-board era when I had more or less scholarly (probably less!) discussions with other people interested in ancient philosophy.

Buddha / Photo: dnc

In the physics section, I tried to put well-known science topics into a less rigid philosophical perspective. In the Buddhism section, I tried to create a straightforward introduction that is intelligible to Westerners without any background in Eastern thought.

I had studied Buddhism a few years earlier from a number of books that used complicated language and unfamiliar Pali and Sanskrit terms, so I wanted to avoid that as far as possible. In future, I’d like to add new section about formal logic, Indian philosophy and evolution theory, but unfortunately at this point I don’t have much free time.

I have to ask, since I’m sure it’s a question that has plagued many philosophy archives. In your opinion, why aren’t women philosophers better represented throughout history?

It is not all that surprising, because you could likewise ask why aren’t female politicians, artists, doctors or female scientists better represented throughout history, and the answer is the same.

Throughout the last few thousand years, the patriarchy has dominated human societies. Not every society was patriarchal of course, but the one that led up to present-day Western culture certainly was a patriarchy and a quite rigid one at that.

Women were simply not considered fit to exercise the named professions; they were given little opportunity, little attention, and little credit. They were rarely able to gain public recognition. You only need to look back 100 years in European history to recognize the grip of the patriarchy.

So the grounds for female artists, scientists, philosophers, etc. have been infertile for a really long time. Fortunately, this has changed.

“Everything is connected.” This theme applies to many great philosophies throughout history. Yet it also seems to be the unifying idea of our time: from string theory, to weather patterns, to foreign policy decisions. Do you think humans will fully understand and here’s the key apply this idea in our lifetime?

Yes, I think that people will at least develop an intuitive understanding of interconnectedness. Things have changed, especially due to advancing technology and globalization.

My kids are growing up in a world that is different from the world I grew up in. Today, there is the Internet, there is a global market, and there is an emerging global culture.

My kids are learning three native languages as they’re growing up. They are at home in Asia as well as in Europe. They eat Thai food, Japanese food, German food, whatever. Intuitively, they understand that they are connected to different cultures.

For them, interconnectedness and global thinking will be quite natural.

For more, visit The Big View.

What do you think the importance of “the big view”? Share your thoughts in the comments!

God is a popular topic these days. Most people seem to have an opinion on a) what God is, and b) who’s side he (or she) is on.

And thus arises the problem: how can God be on more than one team at the same time? If humans are the sort of species that don’t mind a few glaring illogical realities, than we’d probably get along just fine. Unfortunately, as most of us know, humans aren’t that sort of species.

Instead, it appears ever since the idea of God took hold, we’ve decided to fight about it. The only thing that’s changed is the size of our weapons and the stakes of the conflict.

Luckily, filmmaker Peter Rodger decided it’s time once and for all to explore how God is perceived around the world. The film, premiering this Friday in the US, is Oh My God.

Watch the trailer:

Suitably intrigued, I decided to interview Peter about the film, and his epic experience shooting around the world.

The Interview

BNT: What initially compelled you to start this film?

PETER RODGER: Frustration. I was amazed in a shrinking world of enhanced communication, mankind can be so seemingly narrow minded. There seems to be such a childish schoolyard mentality that permeates our world – I call it the “My God Is greater than your God syndrome.”

Where you have grown men flying airplanes into buildings shouting “God is Great”; where you have the leader of the free world telling the BBC in 2003 that he invaded Iraq because God told him to; where you have the constitution of a country (Iran) that dictates that its supreme leader is God’s representative on earth; where you have young men and women blowing themselves up (and innocent others) to buy a place into heaven.

None of these concepts made any sense to me, so I thought it was about time someone went around the world and asked people what this entity that goes by the name of God means to them.

Did you have any expectations on the journey and what you would learn?

No. I just knew I was going along for an interesting ride. I wanted to rid myself of expectation and see what the experience would throw at me. I had no idea what I would learn when I set out. I was far too concerned about how to make a film out of such a wide, sensitive and seemingly unanswerable question!

Your film features some stunning cinematography and editing – at times resembling a music video. How important was this aesthetic to the content and message of your film?

Filmmaker Peter Rodger

Extremely important. Another reason I had for making the film was to be able to go shoot without clients around my head – make a film where I wanted to point the camera and not because someone was paying me to point the camera. (I’ve directed many commercials!)

The aesthetic became extremely important. There is also a sub plot going on in the film. I wanted to shoot the earth with as much artistic integrity as possible – to wrap the audience in the amazingly diverse beauty that surrounds us – in the guise of a bucolic landscape or the look in a child’s eye.

To use a biblical phrase, the earth became the garden of Eden for me. If you want to explore the entity of God – then open your eyes, grab a camera and shoot it. Music played an enormous part in the process. Film is sound and vision. I would cut sequences with John Hoyt, my editor and then Alex Bubenheim would score to it – but in two instances in the film – we switched.

Alex had come with me on to Australia and Japan and had recorded all sorts of music/vibes/sounds etc that he incorporated into a track – so we cut to the track instead of vice versa – which gives you – as you said – a music video vibe in places. It’s a film full of amazing words and information – throwing 2 sequences into the mix like this has the effect of pulling you back and keeping a pace at the same time.

What were the challenges of travelling with a small crew? What are the advantages?

The challenges were a bad back and having to do EVERYTHING split between myself and my one crew member – Line Producer Patrick Ellis. But it is amazing what training does for you.

Masaii Tribesman

I learnt to put things back! Instead of just leaving a lens cap, or a filter somewhere for some assistant to deal with – I actually PUT IT AWAY! Amazing. It soon became that I could prepare the camera and prep to shoot in complete darkness without thinking, – just by knowing exactly where everything was.

The advantages for the film were amazing. We shot under the radar – no one would know we were making a theatrical movie. We slipped in and out of places, unseen, as tourists or NGO workers or whatever.

Once we walked into the Palestinian Parliamentary building one Thursday afternoon unannounced in Ramalah and got amazing stuff and a great interview with a Hamas leader. If we had a full crew – with assistants and production coordinators, translators and egos – we would have been arrested and locked up – especially as we didn’t have a permit.

In your opinion, why do people all over the world have a need to believe in God?

Because they don’t have the courage to believe in themselves. They have been conditioned to believe in something greater than the sum of all their parts. They are scared of death, and don’t know where they came from.

We are all just primitive little organisms on a big rock in a scary vacuum desperate to have something to hold onto. God, usually in the image of something, and mostly in the image of man, becomes a comfy thing to hold onto. The trouble starts when people hold on so hard they push other human beings away.

What Mankind has to learn is that there is room for us all.

Who were the people you met that appeared the most profoundly at peace? How did their understanding of God (or the divine) contribute towards their peace?

Zen Master Kanju Tanaka from Kyoto Japan. He was wonderful and made so much sense. Being a Zen master he rejects the concept of God. He believes that we are already in paradise – we are already here and conscious now because we have earned our place in paradise – here – already.

For some, life on earth is hell. It is up to the individual to have peace and realize that problems are self created and then even in the most dire situations with the right outlook and in-look we can learn to make our hell – heaven. That concept is very powerful.

At one point in the film, you make that connection that conflict is usually caused by two things: land and religion. I would argue even further – conflict at its core is never about religion. It’s about human insecurities cloaking themselves under religious guise. Do you feel in some ways the search to unite us in the common thread of belief detracts from the social and economic reasons behind world conflicts?

All wars are about money/land and most use religion as the excuse. Throw in emotion and you have a lethal cocktail. Good news is no news.

We are all guilty – filmmakers, journalists, readers and watchers – of that one. Nobody talks about the great charitable work each religious institution executes. They just talk about the guy that blew himself up, and the blood and turmoil he caused. No one mentions institutions like Rabbis and Imams for Peace – they just talk about katyusha rockets and walls.

When it comes to conflict it’s about the club in which people belong – that maim those that don’t belong. So the answer to your question is yes.

Who was the most surprising interview you conducted?

Christian Hernandez, the little boy with cancer. (I am very happy to say he went through a bone marrow transplant and is doing REALLY WELL and he came to a screening last week.) I asked him – “What is your greatest wish today?” His answer blew me away – but you have to go see the film to find out why!

By the end of the film, how did your perception of God change? And what was the most important insight you learned about yourself?

Oh boy! My perception of God melted from any human form into a much more powerful force – a glue if you like – that binds humanity together.

I think Jesus Christ was bang on when he said he was the son of God because I think we’re all the son of God. We are all right now collectively what a lot of people would refer to as God – the Anima Mundi – the reservoir of every thought that has ever taken place in the history of time.

And what was the most important insight I learned about myself? To learn to let go.

Oh My God opens this week. Check the website for showtimes.

What do you think about the diversity of God? Is it a concept humanity needs to let go? Or does it serve a binding purpose?

The grieving angel / Photo: Theodore Scott / Feature photo: L’enfant terrible

By most accounts, the state of the world is in dire shape. The collective madness of humanity seems unable and perhaps unwilling to change its destructive habits, both on the environment and each other.

But what if we could dig deep into our psyche, to understand the root causes of many of our behaviours on a psychological, spiritual, and cultural level?

That was the goal set forth by Patrick Shen, a documentary filmmaker who set out to uncover the source of “death anxiety” and how it influences our lives on a daily basis. The result: Flight From Death: The Quest For Immortality. (watch the trailer).

I caught up with Patrick to discuss the film, the nature of death anxiety, and how to make our own lives a work of art.

BNT: How did you come up with the concept for Flight From Death?

PATRICK SHEN: I stumbled upon Ernest Becker’s monumental, Pulitzer Prize-winning book Denial of Death one day at a used book store. I had never heard of it, but the title intrigued me and and I had been asking a lot of the same questions that, according to the back cover, this book seemed to address; so I picked it up.

I was totally awakened by it. Reading Denial of Death marked a major intellectual shift in my life. I wanted everyone to know about the ideas in this book and immediately began exploring the possibility of translating it into documentary form. Making the film and getting to explore it more in such an intense way, marked yet another major shift in my life.

You mention the shoot took 4 years. How did the length of the shoot impact your vision of the film? Further, how did you change from the beginning to the end?

The whole production, inclusive of post-production, took about four years. We shot the film over a period of about two and a half years. I remember feeling like the scope of the film kept expanding with every month that went by. The more time we had to think about the movie, the more we wanted to include in it and the more ambitious we became.

Director Patrick Shen

I love that one film critic in Australia would later refer to Flight from Death as “one of the most ambitious movies ever made.” Four years gave us a lot of time to painstakingly craft what is possibly the most thorough introduction to Becker’s ideas that our little brains could possibly muster at the time.

