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!

Obama in the White House / Photo: Whitehouse

A week ago, President Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize. Many were shocked.

Mock speeches were drafted in which he declined the prize or accepted it on behalf of others. The town-hall criers cringed in agony, the media salivated. On Meet the Press, Paul Gigot of The Wall Street Journal wrung his hands at the idea of “subjugating American values to global values.”

We’ve spent the week struggling to make sense of the decision.

There is one group of people who maintained their equilibrium and instantly reached out to welcome Barack Obama into their midst: the most recent Nobel Peace Prize Laureates. If we consider their comments in light of the wider world, we might better understand the choice.

But how to visit the wider world? We need to get out there to see what those ominously evoked global values are. We can throw on a backpack and witness conditions firsthand, or… here is an alternative.

David Elliot Cohen has created What Matters, a book of images and ideas in which the world’s preeminent photojournalists and thinkers depict the “crucial yet curable” issues of our time.

As Omer Bartov writes in his essay on genocide, “These photographs tell a truth we would rather not know. They have the power to take us to places we will never visit, show us sights we hope never to see.”

He challenges every one of us to do something, however small, to make this world a better place.

What Matters provides a framework in which to contemplate the Nobel Committee’s reasons for awarding the prize to Barack Obama and the statements of the past Laureates.

1. Encouraging Co-operation

Kofi Annan (Nobel Prize Laureate 2002) called the decision “…an unexpected but inspired choice. In an increasingly challenging and volatile world, President Obama has given a sense of hope and optimism to millions around the world. He has shown the way forward is through genuine cooperation with other nations.”

Obama’s diplomacy, according to the Nobel Committee, is founded on the concept that those who lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world’s population, which makes Paul Gigot’s melodramatic hand wringing a little out-dated.

This is what Obama had in mind when he addressed the United Nations on September 23:

“In this hall, we come from many places, but we share a common future. No longer do we have the luxury of indulging our differences to the exclusion of the work that we must do together. I have carried this message from London to Ankara; from Port of Spain to Moscow; from Accra to Cairo; and it is what I will speak about today – because the time has come for the world to move in a new direction. We must embrace a new era of engagement based on mutual interest and mutual respect, and our work must begin now.”

2. Saving Darfur

Jimmy Carter (2002) said: “A bold statement of international support for his vision and commitment to peace and harmony in international relations. It reflects the hope the Obama administration represents across the globe.”

One place increasingly devoid of hope is Darfur, as we can see from the eyes of a child on the streets of Adre with his finger on the trigger (What Matters, The Scorched Earth of Darfur – Marcus Bleasdale, photo).

Genocide, which President Obama called “a stain on our souls,” must be stopped in Sudan. For this to happen it must move up on the agenda of world leaders. Obama pinpointed Darfur in his call for a new era of engagement among nations.

Lawrence Woocher of the U.S. Institute for Peace Center for Conflict Analysis and Prevention said this was notable and indicates a real policy priority. Save Darfur Coalition Board member and co-founder of My Sister’s Keeper, Rev. Gloria White-Hammond said the Nobel Prize should reinforce Obama’s leadership role in Sudan and Darfur with the international community.

3. Closing Guantanamo & Ending Torture

Shirin Ebadi, (2003) said:

“I congratulate and welcome President Obama to the large family of Nobel Prize Laureates, and would like to say to him that this is a huge responsibility. I hope he’s able to realize that the word peace is not just the absence of war. It is a collection of circumstances that will eradicate children dying of hunger, a person imprisoned for writing an article, or a person tortured while in detention. It is through understanding all of this that the true meaning of the word peace can be implemented.”

January 22, 2009, the day after the inauguration, President Obama issued three executive orders. He ordered the closure of the prison at Guantanamo Bay (currently in progress, though the deadline will likely be delayed), and a review of our detention and interrogation policy. He revoked Executive Order 13340 of July 20, 2007 (George W. Bush’s belated attempt to reinterpret those quaint Geneva Conventions). Obama has clearly prohibited the use of torture.

This was a first step in healing our image with the rest of humanity. Here at home we only grasped a fraction of what the photos from Abu Ghraib did to our reputation around the world. They struck fear of Americans into the hearts of many and is one of the high costs of the war on terror outlined in What Matters.

4. Promoting Engagement

Wangari Maathai (2004): “I think the U.S. has been largely judged by the reaction to the act of not signing the Kyoto protocol and also not believing that climage change is a reality. Now look at the U.S., it is engaged, it is supporting the events leading to Copenhagen…”

Maathai knows the difference one person can make and the importance of calling others to action. She planted nine trees in her backyard in Kenya and this grew into the Green Belt Movement – which has planted millions of trees to help restore Africa’s forests.

On the 100th day of his administration, Obama signed the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, increasing the size of Americorps and “connecting deeds to needs.” This summer our president launched United We Serve. He has engaged Americans in imaginative volunteerism.

5. Abolishing Nuclear Weapons

Mohamed ElBaradei (2005): “I cannot think of anyone today more deserving of this honor … President Obama has provided outstanding leadership on moving towards a world free of nuclear weapons.”

When ElBaradei accepted his Nobel, he asked people to imagine a world without nuclear weapons. In awarding the prize to Obama, special importance was attached to his vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons.

The photos in Fallout- The Enduring Tragedy of Chernobyl leave nothing to the imagination. Nineteen years after the evacuation, an empty kindergarten room reminds us of the absolute necessity of nuclear arms reduction and increased safety measures. Other images in What Matters link to the frightening possibility of terrorists using nuclear weapons.

In September, after chairing the meeting in which the new UN Security Council Resolution 1887 was drafted and signed, President Obama said,

“We harbor no illusions about the difficulty of bringing about a world without nuclear weapons. We know there are plenty of cynics, and that there will be setbacks to prove their point. But there will also be days like today that push us forward – days that tell a different story. It is the story of a world that understands that no difference or division is worth destroying all that we have built and all that we love. It is a recognition that can bring people of different nationalities and ethnicities and ideologies together. In my own country, it has brought Democrats and Republican leaders together.”

6. Ending Poverty

Muhammad Yunus, (2006): “The prize has really bet on him because he has a real chance to bring change.” Yunus also stated, “Getting the prize at the beginning is important, because it encourages those forces of peace for a lasting framework.”

Twenty-seven dollars out of his own pocket became the Grameen Bank, which turns Yunus’s vision of eliminating poverty into many realities every day.

What Matters is a comprehensive pictorial of the plight of the world’s poor, and the essays offer a sometimes scathing chronicle of our efforts to help. A sharp awareness of the issues—from AIDS to water supply problems to our own consumer culture—is essential in our leaders.

President Obama demonstrates this understanding:

“Far too many people in far too many places live through the daily crises that challenge our humanity – the despair of an empty stomach; the thirst brought on by dwindling water supplies; the injustice of a child dying from a treatable disease; or a mother losing her life as she gives birth.”

President Obama’s advocacy of the poor is reflected in The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. He is also one of the strongest advocates for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

7. Tackling Climate Change

Al Gore, (2007) called the decision: “Extremely well deserved and an honor for the country.” When Gore accepted his award for furthering man’s peace with the planet, he said, “We have everything we need to get started, save perhaps political will, but political will is a renewable resource.”

The Nobel Committee believes this resource has been renewed: “Thanks to Obama’s initiative, the USA is now playing a more constructive role in meeting the great climatic challenges the world is confronting.”

“For a long time—the first fifteen years that we knew about global warming and did nothing—there were no pictures. That was one of the reasons for inaction,” states Bill McKibben in his essay in What Matters, Meltdown – A Global Warming Travelogue.

The photographs throughout the book depicting environmental conditions— glaciers disappearing, China’s extreme pollution, scenes from the Niger River Delta—are meant to cause outrage in us, for that is what leads to action.

In our country, the 2008 election ended an era of denial. President Obama has both said and shown that the days when America dragged its feet on this issue are over.

The environmental policies of Obama’s first months in office entailed the dirty job of digging out of the messy pile of Bush’s policies, while building a whole new mountain of better investments, tougher standards and guidelines for a cleaner, more sustainable future.

8. Building Real Peace In The Middle East

Maarti Ahtisaari, (2008): “We do not yet have a peace in the Middle East…this time it was very clear that they wanted to encourage Obama to move on these issues. This is a clear encouragement to do something on this issue. I wish him good luck.”

Ahtisaari is a mediator who has dedicated his career to solving international conflicts. When he won his Nobel last year, he expressed frustration that so many conflicts had become frozen. Clearly, Iraq and Afghanistan topped the list.

In the wider world, dialogue and negotiations are greatly preferred as instruments for resolving even the most difficult international conflicts. We forget that millions of people around the globe took to the streets (and still do) in protest against both Afghanistan and Iraq.

It seems impossible to get an accurate count—in lives, pain, displacement, not to mention dollars—of the cost of these wars. Bitter Fruit – Behind the Scenes, America Buries Its Iraq War Dead asserts that the Iraq war, because of the scarcity of images available, has been largely invisible.

The essay highlights America’s complacency and the deep sacrifices of military families, and suggests, “We owe it to ourselves to remember what war is, so that we do not go lightly into its great darkness.”

The timing of this Nobel has put the U.S. in the scorching heat of the world’s spotlight in regards to Afghanistan in particular. Responsibly ending the war in Iraq remains a top priority.

The president revealed his always growing understanding and constantly widening perspective when he said in March, “Going forward, we will not blindly stay the course.” The approach Obama is taking is all-encompassing and is another one of the reasons he won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Conclusion

These Laureates seem to recognize Barack Obama as a transformative figure for peace.

In the view of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, “Only rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world’s attention and given its people hope for a better future.”

The worldwide need for hope is shown in every image in What Matters. Perhaps this is what David Elliot Cohen had in mind when I asked him about Barack Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize and he responded, “Both the Nobel Committee and I, probably for the first time in both cases, are enjoying the rich pleasures of blind faith.”

Our president knows that never before has anyone been made a Laureate so early into their term of office. He knows the magnitude of his challenges is yet to be met by the measure of his actions.

But he knows something else, something that makes me also enjoy the rich pleasures of faith in him – he knows that peace matters.

What do you think of the Nobel’s decision to award Barack Obama? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Hijras in Southern New Dehli / Photo: rahuldlucca

The first time I heard the hand claps, I didn’t know what was coming.

Already, the train journey from Chennai to Kolkata was proving to be a challenging one. As we were getting nearer to one of the poorest areas in India, there was a constant procession of beggars. We were four westerners and too many Indian men sitting together in a regular sleeper-class train compartment.

At every stop, children, men, and women dressed in rags and despair would offer food, goods, or entertainment in the hopes of making a few rupees. Their eyes robbed me of any ease I might be feeling about being there and owning what I own.

Still, the most disturbing encounters were yet to come.

The hijras – eunuchs, transsexuals, or transgender men – announced themselves by clapping their hands and making a racket. When they arrived to our compartment, they stood in all their weight and flamboyance, requiring money before allowing us to continue quietly with our travels.

Fear and Intimidation

The first group that came around did not insist much and were relatively easy to ignore, but the next one proved to be a more experienced and robust couple of go-getters. They quickly selected a sweet-looking Indian man in his late twenties as their victim, and baptized him ‘Uncle’ for the occasion.

Photo: Pladys

The bigger of the two hijras got close to him and began to spurt, in an unpleasant tone of voice, what sounded like obscenities in Hindi. Sweet ‘Uncle’ blushed profusely and said nothing.

No one said anything, but everyone was staring. None of the other Indians looked like they wanted to fight this man’s battle. The New-Zealand woman sitting in front of me could not hide the disdain, disbelief and pure horror from her face as the situation escalated.

For myself, I thought it was not a time to appear impressed. Luckily, I had read William Dalrymple’s City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi, in which he tells the stories of a few hijras in Delhi. I knew of their existence, but I did not know they carried out their business in trains, and it was unclear just how far they were willing to go for the money.

As the sweet Indian man was not surrendering any rupees, the big hijra stepped in front of him, lifted his own sari a few times and proceeded to dangle and swing what was left of his “manhood” nearly into the face of the victim. More vulgar sounds ensued and the hijra then bent over to whisper into the man’s ear before slapping him repeatedly on the cheeks.

The intimidation culminated with the two hijras assaulting him, grabbing his wallet and self-serving themselves with the money.

They cursed and left, saying something that might have meant “What is the world coming to, seriously!” It would have made a good scene in a Pedro Almodovar or David Lynch movie – depending on your perspective.

The woman from New Zealand looked like she wanted to call the police or did not understand why security wasn’t there already. Perhaps it was her first day in India. My friend sitting between me and the victim looked on with a stare that had lost some innocence. I figured we were coming out of it all the more learned about the world.

Outside the Norm

Hijras are often referred to as members of the ‘3rd gender’ in India. They themselves will describe their sexual identity as being neither male nor female. Many have undergone castration, or are otherwise of ambiguous sexual status.

They are usually rejected for what they are and the way they live. Still, they are tolerated when they show up uninvited at special ceremonies such as births and weddings where they cash in for performing dances and blessings.

Avoiding confrontation and the curse of the hijras seems to be the priority for Indians in such circumstances.

In any case, they are marginalized and largely left to their own devices to sustain themselves – which include prostitution, dancing, singing and sexual embarrassments of various kinds.

It was not always as such for the hijras. Their presence is recorded far back into India’s history. During the time of the Muslim rule before the British, the hijras had a place at court and were generally valued by society. They did not have to resort as much to the sometimes vulgar means of survival they lend themselves to today.

Yet, as a result of their marginalization, a closely-knit subculture has evolved, and in recent years hijras are slowly emerging on the national stage, standing up for their rights.

No Surrender

A few more groups of hijras came along the train before we reached our final destination, but none were as ferocious as the first group.

Photo: Whitney Lauren

One hijra touched my face at some point so as to provoke me. But without looking at him I simply raised my fist slowly and slightly.

He left without insisting.

I was later told that it was a very bad idea to take on a hijra as they are notoriously aggressive and can come back with reinforcement. Was this simply prejudice or wise advice from a kind Indian man? I was perhaps lucky to not have found out.

What do you think about the hijras approach? Share your thoughts below.

Community Connection

See the beauty that India has to offer in photographer Allison Grossman’s photo essay Window on India. There’s also good reasons to visit India in the summer, as Mariellen Ward outlines in Indian Summer: 11 Reasons to Visit India in the Summertime.

Photo: Allison Cross

Last month, the government of Sierra Leone passed the Broadcasting Act and created the Sierra Leone Broadcasting Corporation, a new public service broadcaster.

The Act will effectively merge the state broadcaster, the Sierra Leone Broadcasting System, with United Nations Radio, set up during the country’s brutal civil war in an effort to resolve tensions.

Many have hailed it as a step towards fostering a healthy, democratic media environment in the post-conflict West African country, free from international intervention and dependency.

But like many things in this country, the implementation of a neutral public service broadcaster free of corruption won’t be simple or easy.

According to the Broadcasting Act, the president, Ernest Koroma, will still have the power to appoint the director-general and the deputy director-general of the new broadcasting corporation, leading to doubts that leadership will have any chance at being free of political biases.

Sierra Leoneans are fiercely political and support one of two rival parties, the ruling All People’s Congress or the opposition, the Sierra Leone People’s Party.

The Problem Of Coasting

Photo: Allison Cross

Ethical, independent and politically neutral journalism has a long way to go in Sierra Leone.

Journalism in Sierra Leone suffers from a series of complicated obstacles. The majority of journalists engage in a practice called “coasting” whereby they accept money from organizations to write favourable stories.

It’s very normal for a non-governmental organization or a government ministry to hold a press conference and then hand out brown envelopes full of cash to the journalists who attended.

The journalists then return to their offices and write positive stories about the organizations in question or boring, step-by-step accounts of what happened at a routine, government meeting. Critical or investigative journalism is virtually non-existent.

Most journalists accept the cash because they simply aren’t paid enough by their employers. Most aren’t provided with batteries, notebooks, pens or tape recorders. They don’t receive any money for transportation either.

If they want to continue practicing journalism, and feed their families at the same time, they have to take the money provided by the NGOs. It’s a frustrating cycle.

Corruption And Bribery

Some journalists abuse their power in a quest to obtain even more money. It’s not uncommon for a journalist to approach a prominent member of society and threaten to write an unfavourable story about that person. The journalist is promptly bribed not to write anything bad.

When journalists do pursue their own stories, they are often about political infighting, rather than about the concerns of individual citizens or human rights violations. Accusations against public figures are often published without any substantiation.

Editors regularly mismanage money and hog equipment, denying their staff salaries or insisting they pay a typist out of their own pocket to get their story typed on a computer.

A free media system is the key to any well-functioning democracy. Journalists must be free to ask tough questions and demand accountability from their elected officials.

But pushing boundaries in this country can have serious consequences. Libel or slander, whereby a person is defamed by an untrue statement made in the media, is a criminal offense in Sierra Leone, rather than a civil offense in Canada or the U.S. This means a team of burly police officers can show up at your door and throw you in prison, even if you have yet to be convicted.

It’s difficult to imagine a public broadcasting system that will be instantly free of these obstacles against journalists. Certainly, its creation is really only the initial step in a long process of fostering a vibrant journalism industry. The need for a public broadcaster is, in the very least, on the radar of the ruling political party.

It’s a step forward and one that should be monitored very closely.

What are your thoughts on the importance of a free media system and democracy? Share in the comments!

Photo: Azriel Cohen

Last month, I wrote two articles on inviting us to think about including animal culture – and not just human culture – as part of our explorations as we travel through the world.

Healing our relationship to wild animals may hold keys to reversing the environmental crisis as well as helping us rediscover our own natural state of health.

Now, I wish to share an experience that introduced me to a new way of thinking about humans and animals, and changed my life. Afterwards, I will share twelve principles, distilled from my experiments, that I invite you to try yourself.

There are at least two reasons for you to take my invitation seriously. Firstly, it may assist you in developing a more healthy relationship with nature, which is so crucial given the serious environmental crisis we are living with.

Secondly, while most humans desire to move towards more balance, we often cannot tell if we are actually moving towards balance or away from it. Eastern medicine teaches that in a state of imbalance an individual’s tendency is to move towards greater states of imbalance, while believing what they’re doing is the healthiest.

If collectively we are in such a state of imbalance, we need to be extra mindful to ensure we move in the right direction. Wild animals can serve as reliable “tuning forks” to help us calibrate our nervous systems towards states of natural balance.

Peace Within Myself

The experience that forever changed my relationship to the animal kingdom was in 2002, after a retreat focused on “peace within myself”. I went into retreat because of my first experience of war.

Thich Nhat Hanh followed by Israelis and Palestinians in
walking meditation at Plum Village (Azriel Cohen
holding the umbrella), summer 2001

Shortly after I left the retreat, I had an experience with an animal that I never imagined possible.

Having grown up in war-free Toronto, my ideas about war were not rooted in any direct experience. I thought that the roots of war were just emotions and attitudes. But living in Jerusalem during the second Intifada (Palestinian Uprising) in a field of great violence, I sensed there was something else at the root of war that was not being addressed – something physiological. Something subtle shifted in my body as a result of living in a field of extreme violence, and I began to wonder about the role of the nervous system in cycles of war and violence.

I sensed that war zones had something intangible that could, in a sense, infect people, and that peaceful places had something intangible that could help people heal.

I decided to take a leave of absence from Jerusalem and immerse myself in a peaceful zone. I chose the eco-village Findhorn in northern Scotland. The main inspiration for my retreat was a program that I co-founded called “Peace Begins With Myself” in July 2001.

This program brought Israelis and Palestinians to Vietnamese Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh’s Plum Village Meditation Center in France. It was rooted in the Buddhist perspective on peace – that peace in the world begins with each of us working on peace within ourselves. Peace exists in every detail of life, even how we walk, sit and eat.

In addition to various practices that I learned in Plum Village, I spent a lot of time in the woods around Findhorn. I had the sense that tuning into nature held a key to rediscovering an embodied peace.

I constantly wondered: if this state of being was my central focus, would I experience the world differently?

Encounter

After two months in that bubble, I left Findhorn to meet a friend in the Austrian countryside. During a walk near a forest, experimenting with that embodied state of peace, a young male deer emerged from a distance of about one hundred and fifty meters.

The deer walks away / Photo: Azriel Cohen

Something in my body and mind urged me to become very still and calm. I did all the things listed in the twelve steps below – it was not a rational decision, but rather it came from listening to my intuition and my body.

I calmed my thoughts, breathing and muscles, made the most gentle of movements and never initiated direct eye contact with the deer. The deer walked closer and closer, until it came right up to me. I was almost shocked, but I continued to calm myself on all levels.

With the curiosity of a young child, the deer slowly came closer and closer, until it reached me. It sniffed the sleeve of my jacket and proceeded to lick me.

It took a couple steps away and I began to walk. It followed closely behind, sometimes letting a larger distance separate us, but then would run back to my side, like a dog without a leash.

This continued for about thirty minutes and then it retreated into the forest.

I took photos as the deer walked away. Otherwise, I would probably still wonder today, if it was but a dream.

Post Encounter

Since then I have had more experiences with wild animals that have absolutely surprised me. I deconstructed the experiences and extracted the following twelve principles, or steps, so that others may reevaluate their relationship with wild animals. These steps are meant as guidelines, but the process is organic, not linear.

In the process of refining these principles, I consulted with three international experts in human-animal relations (Tara Lumpkin, Marta Williams, and Wynter Worsthorne).

I am grateful for their time and feedback.

Twelve Steps Towards Healing Your Relationship With Wild Animals

(Please exercise caution: this is not for use with dangerous animals)

1. Your emotions, thoughts and intentions

Connect to a feeling of love, as you would as you approach someone dear to you. Keep sensing that you are energetically communicating love to the animal. Focus your mind on the phrase “I am safe for you.” Repeatedly think this phrase towards the animal.

Focus on the following intention:

“I believe we have scared and hurt you, causing great damage to our relationship. My intention is for you to know that I will not hurt you, that I care about you, that I am safe, and maybe in a tiny little dose I can contribute to healing our relationship. I have no expectation whatsoever to get anything from you. Just to be a caring human being who, for at least a few moments, has a presence that is not a threat to you.”

2. Your breath:

Notice the sensation of your breathing in and out. Allow your breath to get deeper, slower, steadier and calmer.

Elephant kiss / Photo: Azriel Cohen

3. Your heart rate:

Allow it to slow down.

4. Your muscles:

Let your awareness scan your body from head to toe. Gently release every place where you notice tension, especially around your eyes and mouth.

5. Sense your whole body:

As your attention moves from head to toes, keep your attention on the sensations of the body part your are currently focused on, while focusing on the sensation of the body parts you have already passed. Do this until you can feel your whole body at once.

6. Movement:

While sensing your body as a whole and your breath, let the movements of your arms, legs or head be slow, steady and fluid. Move without altering speed or tension. If you have ever done or seen Zen walking meditation, you will have a good example.

7. Your eyes:

Keep your vision relaxed. Allow your eyes not to fixate on anything as you look ahead. Keep the range of your visual awareness as wide as possible.

8. Your jaws:

Release all tension around the mouth and keep it loose.

9. Approaching a wild animal:

Simultaneously do all steps 1-8 (thoughts, breathing, heart rate, relaxed muscles, body sensing, slow movement, soft eyes, relaxed jaw) as you move as slowly as possible towards the animal. At some point you will likely sense to not move closer, but rather to let the animal move towards you. Do not make direct eye contact, but rather allow the eye contact to be via peripheral vision.

10. Making contact with a wild animal:

Spend some time close to the animal – it may be a few feet, or a few inches away. Allow it to feel safe and stay steady with steps 1 – 8. Pay attention to subtle sensations, images and thoughts without censoring. Some animals may initiate contact with you, if you feel safe enough.

11. Open mind:

Keep focused on the possibility that this isn’t some crazy new-age esoteric practice. As you do these exercises, think to yourself,

“I am open to the possibility that all living things are able to communicate with one another, although that communication might be different from how I communicate with humans. I know there is within me the capacity for communication with animals, because my ancestors had that capacity within them. There are people today who are able to communicate with animals.”

12. Experiment:

Be patient. If, indeed, this is a lost capacity, then modern humans as a whole lost it long ago. Realize that it might take some time for you to rehabilitate your animal communication instincts.

The goal: try these techniques and report back here. Share your experiences in the comments!

The Aztec Calendar / Photo: Jungle Boy

“Black gold,” as chocolate has been called, has a control over a majority of Westerners.

It’s always in the back of one’s mind, or in the front of one’s mind when obtaining some becomes more acute. Everyone has a specific craving, whether it be pure, refined, mixed, primed, or blended, but we all have experiences of one kind or another with the stuff.

I, for one, enjoy my chocolate mixed with nuts or berries, and I’m more partial to dark than milk, but I can’t recall ever refusing chocolate.

Given my enjoyment, I was surprised to learn that chocolate’s current form is far removed from its origins as a drink of the gods, a nectar in the literal sense, of the Aztecs called xoxocatl.

Award-winning professor Michael D. Coe of Yale University writes in his book, The True History of Chocolate that the first tangible evidence of chocolate consumption originates in mid-fifth century CE.

Yet emerging linguistic evidence suggests that the Olmec, a Central American civilization that predates the Aztec and the Maya before them, were not unaccustomed to the plant and its possibility for creating a beverage.

Food of the Gods

The origin of chocolate, according to Aztec legend, states that Quetzalcoatl brought the plant to Earth from heaven, not unlike Promentheus bringing fire to man, after man and woman, in a sacred garden not unlike Eden, attempted to steal the knowledge and power of the gods.

Photo: jubilohaku

Because Quetzalcoatl considered their banishment from the garden too harsh a punishment, he gifted them chocolate.

Carl Linnaeus, founder of the modern classification system of all living things (taxonomy), clearly had this legend in mind when he named the plant Theobroma cacao, meaning ‘food of the gods’.

As is so often the case with something reported to have come from the gods, royalty was interested in its consumption.

Aztec king Montezuma was reported to have drank the beverage from golden goblets that were only holy enough for chocolate to be used once. The fact is opulent enough, but it was reported that for him to drink more than twenty-five glasses per diem was not uncommon.

Aztecs often used cocoa beans as a currency. During a 1514 voyage to the New World Hernando de Oviedo y Valdez, a member of Pedro Arias Dávila massive 1500-men expedition, wrote in his journal claiming that four beans could buy a rabbit dinner, ten was standard price for a night with a prostitute, and he himself bought a slave for the price of one hundred cocoa beans.

Arrival In The West

From the Age of Exploration, chocolate entered into Western culture. While exact etymology is moot, it is clear that Europeans first came into contact with chocolate, or rather the cacao bean, via the Spanish, via the Mexico, via the Aztec, at the dawn of the sixteenth century.

Chocolate was again the drink the of elite, the delight of the plebeians, the bitterest of potables, the most saccharine of sweets, the iconic symbol of Mesoamerica.

In A Tale of Two Cities Dicken’s shows the transitional period of chocolate, between Mesoamerican luxury to the European commoners’ pleasure, when he explains with great detail Monseigneur’s elaborate consumption of chocolate in his Paris hotel room.

In Europe—during the time of the novel, and even before—the price of chocolate was a luxury because it had to be brought across the Atlantic ocean before it could be consumed.

The ceremonial aspect of the drink was, in some convoluted way, preserved when it entered into the Catholic Church. Whilst electing a new Pope, the College of Cardinals meeting in Concalve used to sip the beverage. And European royalty enjoyed the beverage as Aztec royalty had before them.

A New Renaissance

It was not until 1828 when chocolate changed from a sacred drink to a solid bar we know today, through the addition of cocoa butter.

Photo: mynameisharsha

Not only did chemist Coenraad Johannes van Houten of the Netherlands create the process of manufacturing cocoa butter, but he also discovered how to treat chocolate with alkalis to remove the bitter taste that had until that point been characteristic of chocolate.

While the addition of chilli had long since been dropped from the recipes by Europeans, vanilla was often retained, along with milk and sugar, the latter being unavailable to the Aztecs.

Thus, chocolate as we know and love came into existence after several thousand years of being consumed in liquid form with a pungent, bitter taste.

It’s interesting to note that producers of chocolate are experimenting even further, by adding not just sugar and milk but chilli, lavender, mint, and other flavours.

Some producers are even selling it with bitterness intact, giving all who love chocolate something to look forward to: new forms, new uses, new tastes, all continually inspired by its divine origins.

Further Reading:

• Chocolate: A Bittersweet Saga of Dark and Light by Mort Rosenblum – an anecdotal exploration of chocolate and the world of professional chocolatiers
• Chocolate: Pathway to the Gods by Meredith L. Dreiss and Sharon Edgar Greenhill – both photo book and history guide the book explains the origins of the foodstuff and delves into the symbolic nature of chocolate as the Mesoamericans saw it
• The True History of Chocolate, Second Edition by Sophie D. Coe and Michael D. Coe – a definitive guide to the history of chocolate ranging from its ceremonial origins to modern day consumption
• Chocolate: A Global History (Edible) (Edible) by Sarah Moss and Alexander Badenoch – a history of chocolate, from the Edible series, dealing with the usages of chocolate by the Maya as a stand-in for blood during ceremonies through to the modern age of mass-production in Europe and America

What do you think of the cultural history of chocolate? Share your stories in the comments!

Wisdom from experience / Photo: tiago.ribeiro

“Up top,” the old man said. He demonstrated, opening wide to reveal his tongue touching the roof of his mouth. “Easy, see?”

Sure. Already the tiny hut was hot. We sat in a half circle around the rusted oil drum, five Americans and the old Aleutian. Inside the drum a fire torched, causing sweat to run down our naked torsos. A rough ceiling hung inches overhead. Heat and sweat.

A small room. The old man wanted to know if we were ready. Sure.

Gently he dipped the aged soup can into the bin of boiling water. We watched him stretch the crudely fashioned dipper over the heat. He smiled, then began to methodically pour the water onto the small rocks covering the drum. The rocks hissed and belched narrow towers of steam.

For three seconds nothing more happened. Then a blanket of heat struck, reflecting from the outer walls. The painful burn flayed my back and I felt real fear. A blur of human flesh bowled through the tiny door before me, pursued by Hell’s climate.

Then a layer of steam clouded the tiny room, diminishing visibility. Remembering the old man’s words I pressed my tongue upward.

A Traveler’s Tale

When I think on travel it’s the truest moment that comes to mind, like the old man sharing his life in the midst of Alaska.

The river wild / Photo: code poet

That my own story should strike me as a traveler’s tale seems odd. For so long I’ve idealized the true traveler. He’s always shown superior understanding, enlightenment, and fulfillment. A man of the road, heightened by awareness.

I am not that man. Yet, I’ve traveled and seen places, acted occasionally as a tourist, but attempted to learn. Did I somewhere unknowingly become the true traveler? Or am I a tourist fascinated by travel? I can only answer by returning to the beginning.

First, there was the desire to travel. Then there was the plan. We’d carry backpacks, stay in hostels and explore without a plan, all in an effort to capture the spirit of travel.

But even as we moved I felt us failing my romanticized notions. Yes, Christina and I ran to trains lugging our packs and lost our way in the streets of Venice.

We thwarted the Lonely Planet recommendations in order to find the world’s best kept dining secrets. In Rome we crossed verbal swords with an unscrupulous guide and took victory. We overcame logistical obstacles and breathed the experiences, history, and culture home couldn’t offer.

We were, in short, on vacation. And isn’t vacation the enemy of travel?

A Wealthy Warlord

That realization introduced guilt to an otherwise rewarding experience. By scanning online posts, watching documentaries, and reading insightful articles I began to educate myself on the parasitic tourist.

Words and pages filed by the Zen nomads reprimanded me for my apparent disregard for human suffering. I became, through their words, a “wealthy warlord lobbing missiles into the hearts of the environment and foreign cultures.” I was entirely disconnected from the art of travel.

So I decided to change. I couldn’t—or wouldn’t—eliminate travel. But I could determine to travel responsibly, with an eye for local immersion. Travel and understanding, I reasoned, could coexist.

Feeling my “rich, white man’s burden” lightening, I chose Alaska as a destination. Not Anchorage, Denali, or cruise ship Alaska, but working Alaska. Westbound for a job in a salmon cannery.

Go North

In western Alaska I spent a month mucking about with dead fish. I lived in housing constructed of plywood and corrugated siding, beside the gray Naknek River. Bald eagles flew over daily. A grizzly heaved himself into the mess hall dumpster occasionally.

Alaskan ship awaits cargo / Photo: author

I toiled through long hours and lost too much sleep. My coworkers were Ukrainians, Dominicans, Mexicans, Japanese and Turks. Many were Aleutian natives who annually hopped from cannery to cannery, following the fish. Together we worked and ate and walked into town.

The old man taught us about the native sweat hut. His tongue trick allowed us to grit through the inferno until we began to sweat like Aleutian men.

In the heat the old man shared a sliver of culture, a moment of camaraderie, a touch of humanity in a wild land. Something museums and tours couldn’t offer.

Since Europe and Alaska I’ve struggled with the traveler versus tourist debate. The words from both parties are too irate for sensible, worldly citizens who claim awareness. Neither group, it seems, can accept that I view my experiences as equally rewarding. So I’ve been forced to manufacture my own ideas.

To Plunge Right In

The difference between a tourist and a “true” traveler is not that their directions are so misaligned. It’s that their stopping off points differ.

Where a vacationer goes to view another place and culture a traveler goes to plunge right in. Europe for me was informative, pleasurable, and wildly exciting. It was a world where each day was a joy. Do I now know how the Italians, Swiss or English live? Not really, I tell the pundits, but I know how they welcome foreigners.

The salmon cannery showed me a side of Alaska beyond the glaciers and grizzlies. I learned what life is like for thousands of natives, but never did I misinterpret that knowledge as total understanding.

At times it was fun, mostly it was work and waiting. I wasn’t on vacation. Instead I was living ordinary life in an extraordinary place. The good was tempered by the bad.

Now when I travel I prefer to journey on a budget. Often I sleep in tents, cook meals on a camp stove, and take strangers up on offers of dinner, a backyard, or coffee.I ride a bike because it’s cheaper and more enjoyable than a car. I do these things because it’s the only way I can afford to travel.

If I won the lottery tomorrow, would I give it up for first class and fancy restaurants? Never, but I’d probably spring for a vacation once a year. I now have a tough time believing that my enjoyable week harms underdeveloped nations.

Miserable people don’t change the world.

What are your thougths on the myth of the true traveler? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Photo: Azriel Cohen

When we travel and think about expanding our awareness to understand other cultures, we are referring to “human” culture.

Most of us are not thinking about the culture of other-than-human-life.

I invite you to do exactly that – consider other-than-human cultures as part of your travel explorations.

Conscious travel can help, in little drops, to make our world a better place. Traveling to new cultures, we can advance the understanding between peoples who are different, bringing a bit more peace to our world.

Through opening to animal cultures, we may be healing a root cause of the ecological crisis.

Some environmental thinkers are convinced that the most fundamental difference between modern and indigenous societies (such as Native Americans, Amazonian tribes, Maoris, and Aboriginals) is that indigenous societies believe as an absolute fact that humans have the innate capacity to communicate with animals (and plants!).

It is no wonder then that ancient cultures have a remarkable degree of respect for all life. Experiencing all animals and plants by being able to communicate with them would make it much harder to severely damage the environment.

Developing A Theory

I began to wonder if this really is a long lost human capacity and not just a superstitious ancient world view. The best way to explore this, I figured, would be to personally experiment.

Photo: Azriel Cohen

I reasoned that if communication with animals is an innate (albeit long lost) capacity that all humans have, the implications could be enormous.

First of all, it would mean that I personally could access this capacity. I began my explorations as a complete skeptic, quite certain that I could never communicate with a wild animal.

But I was brimming with curiosity, and at the very least I’d have some interesting adventures.

Secondly, if our “normal” state includes communicating with other living beings, we would need to be tuned into something other than our normal communication channels.

As far as we know, animals don’t share our higher capacities for language and reasoning. The channels where we could meet animals have to be with the more “primitive” aspects of being alive. These include physical and non-verbal domains.

In order to communicate with animals, we’d have to shift our moment-to-moment experience of ourselves, mostly in ways of how we experience our bodies. This could mean that through rediscovering how to be in relationship with animals, we might discover a different, perhaps older and more natural, way to be in our own bodies.

Humans have individual states of imbalance (animals don’t need doctors or psychologists) and collective states of imbalance (such as war) that are non-existent among undomesticated animals.

Animals possess an innate capacity to return to health and balance, and consciously interacting with animals can assist us in tuning into our own “zone” of balance and harmony.

Thirdly, if indigenous cultures live in a zone or frequency that is in relationship to the other-than-human-life forms, it would be possible to observe that they have different ways of “being,” such as how they move, sit, walk, talk, make eye or physical contact, than modern cultures.

In short, these cultures would feel different. It would not be a theory. It would be something that we could experience when we were around them.

Experimenting With Communication

I spent time with Native Americans in North Dakota, with the Bri-Bri tribe in Costa Rica, with Bedouin in the Negev desert in Israel and Egyptian Sinai, and old cultures of Zimbabwe.

Photo: Azriel Cohen

Indeed, they are different from “modern” people in how they move, sit, walk, talk, make eye contact and physical contact.

During these eclectic travels, I found myself around wild animals such as birds, lizards, wild deer, monkeys, elephants and baby tigers, and experimented with non-verbal domains.

I focused on the most “primitive” aspects of being alive – my breathing, heart rate, muscle tension, how my eyes focused and the most subtle physical sensations.

Wild animals absolutely responded to my experiments with shifting these physical aspects of my being. In many situations, it led to the animal feeling safe enough to make physical contact.

There is a “zone” that is natural for us, but rarely experienced in the modern world, that animals and indigenous cultures can help us reconnect with.

In that zone, we are often less verbal, often slower, often more “intuitive” and always more tuned in to what is going on within ourselves and around us.

There’s a state of exquisite connection with all living beings that is ours to rediscover.

Have you connected with a wild animal on a primitive, intuitive level? Share your thoughts below.

I was seriously considering becoming an undercover agent of the Lord.

In exchange for some back alley preaching and a few hush-hush conversions to Christianity here and there (a sort of save the world one heathen a time kind of thing) Azusa Pacific University was offering me (at 50% the going rate) a Masters of Arts in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages).

The impetus for such a bargain basement MA is a spiritual battle being fought in tandem with the physical conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Palestine in what Christian missions strategist Luis Bush calls the “10/40 window,” an area stretching across North Africa and Asia from 10 degrees south of the equator to 40 degrees north of it.

According to Southern Nazarene University’s Dr. of Missions Howard Culbertson, of the 55 least evangelized countries, (countries with the least amount of actively proselytizing Christian missionaries), 97% are within the ten forty window.

In the vernacular of the Christian Coalition, of which George Bush is a supporter, these countries are known by the corporate like moniker of Creative-Access Countries (CAC’s).

Egypt, my home for the past 9 months, just so happens to be one of these countries.

Means To An End

Photo DavidDennisPhotos

What makes Egypt a CAC is that although the government generally tolerates missionary groups, if they actively recruit converts, it is seen (as in most of the predominantly Islamic world of the 10/40 window) as a violation of dhimmitude, the concept under which proselytism by non-Muslims is strictly forbidden.

While there is no state law saying that it is forbidden to change one’s religion, it is a common fact that in Egypt, a convert from Islam to Christianity risks being arrested and imprisoned. In stricter Islamic countries, the penalty for apostasy is often death.

Ironically enough, groups such as the Christian & Missionary Alliance seek to save Muslim souls through the teaching of a subject that George Bush, a self-professed born-again Christian, seems to have skipped one too many times at Yale: English.

Rather than using the teaching of English as an end in itself (as it should be, in my opinion as a English teacher) it is being used as a means to an end.

The end of “saving” Arab souls somehow justifies the means of outright deception and manipulation. This Christianized version of the old bait & switch con may indeed be, as touted in a recent article in Christianity Today “the ultimate language lesson.”

The article’s author explains the strategy behind the stealth crusade quite succinctly with this bold statement: “Start an evangelical church in Poland and no one will come. Start an English school, and you’ll make many friends.”

The Process Of Apostasy

Here’s how it works. Once a potential “agent of the Lord” is identified and screened for covert operations in a potentially hostile environment, work platforms and visas are secured by a sponsoring organization.

In an industrialized nation such as China, the pretext to secure the needed documents is to teach English through an already established institution such as a university. In developing countries such as Egypt, a community or health center is often opened so that English and/or computer classes can be offered as the front to hide the true motive of evangelization.

Integral to such neighborhood centers is a coffee shop or lounge area where agents and potential converts can chat. Once the relationship that begins in the classroom is deepened between the teacher and students over coffee and conversation, the process of apostasy is well under way.

Ed Mangham and his wife Julie have opened three of these centers in an undisclosed Creative-Access Country.

In a recent magazine article “Building on a Grand Heritage” the couple related how their centers are full of former Muslims. In fact, 95% of the students in their English and computer classes are Muslim and 75% of the patients in their clinic are.

The couple’s success, they suspect, may be attributed to the more subtle methods of modern day missionaries. Ed notes that the means may have changed from a formal church setting “to sitting down to talk with an Arab who does not know Christ – whether it’s over bitter Turkish coffee – or an espresso in our center’s coffee shop.”

The end remains the same: convert Muslims to Christianity.

Good Intentions

The issue, as Julian Edge clarifies in his article Imperial Troopers and Servants of the Lord, and as I see it also, is one of transparency.

By dressing their true – albeit well intentioned motives – in the guise of teaching English, these missionary groups are not conducting themselves honestly (1 Thessalonians 4:12; 1 Timothy 2.2) nor with due candor (James. 5:12) as scripture entreats them to.

They are tarnishing the noblest of all professions, a profession that Jesus was a part of himself: teaching.

Rather than operating by the Christian principles of transparency, honesty, and integrity these covert missionaries have opted for the easier softer way of false pretenses, deception, and manipulation.

And intentions, no matter how good, tend to produce more harm if not conducted with honesty.

What do you think of covert missionary work? Share your thoughts in the comments!

After spending three months traveling along the border, Danelo wrote The Border: Exploring the U.S.-Mexican Divide.

In this interview, BNT talks with Danelo in-depth about his experiences and the book.

Julie Schwietert Collazo

(BNT): You were an Marine Corps infantry officer who served in Iraq. When did you become interested in journalism, and what path led you to your current career?