The events of 9/11/01 certainly had an impact on the vision of the film. 9/11 gave us an opportunity to examine Becker’s ideas within the context of a current event that the entire world was now discussing and attempting to process.

As devastated as we were, not to mention distraught over having lost a friend and fellow crew member that day, I knew we needed to act quickly to incorporate it into the movie.

In the film we focus on the work of three experimental social psychologists who created Terror Management Theory based on the ideas of Ernest Becker.

In a nutshell, the theory states that humans, in order to function properly in light of our impending death, need to feel like we are a significant participant in a meaningful worldview. Without the meaningful context within which we live out our lives, we are stripped of all things that make us feel human and must confront the possibility that we are no more significant than an ant or a fern.

Naturally, an attempt to weaken or to suggest that one’s worldview is invalid, is not taken lightly. At the time, the trio of psychologists had already conducted close to 300 experiments to substantiate this claim. After the events of 9/11, we found ourselves in the middle of a terror management theory experiment taking place on a grand scale.

It allowed us to show that Becker’s ideas were as relevant then as they were when Denial of Death was first published in 1973.

I changed pretty dramatically throughout the course of making the film. I began the journey of making Flight from Death with a predominantly academic and intellectual point of view. I was a man of scientific thought and logical inquiry and it was exactly those elements of Becker’s work that had resonated most with me initially.

Upon a closer and more honest investigation of Becker’s work, I began to see that he asks much more of us, beyond just a scientific approach, in our exploration of the problem of the human condition. Many people mistake Denial of Death for being an atheistic text – as I did in the beginning – and often use Becker’s ideas to bolster an atheistic point of view. Becker was not interested in debunking religion, though I think he probably had his doubts.

In fact, I think Becker was very curious about religion, judging by his documented correspondence with a priest for many years and his fondness for reading Psalms. In addition, Becker’s work borrows heavily from Kierkegaard, a devout Christian.

It’s very possible that Becker considered the religious solution as a viable means to combatting our anxiety. I’m not suggesting that we all run out and go to church, but I am suggesting that we approach the problem of death anxiety – of the human condition – with a multi-disciplinary approach, just as Becker had done with his work and just as we should approach all things so significant in scope.

You assert that all culture can be attributed to dealing with death anxiety. Can you elaborate further on your point?

From anthropology we learn that a culture, or shared set of beliefs about the nature of reality, is specific to a particular region or people group. There may be some underlying general commonalities (i.e. Most cultures have a creation story) but the particular beliefs and practices of one culture can differ significantly and often even appear contradictory to those of another.

Filming an interview

As the film points out, a gifted basketball player whom we shower with fame, fortune, and praise in the United States has much less relevance in another culture which might value more the ability to catch a fish or sustain hours of uninterrupted meditation. Success, or heroism, in one culture clearly does not necessarily translate to another.

Becker theorizes that it is our shared set of beliefs that make it possible for us to feel like we are significant participants in a meaningful universe and that without them, we are confronted with the possibility that we are nothing more than a living, breathing, decaying piece of meat no different than the next life form.

Culture then essentially elevates us beyond the physical world – and its limitations along with it (i.e. death) – and provides definition for our symbolic world, the world within which we truly live out our lives.

In the physical world, we’re doomed. We can’t win. We’ll die someday and there’s nothing we can do about it. Culture provides us the rules and the formula by which we can win, at least symbolically.

There are two general methods we employ to do this. Heroism is our attempt to transcend the natural order of things. When we achieve more than what others have, effectively transcending the natural order, we enter into the super-natural. The hero stands out amongst the crowd and achieves a sense of symbolic immortality for now he is more than just that decaying piece of meat and also stands a better chance at never being forgotten.

The other method is to immerse ourselves in a cause or belief system that is larger and more permanent than we are. Organisms often have a better chance at survival when they stick together (i.e. strength in numbers). As symbolic creatures, we do the same to survive.

The more people we surround ourselves with that believe the same things we do about the nature of reality, the more confident we can feel that what we believe is true. More importantly, when we are a part of something that will continue on long after we have gone, we too feel like a part of us will go on after we die.

Gabriel Byrne makes a poignant comment about how editing a film is made up of choices: such as a person walking, or a bird taking flight. He compares these disconnected moments as much like life itself. What are your thoughts on his comment?

I think what he meant was that life is inherent in everything around us. Our mental capacity as humans allows to see that life is an incredible phenomenon and if we take the time to notice it, there’s evidence of this phenomenon infused in every movement we make.

Some immortalists believe that science will eventually eliminate aging and death altogether. In the film, you insist that ending “natural death” may actually increase death anxiety, as we can never eliminate accidental death. What do you say to futurists like Ray Kurzweil who continue to pursue immortality through science?

I think it’s an interesting endeavor for sure and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t curious about what it would be like to live forever.

As you point out in your question however, the potential for us to be robbed of our immortality because of an accidental death is even more terrifying than if we are being robbed of say 50 years. I worry that if we have not found a way to constructively process our death anxiety then we aren’t ready to live forever.

In the film, there is a lot of evidence and experimental data to suggest that much of our aggressive behaviors and the violence in the world stems from our inability to reconcile with death anxiety. If this is true, what will happen if our death anxiety is increased even two-fold, let alone ten or twenty?

How has the film been your own attempt to deal with death anxiety? How has meeting your death head on affected your outlook on life?

Admittedly, this film and all films I make, serve a vital role for me in dealing with my own death anxiety. It is certainly my way of leaving my mark on the world.

Flight From Death / BUY DVD

It’s an attempt at heroism. It’s proof of my existence and that maybe I mattered in some way. The creative solution to the problem of death anxiety is an intriguing one. Van Gogh, and his longing to make his mark, left us with many great works of art.

I think transferring our anxieties onto creative works whether they are artistic endeavors or not, can be a very satisfying, and at the same time, constructive way to deal with death anxiety.

Making Flight from Death and dwelling on death for so many years both heightened my anxiety and at the same time soothed it. Because I’m perhaps more aware of death and how it lurks in every shadow and around every corner, I’m more careful. Because I now have a family, that awareness has heightened even more. It’s sometimes troubling how much it influences me.

The challenge for me is to take that anxiety and rather than let it discourage me from fully engaging the world around me, use it to fuel my passion for living.

I have developed a real passion for creating a masterpiece out of life, which is probably the ultimate creative endeavor. My level of appreciation for the opportunity to continuing living each day has evolved into a genuinely overwhelming sense of gratitude. A healthy awareness of death – surely a constant work-in-progress for us all – has given each moment in my life, on most days, a whole new dimension that is now impossible to ignore.

It struck me that much of what you call “death anxiety” in the film is really what Buddhists would call “ego death anxiety.” Further, Buddhists offer a concrete method, meditation, to transcend the ego and acheive a profound inner calm. I’m curious why you never explored this connection in the film?

It’s an intriguing solution for sure. We actually interviewed two Buddhists in the film, David Loy and a close friend of Becker’s, Ron Leifer.

In Buddhism as you might know there is this notion of “no self”. If our ego does not exist and if we can train ourselves to realize this through meditation and essentially disconnect from our-selves, there will be no death anxiety to contend with. I think the problem lies in the meditation.

To achieve that kind of discipline and consistency of focused (or should I say un-focused?) meditation can take most of us a lifetime to master. Also, the ego and the threat of losing our egos to death, has driven humanity to do great things, to innovate, and achieve great feats. What happens to this spirit of progress and creation when the ego is removed from the equation?

These are all really interesting things to continue discussing.We didn’t explore this nor any other religious solutions in the film because it would have required that the film be twice as long and twice as more expensive to make. It’s really deserving of its own film.

Why have humans continuously chosen a “life destroying illusion” for so many years? What is needed to shake us out of our collective dellusion?

Humans are a pretty immature form of life in the grand scheme of things. We’re like a five year-old being handed the keys to a Corvette.

Our brains are capable of incredible things that are both beautiful and horrific and we haven’t quite figured out how to stay out of trouble. We take the lives of others because we’ve convinced ourselves that killing is a viable means of solving our problems.

Generation after generation, we’ve inherited this belief. It is the animal inside the human that is merely trying to survive and dispose of any threats. If mice had the capacity to build a tank and an atom bomb, I’m sure there would be no cats left in the world. We are, as Freud calls it, a “sick animal”.

In my opinion, what needs to happen is a re-examination of our definition and our relationship with truth. To prove one set of beliefs more true than another is not only unknowable but un-winnable. We’ve tried that route and have created enemies out of one another and have left billions dead in our path.

Our notion of truth, or perhaps we should call it belief, is nothing more than an estimation of reality. There may sometimes be accurate estimations, but they are speculative nonetheless. What we believe to be true as five year-olds is not always the same as what we believe as 70 year-olds.

If belief can change, then belief cannot be absolutely true. It is as James Carse writes in his book The Religious Case Against Belief, “belief is not privileged over knowledge, it is fully open, unfinished, and tentative.”

In other words, truth is a work in progress. Rigid belief leaves no room for our worldviews to be inclusive of other people. We would all forever remain “the other” to one another each living within the context of our exclusive and flawed worldviews.

Learn more about the film at Flight From Death.

What do you think on death anxiety’s influence on each of us? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Community Connection

For further reading, check out an interview with Jason Silva on how science will make you live forever. Then explore Further Conversations On the end of death.

Cover of Nov’s Wired magazine.

Chances are, you may know someone that has contracted swine flu. There’s also a good chance that they got sick, were laid out for a few days, and then got better (just like the regular flu season).

So why the global hysteria around getting the flu vaccine?

Everytime I turn on the news, the reporters are citing a new study that says H1N1 is even more potent than ever; in fact, it affects YOUNG HEALTHY ADULTS the worst! Public areas are plastered with signs shouting foreboding messages like “Take your life into your own hands. WASH THEM.”

Now, with the “second wave” of the flu season upon us, Obama declares H1N1 a national emergency.

It’s enough to scare everyone into being first in line for the flu vaccine. And that’s exactly what some people have done.

On Saturday, Oct 24, the Omaha News reported that:

Hundreds of people [stood] out in the cold, trying to avoid getting a cold. So many people showed up to get their shots, the clinic was forced to turn dozens away.

And yet…not everyone is buying into the flu shot. In fact, some polls say 48% of Canadians will not get the shot. In the USA, that number has climbed to 60%.