During my 2004 tour in Iraq, I corresponded… with Steven Pressfield, a screenwriter and novelist best known for “The Legend of Bagger Vance” and “Gates of Fire.” Pressfield told me I was a great writer and I should give it a shot professionally. It made me feel like Michael Jordan had said I was a good basketball player.

I didn’t really know the first thing about professional writing, but I wanted to see what life was like outside the Corps and I figured it was worth a shot. I’m still doing it, so I guess it worked out.

How did you become interested in border issues?

I attended high school in San Antonio, where I was a white minority, and I didn’t understand the illegal immigration protests and the Minutemen — my experience had been different than the political rhetoric.

I was also interested in the national security implications of the border issues, but, because of my military background, I thought the story was much more complex than a Lou Dobbs sound bite.

Julie Schwietert Collazo

Tell me a bit about your research process– this wasn’t a book only about your in-person observations along the entire U.S-Mexican border, but clearly involved an extensive amount of research…. How did you choose your sources, how did you evaluate their credibility, and what kind of effort did the research involve…?

I read before my first trip– mostly to get some sense of where to go and how to get there– and then I looked deeper into issues that pinged my interest. Going back and forth was useful for me; each time I took a trip, that led to contacts, which led to new sources of information.

Assessing source credibility is something we all learn to do, whether we’re journalists, officers, businesspersons, engineers, etc. My own process is simply to observe, check my gut, and keep questioning my conclusions (which I’m still doing, by the way)….

One of the attributes of your book that I appreciated was that you tell a lot of stories overlooked in the very bipolar debate about immigration in the United States…. Why do you think these important border stories tend to be overlooked by the mainstream media?

Groupthink. Mainstream media reporters (both right and left wing) see the border as an illegal immigration issue, and the border itself gets diced into policy soundbites or prescriptions because journalists inevitably pick sides. It’s human. Our biases are hard to avoid.

In combat, I learned the necessity to distill “noise” from facts. When you command a convoy, you’re betting dozens of lives on what you know, and also what you think you know. Much of that knowledge works in shades of gray– ambiguity, hunches, instinct.

From that, you make assumptions; from assumptions, you might eventually find facts. But your life depends on knowing the difference between a fact and an assumption.

As you can tell from reading the book, my views conflict with both political sides. It isn’t that I’m trying to be “in the middle” just for the sake of it, but my own experience and study has led me to form certain conclusions.

I’ve taken a different route than most into studying this issue, which probably accounts for some of the different results.

In terms of the border issues, the reporters who avoid groupthink the best are (unsurprisingly) those from border states.

What would you identify as a few of the biggest myths and misconceptions about the U.S-Mexico border?

From the right, I get annoyed every time the media makes a stink about a “Mexican military incursion.” During the late 19th century, Texas rangers and Mexican rurales used to ride back and forth at will — the U.S. and Mexican governments had a hot pursuit clause to deal with Apaches, Comanches and bandits. Today, if the Mexicans accidentally drive on our side, you’d think we were back in 1848.

The “military incursions” fall into two categories: 1) Mexican soldiers have gotten lost or 2) Cartel elements have stolen uniforms and are posing as law enforcement. This isn’t a threat to our sovereignty; it’s an indication of Mexico’s failed local police and our failed security policy.

From the left, I’m troubled by the idea that legalization represents a panacea from the violence. I support legalization for many reasons, but even if/when that happens, you’ll still have security issues. Even if it’s legal, why will the cartels allow their trade to be legislated? Who would enforce taxation? And what happens now that Mexicans have seen
their police and military fail when it really counted?

In the mid-1980s, smugglers were doing big business in pet tarantulas; it was a temporary US. fad, but customs required 90 days to import new arrivals. Cartels were literally killing each other over the turf to move spiders into the US.

I can’t speak for Mexico City, but my observation in northern Mexico leads me to believe the threat to law and order goes well beyond drugs and cannot be contained by legalization. The north has been overwhelmed by banditry before in Mexican history, and I think we are seeing it happen again.

Julie Schwietert Collazo

One of the conclusions that you reach…is that the border is not a monolith– it’s characterized by distinct zones, relationships between cities, industries, and many other qualities. Taking this into consideration, how can we develop and implement border policies that are effective and consistent while recognizing these crucial differences?

The anarchy and violence on the border as not on the same level as illegal immigration, water rights, or English-only schools. Our geographic and economic ties with Mexico make this a “red alert” problem. It should be treated as such.

A start might be to institutionalize a security cooperation zone instead of a hard line. Take the 100km US-Mexico free trade zone (50 km on both sides) and create an binational government organization/task force authorized to freely navigate both sides at any time.

Julie Schwietert Collazo

Because of the current conditions in Mexico, this would probably have to include US military (to work with Mexico’s soldiers), as well as Border Patrol and federal/state/local law enforcement. You’d also have to re-examine some Posse Comitatus issues, which might raise eyebrows. It would also be expensive. In my view, it’s worth a shot.

Another observation you make is how US policy efforts (I’m thinking, for example, of counterterrorism coordination efforts) lack effective coordination among multiple law enforcement and/or military entities. Even when coordination efforts are made, they don’t seem to function well, as your poignant story of Esequiel Hernandez illustrates. How can this improve?

In many ways it has improved — especially since 9/11 and Iraq. Keep in mind that Esequiel Hernandez was in 1997. Institutionally, the military has probably changed more as a result of the Iraq War than it would have otherwise.

Had the war in Iraq not happened, and had the military not been so incompetent initially in confronting counterinsurgency, we probably would never have seen any discussion of language, culture, or the military/law enforcement/judicial relationship in the nature of war.

If a squad of Marines who were Iraq veterans were sent down to the border today, there’s no way they would buy any of that “sit in a hole and don’t talk to anyone” crap. Their schools– all developed post-Iraq– have taught them to work under a different set of tactics that leverages more law enforcement techniques.

I’m not trying to use this answer as an argument for going to war in Iraq. Just because some positive unintended consequences unfolded does not make the decision strategically wise. But the military, like all human
organizations, is forced to adapt under pressure and adversity.

Interagency coordination is better than it once was because government organizations have learned from Al Qaeda and Iraqi insurgents: coordinate or lose. Prospective failure helps clarify your options.

Finally, what’s the take-away lesson for readers? And what was the biggest take-away lesson for you?

A reader’s take-away might best be summarized by the advice I received before starting the project: “Do not understand the border too quickly.”

My own take-away is to not understand ANYTHING too quickly! Information is easy to find, but new, wise, insightful thoughts are hard, really hard, to obtain. I couldn’t have written this to you even a year ago. So my lesson is to put attention, patience, and energy into learning something– and then trust that it will pay off when the time is right.

Oops- that’s not all. One more question! What’s your current project?

I’m working on a novel — and, for superstition’s sake, I’ll not say more until I am finished!

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

To learn more about David Danelo, visit his website.

Photo: World Resources Institute Staff

At a hostel in Lençóis, a few hundred kilometers inland from the famous city of Salvador, Brazil, the owner asks me to translate. Fluency in many languages is a boon and a bane. On this occasion it is the latter, for I am translating for two budget travelers, so frugal that I would not hesitate to call them cheapskates.

After first traveling and now living in South America, I’ve begun to wonder why some travelers are obsessively cheap. I admire anyone who seeks to travel independently, but question those who turn thriftiness into a sport.

Is extreme frugality ethical? Is it even worth the trouble? Here are some of the scenarios I have encountered that led me to question the thrifty intentions of some travelers.

Budget accommodation

Photo:krebsmaus07

A foreign couple stayed in a room costing R$40 per night (at that time, approximately $20 USD). When checking out, they offered to pay R$30 instead. The room did not live up to their expectations and, in their opinion, was worth R$10 less. They had stayed two nights, so their intention was to save R$20 ($10 USD).

Their savings would have amounted to a measly five dollars per person.

The travelers lost the argument and almost missed their bus out of town. They left cursing at the owner, as if a great fortune (and, perhaps most importantly, a sense of victory) had escaped their grasp.

Still, it’s hard for me to imagine that those five dollars would have had a catastrophic effect on their long-term finances. On the other hand, multiply that amount times many travelers, and the effect on the local economy is huge.

Sadly, this was not the only time I encountered the scenario. It repeated itself in other cities, in and out of Brazil, suggesting that the phenomenon is not uncommon. And that fact makes the traveler’s handful of saved dollars gain considerable importance in local economies.

Brazilian Carnival

Budget travelers struggle with Carnival in Brazil. Travel during the biggest party in the world, logic dictates, is more expensive than normal, but many foreign travelers are surprised by this fact.

Photo: Luciano Guelfi

They want to visit Rio de Janeiro or Salvador, and are astonished at the price hike in airfare and lodging, destroying their South American budget travel fantasy.

If the budget is so tight, travel in low season, or spend Carnival in a small town, away from state capitals and the most famous parties. Remember, Carnival is celebrated everywhere in Brazil. If someone chooses to attend some of the biggest parties in the world, such as those in Rio and Salvador, they should expect to spend a couple of extra dollars.

Work to extend your holiday?

Photo: Meanest Indian

Budget travelers who wish to find service industry work in order to support their extended vacations, such as waitressing or working in a hostel, are often unaware of how that decision affects local economies.

The first consideration is that work permits are usually easier to get if you have a formal education and skill set in a high-demand area. People who don’t have these skills seek countries that are relaxed in the enforcement of their work visa laws, and thus become havens for foreigners.

But you could find yourself being deported from certain other countries, like Brazil, if you lack the proper authorizations and get caught. Some people will idealistically argue that breaking work visa laws hurts no one…but there is one reality you’ll quickly encounter: jobs are scarce everywhere.

In Buenos Aires, foreigners looking for work are as easy to find as qualified Argentines living on the streets. Is it fair to compete with the locals in a country with high levels of unemployment and where the minimum wage is about a tenth of the cost of your airfare?

Budget travelers are not destitute migrants looking to support their families or going abroad because they’re unable to find work in their home country. They are seeking to extend their holiday. Competing with lowly paid service workers definitely hurts someone.

Hitchhiking

All cheapskate travelers attempt to justify their stingy ways, and one practice I especially tend to question is that of hitchhiking. While trying to hitchhike in a country where you don’t speak the local language could be considered an adventure, it’s rather silly.

I’ve heard the argument repeated like a mantra: “I want to meet the locals.” Every traveler seeks some form of contact with “the locals,” but how do you expect to establish a significant connection with “the locals” if you can’t communicate with them?

This is not a reason to hitchhike, but an excuse to justify being a cheapskate.

Hitchhiking in a developing country raises another interesting dilemma. In some countries, the person providing the car ride might earn, in a year, what the traveler earns in a month back home. Is that fair? How about at least giving the driver some money for gas?

Photo: Zach Klein

Would it be more responsible to catch a bus and contribute to the local economy? While traveling in South America, I have met interesting and kind locals who, by sheer luck, were sitting next to me on the bus. Meeting people is more about attitude and personality than the means of transportation.

Frugality as a lifetime commitment

Why save five dollars in a hostel in Brazil only to spend four times that on a DVD you don’t really need back at home? Why hitchhike in a developing country while making payments on an expensive new car? Why seek cheap meals on the road while eating and drinking at fancy restaurants and bars back home?

Thoreau put it best: “Most of the luxuries, and many of the so-called comforts of life, are not only not indispensable, but positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind.”

Life is the biggest trip of all, and that’s why I’m a budget traveler at all times, not just while on the road. Being frugal at home means I can avoid being cheap while traveling.

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

Have you encountered cheapskate behavior on the road? What are YOUR thoughts on these and other practices?

Photo above by Nuuttipukki

What A Year for Travel!

In 2008, I climbed North America’s highest mountains, rolled down powder puff snow like a bear cub, swam in pristine lakes, sunbathed on the best beaches, met some of my heroes, encountered some wonderful animals, and socialised with Sasquatches.

That last one might have alerted you to the fact that it was no ordinary travel; in fact, my body never left the UK.

The travelling was all in my mind: virtual travel, that was nevertheless enjoyable.

With the world in the grip of a global recession and growing worries about human impact on the environment, there has never been a better time to travel virtually.

Mount Wilson, Nahanni National Park.
Photo above by Althewebmaster

Virtual travel is attractive for other reasons, too. On my virtual journeys, I could access any part of extraordinarily beautiful parks that I’d never even heard of before, such as the Nahanni National Park in Canada’s Northwest Territories. Cold lakes weren’t off limits, and traveling vast distances could be accomplished with a little shape-shifting.

I didn’t need a visa, and I didn’t worry about losing my stuff or running out of money.

I could relax while mentally climbing the highest mountains, running through cool forests, swimming in the most pristine lakes and seas, meeting strange animals and mythical creatures.

I also wrote blogs about some of my trips, and it felt good to be paying homage to them.

Emerald Lake in British Columbia, Canada
Photo above by panduh

The Idea

The idea of virtual travel came to me after I learnt to remember the six big provinces of Canada from west to east as BASMOQ (British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec).

I thought that if I virtually travelled across North America forming such acronyms over the course of a year, then I should be able to remember the locations of all the provinces, territories and states by year’s end.

Moreover, I would learn about the places through a little research. I’d have fun reading along the way and writing about my journeys afterwards.

Five Reasons to Try Virtual Travel

Why should you make the effort to travel virtually across a continent or countries of your choice? Five good reasons are:

• Visiting virtually is better than no visit at all.
• If you know you are going to go somewhere, then virtual travelling is a good way to start planning and imagining more about that place.
• As you research, you find yourself immersed in the place, and the mind enjoys finding out about the region.
• Sometimes the information you find affects your emotions, making you happy or sad, and pleased or angry, just like the knowledge you gain while travelling.
• You can encounter animals that you would not otherwise meet, even mythical creatures still a part of local folklore. You can interact with fictional characters, meet celebrities, or time-travel to find those from the past. This escapism is both entertaining and invigorating.

Bigelow Mountain, Appalachian Trail, Maine
Photo above by plfy

You might be thinking that it would be easier to just look at a map and a guidebook whenever you’re about to actually go somewhere. It might well be, but would it be as much fun, and would you remember as much about the places?

Moreover, are you sure you’re going to go there, or return to see the places you missed when you last travelled there?

I travelled across North America in 1993, but I didn’t get everywhere, and am unlikely to return to all the places I’d like to visit. I’ve flown over Newfoundland and Labrador, Maine and the Appalachians, but I’m unlikely to ever travel there on land.

Virtual travelling took me back, in mind at least. I put names to the places, found out about local industries, local celebrities, about their history and environment, and what animals can be seen.

The Means

I use Wikipedia to research each region. I also use Wiki maps and Google maps. Then I search for interesting places, events, people and animals in each province, territory and state and then set out the journey around them in my daily blog.

Discoveries and creations make the mental journey all the more rewarding, just as finding hidden gems in nooks and crannies of places you’d never even heard of does on real journeys.

At the start of the year, I rushed through my journeys. As I found myself enjoying the trips more and more, though, and taking time to find more and better information, I found myself learning more about the regions.

This discovery parallels real journeys, where you begin to slow down and appreciate things more after the initial excitement that comes with being free and independent.

Virtual travel isn’t meant to be a replacement for travelling, but it can be a useful mental stop-gap until your next journey, and you’ll have fun and learn a lot along the way. For the writers amongst you, I think it’s good practise for travel writing and fictional character development too.

Happy Trails!

The first thing I notice about the Tokyo subway system is how quiet it is. No panhandlers, no music leaking through cheap headphones, no complaints.

Photo by Gustty

I came here to understand the men I grew up with-men like Pacman, Q-Bert, and Mario-but so far I don’t see them on the faces of the commuters with their heads down towards their hand-helds.

Through the thick plastic windows I can see that it’s raining, which is good because in Japanese films there’s always lots of rain, especially if the film takes place in the future-it always rains in the future.

But this trip is not about the Japan I have come to know through celluloid; it’s about a place called Zillion, a place where the sky is blue even if you’re stuck a thousand feet beneath the earth.

Zillion

Zillion was my favorite video game when I was 13, and although it’s not a place in the traditional sense, it had a landscape, inhabitants, and geography. I have memories of spending time there, like the Italian restaurant my parents took me to for birthdays, or the zoo.

Place, after all, has more to do with experience than reality.

I was probably a year into my Sega Master System addiction when Zillion came along. It came in the usual white box with black lines, and had that same smell all new plastic things from Japan have-that intoxicating aroma of microchips.

When I put the cartridge in the slot, a new world opened: A blue sky cut the green pixilated grass and a woman appeared on the screen, only she wasn’t choppy looking like most game characters I had seen before. Her face appeared hand-drawn, more like a cartoon, and the text that appeared beneath her hinted at a larger narrative than the video game plots I was used to.

“Yes,” I thought, “I will go underground and collect the discs. Yes, I will destroy the base. Yes, I will vaporize the robots.” How could I let her down? She had the most beautiful face in the Sega universe.

Now to be honest, Zillion is kind of a bad game. Looking back, it was repetitive and frustrating. But I kept at it for the promise of new levels, different graphics, most importantly, for more of those interludes-more of that cartoon face-more of the story.

Photo by eclaire

As I make my way from the train station to the hotel, I’m struck by how easy everything is. I don’t speak a word of Japanese, yet somehow –even with my horrible sense of direction– I’m at the front desk checking in.

A moment before this, I bought my first Tokyo item, a clear umbrella. What a simple, but perfect idea-you can hold the thing close to your head but still see! It makes me question why the umbrellas back in New York are black.

Going Off Grid

Before I arrived I was told over and over again how walking around Tokyo is like being on a different planet, how the culture is so unique and odd.

It’s been called strange, bizarre and weird, but I feel like it’s the only place on the planet I belong. I’ve only been here two hours and yet I’ve never felt more comfortable in my life. It’s clean, it’s symmetrical, it’s a video game in the best sense of the metaphor.

The neighborhood I have chosen for my base is Asakusa. I didn’t want to be in the frenzy of Shinjuku or the mid-town Manhattan-esque Ginza. I wanted some place distinctly Tokyo, but still quiet. I’m here for three weeks, so there will be plenty of time to soak my brain in neon and human traffic.

Asakusa is perfect.

Photo by Retinafunk

On the way to the hotel there’s a huge gate with demons flanking both its sides. In the distance, a grand temple looms under the grey sky. The scariest crows I have ever seen caw as tourists flock to the outdoor market behind the gate.

I look towards the ground and see a man wearing a pair of boots I have only seen on the feet of cartoon ninjas. But this man is not a ninja, he’s a regular guy. Turns out they sell these boots at the hardware store. It’s my first taste of tradition and modernity living harmoniously together. I’ve only seen it one other place-the Sega Universe.

When the User is the Story

Video games are not bound by the same genre constraints as books or movies. Since the stories are secondary to the action, older game design cared little about the narrative, the characters, or the drama. The user was the story. Games today have taken a much more cinematic approach to interaction, including actors, real locations and full-on Hollywood style scripts.

A game like Zillion however, blended images from various time-periods. Medieval Europe mixed with 1980s Tokyo and created a unique sense of time and place. The people there looked and acted like courtly lovers, but they had lasers instead of swords. Magic spells mixed with computers, enchanted armor competed with light-warp drives.

As a child, I could never put my finger on this collage. As an adult I know that it’s not a collage-it’s Japan.

I wind my way down a narrow street. There are multi-colored tiles everywhere, like the pixilated building blocks that make up every video game ever designed. A neon sign hangs under the missing sky and throws light on a stall selling ancient looking wood figurines.

Everybody greets me with a smile, and we make the most of our poor language skills. Video games, after all, were always the victim of bad translations.

Never Lost

More clear umbrellas swing by and I feel that no matter how far I walk, I can not get lost. When you enter a new game, everything about the landscape is unfamiliar but you know that you can’t move outside a defined grid-a game is not infinite and the there’s only so far you can go. It’s a safe feeling, a feeling I have even as I end up down a dark narrow alley.

This is not new York; it doesn’t smell like piss, and since it doesn’t smell like piss I’m pretty confident nobody is going to stab me.

I begin to think about dinner. I’ve never been to a restaurant that exclusively serves eel, and the guidebook says I’m in the right neighborhood for the slippery cuisine. It’s gotten quiet and there is a smoky smell in the air. I can’t explain it, but I feel like light and gravity function differently on this side of the earth.

I know that I am not home, that I am in a land far far away from my bedroom back in New York, but nothing feels unfamiliar. I’ve been here before through the portal of Zillion, and like an all night session with a game you just can not turn off, I never want to sleep again.

Transcontinental flights from New York to Europe generate up to two tons of carbon dioxide. Feature photo by author. Photo by Almighty_Fotografie

1. Travel damages the environment.

Travel is, almost by its very nature, bad for the environment.

Even if you travel the Middle East exclusively on horseback, you still have to get there in the first place. And just one transcontinental round-trip flight – let’s say from New York to Istanbul – generates two tons of carbon dioxide. That’s 10% of the average person’s annual carbon footprint in just one afternoon.

Going to Phnom Penh to do some volunteer work? A round-trip flight from New York with two layovers consumes a full quarter of that yearly average in just a day or two.

The more you travel, the worse it gets.

Of course, if you don’t fancy riding bareback across Asia, getting around your destination will pump even more poison into the sky, especially since many poor countries lack the already questionable environmental standards of the United States or other developed countries.

Unless you plan on crossing the ocean in a sailboat, do the environment a favor. Stay home and drive a hybrid.

2. Travel commercializes a nation’s greatest monuments.

In the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul there is a room which only the Ottoman Sultans could enter. Even they could enter it only once a year. That room contains the holiest Islamic relics outside of Mecca: the mantle of the Prophet. His swords. A hair from his beard. His footprint.

In Ottoman times, this room was wholly holy. Now, hundreds of tourists tramp through it every day.

These religious relics have been commodified by travelers who legitimately and earnestly wish to see these pieces of history. Nevertheless, the very presence of non-Sultans drives away any chance of a truly authentic experience.

It is natural to want to see the wondrous with your own eyes. But when 10,000 people visit a monument every day – like at the Great Pyramid complex at Giza – they destroy the very wonder they set out to see.

The grounds around the Pyramid are no longer a fitting setting for those ancient tombs; it is not the remote desert plateau of centuries past. The grounds look like a trash dump. Years of refuse cast aside by careless tourists and locals have destroyed the pristine beauty that made Giza famous.

A few truly sacred sites remain scattered across the world: the Crown Jewels of Scotland, the royal memorabilia of King Tut. You will know when you are in one of these holy places because the guards won’t let you take photographs.

3. Travel turns culture into a commodity.

Fiesta Americana Villa in Cancun caters specifically to the tourist industry. Photo by Serge Melki

Unlike all those common tourists, you aren’t deluded by cute tour packages. Not you.

You travel far off the beaten path, the true spirit of a country. And when you get to one of these secret hinterlands, you will find entrepreneurs who are more than happy to sell you the authentic experience, complete with everything you perceive it to be.

You will sleep in the traditional housing that nobody actually uses anymore, buy the trinkets people maybe — maybe! — used to wear a hundred years ago. You will go home happy but none the wiser about what the locals’ lives are actually like. Wherever travelers go, a travel industry will arise to accommodate them and meet their needs. The only difference is scale.

How can you get the authentic experience?

Learn the language, live there for years, put down roots and become an eternal visitor. Everyone will know you and treat you well. But you will forever be the guest, the expatriate, telling stories of your home country late at night.

Might as well stay home.

4. Travel creates foreign dependence and promotes fragile economies.

Many smaller countries, especially the Caribbean and Pacific islands, depend almost entirely on tourism and agriculture for income. Both the people and the governments themselves become dependent on wealthy visitors like you.

In Cairo, seven year old boys will tug on your shirt incessantly and ask if you’d like to buy a hat or a bottle of water. Dozens or hundreds of enterprising merchants set up shop wherever foreigners go. And travelers flood the country with very easy money.

Tourists in Barcelona. Photo by Minifig

The trouble comes when the country is flooded by something more literal than money.

A strong hurricane. Or a terrorist strike, or a currency devaluation, or an increase in the cost of oil – the backbone of their economy dries up overnight.

It happened in 2001 when America suddenly became fearful. It happened in 2006 after the tsunami wracked the Indian Ocean.

Without tourism, many of these countries have no safety net. No matter how judiciously you spend your money abroad, you contribute to increasing dependence on this single industry.

Some places, like Dubai, reinvest the money to diversify their economy. Fiji has propped itself up by exporting luxury water. But most countries are not so farsighted.

Your dollars allow them to rest on their laurels, allowing a single disaster to plunge an entire nation into poverty.

5. Travel promotes crime.

It doesn’t matter how carefully you watch your wallet. The influx of comparatively wealthy travelers into a depressed economy guarantees that crime will flourish.

People everywhere pursue opportunity, and scamming foreign tourists is nearly as good a career option as legitimately servicing them.

Does the Egyptian Museum really need dedicated toilet attendants? Does an endless line of overpriced bistros add the same value as manufacturing or infrastructure development?

The vast majority of travelers don’t experience crime abroad. But every time travelers go to countries substantially poorer than their own, they allow crime to proliferate.

It is too great an opportunity to pass up in places where other opportunities, educational or vocational, are often far out of reach.

6. Long-term travel promotes broadly reaching but shallow experience in the traveler.

If you don’t care that your travel perpetuates a cycle of poverty and dependence, at least think of yourself.

It’s impossible to get even a semblance of an authentic experience abroad, even if you volunteer on traditional farms, shy away from metropolitan areas, or join the Peace Corps.

Your mere presence makes the experience inauthentic. When a guest visits your home, you act differently. Even an American who emigrates to Britain or Australia shall never have quite the same experience as someone born and raised there. It’s too late.

If you truly want an authentic experience of a culture, stay at home.

Immerse yourself in your native culture. Put down roots and forsake wandering. Experience the multifaceted joys of the one country you have most neglected – your own.

Once you truly join a community, you may find what you always sought abroad but never quite found. You will learn how other people live.

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

Do you agree that travel is unethical? Can any of the threats posed by travel be minimized or eliminated? Share your thoughts below.

Other articles engaging issues about the ethical dilemmas travelers encounter on the road include The Shameful Truth About Sex Tourism, and The Secret to Avoiding Beggars.

Photo by gluemoon

I was traveling in northern Vietnam when I first noticed the phenomenon of the dutiful backpacker.

It is nearly impossible to travel in Southeast Asia without parallels being drawn to what the locals call “The American War,” and my fellow travelers and I would often make jokes in poor taste about the duration of our “tours of duty” or going for some “R&R.”

But with some of my companions, I got the impression these were not entirely light-hearted remarks.

The “duty” part of their tour seemed to loom pretty large considering that none of them had been drafted against their will to take an extended budget holiday after college.

“I’ve got my photos,” one guy said to me over breakfast.

“I’ve seen the [Cu Chi] tunnels, I’ve fired the AK-47, I’ve taken the Reunification Express. I’m done.”

One girl I befriended confided that she desperately missed her boyfriend back home and wished she could go back to him.

When I asked why she couldn’t, she told me, “Oh, I could. I’ve got an open ticket, it’s just – there’s lots of stuff on my list that I haven’t checked off yet. I don’t want to go back with it half-finished.”

I gently pointed out that, presumably, she had decided to travel in order to fulfill some personal desire, and that if she was no longer happy then surely it was time to go home?

“But I might miss something,” she said anxiously. “Like, Laos is meant to be amazing and I haven’t got there yet. I couldn’t stand having everyone going on at me about how great it is and how they can’t believe I didn’t see it because I went home to see my boyfriend instead.”

I asked her if she thought she would even enjoy Laos, being so homesick.

“Probably not,” she shrugged. “But I’ve got to go, haven’t I?”

Photo by Aguapfel

I’d rather be building latrines…

I noticed the same attitude in an Australian friend, Maggie, who recently returned from teaching in South Korea.

“I’m getting out!!” was the subject line of the e-mail she sent, telling me she would soon be returning home. The first time I spoke to her after she was back in Australia she kept sighing gratefully and saying things like, “I’m so glad it’s done.”

“Didn’t you enjoy it?” I asked her.

She paused. “No,” she said eventually. “No, not really, if I’m honest.”

I asked her why she hadn’t returned earlier. Her contract at the school had only been for three months initially, and she could have left after that time with no ill will on either side.

“I told everyone I was going away for a year,” she said (by “everyone” she meant family and friends, not her Korean employers). “They would have asked me why I was back early, what had gone wrong, was it awful?

“And was it?” I asked.

“Not – not awful exactly, just…” she sighed again. “I’d just rather have been at home, you know?”

Photo by *Solar ikon*

Everyone travels now.

A gap year before or after college, once something guaranteed to make you the cool, interesting one at freshers’ parties, is now so commonplace as to be almost obligatory.

And there seem to be a growing number of people who are traveling as much to keep up with the crowd as out of any genuine desire to see new places or experience new cultures.

“I’m not a traveler,” Maggie admitted in the end. “I could have stayed at home and taught or done volunteer work, but then you run into someone from school and they’re all, ‘Oh, I’ve just got back from 18 months building latrines in Indonesia or whatever,’ and you feel such a dork saying, ‘Yeah, I work at an after-school club down the road from where we grew up.’”

“I guess I thought traveling would make me an interesting person, but it didn’t. I was really homesick and just used to sit in my bed, surfing the net and phoning my mum and all my mates. I don’t feel like I learned anything – except that I don’t want to go traveling again!”

Just don’t get left behind

Ask 100 travelers their reason for traveling and you will probably get 100 different answers: “to find myself”; “to learn about other cultures”; “to get some great photos”; “to get a tan.”

And none of these answers is more or less worthy than another.

Photo by dweely

But next time you ask someone why they decided to travel, keep your ears open for the telltale signs that their truthful answer might be:

“Everyone else was doing it, so I thought I should too.”

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

Have you ever traveled just because you thought you should?

Or stayed longer than you wanted because you thought you shouldn’t “give up”?

Have you ever quit a journey sooner than you planned, but had misgivings about your decision?

Hal Amen did, and wrote about his experiences eloquently in the blog, Quitter, which inspired a conversation among other travelers who were grateful to Hal for articulating his feelings.

Share your thoughts and experiences below in the comments.

It’s never hard to find your way there – all you need to do is follow the American music which is old enough to feel stale without being old enough to feel hip and look for a chalkboard sign advertising a European football match.

But no matter where you are, the same set of people manages to populate every one these ex-pat haunts, so read on to identify who’s who and save yourself some valuable mingling time.

1. The Overpaid Aid Worker

The aid worker / Photo MVHargan

You can easily pick out this character by the imported beer on his table and the way he litters his speech with acronyms: USAID, NGO, MFI, MPP.

If it’s a weekday night, he might nurse his beer while tapping away on his MacBook, shooting off emails to his friends in D.C., or maybe to the alumni listserve of a bastion of East Coast higher education.

This year he’s empowering women in Latin America, but two years ago he was working on democracy promotion in Bangladesh, and next year it’s off to Thailand to oversee microfinance development.

Is there any world problem this whiz can’t solve on a two-year contract, armed only with his cushy salary, company car, and housing stipend?

Before you get a chance to answer that, though, he will: there’s “real progress” being made at the “grass roots level” with his current initiative. Another European microbrew, please!

2. The English Teacher

This guy couldn’t get a job after college back home, so he’s managed to put to use the one qualification which will always make him stand out abroad: native English speaker.

You can find him sitting at the bar, taking shots of the local brand of firewater with one of his young female “private lessons” by his side. Sure, he can barely string a sentence together in a conversation, much less on paper, but he found the loophole in the system — his wonderfully Western face and accent!

Now instead of stocking shelves back home, he’s got status overseas. Hey, that online TEFL degree was $200 and took a couple of weeks to finish, so give him some respect.

If the bartender knows his name, that means The English Teacher has probably been around long enough to let his rise in status get to his head, and he’s already progressed to the dreaded next stage of ex-patdom: The Wannabe Travel Writer.

If this is the case, no matter how nice he looks, avoid starting a conversation at all costs, unless you’re in the mood to spend your night listening to interminable stories about how much better Macchu Picchu was the way he did it.

3. The Diplomat’s Wife

The diplomat’s wife / Photo Ergo Martini

She shows up every night at five o’clock on the dot, ready for happy hour surrounded by the group of four ex-pat wives who make up the town’s Western high society network in its entirety.

The Diplomat’s Wife will without fail order the one martini on the menu, and will without fail mention how unfortunate it is that “you can’t even get a decent martini around here.”

She spends her days doing her best to avoid the fact that she no longer lives in the land of Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods by shuttling between the one grocery store which stocks imported goods and the one coffee shop which has made a few token efforts to imitate Starbucks.

Any conversation with The Diplomat’s Wife will inevitably come around to all the ways in which “the locals” make life difficult, from stalling the delivery of her shipped furniture to routinely botching her weekly hair and nail appointment.

4. The Idealist

The Idealist / Photo Lucky Tom

A young, doe-eyed recent grad, The Idealist can be found clutching the local bottom-of-the-barrel brew to show his solidarity with the people.

Don’t be fooled into thinking the backpacker in the corner with the Che shirt is The Idealist; no, The Idealist threw that shirt away after freshman year, when everyone else started wearing it, and instead sticks to his tried-and-true collection of ironically-named indie band tees.

If you want to start a conversation with The Idealist, casually mention that you’ve been looking into WWOOFing later in your trip – The Idealist has already WWOOFed in countries you can’t even find on a map and isn’t afraid to tell you all about it.

Plus, The Idealist has a friend of a friend who’s volunteering where you’re thinking of going right now! When not putting up postings for activist events on the community bulletin board, The Idealist can often be seen trying to strike up a conversation on grad programs with his future self, The Overpaid Aid Worker.

5. The Lifer

Who is this leather-faced man, camped out on a stool which has over the years conformed to his shape, taking half-bottle gulps of the mid-range national beer between whisky shots?

He’s The Lifer, and nobody knows much of anything about him other than the fact that he’s been in town as long as anyone can remember.

Where does his money come from? How did he end up here? It’s all a mystery.

But one thing’s for sure, when The Lifer first came through town, that’s when “travel was real, man.”

The Lifer is good for a few amusing stories involving the ingestion of huge quantities of drugs which haven’t existed since the mid-80’s, but be careful: he’s not in any hurry to get anywhere, so you could be in for a long night.

6. The New Ager

The New Ager / Photo Frail Muse

The New Ager is hard to miss. She’s the one dressed up in the clothes which the locals import from India to sell to the tourists as “authentic native garb” and the necklace she bought at the market with a rock pendant that a street kid found on the ground and hawked to her as a “lifeforce crystal.”

The New Ager eschews soul-sucking alcohol altogether, and instead opts to sip gingerly on her herbal tea. A conversation with The New Ager might seem normal to begin with, but you won’t get very far before she casually mentions the fact that your aura is looking a little bit greenish today.

She’ll believe absolutely anything you can possibly make up, so long as you throw in something about indigenous peoples or Eastern religions, so go ahead, try her:

Has she heard that the wood of the bar top was specially crafted by a local medicine man out of a tree bark which cleanses the kidneys? No, but she’ll give it a lick to find out. Did she know that a certain sect of Buddhism teaches that when we stick our tongue to our nose, only then do we truly connect to God?

The New Ager’s way of looking deeply into your eyes and constantly using your name can be off-putting at first, but as you get deeper into your cups, she can become a valuable source of entertainment.

Any expat characters we missed? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Anthony Bourdain in New York / Photo Time

Most TV travel hosts have their own unique gimmicks – some are chefs, some are anthropologists and some are ex-TV commercial actors.

They generally resemble a breed of explorers who are defined by virtually nothing other than their gigs.

Travel hosts range from men who don’t know any foreign languages but understand the international language of the palate, to middle-aged housewives who just really like shopping.

Naturally, networks are sending out adventurers that match certain audience demographics, but how much consideration goes into what worldviews these shows are exporting to the rest of the world?

If America had to get together and consider exactly what type of attitude a person should adopt to react to foreign customs tactfully and also emit an aura of “Americanness,” who would be the best choice?

Enter: Anthony Bourdain.

Anatomy Of A Host

Bourdain is the host of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations and also a well-known chef who frequently terrifies competitors on “Top Chef” with his glib critiques of their dishes.

In addition, he excels as a writer, and has written cookbooks, both non-fiction and fiction books and maintains a blog on the Travel Channel’s website. He writes with detail, verve and wit, as can be seen in this passage from his blog:

I discovered today that she [his one-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Ariane] adores polenta–served with the hot, rendered fat of roasted game birds. And that she goes absolutely bat shit over risotto made with wild nettles. And when her Mom dips a finger in the local red wine, she greatly prefers it to juice. This makes me very proud.

Bourdain is tall to an awkward extent, towering over everyone in Vietnam as his long torso proves to never fatten despite the constant stream of food and alcohol he ingests.

He is racially ambiguous, with gray hair and dark, sun-burnt-looking red skin, but his last name is French. He often seems insecure, and his constant smoking and drinking would suggest that he’s done a lot to overcome an intelligent, nervous introversion.

Comparing Attitudes

Samantha Brown from Passport To Great Weekends

The advantage of Bourdain’s particular demeanor is best explained by his contrast to fellow network star Samantha Brown.

Brown is petite and blonde, bubbly and overeager to the point of being patronizing. She could easily be in your Bible study or leading your niece’s Girl Scout troop.

Bourdain and Brown both export particular American attitudes.

Bourdain traffics in the self-deprecating cynicism of Hemingway-reading Americans who know what “post-modern” means, and Brown works in what should be called “trinketism,” a lens that views foreign things as first and foremost “neat” in order to get over a sheltered xenophobia.

The difference between the two is easy to see when both shows demand of them a similar experience: doing drugs.

Bourdain was sent to a forest in Peru where he drank a tree bark tea said to be sacred for the hallucinations it causes. Brown was given the task of visiting a marijuana-vending café in Amsterdam.

Bourdain eagerly drank the tea and then passed out on the ground of a wooden hut after a few moments of poking fun at the network’s restrictions on showing much about his “trip.”

Brown talked chipperly to the barista about how “cozy” the café was, ordered a mango tea, and then later went out to dinner with friends, trying very hard to prove that she had overcome her old notion that Amsterdam was a city full of sex and drugs.

Friendly For The Masses

Anthony in the street / Photo Austin Chronicle

Bourdain’s show is an acquired taste because it displays somewhat of a battle between his New Jersey-grown less-than-sentimental ego and the demands of starring in a commercialized show.

“No Reservations” is edited in an inconsistent way that lets the bulk of the show be Anthony being Anthony, while packaging his persona in a more mass-audience friendly box.

The intro song features a strange rock lick that seems like it was made entirely on a computer and features a fruit-punch bowl of editing that tries to make Anthony look both 19 and far cooler than he probably feels comfortable looking.

The meat of the show is Anthony embarking on odd adventures that his producer seems to mandate, and the editing becomes much more intricate.

Anthony details on his blog the way in which his editors attempt to research the artistic history of every nation that he visits in order to mimic particular styles of aesthetics.

Then, the end is forced to tie things up cutely to get watchers back in a buying mood, and Anthony attempts to come up with an all-encompassing conclusion about the heart of the featured country. He always looks less-than-enthusiastic during that part, probably because he’s only been in the country for a few days, and spent a lot of it eating.

The Evolving Critique

An interesting note about Bourdain is that, over his years on “No Reservations,” his cynicism has morphed.

Now, when he talks to people in other countries, he tries to say things about “long histories of appreciating cultural heritage” and he seems like he genuinely means that, no scoffing about the vagueness/cuteness of such statements whatsoever.

The final realization of the host seems to be that not every other nation is breeding a ground of mass-cynicism and that a lot of people actually are proud of the countries they were born in.

What makes Bourdain’s cynicism superb is that it is wise and un-stubborn. He has finally gained the ability to know when to sit back, let a bit of sincerity out and just eat the hog’s anus that the nice tribal leader is offering.

Puzzled Americans who think he’s putting on a polite face can turn to his blog to see what he’s really thinking, because making other countries seem weird and anachronistic is the territory of far too many other travel programs.

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

“Are you carrying a weapon on you?” the young Israeli soldier asked as we approached the middle of the Jewish settlement in Hebron.

“No,” my friends and I quickly replied, assuming that he was asking a routine security question.

“Well you don’t want to go any further up that road unarmed.”

I exchanged a nervous what-the-hell-does-that-mean glance with my girlfriend. He must just be kidding – messing with the stupid tourists, right?

Suddenly there was a series of rapid “pop pop pop” sounds from up the hill. “Fireworks?” I asked.

“No, that’s us returning fire. They were shooting up at us before. So you still want to keep going?” the soldier responded, half smiling because he already knew the answer.

The Political Tourism

Israel attracts over two million tourists every year, making it one of the world’s great tourism destinations.

Backpackers, Christian pilgrims, heritage-seeking Jews, history buffs, and nature lovers all flock to a wide range of unique sites in the Jewish state.

For the vast majority of these tourists, the volatile political situation is at best a nuisance which fills their trip with security checks and at worst a reason to postpone or cancel the trip altogether.

But for a small minority of visitors, the conflict itself is the reason for visiting, spawning a nascent political tourism industry which gives visitors the chance to see behind the headlines and into the heart of the seemingly intractable conflict.

Traveling into the Palestinian Territories of the West Bank takes a bit of extra grit and patience, but those willing to take the plunge are rewarded with a first-hand look at one of the defining international issues of our time.

View from an Arab market below a Jewish settlement

Palestine Welcomes You

Anyone with even a casual interest in the news is constantly barraged with information about the Israel-Palestine conflict. This has led to the instant association of the Palestinian Territories with suicide bombing, and thus a knee-jerk reaction that any visit inside the area is a highly risky endeavor.

In fact, although Hamas-controlled Gaza remains off-limits to tourists, the Palestinian Authority-controlled West Bank is quite accessible and generally quite safe.

Although violence does flare up, it rarely does so in a way which would affect visitors, and even though my trip coincided with a small skirmish no one was injured in the end.

Palestinians are exceptionally welcoming, and I experienced nothing but a constant refrain of “ahlan” (”welcome”) while walking through various West Bank cities.

A visit to cities such as Ramallah, Hebron, Bethlehem, and Nablus allows visitors to go beyond the terrorism clichés of the nightly news and into the reality of the situation on the ground.

A trip to Hebron, 30 kilometers south of Jerusalem, presents a particularly stark and memorable picture of the tense state of affairs.

Life In The Right Wing

Ramallah at sunset

The Jewish settlement in the city sits literally on top of the Palestinian market, separated by a jagged horizontal cage to prevent rocks from being hurled down below and making for a surreal stroll through an otherwise typical Arab market.