The Culture Of Fear

I’m one of the those Canadians who is suspicious of the flu shot. While I have nothing against vaccination, I find myself at odds with the H1N1 vaccine, likely stemming from a number of factors:

• the vaccine felt rushed out the door, and in fact, had been approved with no testing by Health Canada.
• the severity of the flu seems vastly over-hyped;
• and perhaps most importantly: why has the media been so eager to whip up a culture of fear?

Sure, scary headlines sell newspapers and help their ailing bottom line. But even so, I’m suspicious of a hidden agenda when I see not one, but TWO cover stories on prominent magazines telling me I HAVE to get the flu shot or HUMANITY WILL PERISH.

Take the Wired issue this month. The cover features an innocent child with the word FEAR emblazoned above its head. The lead story is titled: An Epidemic of Fear: How Panicked Parents Skipping Shots Endangers Us All.

Likewise, Maclean’s (Canada’s Time magazine), ran a blood red cover story this week: SWINE FLU FIASCO: Everyone needs the H1N1 vaccine. Says the article:

People are being bombarded by “on the one hand” and “on the other hand” studies and recommendations. “There is confusion,” says Dr. Sarah Kredentser, president of the College of Family Physicians of Canada. “And I think it’s warranted confusion, because the messages keep changing.”

Killing The Shot

I don’t consider myself a conspiracy theorist – which is why I’m not bothering to attribute the vaccine to some nefarious Illuminati plan to initiate a mass die-off before ushering in of the new world order.

Yet everytime I consider changing my mind and getting the shot, I’m hit with another demand to get the vaccine or face CERTAIN DEATH. And so, ironically, my resistance to rolling up my sleeve stems mainly from the frenzy created by public health officials and the media.

This is a huge blunder on their part, explains a Washington Post article from 2005, when the news was all about Avian Flu (remember that one?):

To promote vaccine use, many in the public health community have overstated the risk of flu-related death and the effectiveness of the vaccine in preventing it. While the flu vaccine may have some important benefit (less flu-related illness), we really do not know whether it reduces the risk of death.

The dangers of hyping fear are serious:

Public health officials should not exaggerate risks or benefits to promote vaccination. Exaggeration carries a price: Not only do some people get scared and engage in behaviors that increase their risk (like waiting in a crowded clinic for a flu shot). They may also grow cynical and end up ignoring health messages that really matter.

What do you think? Do you plan on getting the flu shot? Share your thoughts in the comments!

BNT headers through the years.

I remember clearly the day I knew I’d start Brave New Traveler.

I was walking with a friend (and co-worker at the time) Allison Cross, and I was telling her about this idea I had for a travel magazine. Only it wouldn’t be what most travel magazines are about: hot deals, package tours, cheap flights, etc.

This magazine would be about “why we travel.” It would explore all elements of this question, along with the experience of change that is inherent in every journey.

Allison agreed it was an intriguing idea. She asked what I would call it. I’d played with a few ideas over last week, and the one I’d chosen now rolled easily off my tongue:

Brave New Traveler.

A week later, on Oct 10, 2006, I wrote my first post. Considering today’s date, that means we just celebrated our third anniversary.

The content of BNT has certainly expanded over the years. The concept of “inner travel” has grown to encompass not just personal change that happens during travel, but also back home.

After thousands of articles and comments, I like to check in with the readers from time to time. I like to know what’s working, what isn’t, and what you’d like to see more of. It helps myself and co-editor Christine better tailor content that continues to push boundaries and minds.

So this is your chance, dear reader, to let us know what’s on your mind: the good, the bad, and the ugly (hopefully not too much ugly). And thanks again for sticking around. A magazine is nothing without its audience.

Give us your feedback! Tell us what you think of BNT and what you’d like to see in the future.

From browsing the Youtube comments on this video, it’s interesting how many people jump to conclusions about the filmmaker’s intent. They believe he’s attempting to prove “God doesn’t exist.”

This is not true. I believe he’s attempting to show why it’s logically incorrect to coerce others into believing God when there’s no real presentation of evidence. God may be true for you, but that doesn’t mean someone else needs to believe for the same reasons.

Community Connection

Need some more philosophy? Don’t miss F. Daniel Harbecke’s classic The Kung Fu Warrior’s Guide To Informal Fallacies and The Kung Fu Warrior’s Guide To Arguing With Logic.

Following a day in the life of six African people from six different countries, “One Day in Africa” explores the range of diversity on the massive continent.

Previously, I interviewed filmmaker Brook Silva Braga about his experience shooting the film, and how it differed from his backpacker classic A Map For Saturday.

After a successful run at the film festivals, One Day In Africa is now coming to DVD. To celebrate, we’ve giving away 3 copies to lucky contest winners.

CONTEST IS NOW OVER

Here’s the winners!

@cultoftravel
@RyukyuMike
@bryle

HOW DO I KNOW IF I WON?

Winners will be announced at the end of the week. If your account is selected, we’ll get in touch via Twitter.

Photo: Burning Blog

Life changing. Mind blowing. Complete insanity. These are just a few of the words I’ve heard tossed about when mentioning Burning Man to those that have made the pilgrimage to the sands of Nevada.

I decided this was my year. It’s time to experience the mayhem and beauty first-hand.

I have no idea what to expect, but I do know that a few familiar faces around Matador Network will be joining me, including Ross Borden and Josh Johnson.

As well I hope to meet up with inspiring travelers from around the web, including Pat the Vagabond, the rest of the crew from Camp Nomadia.

On the eve of such a trip, I find myself reflecting on the many people I’ve recently met in person, or more likely, online. These are people busy doing. They are changing the world in their own way. Or more appropriately, they are changing their own worlds, which in turn affects the world at large.

I can’t say exactly how we cross paths. A meeting through a friend, an article published online, a comment left on a blog. I like to think we’re both putting out the vibes. This in turn, attracts people on a similar wave length. It’s like…science for the spiritual.

Sometimes, we trade ideas for collaboration. We fire each other up with our mutually positive energy. We know there’s a project we could work on… but…

The problem is time. There are only so many hours in the day, and so many ways to spread yourself too thin.

And so, this brief moment of mutual collaboration among like-minded individuals fizzles… perhaps we both sense it’s not going to happen. Part of me feels disappointed, knowing that the chance to work with another’s creativity may have passed.

But another part of me realizes that these moments come and go. The very fact that I’m creating positivity means that other like-minded people will inevitably arise. Not all of them will result in a collaboration. And that’s okay.

When the time is right, we will work together to build something. Or we won’t. It may be just the two of us, or it could be a much larger crew. Which brings me back to Burning Man.

I suspect Burning Man is what you get when a vast amount of people pour their hearts and energy into manifesting the impossible: an alternative city in the middle of the desert.

As I said earlier, I have no idea what to expect, but I have no doubt I will cross paths with an array of enlightening individuals that will challenge, inspire, and most importantly, teach me. In anticipation of these future encounters, I want to offer my sincere gratitude.

I’ll see you in the desert.

- Ian

p.s. I came across this bit of prose and thought it was entirely appropriate to share. I hope you enjoy it.

A SPIRITUAL “CONSPIRACY”

On the surface of our world right now
There is war, violence, and craziness
And things may seem dark.

But calmly and quietly
At the same time
Something is happening underground.

An inner revolution is taking place
And certain individuals
Are being called to a higher light.

It is a silent revolution
From the inside out
From the ground up.

This is a global co-operation
That has sleeper cells in every nation.
It is a planetary Spiritual Conspiracy.

You won’t likely see us on T.V.
You won’t read about us in the newspaper.
You won’t hear from us on the radio.

We don’t seek glory.
We don’t wear any uniform.
We come in all shapes and sizes, colors and styles.

We are in every country and culture of the world
In cities big and small, mountains and valleys
In farms and villages, tribes and remote islands.

Most of us work anonymously
Seeking not recognition of name
But profound transformation of life.

Working quietly behind the scenes
You could pass by one of us on the street
And not even notice.

We go undercover
Not concerned for who takes the final credit
But simply that the work gets done.

Many of us may seem to have normal jobs.
But behind the external storefront
Is where the deeper work takes a place.

With the individual and collective power
Of our minds and hearts
We spread passion, knowledge, and joy to all.

Some call us the Conscious Army
As together
We co-create a new world.

Our orders come from the Spiritual Intelligence Agency
Instructing us to drop soft, secret love bombs
when no one is looking.

Poems ~ Hugs ~ Music ~ Photography ~ Smiles ~ Kind words
Movies ~ Meditation and prayer ~ Dance ~ Websites
Social activism ~ Blogs ~ Random acts of kindness…

We each express ourselves
In our own unique ways
With our own unique gifts and talents.

“Be the change you want to see in the world”
That is the motto that fills our hearts.
We know this is the path to profound transformation.

We know that quietly and humbly
Individually and collectively
We have the power of all the oceans combined.

At first glance our work is not even visible.
It is slow and meticulous
Like the formation of mountains.

And yet with our combined efforts
Entire tectonic plates
Are being shaped and moved for centuries to come.

Love is the religion we come to share
And you don’t need to be highly educated
Or have exceptional knowledge to understand it.

Love arises from the intelligence of the heart
Embedded in the timeless evolutionary pulse
Of all living beings.

Be the change you want to see in the world.
Nobody else can do it for you.
Yet don’t forget, we are all here supporting you.

We are now recruiting.
Perhaps you will join us
Or already have.

For in this spiritual conspiracy
All are welcome, and all are loved.
The door is always open.

~ Author Appropriately Unknown

Photo: freestylebmx

Early this year I interviewed Jason Silva, founding producer for Current TV and current host of Still Up. We spoke about his short film, The Immortalists, along with his own take on science’s goal of ending death…forever.

Jason paints a compelling argument. He believes death is an evolutionary flaw that needs to be overcome, rather than satiated by weaker philosophies or religion.

“By labeling death a problem,” he says, “it shifts our complacent attitude about death and turns it into an engineering problem, one that we can solve, much as we have solved impossible problems in the past.”

Since then, Jason’s interview has gnawed at my own personal beliefs on life.

I found similarities in his worldview and my own explorations in Buddhism – both which share the goal of ending our fear of death. Yet, both could not be more different in their approach.

I decided to contact Jason for a follow-up discussion. I start first with my own understanding of the Buddhist’s approach to life, then share Jason’s rebuttal.

The Buddhist: Ian MacKenzie

“Everything changes, nothing remains without change.” – Buddha

Photo: hurleygurley

The first of the Four Noble Truths, as discovered by the Buddha 2500 years ago, is the realization that “life is suffering.” For this reason, many people believe Buddhism is essentially transfixed with suffering.

But this is not the case. In fact, the second noble truth reveals the origin of suffering: attachment.