A walk into the settlement itself gives a glimpse of life on the extreme right wing of Israeli society.

You can even walk right into the ruins of a home demolished by the Israeli government after settlers holed up and refused to move out. After experiencing the situation for yourself, you’ll never watch the international portion of the nightly news the same way again.

Like any form of “backstreets” travel, the nature of political tourism does raise the question of where the fine line between tourism and voyeurism lies.

Similar charges have been levied against so-called “slum tourism” which brings Westerners to the world’s poorest places so that they can snap a few pictures of photogenic misery before heading back to the comforts of home.

However, whereas slum tourists are simply “experiencing” first-hand the images of poverty that they’ve seen so many times on T.V., political tourism (when done correctly) involves understanding the situation behind the images in order to gain an entirely new perspective on a situation.

A day trip certainly cannot cover all the complexities of the situation in the West Bank, but it still goes a long way towards getting past the 30-second clips and soundbites on the conflict spoon-fed to us by the media.

See It For Yourself

Although I visited the West Bank with friends living in Ramallah, there are a few tour agencies which take groups to various destinations in the region.

Fred Schlomka runs Alternative Tours in English, a social enterprise which organizes a number of trips into the West Bank as well as in Israel west of the Green Line.

His company gives tours to about 150 visitors a month, which he says is a way to “help people see the reality of Palestinian life under occupation, and also give them a taste of Palestinian culture.”

Rather than voyeuristic and unproductive, Fred, who has worked extensively with non-profits to help the Palestinian people, finds political tourism to be “a vital service to visitors so they have an opportunity to see the country in a safe and professional manner.”

Some of his tourists, who mainly come from the US and Western Europe, have later gone on to become involved with political and development projects in the region.

The Israel-Palestine conflict is an essential part of the political and social dynamic of the entire Middle East.

For those who pride themselves on partaking in the eye-opening and self-educating aspects of travel, political tourism in the West Bank is an experience not to be missed.

What are your thoughts on political tourism in the West Bank? Share your thoughts in the comments!

The age of exploration has a reputation as a brutal and bloody part of our history. For the most part, this reputation is largely deserved.

But there were explorers that did not use violence to fuel their expeditions. Here are 5 explorers, along with their inspiring stories.

1. Cabeza de Vaca

In 1528, 300 men landed in Florida. Over the next eight years, all were lost except Cabeza de Vaca and two others. They wandered thousands of miles across North America. Sometimes they starved. They were repeatedly taken prisoner by locals.

Cabeza de Vaca developed a great sympathy for the Native Americans he met along his journey. He traded between different tribes and claimed to be a healer. Along the way, he gained a large following that traveled with him.

Eventually, after reaching Mexico, Cabeza de Vaca found other Spaniards. By then, he was so changed that it was difficult for his countrymen to believe that he was Spanish. He was sent home – reaching Europe in 1537.

Later, he was made a governor and sent to South America to re-establish Buenos Aires after it had failed. His lack of success and his unusual sympathy for the natives fueled his enemies. He was arrested and sent back to Spain to be tried.

He was eventually cleared, but by that time his travels were over.

2. Ernest Shackleton

In 1909, Shackleton led an expedition that set the record for reaching the most southern latitude. This beat Robert Scott’s expedition several years earlier, of which Shackleton had been a member.

A couple years later, another explorer reached the pole. So, to reclaim his title, Shackleton decided to cross the entire continent, passing over the pole.

During his attempt, his ship was caught in the ice. He and his crew stayed with the ship. They hoped that it would eventually be released, but had to abandon it when the ice crushed the vessel. After a series of dangerous journeys by lifeboat, the crew was rescued with only three lives lost. Shackleton later published the adventure under the title South: The Endurance Expedition.

Shackleton once said, “Difficulties are just things to overcome, after all.”

3. Charles Marie de La Condamine

After seven years in the mountains of Peru and Ecuador, trying to measure a single degree of latitude, this French physicist explored the entire length of the Amazon basin.

Others had been to the Amazon region, but Condamine’s was the first scientific exploration. Condamine rafted the Amazon river from the Andes mountains to its mouth. He collected and investigated plants he found along the way that were unknown to European science.

After a 10 years journey, he returned to France a famous man.

4. Vitus Bering

Ordered in 1724 by Peter the Great to determine if North America was attached to Asia, Bering voyaged in the north Pacific and explored the furthest reaches of Russia.

He started by leading an expedition overland across Siberia. After hauling 72 tons of supplies (including cannon and anchors) across the continent, the expedition members built their ships on the coast. They explored the eastern edge of Asia, and reached the strait separating the two continents. However, Bering did not venture further; thus, he didn’t explore America. He returned to St. Petersburg in 1730.

He was later sent out again – this time to find America. After several years exploring Siberia, Bering’s expedition finished building new ships and set sail. The ships became separated in a storm. Bering’s ship sailed past Kodiak Island, and later became shipwrecked on another island (it was later named for him), where he died.

His remains were identified in 1991 by a team of archaeologists.

5. David Livingstone

At one time, Livingstone was Britain’s most famous African explorer. He spent decades wandering the continent, finding as many rivers, lakes, and mountains as he could.

His explorations were peaceful, but he did defend himself against hostile attack on at least one occasion. He was also critical of the Portuguese slave trading that he saw, even though this put him out of favor with the British royal family.

Livingstone also sought the source of the Nile. He disappeared into Africa and was not heard from for several years – until a New York newspaper hired Henry Morton Stanley to find him.

Stanley was successful, supposedly saying “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?” at their first meeting. Livingstone and Stanley spent some time together before Stanley went back home and Livingstone continued his search.

Livingstone died, having failed in his search for the Nile’s source. His heart was buried in Africa and his body in Westminster Abbey.

He once said, “I determined never to stop until I had come to the end and achieved my purpose.”

Any explorers we missed? Share your picks in the comments!

Community Connection

Who are some other travelers whose peaceful yet aspirational journeys you admire? Check out Ten Travels (and their Tales) that Made History, and then let us know your favorites!

Young kite flyer in Aden / Photo author

It’s a few minutes before 6 and the light in the port-city of Aden in South Yemen is beginning to fade.

As the sun sinks behind jagged cliffs the city takes a deep, full-bodied breath. Its mouth opens wide, its lips stretch thin and like a great, harmless beast it sucks all the people into its warm, concrete belly.

In seconds the streets are empty. Steel-doors are bolted shut, soccer games cut short and kites quickly pulled from the sky. Women disappear into their homes and men duck into small, crowded restaurants.

No dark clouds mar the gray sky; no sound of thunder threatens in the distance.

The population of Aden is driven indoors by the sound of dozens upon dozens of loudspeakers. Mosques scattered across the city’s face erupt into a kind of song that is not music or chant, not beautiful or ugly but awesome and commanding.

From my birds-eye perch 500 feet up on the backbone of an extinct volcano the locals call Crater, the sound is deafening. It ricochets off Crater’s walls and collides in my inner-ear like a great, booming storm, “God is great, God is great. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah.”

It is the evening call to prayer.

The Power Of Faith

It’s Ramadan, the 8th month of the Islamic Calendar, Muslims all over the world are demonstrating the power of their faith by exercising restraint.

In Aden people are taking their first sip of cool water since dawn. They are enjoying special treats like breaded balls of soft potato, creamy pudding, crispy meat-filled samosas and soft, sugary dates.

Muslims not only consume nothing during daylight hours for one month, they also do their best to resist illicit thoughts and behavior, read the entire Koran and act generously toward those who have less.

When the voices start up again, “Hasten to prayer, hasten to prayer,” women clear the cups and plates and lay out their prayer rugs.

Men wipe the crumbs from their lips, rinse the grease from their hands and head for the mosques.

City By The Sea

Aden is like an Arab version of Coney Island: A city by the sea that never sleeps, awash with spectacle and surprise.

During Ramadan it is common to shorten the fast by staying up late; in Aden the typical bedtime is 4am. All night people squat around platters of food, boys play pool in the street and half-naked old men pose like cats on small squares of cardboard.

I meet Nada while traveling on a bus on the first day of Ramadan. As we traverse a rocky, green landscape the passengers begin to arrange food on the small, plastic tables attached to the chairs in front of them.

When the sun is no longer visible behind low cliffs, a dispute breaks out when two passengers start eating and others say it’s too early. Someone yells to the driver to turn on the radio and all doubt is assuaged when the call to prayer comes crackling over the airwaves.

Everyone hands around a little of what they’ve brought, a disproportionate amount being heaped on us. The bus is soon alive with chatter and shouts of, “Ramadan!” and “God is generous.”

A middle-aged woman in front of us turns to my friend and asks him about the book he is reading. It’s called, “The Shia Revival.” She wants to know why an American is reading this book.

“You have questions about Shia?” she asks, “I can tell you the real story of the Shia.”

Escape From Iraq

Nada is an Iraqi engineer who moved to Yemen 7 years ago with her husband and two sons to escape Saddam, who openly despised the Shia sect.

They left behind a house they were slowly building on the banks of the Euphrates in the center of Baghdad. Saddam feared that as the Shia majority might someday overthrow him and his Sunni-dominated government, so he robbed them of political power and killed them by the thousands.

They had to leave Iraq, Nada explained, but little did they know it would soon become far more dangerous and that their family home would be blocks away from the Green Zone.

“Come to my house tomorrow,” she says, “8 o’clock.”

There are 12 identical unmarked apartment buildings lined up on Nada’s block. A kid helps figure out which one is number 10. When we knock on her door the urgency in her voice pulls us inside:

“How did you know the building?” she asks.

“You told us number 10, we asked a boy in the street.”

“Which boy?” she shoots back.

“Just a boy!”

She has reason to be uneasy around Americans. She later confides that her son yelled at her that afternoon, “The Americans occupy our country and now you invite them to our house!”

They guide us into their living room where we sit and watch while she and her sons bring out plate after plate of Ramadan treats.

Shortly after we begin eating the conversation turns to the war. They explain that since the Occupation, they and their Sunni neighbors have been pitted against each other. This bitterness didn’t exist under Saddam; now Iraqis are killing other Iraqis for the first time.

“It’s Not Your Fault”

They went back to Baghdad to visit family in 2005. Her youngest son, Riyad, was seized by American soldiers during a raid. They held a gun to his head and threatened to kill him.

Somehow they were able to get him out alive but his family is still very protective of him. He is the only one in the room who doesn’t speak English and is exceedingly jealous that his handsome older brother is getting more air-time.

Nada pleads with me to try and speak Arabic with him and I somehow get out a few, hard-earned sentences.

At that very moment, amidst all the commotion, it dawns on me that this is my first time sitting around a table with Iraqi people. I tell them that everyday I feel ashamed at what my country has done to their country.

“It’s not your fault,” they say graciously, “we know your government doesn’t listen,” but then a silence falls that none of us can resist, each steeped in our own thoughts.

But Riyad can’t bare the somber mood for long. He’s soon clowning around, quizzing us on American pop-culture. He teases us because we don’t know the name of the recent American Olympic multiple-Gold-Star Medalist, Michael Phelps.

“You probably haven’t even seen his picture,” he laughs at us, shaking a sports magazine in front of us. “Tell me the truth, have you seen his picture?”

I’ll Come Back to Yemen

The white, sandy beaches just outside of Aden are colonized by thousands of crabs. Transparent and swift, they weave and dance along the calm, blue coast.

The next morning I wake up to the sound of the sunrise prayer blasting through my window. I step out onto the balcony and see dozens of men walking almost single-file towards the mosque.

Breathing in the quiet beauty of dusty streets and turquoise-domed mosques, I picture similar scenes replicated all over the world: sunrise over empty streets, loudspeakers blaring the call to prayer, men trickling into the mosque.

Ramadan knits countless communities into a tight fabric; communities that would otherwise have little else in common. From war-torn Iraq to the hot, languid streets of Aden, people are keeping the same traditions alive.

I watch the men emerge from the mosque and head home to sleep, then I turn my back to the sun. A new day of Ramadan has begun.

Photo by Swami Stream

During the last eight years, it is doubtful whether our leadership has fostered peace, both within our nation and in the wider world.

We can now elect a President of the United States who will be a transformational figure for peace. But what is peace? Is it just a logo on retro tie dyed t-shirts? A pie in the sky dream? Is peace on earth possible?

The Oxford Dictionary of Contemporary World History describes the Nobel Peace Prize as “the world’s most prestigious prize.”

Each year controversies swirl around the recipients. Attempts are made to discredit the prize and Laureates, but they remain respected and revered throughout the world.

During the Bush administration’s reign, eight people have been awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace.

A look at them offers us a chance to consider which candidates would further the cause of peace as the next President and Vice President of the United States: Barack Obama and Joe Biden, or John McCain and Sarah Palin.

2001 – Working Together – The United Nations and Kofi Annan (Ghana)

Kofi Annan

The prize was awarded to the United Nations and its Secretary-General for their work for a more peaceful and better organized world.

Annan was hailed for discouraging states from using the UN as a tool for their own ends, something the Bush Administration has been accused of.

He took an active roll as a protector of human rights, addressed the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and urged that the UN play a leading part in the fight against international terrorism.

Annan’s report on the UN’s role in the 21st century formed the basis for the UN’s Millennium Declaration, which calls for an end to poverty, better education, reducing HIV/AIDS, protecting the environment, and preventing war.

In his Nobel Lecture given two months after the war began in Afghanistan, Kofi Annan made the bold move of beginning his speech by describing a mother caring for a newborn. He said that the real borders in this world are not between nations, but between powerful and powerless, rich and poor.

“The obstacles to democracy have little to do with culture or religion, and much more to do with the desire of those in power to maintain their position at any cost.”

2002 – The Tolerant Diplomat – Jimmy Carter

Jimmy Carter

As president, Jimmy Carter was a diplomat in every sense of the word. His mediation was a vital contribution to the Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt, and he placed new emphasis on the place of human rights in international politics during the Cold War.

Through the Carter Center, Jimmy Carter undertook conflict resolution on several continents, showed an outstanding commitment to human rights, and served as an observer at countless elections all over the world.

In his Nobel lecture, Jimmy Carter pointed out that great American power has been used with restraint and great benefit in the past. He warned against powerful countries adopting a policy of preventative war. Carter identified the most serious problem the world faced as the growing chasm between the rich and poor.

“War is always an evil, never a good. We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other’s children.”

2003 – Hope Over Fear- Shirin Ebadi (Iran)

Shirin Ebadi

Shirin Ebadi, lawyer, judge, lecturer, author and activist was recognized for her efforts for democracy and human rights, especially those of women and children. She stood up as a sound professional, who never heeded threats to her own safety.

Shirin Ebadi was the first woman judge in Iran. After the 1979 Revolution, she was demoted to clerk in the very court where she had been a judge. She protested and was elevated to the status of “expert”. She then quit her law practice and wrote books and articles demanding rights for women and children in Iran.

In 1992, Ebadi resumed her law practice and took up politically sensitive cases. She founded the Association for the Support of Children’s Rights and The Human Rights Defense Center. She taught human rights courses at university, and drafted the text of a law against the physical abuse of children that passed the Iranian Parliament in 2002.

Ebadi was described by the Nobel Committee as both guide and bridge-builder, bringing people together across cultures, races and religions. Shirin Ebadi’s view was that there need be no fundamental conflict between Islam and Christianity. She was honored for being an unshakable optimist who showed great courage.

In her Noble Lecture, Shirin stated that rulers:

“…will realize that the time for governing through fear is drawing to a close the world over.”

2004 – Planting Seeds of Peace – Wangari Maathai (Kenya)

Wangari Maathai

Wangari Maathai was awarded the Nobel Prize for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace in Kenya and in Africa.

The first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctorate degree, Wangari Maathai was recognized for promoting ecologically viable social, economic and cultural development.

Deforestation and erosion were destroying areas where livestock grazed in Kenya and causing a shortage of wood needed for cooking. On June 5, World Environment Day, Wangari planted nine trees in her backyard and founded the Green Belt Movement. For nearly 30 years she mobilized poor women to plant 30 million trees, with the aim to restore Africa’s forests.

Wangari Maathai was repeatedly sent to prison. She was attacked with tear gas and clubbed. She persisted in her approach, which the Nobel committee described as combining science, commitment, active politics and faith in God.

“Entire communities also come to understand that while it is necessary to hold their governments accountable, it is equally important that in their own relationships with each other, they exemplify the leadership values they wish to see in their own leaders, namely justice, integrity and trust.”

2005 – Bringing Back the Word Imagine – The IAEA and Mohamed ElBaradei (Egypt)

Mohamed ElBaradei / Photo Lukas Beck for The NY Times

The prize was awarded to the IAEA and Director General, Mohamed ElBaradei, for their efforts to prevent nuclear energy from being used for military purposes and to ensure that nuclear energy for peaceful purposes is used in the safest possible way.

The IAEA was started in 1957 and was the vision of Dwight D. Eisenhower’s 1953 speech at the United Nations, “Atoms for Peace“.

The IAEA insisted before the American invasion of Iraq in 2003 that there were no WMD, and they were correct. Recently, the Bush administration has disagreed with the IAEA on this same issue with regard to Iran, and actually attempted to oust El Baradei.

El Baradei was praised for standing out as an unafraid advocate of non-proliferation, and directing nuclear energy to uses in electricity production, healthcare (especially cancer treatment), agriculture, the environment and industry.

In his speech Mohamed ElBaradei pointed out that history has taught that force doesn’t heal wounds, but opens new ones. He offered his vision of a more peaceful world:

“Imagine what would happen if the nations of the world spent as much on development as on building the machines of war. Imagine a world where every human being would live in freedom and dignity. Imagine a world in which we would shed the same tears when a child dies in Darfur or Vancouver.

Imagine a world where we would settle our difference through diplomacy and dialogue and not through bombs or bullets. Imagine if the only nuclear weapons remaining were the relics in our museums. Imagine the legacy we could leave to our children. Imagine that such a world is within our grasp.”

2006 – Spreading the Wealth – Muhammmad Yunus (Bangladesh) and the Grameen Bank

Muhammmad Yunus

Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank were honored with the Peace Prize for their efforts to create economic and social development from below.

In 1976, Muhammad Yunus took twenty seven dollars out of his own pocket and loaned it to 42 destitute basketweavers in a little village in Bangladesh. Out of this grew the Grameen Bank; self-financing, profitable, and spreading the wealth in thousands of villages in Bangladesh.

Yunus’s vision was to eliminate poverty in the world. This banker to the poor operated on the principal that every single person on earth has the potential and the right to live a decent life.

Both Nobel Committee and Laureate again cited poverty as the greatest challenge facing the world. The majority of people on earth are poor: half the world’s people live on less than two dollars a day, and one billion live on less than one dollar a day.

“We must address the root causes of terrorism to end it for all time to come. I believe that putting resources into improving the lives of poor people is a better strategy than spending it on guns.”

2007 – Making Peace With the Planet – The IPCC and Al Gore

Al Gore

The IPCC and Al Gore were honored for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for action.

The IPCC, the UN’s climate panel, is a global project that involves over 130 countries, 450 authors and 800 contributors, and 2,500 scientific experts.

The Nobel Committee, who called the US and China the great polluters, felt that global warming was a threat to the security and existence of mankind on earth. The committee raised its voice with a quote from Archbishop Desmond Tutu charging that ignoring climate change was a sin.

The Committee linked desertification in Africa with regional conflict, highlighting the heavy burden climate change laid on vulnerable countries, and citing a group of American military officers who said global warming was a “threat multiplier for instability in volatile regions”.

Al Gore was the individual who had done the most to bring global warming to the world’s attention with his 1992 book Earth in the Balance, which laid out a global Marshall plan to save the biosphere, and An Inconvenient Truth.

In his lecture, Al Gore said it was time to make peace with the planet.

“We have everything we need to get started, save perhaps political will, but political will is a renewable resource.”

2008 – Solving International Conflicts – Martti Ahtisaari (Finland)

Martti Ahtisaari

The Nobel Committee announced the 2008 recipient of the Peace Prize as Martti Ahtisaari for his important efforts to solve international conflicts.

As a mediator, Ahtisaari sought solutions in Namibia, Indonesia, and Kosovo. He also made constructive contributions to the resolution of conflicts in Northern Ireland, in Central Asia, and on the Horn of Africa.

More recently Ahtisaari, through his organization the Crisis Management Initiative, has tried to help find a peaceful conclusion to the problems in Iraq.

In an interview Ahtisaari said:

“… every conflict can be solved. I think it’s a disgrace for the international community that we have allowed so many conflicts to become frozen, and we are not making a serious effort to solve them.”

Be the Change on November 4

Each of these Nobel Laureates continues to act to bring about peace in our world today. Their lives are a testimony to the power of real leadership in eradicating poverty, resolving conflict, standing for human rights and working together to make a safer world.

As former Secretary of State Colin Powell said last week on Meet the Press, “When you help the poorest, they move away from terrorism.”

These voices from around the world remind us that peace is not an antiquated notion, but a real possibility that requires certain qualities in our leaders.

On November 4th, we can elect a president and vice president who will not govern through fear or widen the chasm between rich and poor; who will use restraint and respect diversity; who recognize the rights of all humans and will dialogue with integrity with other world leaders.

In the words of Nobel’s Missing Laureate, Mahatma Gandhi, “We must be the change we want to see in the world.”