Why does attachment cause suffering? Because life is inherently transient. Nothing stays the same; not the birds, the trees, your job, friends, even your own thoughts, moment to moment. Our egos like to believe that we’re individuals, that we have an exalted place in the world.

And so we have a difficult time handling all this transience. We cling to what we enjoy and avoid what we don’t.

This is suffering.

While it’s tempting to believe that most people are affected by mortal anxiety, the knowledge they will die someday, I believe the opposite. I think most people vaguely realize they will die, but they don’t seriously contemplate it until they have a near death experience, or they’re on their deathbed.

So the problem is not quantity of life, but rather quality.

Our egos are not content to live with the present moment, instead we grasp at transient moments, never happy, never content. We can’t remain content for more than 10 minutes, let alone infinite.

For Buddhists, enlightenment is the deep realization that nothing is permanent. To fear death is to actually go against the fundamental law of the universe: everything that arises must pass away.

The goal is to become content with this transience, and therefore, content with life. Suddenly there is no more fear; life becomes eternally now. We aren’t worrying about moments beginning and moments ending.

In contrast, the idea of “living forever” seems the ultimate triumph of the mind (ego) winning over the heart (soul). The mind is so terrified of death it refuses to let the soul go. Life would become eternally static. Like a beautiful painting of a sunset…but nothing like a real sunset.

When you step back and attempt to see reality, to imagine yourself in the larger context of life, you realize that there would be no life without death.

Steve Hagen, a Buddhist author, captures it beautifully:

Pick up a flower – a beautiful, living, fresh rose. It smells wonderful. It reveals a lovely rhythm in the swirl of its petals, a rich yet dazzling color, a soft velvety texture. It moves and delights us. The problem is that the rose dies. Its petals fall; it shrivels up; it turns brown and returns to the earth.

One solution to this problem is to ignore the real rose and substitute a plastic one, one that never dies (and never lives). But is a plastic rose what we want? No, of course not. We want the real rose. We want the one that dies. We want it because it dies, because it’s fleeting, because it fades.

It’s this very quality that makes it precious. This is what we want, what each of us is: a living thing that dies.

Perhaps one day, through science, we will finally be able to preserve the body from dying. What then? We’d still have a lot of unconscious people, who now don’t have the face the ultimate moment of awakening…death.

I’m reminded of a quote from John Steinbeck, who spoke about his own impending death in Travels With Charley:

“I see too many men delay their exits with a sickly slow reluctance to leave the stage. It’s bad theater as well as bad living.”

And so, the fear of death is revealed for what it truly is: the ego’s fear of ceasing to exist. The essence of a human is not contained in the mind. It is temporarily channeled into a body for a moment of existence, before sinking back into the ocean of life. As Osho says:

“You have to pass through fear and accept it as a human reality. There is no need to escape from it. What is needed is to go deeper into it, and the deeper you go into your fear the less you will find it is. When you have touched the rock bottom of fear, you will simply laugh, there is nothing to fear.”

- Ian MacKenzie

The Immortalist: Jason Silva

“The philosophy that accepts death must itself be considered dead, its questions meaningless, its consolations worn out.”  – Alan Harrington, The Immortalist.

Jason Silva

The mindset of an Immortalist is simple and straightforward: death is an abhorrent imposition on a species able to reflect and care about meaning.

Creatures that love and dream and create and yearn for something meaningful, eternal and transcendent should not have to suffer despair, decay and death.  We are the arbiters of value in an otherwise meaningless universe.  The fleeting nature of beautiful, transcendent moments feeds the urge for man to scream: “I was here; I felt this and it matters, goddamn it!”

In the face of meaningless extinction, it’s not surprising that mankind has needed to find a justification for his suffering.  Man is the only animal aware of his mortality – and this awareness causes a tremendous amount of anxiety.

As a child I wanted to understand the world. Nothing much has changed – the sense of urgency has not dissipated; I’m still running around trying desperately to understand things.  To have emerged; to be self-aware, to know that I know that I am; all these things were troubling mostly because they fueled the panic over having some semblance of control over my experience. 

I think that when I first understood what love was at a visceral level was when I first grasped the concept of death- death felt real when I pondered losing someone I loved.   Imagining that everything and everyone I loved was temporary was unbearable, even as a young child.

This is not to deny that my life isn’t sunny and lusty, packed with fascinating hours; in fact it is. But when we start to grow a little older, when we pause for just a moment, there begins to intrude on all our scenes a faint disquiet.  

The psychologist Ernest Becker wrote in his pulitzer prize winning book, “The Denial of Death,” that in the face of an acute and agonizing awareness of his mortality, man has developed three main devices to sustain his sanity.  These illusions act as temporary solutions to the problem of death. 

The Religious Solution

The Religious Solution invents the concept of God and projects onto him the power to grant us what we all really want: the ability to bestow eternal life on ourselves an our loved ones; to be freed from disease, decay and death.  

This belief in an all powerful deity made perfect sense during the dark ages when people lived short, miserable, disease-ridden lives. With no explanation for their suffering, people were better able to bear their hardships by having faith in God and believing, that in the end, their gods would ’save’ them. 

However, the gods never came.  Suffering persisted; people lived and people died.  

In an age of science and reason, however, the Religious Solution has all but become obsolete.  The irrationality of religious dogma has become clear in our modern time of scientific enlightenment, and rather than alleviating our anxiety, it has only served to exacerbate it.

Alan Harrington, wrote in the Immortalist, that “Anxiety increases with education. As we grow more sophisticated, ever more ingenious rationalizations are needed to explain death away.” Man still needs something to believe in.

The Romantic Solution 

Enter the The Romantic Solution; the second illusion Becker identifies – when we no longer believe in God, we then turn our lovers into gods and goddesses. We idolize them, write pop songs about being saved by their love, and for a little while we feel immortal; like gods beyond time.  

Becker elaborates: “If the love object is divine perfection, then one’s own self is elevated by joining one’s destiny to it.” All our guilt, fear, even mortality itself can be “purged in a perfect consummation with perfection itself.”  

When in love, man can “forget himself in the delirium of sex, and still be marvelously quickened in the experience”.  We are temporarily relieved from the drag of “the animality that haunts our victory over decay and death.”  When in love, we become immortal gods. 

But no relationship can bear the burden of godhood.  Eventually, ours gods/lovers reveal their clay feet.  It is, as someone once said, the “mortal collision between heaven and halitosis.”  

This is the revelation we all come to in a romantic relationship when sex is revealed to represent “species consciousness;” a mere process of reproduction in service of propagation, not in service of “man as a special cosmic hero with special gifts for the universe…”

Man is revealed to be a mere link in the chain, with no lasting purpose or significance. Passionate love then tends to transition into housekeeping love; boredom and routine coupled with the impossible standards we have for our lovers collides in a flurry of disappointment, and perfection begins to show its cracks. 

This is why most marriages end in divorce and why love doesn’t ever quite seem to last forever.

The Creative Solution

At this point Becker identifies the last illusion man has devised: the Creative Solution.  This explains our urge to leave a legacy; to create a great work of art that has lasting impact and value; in essence to create something that carries our signature and lives on after we’re gone.    

“This is the artist’s way of scribbling ‘Kilroy was here‘ on the wall of the final and irrevocable oblivion through which he must one day pass,” Harrington explains. This is quite touching and clever, but ultimately fails where it counts: still, everyone dies. 

The absurdity and ache of our condition can be summed up by the opening line from the documentary Flight From Death:

“To have emerged from nothing; to have a name, consciousness of self, deep inner feeling; an excruciating yearning for life and self-expression.  And with all this; yet to die.  Human beings find themselves in quite the predicament.  With our minds we have the capacity ponder the infinite, seemingly capable of anything, yet we’re housed in a heart-pumping, breath-gasping, decaying body.  We are godly, yet creaturely.”

The Immortalist Thesis

The time has come for man to get over his cosmic inferiority complex. To rise above his condition – to use technology to extend himself beyond his biological limitations.  Alan Harrington reminds us: “We must never forget we are cosmic revolutionaries, not stooges conscripted to advance a natural order that kills everybody.” 

While Ernest Becker identified our need for heroism and our extensive attempts to satisfy it symbolically, Alan Harrington proposes we move definitively to engineer salvation in the real world; to move directly to physically overcome death itself: “Spend the money, higher the scientists and hunt down death like an outlaw.”  

While some cry heresy and might gasp in protest at the pretense of ‘playing god’, Harrington simply states: “The truth is, of course, that death should no more be considered an acceptable part of life than smallpox or polio, both of which we have managed to bring under control without denouncing ourselves as pretentious.”

What must be eliminated from the human drama is the “inevitability of death as a result and natural end of the aging process.  I am speaking of the inescapable parabolic arching from birth to death–the point is “being alive now, ungoverned by span, cycle or inevitability.”

Alan Harrington also rails against any philosophy that teaches complacency: “All philosophical systems insofar as they teach us sportingly to accept extinction are a waste of time… the wisdom of philosophers may nearly always be found trying to blanket our program to conquer death.”

“Death seems simply to be a return to that unknown inwardness out of which we were born,” state thinkers like Alan Watts.

But Harrington critiques those that embellish ‘nothingness’ as: “Voices preaching false consolation will not help us, no matter how skillfully and soothingly they arrange nothingness. This may be appraised as fine writing, but it serves also to glamorize death, and therefore, in the context of humanity’s mission to conquer death, to weaken and tranquilize our rebellion.”

The Immortalist point of view, then, could be described as a project that uses technology to “Individualize eternity, to stabilize the forms and identities through which the energy of conscious life passes.”  

This is hardly a stretch for human beings, as Harrington proclaims: “We have long since gone beyond the moon, touched down on mars, harnessed nuclear energy, artificially reproduced DNA, and now have the biochemical means to control birth; why should death itself, ‘the last enemy’, be considered beyond conquest?”

I want to leave you with this biting and eloquent passage I read somewhere on the internet:

“There is nothing about death that is less than abominable.  I am forever bewildered by the placating palaver wasted in efforts to quell this irrational horror. The cessation of all that is, the chasm that devours every memory, every fleeting intellection, every redeeming fragment of meaning and love and lust and friendship and hunger and hopeless vitality, and reduces it all to the inconceivable cosmic ash of nothing – That is my enemy.”

Enjoy your day.

- Jason Silva

Conclusion

In the end, there’s no right or wrong answer. It’s up to the reader to decide based on the evidence, and most importantly, their direct experience of following certain beliefs. Keep what works, and discard what doesn’t.

After all, very soon you may have all the time in the world to ponder life’s big questions…

What do you think of the debate on ending death (and the nature of life)? Share your thoughts in the comments!

For many, being a travel writer is the proverbial “dream job.” After all, it sounds so romantic: getting paid to travel the world and write about it.

The reality, as revealed by the show Word Travels (now in its third season), is far different. Travel writing is hard work. You dig for stories. You deal with flights, buses, trains, and traffic. You pitch editors, more often denied than accepted. But luckily, this actuality is what makes travel writing so entertaining.

I joined the crew of Word Travels to see for myself how a show about travel writing is put together. The goal? Visit three countries: Georgia, Italy, and Portugal.

Here are my favourite shots from the shoot, offering a glimpse seldom seen by others, and a peek behind the curtain.

1.Tbilisi, Georgia. Robin learns the basics of medieval Georgian swordplay. Sean Cable (director of photography) crouches below, always committed to capturing the best angle.

2.Tibilisi, Georgia. Julia and Paul Vance (sound recordist) take a break from shooting and join a sing-a-long with Georgian metal heads.

3.Countryside, Georgia. Never one to miss an opportunity to fist pump in a massive green field, BNT editor Ian MacKenzie is snapped by Robin. (Photo: Peter Steel)

4.Tibilisi, Georgia. Robin is always ready to use any elements in the scene to tell the story to camera. (Photo: Peter Steel)

5. Lambourghini Plant, Italy. Julia reflects from the floor of the Lambourghini assembly plant, where staggeringly powerful (and expensive) cars are produced.

6. Modena, Italy. Robin and Julia eagerly await their taste of traditional balsamic vinegar, fermented up to 25 years.

7. Modena, Italy. Shooting a travel show isn’t always easy, as this shot reveals. Robin suggests another scene to director Peter Steel, while Julia looks on.

8.Modena, Italy. When ordering a plate of food, be careful what you wish for. Robin shows his astonishment at the amount of meat (which he’ll never eat anyway, as he doesn’t eat pork).

9. Rome, Italy. Julia takes a stab at gladiator training with her instructor Alex.

10. Terceira, Portugal. Paul Vance (sound recordist) scours the crowd and matadors at a bullfight for the perfect shot.

11. Terceira, Portugal. Robin and Ian try not to look afraid before watching the locals in a traditional bull run in the streets. (Photo: Deb Wainwright)

12. Terceira, Portugal. Unfortunately, Paul’s sound equipment became tangled in the feet of a charging bull. A tug of war ensued, with the boom mic (and not Paul) taking the brunt of the attack.

13. Terceira, Portugal. The weather doesn’t always cooperate with a shoot. Robin eyes the rain and wonders when the sun will return.

14. Lisbon, Portugal. Sean Cable is always eager to experiment, including hopping a Segway to enhance a tracking shot.

15. Lisbon, Portugal. Robin describes his experience while on a “blind tour” with Lisbon Walker. The tour aims to use other senses to explore the city.

16. Lisbon, Portugal.High above the city, Robin sits in a window while Sean Cable experiments shooting during “golden hour” – the time just before afternoon becomes dusk. (Photo: Peter Steel)

17. Terceira, Portugal. Robin and Julia share a smile, in the ruins of an old fort. Clearly, they realize they have the best job in the world.

Want more Word Travels? Check their website to see when it’s on in your area. And visit Robin Esrock and Julia Dimon for more from the shows’ venerable hosts.

A moment’s rest in the Azores, Portugal.

Greetings readers!

You may (or may not) have noticed I haven’t published an editor’s update for almost a month. That’s because I was off gallivanting in TV land, working with the crew on the reality series Word Travels.

Now in its third season, the show follows the talented travel writers Robin Esrock and Julia Dimon as they scope out stories and battle deadlines around the globe. I was privileged enough to work with the small team that makes the magic happen, visiting three countries in 3 weeks: Georgia, Italy and Portugal.

In the coming week I’ll be publishing an exclusive, behind-the-scenes look at how a travel show is put together, offering an intimate glimpse into the personalities and process.

In the meantime, feel free to check out my Flickr galleries showing my favourite shots from the trip.

Until then!

- Ian

The dilemma: who wouldn’t want to see this?

Last month, co-editor Christine and I pledged some wacky actions if our RSS subscribers reached 4000 by the end of May. Watch the video here.

The bad news: we didn’t quite hit the goal.

The good news: we still added a few hundred new RSS subscribers!

Also, special thanks to Travel with Oaster and Trip Base, and everyone else who helped spread the word about the campaign.

That leaves me with a dilemma.

Should I forget about posting the video since we didn’t meet the goal? Or should I post it anyway just because it’s cool?

Share your thoughts in the comments!

The Goal: Reach 4000 RSS Subscribers by May 31, 2009.

In return, here’s what we promise:

• Ian MacKenzie, Editor in Chief, will run joyfully naked down a white sandy beach.
• Christine Garvin, Co-editor, will bend a steel bar with the energy of her neck. Or “neck-ergy” as I call it.

These amazing feats of nakedness and strength will of course be featured in an entertaining and cleverly edited video.

For those not in the know, RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication.” It’s that little orange square that you see on a lot of websites with a number that goes up and down. Here’s a handy explanation.

Subscribe via RSS Reader

Click on the icon and choose your favourite feed reader:

OR Subscribe via Email

How To Help:

Essentially any way possible that aids us in hitting (or exceeding) that number is greatly appreciated. Here’s some specific ideas:

• Email your traveler friends and family
• Post about us on your blog
• Tweet us on Twitter
• Tie a note to your dog’s collar and set him free
• Write a song and upload it to Youtube
• Draw a picture and share it on Flickr
• …and anything else you can think of!

Link Love For Everyone!

All sharable acts of helping us out will be linked to in a celebratory blog post along with our video. So this means we’ll link to your blog post, share your picture, embed your song…you get the idea. So when you post, send us a note to let us know it’s up.

What do you say, readers? Are you with us? If you haven’t yet, grab the BNT RSS Feed here!

Ian MacKenzie…posing old skool.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from life, it’s never say never.

Also, it’s not a good idea to wash an electric dish pan while it’s still plugged in. But that’s a different story.

More importantly, I stepped away as Editor of BNT back in December 2008. The talented Julie Schwietert took the reins, among her other duties managing the rest of the Matador Network blogs.

Over the past few months, we’ve continued to publish excellent writers on a wide range of topics.

Though we realized something was missing: the personality of having an editor with a face, someone that checks in with the readers now and then to gauge their interests, their reactions, and to thank them for spending their time our sites.

For this reason, I’ve decided to return as Editor-in-Chief of BNT. And I’m bringing Christine Garvin with me, the sassy, yoga-touting, health concious blogger from California.

We’ll be publishing shorter posts, more frequently, along with our regular in-depth pieces.

This new editorial format is complimented by our new layout and site design. Feel free to explore and leave your feedback here.

As always, if you have an article you’d like to contribute, head over to our contributors page.

And if you haven’t yet, make sure to check out our subscription options and have Matador delivered to you!

Years ago, I wrote a short story called “The Attic.” I had been reading too much Stephen King at the time, reflected in the subject matter of my own character (a homicidal maniac who kept forgetting his crimes).

But while the story is, sadly, forgettable, I still believe the theory I explored is sound.

“The Attic” is a metaphor for the idea that the human mind can only retain so much information. Sure, it can be packed away somewhere in the bowels of our brains, but our ability to retain, analyze, and process so much data is limited.

Eventually, we’re full.

This leads up to my own announcement: I’m stepping away as Editor of Brave New Traveler.

There’s simply too much to do. Myself and the rest of the Matador folks are planning some major site upgrades across the network, and it’s too much for me to handle at the same time. BNT would suffer my lack of focused attention.

As well, my co-editor Tim Patterson has been gallavanting in the jungles of Southeast Asia.

But take heart – replacing me is the talented and worldly Julie Schwietert, who also manages many of the other channels in the Matador Network. She’s promised to take the reigns with care, and continue publishing spiritual, provocative, and thoughtful articles.

I won’t disapear completely. I’ll continue publishing BNT’s Best of the Week and the odd article here and there.

As for our stable of writers, please submit your future queries through our submission form or directly to julie@matadornetwork.com

Thanks to all wonderful readers and contributors!

Two years is a long time. That translates into hundreds of hours, blog posts, writers, cups of coffee, and existential angst… but most importantly, it’s a milestone.

When I started BNT back in October 2006, I had no idea if it would be a success. But I certainly knew it had potential. I even promised “Stick along for the ride. I promise it will be a journey.”

Thankfully, I believe BNT has lived up to its original intentions. With the help of co-editor Tim Patterson, and more recently the expansion of the entire Matador Network, the focus of BNT may have shifted, but the heart is in the right place.

A reader wrote in a recent email:

I have been reading Brave New Traveler for just about a year now. The articles that I have come across upon browsing this website have been a delightful surprise. They are some of the most thoughtful and insightful commentaries about the experiences gained from traveling.

Your passion for travel and adventure, matched with your unselfish interest in learning more about the world and others, has generated some thought provoking points. I am constantly challenged to view the world in new ways when I visit Brave New Traveler.

Whenever I am challenged by my counterparts at home about my bold decision to travel abroad (generally I am supported), I revert back to Matador Travel where I can connect with an entire community of people who understand the spirit of adventure.

I want to thank you and the rest of the community at Brave New Traveler for sparking a new generation of travelers. Your integrity in the travel community has not gone unnoticed.

Thanks again for all our readers for making Brave New Traveler (and the entire Matador Network) an amazing community.

P.S. for more video highlights, check out these classic videos

• 100 Subscribers = 1 shot of Vodka
• BNT Surpasses 1000 RSS Subscribers

Matador members believe they can change the world, and they’re out there doing it every day.

Sure, we publish the same sorts of articles you find in print publications, but these articles are just window-dressing. The editor in me cringes, but it’s true.

But no matter what we write, the most important part of Matador is the community. Whenever I need a little stoke, I browse Matador member profiles. I’m always awed by the sheer human optimism in this remarkable community.

Thank you so much for inspiring us.

Here are 10 incredible members of the Matador community. To meet the other 40 featured travelers, please follow the links at the bottom of this page.

Ricardo_emp

Before I die I’d like to:
It would be excellent to travel from the source of the Magdalena River to the Coast over 10 days…or hitch a ride illegally on the coal train from Colombia’s interior to the mines in Guajira.
Ricardo_emp’s full profile

Evan Thoreau

About me:
I’m a wanderer with deep roots and long branches.I’m a writer with an eye for detail, an ear for great stories, and a pen that just won’t rest. I’m a fanatic for international soccer, the perfect Mojito, foggy sea views, and spring dawns.