When we fill in the oval next to our choice for President and Vice President of the United States, we can act boldly and decisively to elect leaders who will promote peace.

Imagine that change.

Photo: is space travel just around the corner?

Travel has come a long way in the last century.

It goes without saying that the landscape of tourism 30, 40, or 50 years from now will be different from that of today. In what ways will our norms and expectations change?

Here’s a look at 6 predictions for the future of travel.

1. Virtual tourism

Mexico as seen in Second Life

As technology advances, it becomes easier to virtually experience the essence of a place. For example, sites like WHTour aim to preserve UNESCO heritage sites in 3D photography, and then allow web surfers to interact with these images in 360 degrees, “as if you were really there.”

Online communities like Second Life are being used to recreate destinations virtually. While it’s unlikely technology will ever actually replace physical travel, but it can bring access to the world ever closer to us.

2. Changing traveler demographics

As this New York Times article from 2006 suggests, countries such as China have growing economies and a burgeoning middle class with disposable income for activities like international travel.

As demographics of large tourist populations change, popular destinations will begin to cater to their needs. Will aspiring tour guides flock to learn Chinese? It’s a possibility in the world of future travel.

3. New York, Paris, Pyongyang?

Photo yeowatzup

Travel can certainly be an economic boon to a country, bringing in much needed economic revenue. In the future, countries currently viewed as closed to the world may begin to open up using tourism as a vehicle.

An example of this can be seen in Libya right now, although as USA Today suggests, it has a ways to go. Even North Korea allows small (albeit tightly controlled) groups of foreign tourists in to visit.

As the political and economic landscape of the world changes, people may begin to travel to places previously considered to be “off limits,” with this increased openness benefiting both host and visitor.

4. Extinct sites

Photo 14983

Just as travel in the future can open up opportunities, it can also reduce possibilities as well. Over-visitation of popular sites can wreak havoc on the environment and infrastructure.

From “sinking” Venice to the impact of mass tourism on Machu Picchu or the Galapagos Islands, finding ways of mediating the negative effects of travel (such as introducing stricter quotas) is one potential (though undesirable) outcome of travel in the future.

5. Mentality changes

Photo Mannequin Display

Of course, if the current energy situation heralds a new trend, we may have to re-think our assumptions about travel. Just as the “staycation” became a buzzword this summer, we may need to consider the moral and behavioral impacts of leisure travel.

6. The final frontier?

One of the more “futuristic” predictions, space travel could one day become a feasible option for people besides the mega-rich.

As described in a recent New York Times story, both the Russian space program and the private company of Virgin Galactic are sinking their teeth into this emerging niche market.

The degree to which this takes off, both figuratively and literally, has yet to be seen, but perhaps sometime within our lifetimes it won’t be unheard of to receive a postcard from the moon.

Someone 50 years ago would be shocked to imagine a future where one could travel from London to Paris by train, or fly across Europe for the price of a guidebook.

Similarly, changes occurring in the future of travel in the next century, whether good or bad, will undoubtedly surprise us as well.

What predictions do you have for the future of travel? Share in the comments!

Feature and above photo by M. V. Jantzen.

Iran’s President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, may be rubbing his hands over what he claims is the death rattle of the crumbling American Empire, but ‘Merica still boasts some significant holdings around the globe.

The following guide gives a brief summary of how each region came under US dominion and how modern day colonists can best experience its unique cultural and geographical bounty.

Commonwealth of Puerto Rico

Photo by Abnel Gonzalez.

Colonized by Spain in the late 15th century and then acquired by the United States as a spoil of the Spanish-American War in 1898, Puerto Rico’s political status is rather nebulous.

As a self-governing non-incorporated territory, citizens enjoy a relatively large amount of autonomy, similar to that of a state. Their government consists of an executive branch headed by a governor, a legislature, and a judicial branch.

Unlike a state, however, Puerto Rico has no voting representation in the US Congress-even though the citizens are still subject US federal law and taxes. In addition, Puerto Ricans are disenfranchised from presidential elections, only voting in primaries.

This vague political standing has created divides among Puerto Ricans; there are those who favor independence; those who want closer ties to the US as a full-fledged state; and those who support continued commonwealth status. Although a referendum is held every few years to revisit the island’s status, it remains a commonwealth.

Visiting:

A popular tourist destination in the Caribbean, Puerto Rico benefits from mild maritime tropical climate and exotic geography, if not economic prosperity.

Common recreational activities include horseback riding, scuba diving, rainforest exploration, and boat tours of bioluminescent bays.

While the locals are friendly and sociable, it’s generally not recommended to engage in political discussions, especially in regards to the United States.

And the rare upside to being a commonwealth? Drinking age is 18. Spring-breakers can start on those famous piña coladas a few years early.

Okinawa Prefecture, Nippon-koku (Japan)

Photo by A. P. Campbell.

Accounting for one-percent of Japan’s land mass, the Ryukyu Islands of the Okinawa Prefecture host over 25,000 U.S. soldiers-that’s two-thirds of the amount installed in Japan after WWII. Before being annexed into Japan in 1879, the islands were an autonomous kingdom, the remains of which have been sadly effaced by the mid-century military campaigns.

Already somewhat resentful of Japanese colonialism, the citizens of Okinawa outright oppose the US occupation of the islands, citing noise pollution, environmental damage, and crimes committed by the US military against civilians.

Despite their repeated appeals to the mainland government, the US still maintains a significant presence in the strategic position near China and Taiwan.

Visiting:

The only subtropical region of Japan, Okinawa has a perennially temperate climate and excellent waters for all types of sports and activities, such as surfing, diving, and fishing.

For those seeking adventure, the Iriomote National Park contains lush Amazon-like jungles and mangroves. Canoeing and guided cruises up the Urauchi River also prove quite popular with visitors.

Exploring the Ryukyu historical sites presents some problems as there are little traces left, but the restored Shuri castle and the village of Taketomi offer insights into the islanders’ heritage.

Factoid: Karate originated from Okinawa, a synthesis of Chinese kung fu with indigenous martial arts

United States Virgin Islands

Photo by Joe Shlabotnik.

Passed along from one colonizer to the next since the 17th century, the US finally came into possession of the Virgin Islands after buying them off Denmark in 1917.

By this time no indigenous populations remained, killed off by disease and massacre after first contact with the Europeans. Most of the existing population descends from the African slaves brought over to work on sugar plantations and are part of the Afro-Caribbean culture throughout the region.

The Virgin Islands have a system of government similar to other US territories but unlike the others, most citizens are quite apathetic towards self-determination and therefore remain a territory by default of lack of voter turn-out on referendums.

Visiting:

This is resort country. With tourism being the main generator of economic activity, the islands are geared for your (expensive) pleasure: golf courses, casinos, scuba diving, horseback riding, white sandy beaches, four star restaurants, and designer goods can all be found. Kind of like giant stationary cruise ships-in fact, this is on what many of the tourists arrive.

Republic of Korea (South Korea)

Photo by Gin_E.

Originally part of a unified country that was conquered by Japan in the early half of the 20th century, South Korea was severed from the northern region due to bungled Soviet and American attempts at de-colonization.

While the division was never intended as a permanent solution, the outbreak of the Cold War and subsequent Korean War ensured reunification remained a distant hope. Throughout its existence, capitalist South Korea has depended quite heavily upon the US, which effectively created the nascent nation.

Although Korea has emerged as an independent first world country within the last 20 years, the US still maintains 29,000 troops throughout its territory and uses what some observers call manipulative diplomatic/ economic tactics to influence its protégé.

Visiting:

As the fourth largest economy in Asia, South Korea offers all the luxuries of most modern countries. Museums, theater performances, resort hotels, nightclubs, sports stadiums, and consumer goods abound in the urban areas.

For more touristy destinations, visit Gyeongju, the capital of the ancient Silla Kingdom. Tombs, temples, and other archaeological sites serve to enrich visitors’ knowledge about Korea’s distant past.

Or if you’re feeling courageous, take a tour of the world’s most heavily guarded border, the Korean Demilitarized Zone near the 38th parallel. An observatory offers binoculars to view into the neighboring totalitarian state.

You can also take a peek at the Third Tunnel of Aggression, one of the many tunnels North Korea clandestinely dug under the DMZ for a possible future invasion.

South Korea is also a popular and lucrative destination for teaching English.

American Samoa

Photo by Taiger808.

Comprising the eastern part of the Samoa Islands chain in the South Pacific, American Samoa was made into a non-incorporated territory in 1899 after Germany and the US agreed to divvy up the archipelago.

Although officially listed by the UN as a non-self-governing territory, American Samoa maintains its own representative democracy. However, day-to-day government is rooted in time-honored customs which often supersede the edicts of federal law.

Villages consist of several extended families, or aiga, and are headed by fonos, or village councils. The fonos in turn are made up of chiefs, matais, which head each family. The matais and fonos primarily supervise communal property, as there is no real ownership within the family, and keep peace in the villages.

This sense of collectivity extends so far that traditional Samoan house are built with no walls, only blinds to be lowered during bad weather and intimate moments.

Visiting:

Given the American Samoans’ deep cultural beliefs based on courtesy, called fa’asamoa, visitors should follow some simple rules of etiquette.

Always ask for permission before doing anything within a village, no matter how inconsequential it may seem. Dusk is reserved as a moment for prayer, so if you happen to be within a village during that time, stop all activity and wait for the ritual to end. Do not eat or drink while walking around in a village. And always take off your shoes before entering someone’s home.

Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary and National Park of American Samoa allow visitors to explore biologically diverse rainforests and coral reefs where you can see flying foxes, sea turtles, and an assortment of colorful tropical fish.

If you want a more relaxing activity, just take a walk along the gorgeous beaches or watch the traditional Samoan dance, the Siva, in which dancers’ delicate hand and food movements weave a story.

Republic of Iraq

Photo by James Gordon.

The cradle of some of the oldest civilizations on the planet, Iraq possesses a rich and varied history. Unfortunately, much of this unique heritage has been erased as archaeological sites and museums were destroyed and plundered during the initial years of U.S. occupation.

After 24 years of a brutal dictatorship, Iraqis again got the short end of the stick as the 2003 overthrow of Saddam Hussein ushered in an unwelcome foreign occupation and violent political instability.

Even though control has been officially handed over to the installed democratic government, the US maintains a heavy military presence with nearly 150,000 troops and no clear intentions towards departure.

Visiting:

Speaking English, driving cars late at night, being in city centers, traveling without armed security, and not wearing body armor in Iraq proper are not recommended as these actions can get you killed.

Although some optimists are already planning tourist resorts near Baghdad, it will be several years before those dreams are realistic.

However, if you absolutely have a yen to go, the northern region-Iraqi Kurdistan-experiences very little of the upheaval of the war-torn parts.

Distant Horizons offered the first organized tours earlier this summer and other intrepid travelers have made the trek without too much hazard to life and limb. With ancient citadels, Roman ruins, gorgeous mountainous terrain, and friendly locals, some consider it well worth the risks.

Territory of Guam

Photo by Drew Vigal.

Like Puerto Rico, Guam was ceded to the US as spoils of the Spanish-American War. Unlike Puerto Rico, however, Guam doesn’t experience the same relatively high level of self-government as a commonwealth, instead relegated to territory status.

Guam does, at least, have the popularly elected government following the typical Western three-branch structure. And while generally happy to be a part of the US, most Guam citizens still desire more autonomy, which the US has denied due to doubts over Guam’s solvency.

The fact that nearly one-third of Guam’s land-surface is covered by federal military bases might also play a significant part in the US’ decision.

Visiting:

A hotspot for tourists, Guam has all that you would imagine from a tropical island destination: excellent diving (you can see WWI and WWII shipwrecks), ecologically rich forests and oceans, and paradisiacal beaches.

The prevalent Chamarro culture, a blend of Micronesian, Spanish, American, and Asian traditions, offers a unique fusion cuisine with fresh seafood delicacies, world famous BBQ, red rice, Filipino noodles, and coconut and taro based dishes.

An aside-much like their neighbors the Samoans, the Chamarro are fairly devout and have a culture strongly rooted in respect. Try to err on the side of modesty and utmost civility and you will avoid any major faux pas.

Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

Photo by US Army.

The other theater of the two-front war on terror, Afghanistan has pretty much gotten the shaft for the past 30 years. Suffering from internal conflicts exacerbated by foreign meddling, chaos and violence have become routine for Afghans.

After the Soviet retreat in 1988 failed to stem civil war, the resulting power vacuum allowed the despotic and religiously radical Taliban to seize power. And unfortunately for the US, who spurred the Soviets into invading in the first place, the Taliban’s rise to power also aided the success of al-Qaeda training camps-as evidenced by the 9/11 attacks.

After enduring six years of draconian rule, Afghanistan was again invaded, this time by US forces intent on destroying the terrorist home base. It’s been seven years of near anarchy ever since.

Visiting:

Non-essential travel to Afghanistan is not recommended, especially in the southern and eastern regions where bombings occur on a regular basis. Dangers typically include remnants of the Taliban, al-Qaeda, roving bandits, land mines, clan warfare, drug traffickers, and US air strikes.

Guided tours may be your safest bet for first time excursions, but they shouldn’t be considered impervious to the political turmoil. Situations can shift in an instant and it’s advised to be aware of your surroundings at all times.

Keeping that in mind, essential sites to see include the effaced Buddhist statues of Bamiyan, the Blue Mosque in Mazari Sharif, and the archaeological-site rich cities of Herat and Balkh.

Those seeking less of a thrill are advised to attend the traveling exhibition of the newly revealed Bactrian Hoard. You’ll learn about Afghan culture without putting your life in peril.

Any of your own tips for visiting these American outposts? Share in the comments!

]]> http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/10/14/from-iraq-to-samoa-the-travelers-guide-to-outposts-of-the-american-empire/feed/ 0 http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/10/08/muslim-fear-how-teaching-in-oman-taught-me-the-shades-of-islam/ http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/10/08/muslim-fear-how-teaching-in-oman-taught-me-the-shades-of-islam/#comments Wed, 08 Oct 2008 15:25:24 +0000 Baxter Jackson http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/?p=677 With Muslim bashing on the rise in the West, what do young Muslims think of their traditional culture and religion?

Girl in red / Photo Rajeshburman

If you’ve never heard of Oman you’re not alone.

When I explained to my mom that it’s a country bordering Saudi Arabia (more executions last year than Texas), Yemen (a purported Al-Qaeda safe haven) and Axis of Evil holdout Iran (just a skiff ride away over the Straight of Hormuz) she nearly fainted.

Personally, I was intrigued. Oman’s geography lent the place a certain degree of mystique.

My curiosity won out, and the generous tax free salary and 60 days of paid leave didn’t hurt either. But still, I wondered – how could I live and teach in a culture so demonized by my own?

In a post-9/11 world, Muslim bashing has become what gay bashing was twenty years ago – socially acceptable.

Speak a derogatory comment about Islam or Arabs and your interlocutor will – if they’re not Muslim, of course – more than likely throw out one of their own epithets.

Stoking The Fire

Take these remarks from western religion, press and government as recent examples:

In June, the Reverend Jerry Vines described the Prophet Mohammed as “a demon possessed pedophile” to his 25,000-member congregation at the First Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Florida.

SBC’s current president, Rev. Jack Graham, a pastor to 20,000 at the Prestonwood Baptist Church in, Plano, Texas agreed with his assertion that “Allah is not Jehovah … Jehovah’s not going to turn you into a terrorist that’ll try to bomb people and take the lives of thousands and thousands of people.”

Post 9-11 tribute lights / Photo sister72

In a June interview with NBC’s Katie Couric, nationally syndicated columnist Ann Coulter noted that, “it might be a good idea [for Muslims] to get them some sort of hobby other than slaughtering infidels.”

Her position has softened considerably since last September when Coulter argued that, “we should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity.”

A North Carolina state legislator echoed the sentiment of the Family Policy Network, a conservative group currently suing the University of North Carolina over the required reading for freshmen, when he stated on a local radio program that, “I don’t want the students in the university system required to study this evil.”

William Lind, of the Free Congress Foundation declared bluntly that, “Islam is quite simply, a religion of war. They [the Muslims] should be encouraged to leave.”

The Seeds Of Fear

The attacks on the Twin Towers in New York have brought our collective fear of the Middle East from the background into the forefront of our minds.

The seeds of Western prejudice towards Islam were planted when the religion was born.

Yet according to Edward Said, a professor of comparative literature at Columbia University, the seeds of Western prejudice towards Islam were planted when the religion was born.

When Berber Muslims from North Africa invaded and conquered Christian Spain in the 8th century, general prejudice towards Islam blossomed into a real political and economic fear throughout Europe.

“It is no coincidence,” notes Professor Said in an International Herald Tribune article, “that Dante places Mohammed in the next to last circle in hell in his Divine Comedy, right next to Satan.”

After 700 years of circling us in our collective fear, the general apprehension became real terror again when Ottoman Turks sacked Christian Constantinople, converting it to Islamic Istanbul.

Since that time, and most recently with the events of September 11th, the West has lived in fear of what Austrian nannies, hoping to scare their children into behaving properly, used to call the Mohammedem, the followers of Mohammed.

Small wonder my friends and family seemed apprehensive when I told them that I was moving to the Middle East to teach English in the Sultanate of Oman.

Teaching In Oman

Fort Ibri / Photo author

Upon arrival at the small provincial college in the northern hinterlands of Oman, my first experiences did little to dispel those oppressive images seared into my western consciousness: a relentless Arabian sun beating down on whitewashed buildings; separate entryways for male and female students – boys through the front, girls round the side.

Mirrored shades and five o’clock shadow on the security guards at their posts. Capped with parapets and buttressed with sentry walls and watchtowers, the campus looked more like a prison than the Ibri College of Applied Sciences.

Inside, date palms brought no relief and little shade to the teenage girls scuttling from the air-conditioned confines of the dormitories to their classes – the black veil of their hejabs and the aromatic scent of hand sanitizer fluttering behind them.

Young bearded men sporting starched-white dishdashas (wrist-to-ankle shirt-dresses) and embroidered caps congregated in the ‘male passageway’ – their starchy scent hanging with them as they waited for their cue to enter the lecture hall – my arrival.

Already seated on the left side of the classroom were the girls – quietly respectful in their modest hejabs and long black abbeyyas (an all enshrouding polyester gown of sorts). As the boys in white shuffled in and took their seats on the right, I took a deep breath before jumping into the matter at hand: teaching the academic essay.

Beyond The Veil

As a teacher, I soon began to see beyond the veil. My new students were shy, giggly and easily embarrassed in person (one student actually showed up with a note from the doctor excusing her from an exam because of giddiness).

In the black and white world of Islam, there was much more grey than meets the eye.

However, in their writing, students like Aisha, Afrah and Rahma (meaning Life, Happiness and Mercy) shared their lives and religion as the others did – openly and with a clear sense of duty.

From the very first essay on Ramadan (where their passion for their faith became obvious) to the assignment on the five pillars of Islam, to the process paper on the rituals performed during haj (ideal for teaching chronological order), writing about Islam became our vehicle of mutual discovery.

When I discovered that all human activities can be classified along an Islamic continuum of haram (forbidden), makruh (discouraged) and hilal (acceptable), it seemed preordained that I should use this classification scheme for teaching purposes.

Writing the categories of haram, makruh, and hilal on the white board, I asked my students to classify certain behavior.

After we brainstormed, it became obvious (except for a few like drinking human blood and adultery) that in the black and white world of Islam, there was much more grey than meets the eye.

Voices Of Modern Islam

Shy Omani girls / Photo author

When I designed an assignment on the evolution of Islam in the context of Omani society, I was sure that Ahmed, Mohammed and Rashid would have no problem writing an intro that would grab the readers attention.

But the point I was most interested in was their concluding paragraph. This final thought was supposed to predict what behavior would someday move from “forbidden to discouraged”, and from “discouraged to acceptable.”

Here they balked. Understanding the historical context of why a sheep is sacrificed at the end of Ramadan (Abraham did it to give thanks to God for letting his son live) was a far cry from predicting how the lives and values of their children might be different from their own.

The fact that we were sitting in a mixed gendered classroom, that most students listened to non-Islamic songs on their mobile phones, chatted with the opposite sex online or via ‘love SMSs’ and that some girls wore make up and let their hair show from under their veils seemed to escape their attention.

The thought of their parents engaging in such behavior was unthinkable. The fact that they were doing so now was embarrassing.

Halima, Shamsa and Hanan begrudgingly conceded that Omani society was slowly becoming more liberal, more westernized. Hashil even ventured to say that non-religious music might someday move from between forbidden and discouraged to just plain accepted, insh’allah (God willing).

But they all stubbornly clung to the idea that recent developments marked the extent of potential change.

Fatma’s Decision

Most interesting of all was Fatma’s view on the changing nature of Omani society. Unlike the other girls, she was bold, ambitious and decidedly not giggly.

While she wrote of her own journalistic aspirations in hopes that female reporters would be more accepted (there’s currently only one in Oman) she lamented the general decline in morality in a society where no sex before marriage still actually means no sex before marriage.

After class, Fatma lingered for a moment. Gliding towards the whiteboard I was wiping clean, she actually thanked me for the assignment.

I was pleasantly surprised. As unaccustomed to such gratitude as I was, I still managed to fish for more of what she liked about it.