I love people and surround them in my life. As the late, great Bob Nesta Marley said, “My life is people. Without the people I am nothing.”

Evan Thoreau’s full profile

Mei-Ling McNamara

Why I travel:
To push the limits of my own ideas of security, knowledge, understanding and awareness. To avoid the constraints of conditioning and to learn through doing. To live in this world and to make it my responsibility to expose myself to all of it: the joyful, tragic, shocking and sublime.

Mei-Ling NcNamara’s full profile

Jenny Williams

Former national soccer player turned UC Berkeley folklore groupie and songwriter; quit a job in book publishing to travel in the Middle East, Africa, India, and Southeast Asia. I’m currently News Editor at Ethical Traveler and I also work as a freelance writer/developmental book editor/creative hack.

Jenny Williams full profile

DWB

I’m fired up on politics (particuarly the messy Middle Eastern kind), photography, and sitting around in cafes in the Arab world chatting.

DWB’s full profile

Delacouri

Why I travel:
in every way i just have to; the excitement the adventure the faces the smells the sounds as i fall asleep the airflights the views the unbelievably warming, swelling sensation in my stomach and the smile and joy that i cant suppress which bubbles up in laughter

Delacouri’s full profile

Andie

About me:
i contemplate the practicality of life vs. the spirit of change, hope, adventure and faith. It leaves me in a state of wonder…and wander.

I still am not sure if this nature of contemplation is a blessing or a curse….one thing for sure, it’s where my soul and mind meet.

Andie’s full profile

Jackfruit

Why I travel:
Oh, a long and scrolling list that is reinvented every time I do…but in a phrase, to make transience stay.

Jackfruit’s full profile

Kalil

I have an intense curiosity about the world, a skepticism about the portrayals of people I see in the media, and a yearning for adventure.

My real name is Kalil Cohen and I am currently in LA about to start a program at UCLA to get my master’s degree in education with a focus on social justice in urban education and bilingual (spanish) certification.

I like Matador because the site and people on it are interested in all the varied aspects of travel, not just where to go and how long to stay, but how to get to know local people and really experience another culture rather than traveling like a tourist.

Kalil’s full profile

Heidi Hillman

I am a bookslut, intrepid thinker and traveler, tree-hugging lover of nature, and tragicomic idealist with a penchant for Russian and Scandinavian films, Italian bicycles, independent bookshops, funky cafes, travel magazines and narratives, rivers, tall trees and tall men, dogwood and peonies, Mah Jongg, spoken Russian, rye bread and marmalade, artichokes, red wine, The Egyptian Book of the Dead, Rilke, and Sufi poetry …

Heidi’s full profile

To meet more Matador members, please follow the links below:

Travelers 1-10 at MatadorTrips.com
Travelers 21 – 30 at TheTravelersNotebook.com
Travelers 31 – 40 at MatadorStudy.com
Travelers 41 – 50 at Matador.org

Community Connection

These are only 50 out of thousands of travelers in our community. Who else should get a mention? Big them up in the comments, and if you haven’t yet, link up with us.

Atop a sand dune along the Oregon Coast

A few readers may have noticed last week was a little sparse in Brave New Traveler updates.

This was not intentional. Basically I had future-posted new articles throughout the week, but some decided not to publish.

And I wasn’t around to check out the issue because I was road-tripping to San Francisco to meet much of the Matador Crew for the first time.

VIEW THE ROADTRIP PHOTO ALBUM

I’ve been working virtually with most of the team since BNT joined the network back in January, and since then I’ve known the other editors (and writers) entirely by their voices. What a trip to finally meet them in person, and open up a whole new dimension to our interaction.

It was my first time to San Francisco as well. The big event held Saturday night was the Matador Party, a fundraiser to send inner-city youth abroad for travel experiences of their own (via the Matador Travel Scholarship).

Now, after the roadtrip, I’m back home and gearing up for some big posts on BNT. Also, I’m always looking for feedback from the readers on what you like, what you don’t like, and what you’d like to see develop in the near future.

If you have any article ideas, check out our contributor guidelines, and send in your pitches!

Until next time…

Tim and Ian have the whole world in their hands.

For the next few months, things will be a little different around BNT.

Co-editor (and all around nice guy) Tim Patterson will be on the road, leading a tour with the youth group Where There Be Dragons.

Fortunately for him, he’ll be deep in the nether regions of Cambodia, and unlikely to have access to reliable WIFI. So during the journey, Tim will be temporary relinquishing his editorial duties for BNT, leaving it up to me to hold down the metaphorical ship.

Don’t worry, dear readers. I edited the magazine alone during the first 12 months, and I can certainly do it again. But this time, I’ll have the support of the rest of the Matador Network team: talented editors, writers, and genuine individuals.

So as Tim waits for his flight to take him away, I want to wish him an excellent trip! And there’ll be plenty of work for him…when he returns.

Feel like giving Tim some love? Share your best wishes in the comments!

After an explosion of confusion and outrage more typical of Zimbabwean politics than the normal, good-humored tone of this little travel magazine, the Thomas Kohnstamm affair is finally fading into the rearview mirror.

We should have seen the firestorm coming.

After all, the BNT editorial team wasn’t exactly shy about throwing gasoline on the flames (the photo of Thomas in hell didn’t seem so clever when we learned that he allegedly received death threats).

Given that much of the outrage was provoked by misinformation, in retrospect some of the more inflammatory comments are clearly out of line.

That said, we have few regrets about publishing the post, and feel that with the dust settled, there is much we can learn from the experience.

Reacting To The News

Here’s one thing we want to make totally clear: Eva’s original post was a response to a developing news story, not a news article in its own right. There’s a big difference.

The facts in the mainstream newspaper and wire service publications that first reported the story were sensationalized and exaggerated to the point of serious distortion. Why this was the case remains unclear, although all parties involved had an interest in making the biggest media splash possible.

As a reaction to the story, Eva’s post was right on the money. So, for the most part, were the opinions expressed in the commentary as the story evolved.

Instead of reacting in the heat of the moment, should we all have stopped writing, taken a deep breath and let the facts fully emerge before responding? Perhaps.

Then again, perhaps not. After all, the fire did a pretty thorough job of burning away the exaggeration, and when all is said and done, we’re a lot closer to the truth than when we started.

Where’s The Real Story?

Kohnstamm comes out of this scandal looking like a mildly sleazy character, but it’s pretty clear that titillating goodies like table service, drug deals and helpful Colombian chicks are just sugary fluff meant to sell books.

So where’s the beef?

In his response to Eva’s post, Kohnstamm wrote the following:

“I am trying to write a book about the truth in travel writing, not some plagiarist who is trying to turn a fast buck off of being an asshole.”

Putting aside the questions of whether Kohnstamm is a plagiarist or an asshole, what does this scandal reveal about the truth in travel writing?

Can You Handle The Truth?

Kohnstamm argues that guidebook writers are often poorly paid, inexperienced writers who sometimes engage in unprofessional behavior.

Having just finished a guidebook assignment myself, I can unequivocally state that Kohnstamm is exactly right. The sharp decline in quality across the guidebook industry in the last decade is hardly news.

These days, the professional guidebook writer is a dying breed, and assignments go to eager, inexperienced writers willing to work for flat fees of a few thousand dollars per assignment, with no benefits or royalties.

Lonely Planet, Fodor’s, Rough Guide and all the other guidebook publishing houses aren’t going to disappear anytime soon, but the time gap between (often shoddy) research and actual publication, not to mention the years between updated editions, means that print guides will struggle to compete with interactive online travel guides that offer real-time information.

Here’s a dirty little secret: the guy writing a travel blog about his trip to Colombia is probably no less qualified to give travel advice than the guy who got paid to write a guidebook chapter on Colombia.

Plus, the first guy’s advice is published instantaneously and his contact information is no doubt readily available for readers who want to ask questions.

Traditional guidebooks just can’t compete.

The Rise Of Online Travel Guides

Thomas Kohnstamm contemplating the future.

To me, the real story behind this scandal is the decline of traditional print guidebooks and the rise of interactive online alternatives.

The online reaction to Kohnstamm’s confessions shocked everyone involved, but the swift rush to uncover the truth is indicative of the powerful potential inherent in online travel communities.

Some guidebook writers are already on top of this trend. Robert Reid, a consummate professional and Lonely Planet veteran, recently passed up the opportunity to update Lonely Planet’s Vietnam book.

Instead, Reid went to Vietnam on his own dime and published his research online as soon as he finished his trip. Reid’s online Vietnam guide has everything one could possibly need to plan an itinerary.

In addition to guidebook-style listings for restaurants, sights and accommodation, there are forums, videos and a regularly updated blog. And it’s all available for free.

The Future Is Now

Reid is a prominent pioneer in the switch from print to online travel guides, but he’s hardly making the transition alone. Even Lonely Planet is rushing to get its content online, offering steep discounts on PDF chapter downloads and fostering the development of one of the most helpful travel forums on the web.

Other examples of upstart online guides that rival mainstream guidebooks for usefulness and practicality include ArgentinasTravel.com and TalesOfAsia.

Then there are the online travel communities, like IgoUgo, Trip Advisor and Matador, all of which depend on enthusiastic users to share their travel recommendations.

Who Can You Trust?

My Mom, bless her heart, isn’t quite sure about this whole online travel writing business.

“There’s so much junk on the Internet,” she says. “How do you know who you’re dealing with? When I travel, I want a source I can trust.”

Well Mom, I agree that making travel plans on the basis of a random stranger’s blog isn’t a smart idea. But in the best of these online travel communities, the bloggers aren’t random strangers. They’re people – fascinating and passionate – and by reading their profiles and blogs, it’s easy to get a sense of who they are and where they’re coming from.

If I was going to Puerto Rico, I’d talk to Julie. If I was going to San Francisco, I’d hit up Ross. If I was going to Ottawa, Eva would get me the latest tips.

If I was going to Colombia, I’d talk to Richard. He lives there. And I have an inkling that he knows the place a hell of a lot better than (former) Lonely Planet author Thomas Kohnstamm.

Do travel writer’s go to hell? Nah. They go online.

Photo by zacden

Bad times for the United States economy.

Consumer spending is down. Economic growth is turning negative. We’re headed for a recession. Our politicians are desperate to solve this problem, to squeeze a few more micro-points of economic growth out of the American people.

This is not a crisis. It is an opportunity.

America, and the world, needs to chill out and slow down. We need to relax. We need to hug our children. We need to stop frantically racing around, constantly trying to get ahead.