Smiling demurely, she confessed that like many her classmates, she too had become lax in listening to secular music. And as a direct result of the essay she had repentantly deleted all the songs in her cell phone, determined to turn over a new leaf.

Suddenly flabbergasted, I watched her half curtsy and float from the lecture hall in her elegant black abbyya – the female embodiment of the Omani ideal, forward looking where it counted but traditional at heart.

Community Connection

Interested in teaching English overseas somewhere off the beaten path? Check out the 18 Most Scenic Places for Teaching English Overseas.

]]> http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/10/08/muslim-fear-how-teaching-in-oman-taught-me-the-shades-of-islam/feed/ 5 http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/09/23/rolf-potts-backpacker-culture-is-not-destroying-civilization/ http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/09/23/rolf-potts-backpacker-culture-is-not-destroying-civilization/#comments Tue, 23 Sep 2008 11:00:52 +0000 Rolf Potts http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/?p=665 In an excerpt from his new book, Rolf Potts believes backpacking today has more soul than most jaded boomers believe.

Photo Sissyboystud

One of the more unusual features of my new book is its “commentary track” endnotes, which comment on the ragged edges behind the creation of each tale.

Some of these endnotes detail information that was left out of a given story for various reasons; other endnotes examine the writing-process decisions that went into the story.

Last week, during my virtual book tour stop at Budget Travel’s “This Just In” blog, Sean O’Neill questioned me about the endnotes to Chapter 10, which amount to an extended rant in defense of backpacker culture.

Sean quoted a small portion of this rant, but what I’d like to do today is excerpt this endnote in full for the Brave New Traveler audience, simply to raise the issue of what backpackers have to offer the world of travel.

Just to give a little context, this endnote comes right after a chapter where I detail how I spent five days avoiding the pyramids in Egypt (and the potential letdown that sometimes come when you visit storied monuments) by gallivanting around Cairo with a ragtag bunch of backpackers from a budget flophouse called the Sultan Hotel.

The Excerpt:

For some reason, major media outlets see it fit to ridicule backpackers at regular intervals in the news cycle.

Buy Rolf’s New book “Marco Polo
Didn’t Go There”

Around the same time [this chapter was originally] published in Salon, one could find articles in Time and the New York Times bemoaning how watered-down independent travel had become.

The template for these articles was quite predictable:

Foreign-desk correspondent visits backpacker ghetto in Thailand (or India, or Guatemala) and observes information-age ironies and/or party scene; reporter then evokes supposed independent-travel ideals of the 1960’s and notes how today’s backpackers don’t live up to said ideals; reporter proceeds to quote Lonely Planet founder Tony Wheeler, cite tourism statistics, summarize perceived backpacker hypocrisies, and grandly declare independent travel to be irrelevant (or consumerist, or stone-cold dead).

This kind of story is the travel equivalent of those perennial op-ed pieces that use the latest demographic survey to conclude that young people are stupid, or morally lacking, or destined to destroy civilization.

And, just as “kids-these-days” op-eds are meant to convince older generations of their own virtue, “death-of-travel” articles essentially serve to reassure working stiffs that they aren’t missing anything by staying at home.

The Authentic Reality

In truth, backpacker culture is far more dynamic than reporters assume when they visit Goa or Panahajachel to shake down stoners for usable quotes.

Outside of the predictable traveler ghettos (which themselves aren’t as insipid as these articles let on), independent travelers distinguish themselves by their willingness to travel solo, to go slow, to embrace the unexpected and break out from the comfort-economy that isolates more well-heeled vacationers and expats.

Backpacker culture is far more dynamic than reporters assume when they visit Goa or Panahajachel to shake down stoners for usable quotes.

Sure, backpackers are themselves a manifestation of mass tourism — and they have their own self-satisfied clichés — but they are generally going through a more life-affecting process than one would find on a standard travel holiday.

My experience at the Sultan Hotel is a good example. At one level my companions and I were indolent and impulsive in Cairo, skimming the surface of a culture as we cooked rabbits, ogled belly dancers, and swilled duty-free booze.

But most of us also studied Arabic and learned the rhythms of the neighborhood around Orabi Square; we attended Sunni mosques and Coptic churches; we lingered in teashops and made Egyptian friends.

Travel Mindfully

Travel mindfully / Photo Sanctu

Moreover, the Sultan Hotel (like many backpacker haunts) was a curiously class-free environment, where a Melbourne construction worker could hang out with a Pennsylvania Ivy Leaguer and an Egyptian fruit vendor in a spirit of mutual respect and curiosity.

Hassan the night clerk had trained as a lawyer, but he wasn’t bitter about working a lesser job while he waited for the slow wheels of Egyptian bureaucracy to provide him with a law position. For him, the Sultan was an international education in itself (not to mention a far-reaching networking opportunity).

It’s been eight years now since I stayed at the Sultan, and I’ve probably kept in touch with as many of the friends I made there as I have friends from high school.

A few of them are still traveling; most of them went home and became teachers, lawyers, carpenters, city planners, park rangers, social workers, and graphic designers.

All of which is to say that backpacker culture is far more diverse and engaged than its layabout stereotype would imply. Along with a stint as an expatriate, there are few other activities that — if approached mindfully — can sharpen the senses and tweak the perspective of someone who intends to leave home and experience the world.

***

Though this outtake essentially defends travel on the backpacker trail as a worthy endeavor, I welcome other perspectives and dissenting opinions.

What is your experience with the backpacker milieu? What do you find charming or annoying or telling about this type of travel?

Explore Rolf’s Book Tour

You can follow the rest of Rolf Potts’ virtual book tour online, or see him in person at one of 20 cities nationwide as he celebrates the release of Marco Polo Didn’t Go There (Travelers’ Tales, 2008).

We encourage you to ask for the book at your favorite local bookstore or Amazon.com, and follow Rolf’s tour diary at Gadling starting Sept 29th.

Tomorrow’s virtual book tour stop will be at Jaunted. To read yesterday’s tour stop, go to Matador Pulse.

]]> http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/09/23/rolf-potts-backpacker-culture-is-not-destroying-civilization/feed/ 1 http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/09/01/how-love-and-money-conquered-communism-at-the-beijing-olympics/ http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/09/01/how-love-and-money-conquered-communism-at-the-beijing-olympics/#comments Mon, 01 Sep 2008 16:34:21 +0000 Sascha Matuszak http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/?p=650 The most spontaneous, rule-defying exchange between China and the world took place in the ticket hustling circles throughout Beijing.

Amid all the scalpers, trying for a ticket / Photo BBC

The Beijing Olympic Games are (finally) over.

The analyses have begun concerning China’s ability to put on a beautiful show with little or no interference from all the protesters, activists, smog-emitters and terrorists who threatened to spoil the party.

Naturally, for some members of the Western media, this success proves the Games had no effect on China’s model of governance. They say China’s “oppressive control over its people” will continue unabated and there is nothing we can do about it.

But I believe the view that the Games had no effect on China is simplistic and wrong. Mainstream media just didn’t know where to look.

An example: in this story in the NYT, the writer deplores the lack of spontaneous partying in Beijing during the Games.

I thought so too, at first. When I walked through Tiananmen Square after the Opening Ceremony, it was quiet and the crowds were sparse. My crew was the loudest and most obnoxious group in the square.

We took pictures, sang “Beijing Welcomes You” and screamed “Jia You” (Go! Go!) at everyone we saw.

Within minutes the few people seated around the Forbidden City joined us and we had a mad picture taking session with about 100 people. Cops rolled past in cruisers and flashed the thumbs up sign.

Fight For Your Right To Party

The most spontaneous, rule-defying exchange between China and the world took place in small time hustling circles throughout Bejing.

As the days rolled by, Beijing loosened up and the streets came alive.

For many of the journalists covering the Games, tickets were not an issue. Most of them had all access passes, which meant they could get into most games and venues. When these journalists weren’t interviewing and taking pictures, they were in the Media Center sending off stories.

These stories tended to focus on blocked off apartment buildings, petitioners and empty protest zones.

For the rest of us, the most spontaneous, raucous, rule-defying and globalized exchange between China and the world took place in small time hustling circles throughout Bejing.

You could call it the quest for tickets.

All major sports events have scalpers. The Beijing Olympics were especially good for scalpers due to the scams that put a dent in the ticket supply, and the lack of a central distribution center for tickets.

Opening Ceremony tickets were going for as much as 5000USD around the Bird’s Nest on the first day.

The scalpers were not just “pros,” but also bands of Chinese peasants from rural areas surrounding Beijing, lottery winners hoping to cash in, VIP employees who had gathered a few extra tickets and a host of multi-national opportunists who would rather watch the ceremony on TV than sit for four hours in the stadium.

A UN Convention Of Hustlers

More than 200 separate agencies and offices received tickets from BOCOG (Beijing Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games).

The scalper’s market / Photo BBC

These shipments were often influenced by national sentiments: the Dutch received water polo, handball and field hockey, while the Americans got athletics and basketball. Slovenians, Brazilians and others had to seek trades to get the tickets they wanted.

Even the US Embassy got into the Game. Like Darth Vader employing the bounty hunters in Star Wars, I witnessed clean-cut Embassy employees comparing a list of their tickets with a gang of professional scalpers from Liverpool. Both sides made a healthy profit.

Swimming tickets were gold. So were USA basketball tickets, which went from 400USD to 2000USD apiece.

Spaniards, Lithuanians and Americans gathered in circles with Chinese, French and English, everyone trading, selling and buying.

The scalping business boomed in the first ten days. In front of the Bird’s Nest a UN Convention of hustlers gesticulated, whispered and shook hands throughout the day.

I saw a cop buy basketball tickets for his family. The deal was struck, money exchanged hands and both parties went away smoking each others’ cigarettes.

The ticket scalping was pure, raw capitalism with no protectionist barriers, no trade wars, no violence or robbery and little to no interference from the government. This gave way to another form of raw, uncontrolled revelry.

Heading For The Climax

It took a week for the various nationalities to come out of their shells and start looking for love in the bars and discos of Beijing.

Bejiing parties / Photo Holland House

By the last night of the Olympics, the bar district of San Li Tun was a heaving, dancing, singing melange of nationalities.

Thousands of smiling faces spoke to the success of the street-level exchanges that defied any and all attempts at control.

Africans had an impromptu drum and flute circle, orange-clad Dutch chanted arm in arm with Aussies and revelers from a hundred different nations wandered from bar to bar, finding love in the lights and shadows of the night.

Groups stopped every five feet to take pictures of each other and trade national clothing.

The flashing police cars rolled through the district slowly, more to watch and take pictures than to control anything. The spectacle was something many locals don’t normally get to see.

The climax was the last Budweiser Party, where athletes groped each other under national flags, then headed to San Li Tun for a street by street dance session.

Towards sunrise, silver medalist swimmers from Australia were undressing an American in an alley, taxi drivers peeped in amazement at what went down in the back seats and several shades of people strolled away to their hotel rooms, holding hands in the hazy light of dawn.

Were you at the Olympics? What did you think of the cross-cultural exchange? Share your thoughts in the comments!

]]> http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/09/01/how-love-and-money-conquered-communism-at-the-beijing-olympics/feed/ 0 http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/08/28/how-you-can-help-travelers-imprisoned-abroad/ http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/08/28/how-you-can-help-travelers-imprisoned-abroad/#comments Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:16:53 +0000 Kellea Croft http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/?p=645 Across the world, foreigners are in jail for mistakes in judgment, but some are completely innocent.

Awaiting justice / Photo Nicolas Souyris

Imagine you are standing in line at customs, with innocent holiday thoughts of sun and sand in your head.

Suddenly, a customs agent latches onto your arm and shuttles you aside to a small room down a darkened hallway.

You don’t worry, because you have done nothing wrong. They grill you with questions for hours. No food, no water, just questions over and over.

Then you are told the shocking news: drugs were found in your baggage. You panic. This is not your home turf; your rights are not the same. Your demands for a phone call, lawyer or nourishment are ignored.

When thrown into an overcrowded and stinking jail, your nerves unravel; the nightmare has just begun. An alien legal system is hard to grasp and can treat people like animals, forced to live in unsanitary conditions for years.

You have to prove your innocence. In the end you are charged and placed into another dingy hole, faced with a sentence of several years to life – or even death.

The only comfort you ever receive is the two times a year your family can visit and bring you some necessities that are not provided – like toilet paper, soap, toothpaste, hair brush, writing material and some articles of clothing – basic materials you never thought you’d cherish so much.

Imprisoned Abroad

Across the world there are foreigners in jail for a variety of mistakes in judgment, and some are completely innocent.

Across the world there are foreigners in jail for a variety of mistakes in judgment, and some are completely innocent.

Their families are suffering from the separation, worry and financial burdens imposed by their imprisonment. Many are impoverished and cannot visit or send the basic necessities that are needed.

Foreign Prisoner Support Service (FPSS) was established in 1995 as a volunteer prison service to families who have loved ones interned in other countries. They hope to promote understanding and human rights education for all people through the UN Declaration of Human Rights.

They are the ones to seek out to assist those in crisis and their families hoping to bring them home. They have campaigned for hundreds of cases, provided assistance for families who don’t understand the processes, and advocacy for those incarcerated.

The FPSS is a non-political body of volunteers that receives no government funding.

How you can help:

1. Become a “Save a life” member
2. Make contributions to FPSS or families of prisoners
3. Write to an inmate
4. Participate in campaigns, petitions and letters

Their FPSS webpage has information for each prisoner known to them.

Some of the pages are put together by family members, some by the prisoners themselves, and others just by news articles found. What can and cannot be done is listed, along with addresses to write letters, and where assistance for the families would be best suited.

Behind bars / Photo Liv Friis-larsen

Check the individual’s list or the prison details. Prisons have different standards as to being able to receive letters, items, visits or money.

Read the stories of the struggles that most have to endure. If you have no pity for the ones that have made mistakes, look at the ones who have to pick up the pieces and pay in emotional and financial burdens.

Other organizations working to help prisoners and promote basic human rights:

• Amnesty International — Working for human rights worldwide..
• Committee to Aid Human Rights Activits — Providing humanitarian aid in Cuba.
• Prisoners Abroard — Caring for Britons held overseas.
• Bryggan Abroad Sweden — For Swedes in foreign prisons.
• Fair Trials Abroad — Workng to ensure that EU citizens receive fair trials.
• International Relief Center, Inc. — Providing education and humanitarian opportunities in regions of Cambodia.
• Partners of Prisoners — A charity that helps relatives of prisoners.

Easing The Burden

Travelers who make mistakes are imprisoned for a variety of reasons in many different countries.

It is the innocent who get lost in the shuffle of the systems and politics whose cases are truly tragic. Their families are the biggest victims, having to find their way through massive and unfamiliar legal systems.

They are all too often left in the dark, trying to work out ways to help their loved ones no matter if they are guilty or innocent.

The non-profit organizations listed above are the ones that aid the real victim in most cases. See what you can do to help ease the pressures.

Even the smallest effort can mean all the difference in the world.

What are your thoughts on helping travelers imprisoned abroad? Share your thoughts in the comments!

]]> http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/08/28/how-you-can-help-travelers-imprisoned-abroad/feed/ 0 http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/08/22/a-travelers-guide-to-the-history-of-death/ http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/08/22/a-travelers-guide-to-the-history-of-death/#comments Fri, 22 Aug 2008 12:00:05 +0000 J. Raimund Pfarrkirchner http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/?p=638 Death wasn’t always so scary. Learn how the changing face of death has varied across time and cultures.

Little girl at Day of the Dead / Photo by Senor Codo

Upon hearing the word “death” one instantly thinks of war, grieving, burial or cremation, Heaven and Hell, and for more than a few, fear.

Many Westerners consider death a taboo subject and considered a social faux pas when broached in conversation, especially when it refers to someone who has recently died.

The irony is that everyone currently alive-everyone reading this-will eventually die despite the fact that so few people seem to actually consider his or her own mortality.

But the universality of death is not what makes it a fascinating topic, but rather the cultural, individual and epochal attitudes that have changed and continue to change.

In the West, the concept of death as it is known today is relatively recent.

It is generally held to have originated sometime around the Renaissance, or even slightly earlier, during the Black Death, when conservative estimates state that a third of Europe’s population perished.

Immediately prior, during the Middle Ages, people considered death to be far less menacing, as the plausibility of death was more a fact of life, and therefore less frightening.

Death In The Ages

Even earlier, the Greeks and then the Romans were no strangers to dealing with death on a regular basis.

It can still be argued that through film, collectively the West still enjoys watching people die.

In Greek mythology, Hypnos was the god of death. His image changed from a harsher god in the earliest of references into a kind, sympathetic and almost Cupid-like god. This softer appearance invited people to adore passing into the Heavens, symbolic of the fact that death comes to all and should not be feared.

Roman culture went a step farther with gladiatorial combat, which basks in the revelry of death for entertainment. Despite the numerous changes that have occurred since the fall of Rome, this idea stayed with many cultures in the West for a long time.

English peasants were known picnic at the execution grounds and in the Napoleonic Age. During the American Revolutionary War it was not uncommon for spectators to watch some of the major battles.

Thanks to modern advances in medicine, communication, and technology, seeing someone die for the amusement of others does not have the same effect on people today. A greater proximity to death will almost always desensitize one to it.

And it can still be argued that through film, collectively the West still enjoys watching people die.

Influence Of Theology

Religion is also a contributing factor towards a culture’s attitude towards death. One theme that consistently presents itself throughout religion is that of duality – the idea that the body is nothing more than a vessel for the soul.

Roses for a funeral / Photo by Katie@!

This evokes the eastern religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism in which the soul is transferred from the body to a mysterious spirit world until it can once again reincarnate as an earthly creature such as man or animal.

In many ways this view is also paramount to modern Christianity, which believes the body contains a soul that then departs the body upon death.

Duncan MacDougall performed his now famous experiment in 1907 in which he weighed dying patients, postulating that at the moment of death the body loses twenty-one grams of mass.

Although there is little to no scientific merit for claim, in his eyes and the eyes of his followers this proves that the soul leaves the body at the moment of death.

The terror of executions such as beheading or burning lay not in the pain of dying and the taking of a life, but in forbidding the person being denied entrance into the afterlife. It was the eternality of death that made these types of executions so damning (literally).

A Continued Evolution

Death is now taboo in many cultures from the Inuit to Eastern African cultures.

In some of the most extreme cases the name of a deceased member of the community may not be spoken by those that still live. Australian aboriginals remove the pictures of the dead from public display, or have their faces covered; erasing their image as if they never existed.

But the death taboo is not universal. Many Hindus and Buddhists openly discuss death. In these cultures, death is strictly a period of time in which the soul searches for another body to inhabit. Death is less of an end and therefore less mourning is required.

Ultimately, the interpretation of an afterlife heavily influences attitudes towards death.

With ever-increasing access to customs and traditional practices through modern travel, the practices and rituals regarding death are rediscovered and examined anew.

It is an interesting to consider: what death practices with be in vogue as the world continues to shrink, blend, adapt and reinvent?

]]> http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/08/22/a-travelers-guide-to-the-history-of-death/feed/ 1 http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/08/05/the-5-most-sacred-cities-for-the-spiritual-traveler/ http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/08/05/the-5-most-sacred-cities-for-the-spiritual-traveler/#comments Tue, 05 Aug 2008 15:01:59 +0000 Juliane Huang http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/?p=631 Out of the countless cities across the globe, none are regarded with more sanctity than these five.

Praying Tibetan nuns / Photo sirensongs

With an estimated 4,200 different faiths being practiced in the world today, it is no secret the rewards gained from developing the spiritual self.

Our souls strive to be at peace, in love, and with joy, as we simultaneously endeavor to create comfortable material lives for ourselves and our loved ones.

Many times, the faithful will journey to legendary holy lands in efforts to revitalize, reaffirm, and renew their faith. These pilgrimages are such defining experiences that they nourish the human spirit for years after.

Out of the countless cities formed across the globe, none are regarded with more sanctity than the five listed below.

Bonded to history, legend, and faith, these sites attract believers who are willing to travel incredible distances to set foot on these holy lands.

1. Jerusalem

“At the Wailing Wall, the most religious site [in Judaism],
you’re imparted with a very strong sense of hope and
belief. To leave prayers in the cracks of the Wall feels
surreal.” – David Shevitz / Photo Rob Sheridan

One of the oldest cities in the world, Jerusalem holds incredible spiritual significance in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

It is the site of the Wailing Wall, the Last Supper, and Muhammad’s ascension to heaven. It is home to over a thousand synagogues, a hundred churches, and seventy mosques.

Upon entering, travelers are immediately awed by the city’s rich culture and history. Much of its original architecture remains intact and, depending on which part you visit, the spirituality that pulses through the city’s veins is almost palpable.

For a place to be so deeply embedded into the human faith and the point of convergence for three of the world’s most popular religions warrants true amazement. While Jerusalem may have a troubled past, its current identity as a city of religious coexistence is undeniable.

2. Mecca

Circumambulation around the Kaaba is only the first of many
detailed rituals of Hajj. / Photo forureyezonly

Islam’s holiest city is home to the largest mosque in the world, al-Masjid al-Haram mosque, and the Kaaba shrine. It is also the birthplace of Prophet Muhammad and each year, millions of Muslims arrive here to complete the Hajj.

The Hajj is the fifth pillar of Islam and must be achieved at least once in every Muslim’s lifetime. With the convenience of jet travel, more and more Muslims are entering Mecca to serve their faith and unite in their beliefs.