We need to take a deep breath, walk down to the river or to the sea and watch the water and feel the sun. We need to remember that the world is beautiful and our needs are simple.

We must enjoy the easy pleasures of a rich, healthy, spiritually fulfilling life.

We can drive our cars less often. We can get by with hand-me-down jeans. We can let our brothers and sisters in Iraq come home.

More of us need to realize a single, essential, illuminating truth: Too much economic growth under the Wall Street model is not good. It is rapacious and deadly.

Breast-cancer rates are sky high. There is not much forest left. The air is becoming unfit to breathe. The wise people who understand the climate best tell us – they shout from the top of their lungs in fact – that we are headed for disaster.

America the Beautiful

Even in the United States – a wide, fertile country of temperate seacoasts and golden fields – we are beginning to feel the impact of our economic curse: the frantic, desperate consumption of earth and water and forest, devastated by engines of greed.

Worse than human greed, however, is the economic beast’s newfound ability to strip away the capacity for human reason and moral judgment.

Without reason and without morality, we begin to lose the spiritual grace that makes us human.

How does the economy remove our humanity?

Efficiently.

Our Money At Work

Our money – the money we work for, the money in our retirement accounts, the money in our college funds – that money is working.

Photo by nighthawk7

It is earning interest. It is feeding 6 billion people, but it is also poisoning our lands and poisoning our government.

The problem is that too often we cannot see what work our money is doing, or judge its merit for ourselves.

We are in our homes in America. Our money is in Shanghai and Dubai and Moscow and Baghdad. It is working hard. It is telling us we NEED a new SUV, that fulfillment is on the far side of a flat-screen TV.

Our money is spilling millions of tons of poisonous chemicals on our farmland. It is building bombs and voting machines and artificial hearts.

Our money is building the laptop that I’m writing on right now. I can use this laptop to read the Dhammapada, or to learn about, empathize with and perhaps even help the bloody children in Darfur.

Or I can use my laptop (and a whole lot of my money) to buy shares in PetroChina, or Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, or perhaps Barrick Gold.

Our money is not bad. Or good. It has no morals. It is merely a tool.

Good People + Bad System = Sick And Dangerous World

The stewards of our money – the bankers, the lawyers, the politicians and the producers of corporate media – are not bad people. On the contrary, they are often among the best and brightest people in society.

The poor who work so hard to join the rich are good, strong, moral people too.

But all these good people are in the thrall of an illusion.

They are human, and even as they die of cancer, car crashes, stress and car-bombs, they cling to the belief that more money will make them happy, that more economic growth is the only answer, the sacred balm that will heal all wounds.

This is ridiculous. In the words of a wise man, “Mo’ Money, Mo’ Problems.” Or, put another way, “Money Does Not Equal Happiness”.

Here is what we must do.

We must simultaneously extend our compassion across the oceans and bring our money home to our hearts and hearths.

We must use our money well, to help each other, to communicate, to heal the sick, to grow healthy, delicious food, to refine the technology of solar panels and to make better filters for our water – in short, to work to cherish and protect all the precious bits of beauty in the world.

We must relax and be happy. We must love our neighbors (and love them like Jesus meant, not like in Desperate Housewives).

So take ten deep, slow breaths. Go on. See if you can do it.

Smile. Stand up. Stretch.

This Internet session is now over. Go outside and find something beautiful in the world.

What do you think of the future? Share your thoughts in the comments!

That’s almost 12 months since donning a tux, standing in front of my family (and hers), and slipping a ring over her finger, declaring that this woman, this person, this wonderful sliver of soul, shall be my wife.

My how the time flies.

Since that moment I’ve often pondered what’s changed in our relationship. After all, my wife and I had lived together for almost 3 years before I proposed. We’ve eaten together, sparred together (literally, in martial arts she broke her toe on my forearm) and even traveled together.

Rest assured, spending 2 months with anyone on the road will reveal very quickly whether or not you’re compatible.

My best friend has had a different situation with his significant other. We’ve both spent much of the past year on the road, which has occasionally put a strain on my marriage, and certainly prolonged the “courtship” phase of his relationship.

In those many nights in transition, on the bus or in another foreign home, my friend and I have discussed the differences between having a girlfriend and being married. Who should be missed more? What type of relationship demands your presence, and defines how you exist together when in the same space?

The Difference Between

It could have been accumulated wisdom from my year of marriage (or maybe just the beers), but an epiphany came to me recently that I wanted to share:

Girlfriends are like cheesecake. Wives are like oxygen.

Allow me to explain.

When you haven’t had cheesecake in a while, and someone puts a rich slice in front of you, glinting fork on the edge of the plate, chances are, you’re going to enjoy it. It’s creamy, cheesy, and all around delicious. That is…until you have one bite too much.

That’s the thing about cheesecake. It’s amazing until you go overboard.

Girlfriends tend to be the same – it’s been my experience that couples in healthy early relationships limit their exposure of each other to infrequent doses. This way, when you’re together you have plenty to talk about, discover, and experience, until it’s time to part ways and plan the next encounter.

Couples that spend too much time together at this early stage tend to burn each other out.

A Deep Breath

Wives, on other hand, are much different. Married couples tend to spend a lot of time together. Some even appear joined at the hip. Often they become like a single entity, sharing decisions, thoughts, and opinions.

But in the best marriages, being together is not something conscious. You don’t “decide” to be together day to day, you just are.

Which is exactly like oxygen. You don’t consciously decide to breathe moment to moment. You are not worried if oxygen will be there or not, whether they’re still committed to you, or whether they’re suitably entertained or not.

You just exist…together.

Comfortable. Natural. Like breathing.

Of course, not all girlfriends are like cheesecake. And not all wives are like oxygen. But I find the best and most complimentary relationships follow this theme.

I could go on…but all this talk has made me hungry for cheesecake. (The real thing…don’t worry, honey).

What are your thoughts on my extended similes? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Ian MacKenzie is editor of Brave New Traveler. Aside from writing, he spends his time exploring the fundamental nature of existence and wishing he did more backpacking.

The word “acquisition” sounds very official, but as you know from reading our mandate, we’re not about being too official. We’re about having fun and publishing authentic content you rarely read anywhere else.

Basically what happened is Matador’s founder Ross Borden, approached me with a vision that made sense – join forces to complement each community and build something out of the collaboration that is ultimately better than what we could do alone.

Co-editor Tim Patterson, who is also an active member at Matador, eloquently put it as:

Matador and BNT are not just a motley collection of articles, travel stories, destination guides, internet forums and social networks. They are communities of passionate travelers – thousands of us, brought together from the far corners of the world into one space, one global campfire where we are able to have a conversation.

So what does that mean in concrete terms over here at BNT?

On the surface, not much will change. I will remain as the Editor-in-Chief and Tim Patterson will stay on as Co-Editor. BNT’s design will stay relatively the same – with some exciting new additions to the look and layout.

As for content, the new partnership means we can split article topics among the other blog in Matador’s network, The Traveler’s Notebook. BNT will focus more on what it does best – spiritual travel, politics, relationships on the road, and more.

But like any grand endeavor, we must leave room for organic evolution. This is an exciting time for BNT and Matador, and we’re just getting started.

If you haven’t yet, grab our RSS feed or subscribe via Email.

As I wrote way back in our very first post, I promise, it will be a ride. Thanks for hopping on board thus far.

Ian MacKenzie is editor of Brave New Traveler. Aside from writing, he spends his time exploring the fundamental nature of existence and wishing he did more backpacking.

Thanks. Thank you Ian. Thank you Laura. Thank you Mom. Thank you Cedric, Eva, Cam, Ekaterina and Jacob. Thank you Marilyn, Emily, Daniel and Guylaine.

Thanks to all of you – our wonderful, curious, loyal Brave New Travelers.

You encourage us with your comments and enlighten us with your contributions. As of yesterday, you answered our challenge and have lifted Brave New Traveler up over the magic mark of ONE THOUSAND RSS subscribers. Your enthusiasm and support makes editing and publishing this scrappy online magazine a joy.

This is just the beginning. We’ve got big plans. A few months ago Ian was doing a shot of vodka at 7 am to celebrate 100 subscribers. The video for the 1,000 mark ups the ante to include beer, whiskey, horrible singing and my (blacked out) jiggly bits.

10,000 can’t be far off. (Imagine what we’ll come up with for that celebratory video).

Keep spreading the word, Brave New Travelers! Let’s not stop here. We’re counting on you to tell your friends about this wicked cool little independent travel magazine that publishes such provocative, timely and funny articles.

• Grab the RSS Feed
• Subscrive via Email

Still not sure what RSS even means? Read this.

So, wherever you are in this tragic, lovely, fascinating world – keep in touch. Keep reading. Keep adding your voice to the community.

We’re building something beautiful, and it’s good to have you along for the ride.

Thanks to the following bloggers for posting about our RSS push

• Eyeflare
• The Carey Adventures
• Start Backpacking

And I’m positive there were a couple more that did as well. If we missed you, send us an email and we’ll add you to this list.

BNT contributing editor Tim Patterson travels with a sleeping bag and pup tent strapped to the back of his folding bicycle. His articles and travel guides have appeared in The San Francisco Chronicle, Get Lost Magazine, Tales Of Asia and Traverse Magazine. Check out his personal site Rucksack Wanderer.

UPDATE: Today (Jan 22) so close, yet so far: 985 subscribers! I can almost taste those shots of whiskey…

UPDATE: Today (Jan 17) we’ve reached our highest ever so far: 975 subscribers! Getting there!

UPDATE: Today (Jan 15) we’ve reached 949 subscribers! Keep it up!

There’s comes a time in every online publication’s life when they pause for a moment, take stock of all they’ve accomplished so far, and set the bar for future goals.

In this case, a goal for us here at BNT is reaching that ever-elusive 1000 RSS subscriber mark, a milestone that says to other readers (and to the world at large) that, “Yes! Here is a publication worth reading!”

For those not in the know, RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication.” It’s that little orange square that you see on a lot of websites with a number that goes up and down. Here’s a handy explanation.

Of course, there are some people that would say 1000 readers is an arbitrary number – no different from 645 or 1078. To those people I say…well yeah. But just look at all those zeros in 1000. Admire how speaking the number rolls off your tongue and carries with it such boldness and dignity!

The last milestone occurred on Feb 27, 2007 a day before my birthday. At the hour of 7am, the RSS subscribers passed the holy mark of 100. I celebrated by taking a (now legendary) shot of vodka.

And now I call upon you, dear reader, to aid BNT in this quest to share the word about our online travel magazine. We’re asking you to help us reach our goal of 1000 subscribers by Feb 27, 2008.

If we reach 1000 RSS subscribers:

• Ian MacKenzie, Editor-in-Chief, will celebrate by swallowing 3 shots of Whiskey in quick succession.
• Tim Patterson, Co-Editor, will run naked down a Patagonian beach, flapping his arms like a condor.
• and finally, Laura Kammermeier, Advertising Manager, will do a triple front karate roll then drink a shot of carrot juice on a hilltop of her choice. (The amazing part of this feat is that Laura hasn’t done karate in 10 years and hates carrot juice).

All of this will be edited into a wonderful video clip and posted on BNT to celebrate the milestone.

Ideas to help us:

Tell your friends, tell your family, tell your dog, post about us on your blog, write a song, draw a picture – essentially anyway possible that aids us in hitting (or exceeding) that number is greatly appreciated.

Link Love For Everyone!

All sharable acts of helping us out will be linked to in a celebratory blog post along with our video. So this means we’ll link to your blog post, share your picture, embed your song…you get the idea. So when you post, send us a note to let us know it’s up.

What do you say, readers? Are you with us? If you haven’t yet, grab the BNT RSS Feed here!

Ian MacKenzie is editor of Brave New Traveler. Aside from writing, he spends his time exploring the fundamental nature of existence and wishing he did more backpacking.

Some resolutions continuously appear (such as John wants to lose 15 pounds) – but never make the accomplishment list. Other resolutions are written only once, and are quickly forgotten (like Tim wants to kill a deer).

What’s most satisfying is to see a resolution become an accomplishment from one year to the next, like when Tim wants to “lrn haw to rid and wrt” became “Tim learned how to read and write.”

In the spirit of the New Year, the three of us here at BNT decided to cozy up around a virtual campfire stretching from Vancouver to New York to Tierra del Fuego, and put together our own lists of accomplishments and resolutions.

A lot has happened in the past year since Ian’s last year-end roundup, and we have big plans for 2008.

Accomplishments

• Feb – The RSS feed passes over 100 subscribers. Ian celebrates by doing a shot of vodka at 7am in the morning..
• May – Ian got married! Then got stung by a scorpion on his honeymoon.
• July – We officially became a paying publication offering $20/article.
• Sept – Ian expands the BNT team to include Tim and Laura
• Nov – Our biggest month ever, with traffic peaking at almost 40,000 unique visitors.
• Nov (again) – Tim’s Manifesto From a Young American garners the record for comments (currently 42)

Resolutions

What’s a year without goals? Here’s what we’d like to accomplish in 2008:

• More Readers – We want to crack 1000 RSS subscribers and triple the traffic to the site.
• Higher Pay – Making money online ain’t easy, but we’re going to continue raising our pay rates to contributors as we can. Starting January 1, the payout will be $25 per article.
• Keep It Real – While some of our advertising has generated controversy, we will continue to maintain editorial independence and publish unique, thoughtful travel pieces
• Keep It Relevant – Gathering continual feedback from our readers is massively important; we want to write about what you want to read!
• Keep It Fun – What’s the point of anything if you’re not having a good time?

As we made these lists, we realized that all of our accomplishments and resolutions depend on you: our wonderful readers and contributors. So thanks for a great year, and here’s to many more!

BNT contributing editor Tim Patterson travels with a sleeping bag and pup tent strapped to the back of his folding bicycle. His articles and travel guides have appeared in The San Francisco Chronicle, Get Lost Magazine, Tales Of Asia and Traverse Magazine. Check out his personal site Rucksack Wanderer.

As much as I enjoy the season, I find myself recoiling from the wanton consumption of the holidays. It’s not like people already don’t have enough things.

Yet all attempts to suppress buying more are swept aside in the spirit of “giving” and to opt out is to face scorn or worse, labeled “cheap.”

A recent article in the NY Times echoed this sentiment in Jolly and Green, With an Agenda:

The holidays have always been an emotionally combustible time for families, bringing together a sometimes volatile mix of siblings, crotchety grandparents and ill-behaved children. But in recent years, a new figure has joined the celebration, to complicate the proceedings even further: the green evangelist of the family – the impassioned activist bent on eradicating the wasteful materialism of the holidays.

I’m lucky, as my family switched over to a “Secret Santa” model years ago (where each of us only buys a gift for one other family member). But to those of you caught in the throes of buying for family, friends, and coworkers, coming up with the cash and conscience to pull it off is difficult.

How to bring others to see the green light? Educate them. A large reason over-consumption can exist unchecked is because most of us are so far apart from the consequences.

Witness an excellent new film The Story of Stuff:

So now that you’ve enlightened your friends and family to the destruction of excess, they’re wondering what to do instead. Years of buying everything has left most of us with an inability to imagine the myriad of creative gifts we can make with time and our hands.

Here’s a few ideas from BuyNothingChristmas.org:

• Compile a recipe book
• Shoot a homemade film
• Donate to a charity in their name
• Creat a custom calendar
• Paint a picture
• …the ideas are endless

So go ahead, act against the grain. You may be teased, scorned, mocked on the surface, but underneath, your actions make a difference. They plant that subtle seed of change, which may take a few years to peek its head out of the dirt, but with enough repetition, the results will appear.

And soon you may be on the receiving end of a pretty cool custom calendar.

What are some ideas you’ve come up with for Christmas gifts? Share in the comments!

Ian MacKenzie is editor of Brave New Traveler. Aside from writing, he spends his time exploring the fundamental nature of existence and wishing he did more backpacking.

A sponsored post is an article that has been written expressly because a company has paid for content.

In most cases on Brave New Traveler, our sponsored posts have been written by myself or co-editor Tim Patterson, and have offered an objective eye on the service/product. At no time were we “easy” on them because they paid for the post – we tried to offer a look at the service/product, and leave the reader to decide if they wanted to check out the companies’ website.

But some readers weren’t happy. They believed the posts were deceptive because they look like regular content, and were written in our signature tone and style.

A Change Of Tone

And so, after some discussion, Tim, Laura (our advertising manager) and myself decided we would continue to publish sponsored posts, but that we would no longer write them in our own style/tone. After all, if the posts are essentially advertisements, why not make it obvious? The first sponsored post in this format was 5 Reasons To Stay In A Timeshare, published last Sunday.

Again, we received criticism from other readers because they felt the posts were still deceptive. Even though every single post has been identified right at the beginning with the line “Please note: this is a sponsored post” some readers still view it as schilling for a company.

In an effort to remain fully transparent, I would like to argue our case for choosing to publish sponsored posts.

The Reality Of The Web

The truth is, I created BNT to provide a forum for excellent online travel content, and offer it for free.

However, that doesn’t mean I think our writers should work for free. From the very beginning, my goal was to earn enough money through various forms of advertising to pay for our content, and in July of this year, I achieved that goal.

Anyone who has ever tried to make money online, quickly realizes it doesn’t come easy. Unless you cram your layout with flashing banners, google adstrips, contextual text links, and affiliate referrals, it’s pretty difficult to earn more than a few bucks a month.

Currently, while small in number and frequency, sponsored posts provide the most income for the site. And that makes them tempting, because it means we can have a cleaner layout. It means I don’t have to hide affiliate sales links in the content. And it means that our writers can get paid.

Pay versus Product?

Yet I understand how sponsored posts can hurt our reputation as a quality source for travel content.

That’s why I’ve kept these posts to a minimum (less than 8 since the site launched over a year ago) and they always remain relevant to travel (which is why you don’t see sponsored posts about gambling or pharmaceuticals). And as always, the posts have been clearly labelled as sponsored, and not regular content.

So how to proceed? I’d like to hear your feedback on sponsored posts: whether you agree with them or not. I want to know if you have ideas on generating alternative income for BNT, and how we can keep publishing brilliant new writers, and share them with an ever growing audience of conscious and intelligent travelers.

Thanks in advance.

Ian MacKenzie is editor of Brave New Traveler. Aside from writing, he spends his time exploring the fundamental nature of existence and wishing he did more backpacking.

Well, it’s just about the end of 2006. It’s been an interesting year for Brave New Traveler — or in fact, an interesting 3 months.

When I started this publication in early October I wanted to create an informative, entertaining, and enlightening online travel magazine for the emerging era. With my own posts and the help of some talented guest authors, I think we’ve succeeded.

So to celebrate, here’s a look back at the best of the past 3 months.

October

In our inaugural month, we learned the ecological footprint of the human species has started using more resources per year than the earth can hope to regenerate. In response I wrote about how make your flights carbon neutral which is still secondary to the best idea: fly less.

On the photography end, I revealed the courteous way to steal someone’s soul (hint:ask their permission) along with 5 reasons to keep your travel blog with an online travel community, and how to kick off your travel writing with a bang.

November

Our first interview is a compelling discussion with Heath Johns, resident geek for Hitch50.com, where we discuss cell phones, security, and the future of GPS mapping. This proved all the more topical after it was revealed the US government has been secretly assigning travel terrorist scores unbeknownst to their citizens.

We also began exploring the role of the 21st century traveler, with our series Priviledge and Responsibility.

Guest author Sarah Stuteville wrote the first article “Atheists in the Holy Land” an unflinching report from Israel set during the summer of 2006. This was followed by Sean Aiken’s “Waiting For Life To Begin” recounting his experiences in a Burmese refugee camp, and Cameron Karsten’s inner exporation of “Culture Hopping.”

I also published a sweeping epic post on 12 personal travel websites that will make you quit your day job. If you plan on blogging the journey, you may want to avoid the new travel writer’s most common mistake.

December

Our biggest month yet, December marked some weighty musings on mortality and the myth behind what could actually kill you on the road.

Naomi Liu shares her 5 essential travel photo tips and Pam Mandel asks why should she read your travel blog?

Later in the month, we welcomed Cameron Karsten as the spiritual travel editor. His first two columns explored the art of spiritual travel, and techniques for uncovering inspiration in the present moment.

Finally — I decided the anti-tourist is deluding themselves since we’re all tourists now, and the first casualties of climate change are a warning of things to come.

Looking forward…

That about does it. We’ve got a great lineup of articles coming up, including a guide on getting started in travel journalism and a comprehensive interview with organic-farmer-to-be Derek Wallace.

Remember, if you haven’t subscribed to the RSS feed or signed up for the email updates, you’re missing out on the best way to have the posts delivered right to you!

Thanks to all the readers and guest authors who have graciously allowed me to feature their work. If you’re interested in writing a guest post or want to get involved with the magazine, contact me.

Happy New Year!