Believed to be founded by Abraham and his son Ishmael in 570, Mecca is now a fascinating blend between modernity and antiquity.

Rapid expansion has allowed for the appearance of beautiful architectural dichotomies such as the Abraj Al Bait Towers that stand across the street from the al-Masjid al-Haram mosque. Scheduled to complete in 2009, the Towers will be the tallest structure in Saudi Arabia.

Unfortunate for travelers who are not Muslims or Islamic converts, Saudi law still prohibits Non-Muslim entry into Mecca.

3. Vatican City

One traveler described Saint Peter’s as so exquisite “[it]
made time stop.” / Photo vgm8383

Ruled by the Pope, Vatican City is the spiritual center for the Catholic faith and is devoted to piety.

Everywhere, religious symbols and illustrations welcome travelers.

The Sistine Chapel, with Michelangelo’s iconic, painted scene of God giving life to Adam on the ceiling, is a popular destination among visitors. The unparalleled beauty of Saint Peter’s Basilica impresses upon people an immense sense of awe and appreciation.

In Saint Peter’s Basilica, travelers may attend mass and receive Communion. Afterward, the Pope gives a message of peace and blesses the crowd outside in St. Peter’s Square.

Under the Pope’s direction, Vatican City and the Catholic Church carry out their religious mission all over the globe. With one sixth of the world’s population following the Catholic Church, it is apparent that the Pope and Vatican City are significant sources of inspiration for the human spirit.

4. Varanasi

Religious ceremonies are held nightly along the banks
of the Ganges. / Photo orangetuesday

An ancient city along the banks of
the Ganges River, Varanasi is considered by many Hindus to be the center of the Hindu universe. Hindu legend tells of the deity Shiva founding Varanasi and taking up residence there once upon a time.

Perhaps the most important feature of Varanasi is its prime location next to the Ganges River, a river so inextricable from Hindu faith that, in one year, over a million believers will enter the sacred city to bathe in or drink its hallowed waters.

Travelers who have witnessed Hindu families bring the bodies of their deceased loved ones to receive the spiritual benefits of the Ganges’s water and then cremate the bodies describe the sight as truly stunning. For hours, the fires of cremation burn with incredible intensity. Afterward, the ashes are scattered across the holy river.

5. Bodhgaya

Monks say a prayer underneath the Bodhi tree.
/ Photo Matthew Winterburn

After 49 days of meditation sitting underneath the Bodhi tree in this sacred city, Siddhartha Guatama attained enlightenment and became the Buddha.

Buddhist legend says the Bodhi tree only grows when there is a Buddha present in our midst. For Siddhartha, the Bodhi tree sprang up from the ground the day he was born, heralding his entrance into the physical world.

Situated in front of the Bodhi tree, the Mahabodhi Temple is the holiest of Buddhist temples. Every year, pilgrims as well as monks and nuns travel to Bodhgaya to meditate under the same tree as the Buddha.

In the communal, tranquil silence, they listen for inner peace.

In December and January, the Dalai Lama stays in Bodhgaya, giving Dharma talks to the public. It is during these months that travelers have a good chance of hearing the Dalai Lama speak and even meeting him.

Pray. Sing. Meditate. Devote. Confess. Share your thoughts in the comments!

]]> http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/08/05/the-5-most-sacred-cities-for-the-spiritual-traveler/feed/ 0 http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/07/14/the-explorers-club-travels-most-secret-society-revealed/ http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/07/14/the-explorers-club-travels-most-secret-society-revealed/#comments Mon, 14 Jul 2008 12:00:22 +0000 Ross Lee Tabak http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/?p=614 Many of the 20th century’s most interesting and influential adventurers were members of this secretive society.

Art Mortvedt. Alaska, USA. / Explorers Club

What’s been to both poles, the top of Mt. Everest and the surface of the moon?

The official flag of the Explorer’s Club, that’s what.

So why has hardly anyone actually heard of the Explorer’s Club if they’ve had such a big role in so many important expeditions? A loose organization of intrepid individuals founded in 1904, the club doesn’t talk much about what goes on behind closed doors.

Help spread the word!

Even so, they make it abundantly clear that lavish dinners, awards ceremonies and explorations to far corners of the globe are the norm for members of the Explorer’s Club.

A good portion of the 20th century’s most interesting and influential adventurers were members of this secretive society, and the organization itself had a somewhat shadowy and ill-defined hand in their most important expeditions.

To name just a few:

• Sir Edmund Hillary – After climbing Everest, Hillary made expeditions to both poles, rode a boat up the Ganges and flew to Antarctica when he was eighty-eight years old. He’s also the club’s honorary chair, despite being dead.
• Tenzing Norgay – Along with Sir Edmund Hillary, one of the first two people to reach the top of Mt. Everest. Even though he was illiterate and had no idea when he was born, he spent his entire life climbing mountains and later founded a successful adventure company.
• John Glenn, Neil Armstrong, Sally Ride - The first man to orbit the earth, the first man on the moon, and the first American woman in space.
• Thor Heyerdahl – Rode 4,300 miles (8000km) on a tiny bamboo raft just to prove he could do it.
• Charles Lindbergh – Piloted the first non-stop, solo flight across the Atlantic
• Chuck Yeager – First man to break the sound barrier.

And that’s just eight, the club has at least three thousand members.

What They Do

Like most ultra-elite associations, much of what the Explorer’s Club actually does is kept tightly under wraps.

Like most ultra-elite associations, much of what the Explorer’s Club actually does is kept tightly under wraps.

The members hold a degree of secrecy – events are invite only, and photos on their site are behind a members only login page. There are a few awards given out every year and dinners that journalists are invited to, but for the most part the club retains a relatively low profile.

The Explorer’s Club headquarters is a gigantic rowhouse in New York City, with bizarre rooms filled with elephant tusks and stuffed wildlife (check out the virtual tour).

They also throw some crazy parties. The biggest and best is the Explorer’s Club Dinner, held with great fanfare every year in New York. Members from all over the world give talks, showcase their work and schmooze with some of the most adventurous people on the planet.

Most famously, a buffet of epic proportions is presented to attendees, reportedly consisting of exotic delicacies like fried cockroaches and spiders.

In 1951 (and this has been confirmed by the club archivist), they even went so far as to include bits of woolly mammoth meat that had been languishing in Siberian permafrost for ten thousand years. The dinners sometimes include displays of exotic live animals, often endangered.

While it’s probably in keeping with the spirit of the events, they’ve been criticized for making them feel like Victorian carnivals and bringing to mind the specter of European colonialism.

How To Join

The Trophy Room / Explorers Club

Want to join? Of course you do.

Unfortunately, your last backpacking trip to South America probably won’t get you in. The Explorer’s Club is all about hardcore discovery, and usually admits only serious scientists, adventurers and journalists.

“A Member is someone who has evidenced a sustained interest in some aspect of field exploration and has contributed in broad terms to the cause of exploration, which includes furthering the scientific knowledge of the world,” says the application.

While you probably don’t have to summit Everest or land on the Moon you’ll want some real experience under your belt. It helps to have a specialty – graduate or post-grad level fieldwork is always a plus, or even just volunteering on a few expeditions.

Club dues depend on how involved you are and the exact amount is kept under-wraps, but you can bet they aren’t cheap. Luckily, you can take part even if you don’t have time to discover new species of moss in the Andes or eat bugs in India.

The Club offers two categories for us normal folks: “A Friend is someone who does not possess the qualifications and experience of a Member or Fellow, but supports the goals of the Club” and “A Student Member is at least 16 years old and enrolled in an accredited school full time.”

Since full membership requires the sponsorship of two existing members, the club says this can be a good way to network.

Pushing the Boundaries

The Explorer’s Club also hosts a good amount of intrepid tours through far-off lands, lead by scientists, adventurers and other people who actually know what they’re talking about.

These tours might cost a pretty penny, but they’re open to everyone and you can be sure you’ll get your money’s worth. Impressively, these include a tour to Bhutan, which is one of the most remote countries in the world and notoriously difficult to enter.

There are plenty of organizations for those with loose feet, but the Explorer’s Club is arguably more important than most. It might be secretive, exclusive and a little strange, but if you’ve got a thirst for adventure – you just might find yourself with a membership.

Have you ever wished to join the Explorer’s Club? Share your thoughts in the comments!

]]> http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/07/14/the-explorers-club-travels-most-secret-society-revealed/feed/ 3 http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/06/30/10-extreme-cases-of-travelers-imprisoned-abroad/ http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/06/30/10-extreme-cases-of-travelers-imprisoned-abroad/#comments Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:00:36 +0000 Jennifer Marlow http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/?p=605 While most trips are hassle-free, an unlucky minority find themselves on the wrong side of a jail cell.

Brokedown Palace / Photo 20th Century Fox

It’s every traveler’s worst nightmare: Being arrested or even imprisoned while visiting a foreign country far from home.

As movies like Brokedown Palace and Bridget Jones’ Diary have shown, such occurrences can and do occur.

Whether it’s a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, being uninformed about different laws, or putting trust in the wrong people…none of this matters when a foreigner is at the mercy of the host country’s regulations and authorities. According to the US State Department, “ignorance of the law is no excuse.”

Fortunately, most people’s voyages go off without a hitch, but an unlucky minority find themselves on the wrong side of a jail cell.

Here are 10 cases, some with happy endings, others that have yet to be resolved:

10. Overstaying Your Welcome

2007 – An Icelandic woman was arrested at JFK airport for having overstayed a U.S. tourist visa nearly a decade before. She was interrogated and spent a day shackled in prison before being deported.

9. Mistaken Bullets

2003 – While being arrested in Singapore for chewing gum seems to be an urban myth, a British backpacker ran afoul of the law in this small country for carrying a model plane in her hand luggage with replica missiles that were mistaken for live bullets. She was freed with a warning after spending 10 hours in a jail cell.

8. Tourist Gone Wild

2003 – A female holidaymaker was arrested in the Greek town of Faliraki for indecent exposure (baring her breasts in a resort competition) by police fed up with an epidemic of loutish behaviour by tourists. In the end, she paid a fine to avoid an 8 month prison sentence.

7. Spy Versus Spy

2001 – A group of 14 British and Dutch “planespotters” (airplane enthusiasts) were arrested and sentenced to up to 3 years in Greek jail for allegedly committing espionage by photographing military aircraft at an airshow. After a long process, their convictions were finally overturned one year later.

6. Wrong Place, Wrong Time

2005 – An 18 year old English football fan was arrested in Bulgaria for allegedly attacking a local man (which another English man later confessed to.)

He was found guilty of attempted murder and given a sentence of 15 years. This was eventually reduced to 10 years (with the remainder served in Britain) but no retrial was granted. The case has recently been taken to the European Parliament.

5. An Indecent Proposal

2006 – A 19 year old Briton was arrested in Tunisia for having sex with a minor (a consenting 14 year old British girl who had told him she was 18.) The sentence was for up to 6 years but eventually he served a suspended 6 months in prison and returned home in 2007.

4. The Drug Mule

Carrying drugs (either knowingly or unknowingly) is often one of the most harshly punished offenses around the world. Some people consciously take the risk of trafficking substances across borders, but others become unsuspecting mules.

2002 – A British backpacker was arrested in India and sentenced to ten years in jail for drug smuggling (when the drugs had been planted in her bag by an acquaintance.) Fortunately, her story ended (relatively) happily: after spending 5 years in Indian prison, she was pardoned and released.

3. Wrongly Convicted

2006 – In a similar story, another backpacker in India was accused of drug smuggling (again, it is suspected they were placed in his luggage by someone else.) This man is currently in prison serving the early stages of a ten-year sentence, though his family continues to fight for his freedom.

2. Every Bit Counts

2008 – The United Arab Emirates is well known for its incredibly stringent drugs rules. Possession of a long list of substances is illegal (and this includes traces found in the bloodstream.) In 2008, a traveler passing through Dubai airport was jailed for 4 years after a .003 gram trace of cannabis was found stuck to the tread of his shoe (an amount roughly equivalent in size to a grain of sugar).

1. Seeds Of Guilt

2008 – And finally, in another recent high-profile case coming out of Dubai, “A Swiss national is serving a four-year jail term after three poppy seeds from a bread roll he ate at Heathrow airport were found on his clothes.”

Further details of the situation are hard to come by, but as this BBC article suggests, while it may be the most “extreme,” it’s not the only occurrence. Even a member of the Pakistani cricket team was held for 19 days and just recently released without charge.

While it’s unlikely the average person will encounter any problems, information and preparation can often go a long way in helping ensure that any experience with foreign prisons can be limited to that which is seen on the movie screens!

Here’s to safe travels!

UPDATE: Check out the documentary Ganja Queen, airing tonight on HBO.

Other resources:

• NG’s guide to sneaking out of jail.
• American State Department advice
• Fair Trials – Non-profit group cited in Dubai case

Do you know any other extreme cases of travelers arrested abroad? Share in the comments!

]]> http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/06/30/10-extreme-cases-of-travelers-imprisoned-abroad/feed/ 3 http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/06/25/10-extraordinary-burial-ceremonies-from-around-the-world/ http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/06/25/10-extraordinary-burial-ceremonies-from-around-the-world/#comments Wed, 25 Jun 2008 16:51:09 +0000 James Michael Dorsey http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/?p=601

Photo by Dale Harrison

Not all cultures believe in burying the dead in the ground. Here are 10 unique ceremonies from around the world.

The modern dictionary defines the word ‘burial’ as placing a body in the ground.

But burying the deceased was not always the case.

Just as primitive man has long worshiped the four elements of Earth, Sky, Water, and Fire, so too have these elements taken their place in burial practices as diverse as the different tribes of the earth. 

The way mankind deals with its dead says a great deal about those left to carry on.  Burial practices are windows to a culture that speak volumes about how it lives.

As we are told in Genesis, man comes from dust, and returns to it. We have found many different ways to return. Here are 10 that I found particularly fascinating:

Air Sacrifice – Mongolia

Photo by Viacheslav Smilyk

Lamas direct the entire ceremony, with their number determined by the social standing of the deceased. They decide the direction the entourage will travel with the body, to the specific day and time the ceremony can happen.

Mongolians believe in the return of the soul. Therefore the lamas pray and offer food to keep evil spirits away and to protect the remaining family. They also place blue stones in the dead persons bed to prevent evil spirits from entering it.

No one but a lama is allowed to touch the corpse, and a white silk veil is placed over the face.  The naked body is flanked by men on the right side of the yurt while women are placed on the left.  Both have their respective right or left hand placed under their heads, and are situated in the fetal position.

The family burns incense and leaves food out to feed all visiting spirits.  When time comes to remove the body, it must be passed through a window or a hole cut in the wall to prevent evil from slipping in while the door is open.

The body is taken away from the village and laid on the open ground. A stone outline is placed around it, and then the village dogs that have been penned up and not fed for days are released to consume the remains.  What is left goes to the local predators. 

The stone outline remains as a reminder of the person.  If any step of the ceremony is left out, no matter how trivial, bad karma is believed to ensue.

Sky Burial – Tibet

Pounding the bones. Photo by Rotem Eldar

This is similar to the Mongolian ceremony. The deceased is dismembered by a rogyapa, or body breaker, and left outside away from any occupied dwellings to be consumed by nature.

To the western mind, this may seem barbaric, as it did to the Chinese who outlawed the practice after taking control of the country in the 1950’s. But in Buddhist Tibet, it makes perfect sense. The ceremony represents the perfect Buddhist act, known as Jhator. The worthless body provides sustenance to the birds of prey that are the primary consumers of its flesh.

To a Buddhist, the body is but an empty shell, worthless after the spirit has departed. Most of the country is surrounded by snowy peaks, and the ground is too solid for traditional earth internment. Likewise, being mostly above the tree line, there is not enough fuel for cremation. 

Pit Burial – Pacific Northwest Haida

Haida carvings. Photo by Turbulent Flow

Before white contact, the indigenous people of the American northwest coast, particularly the Haida, simply cast their dead into a large open pit behind the village.

Their flesh was left to the animals. But if one was a chief, shaman, or warrior, things were quite different.

The body was crushed with clubs until it fit into a small wooden box about the size of a piece of modern luggage.  It was then fitted atop a totem pole in front of the longhouse of the man’s tribe where the various icons of the totem acted as guardians for the spirits’ journey to the next world.  

Written history left to us by the first missionaries to the area all speak of an unbelievable stench at most of these villages.  Today, this practice is outlawed.

Viking Burial – Scandinavia

Viking’s ashore. Illustration Long Beach City College

We have all seen images of a Viking funeral with the body laid out on the deck of a dragon ship, floating into the sunset while warriors fire flaming arrows to ignite the pyre. 

While very dramatic, burning a ship is quite expensive, and not very practical. 

What we do know is most Vikings, being a sea faring people, were interred in large graves dug in the shape of a ship and lined with rocks.  The person’s belongings and food were placed beside them.  Men took their weapons to the next world, while women were laid to rest wearing their finest jewelry and accessories. 

If the deceased was a nobleman or great warrior, his woman was passed from man to man in his tribe, who all made love to her (some would say raped) before strangling her, and placing her next to the body of her man.  Thankfully this practice is now, for the most part, extinct.

Fire Burial – Bali

Fire consumes all. Photo by Barnacle Bikers

On the mostly Hindu Isle of Bali, fire is the vehicle to the next life. The body or Mayat is bathed and laid out on a table where food offerings are laid beside it for the journey. 

Lanterns line the path to the persons hut to let people know he or she has passed, and act as a reminder of their life so they are not forgotten.

It is then interred in a mass grave with others from the same village who have passed on until it is deemed there are a sufficient number of bodies to hold a cremation. 

The bodies are unearthed, cleaned, and stacked on an elaborate float, gloriously decorated by the entire village and adorned with flowers. The float is paraded through the village to the central square where it is consumed by flames, and marks the beginning of a massive feast to honor and remember the dead.

Spirit Offerings – Southeast Asia

Row of spirit houses. Photo by Marc Aurel

Throughout most of Southeast Asia, people have been buried in the fields where they lived and worked. It is common to see large stone monuments in the middle of a pasture of cows or water buffalo.

The Vietnamese leave thick wads of counterfeit money under rocks on these monuments so the deceased can buy whatever they need on their way to the next life

In Cambodia and Thailand, wooden “spirit houses” sit in front of almost every hut from the poorest to the most elaborate estate.  These are places where food and drink are left periodically for the souls of departed relatives to refuel when necessary.  The offerings of both countries also ask the spirits of the relatives to watch over the lands and the families left behind.

Predator Burial – Maasai Tribe

No after life. Photo by Demosh

The Maasai of East Africa are hereditary nomads who believe in a deity known as Enkai, but this is not a single being or entity.

It is a term that encompasses the earth, sky, and all that dwells below.  It is a difficult concept for western minds that are more used to traditional religious beliefs than those of so-called primitive cultures. 

Actual burial is reserved for chiefs as a sign of respect, while the common people are simply left outdoors for predators to dispose of, since Maasai believe dead bodies are harmful to the earth.  To them when you are dead, you are simply gone.  There is no after life.

Skull Burial – Kiribati

Chilling out. Photo by aargh

On the tiny island of Kiribati the deceased is laid out in their house for no less than three days and as long as twelve, depending on their status in the community.  Friends and relatives make a pudding from the root of a local plant as an offering. 

Several months after internment the body is exhumed and the skull removed, oiled, polished, and offered tobacco and food.  After the remainder of the body is re-interred, traditional islanders keep the skull on a shelf in their home and believe the native god Nakaa welcomes the dead person’s spirit in the northern end of the islands.

Cave Burial – Hawaii

Cave burials. Photo by Extra Medium

In the Hawaiian Islands, a traditional burial takes place in a cave where the body is bent into a fetal position with hands and feet tied to keep it that way, then covered with a tapa cloth made from the bark of a mulberry bush. 

Sometimes the internal organs are removed and the cavity filled with salt to preserve it.  The bones are considered sacred and believed to have diving power. 

Many caves in Hawaii still contain these skeletons, particularly along the coast of Maui.

Ocean Burial

The open sea. Photo by Spirit of Albion

Since most of our planet is covered with water, burial at sea has long been the accepted norm for mariners the world over.

By international law, the captain of any ship, regardless of size or nationality has the authority to conduct an official burial service at sea.

The traditional burial shroud is a burlap bag, being cheap and plentiful, and long in use to carry cargo.  The deceased is sewn inside and is weighted with rocks or other heavy debris to keep it from floating. 

If available, the flag of their nation covers the bag while a service is conducted on deck. The body is then slid from under the flag, and deposited in Davy Jones locker.

In olden days, the British navy mandated that the final stitch in the bag had to go through the deceased person’s lip, just to make sure they really were dead.  (If they were still alive, having a needle passed through their skin would revive them).

It is quite possible that sea burial has been the main form of burial across the earth since before recorded history.

The Final Frontier

Today, if one has enough money, you can be launched into space aboard a private commercial satellite and a capsule containing your ashes will be in permanent orbit around the earth.

Perhaps this is the ultimate burial ceremony, or maybe the beginning of a whole new era in which man continues to find new and innovative ways to invoke spirits and provide a safe passage to whatever awaits us at the end of this life.

Any other death ceremonies you’ve encountered? Share your thoughts in the comments!

]]> http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/06/25/10-extraordinary-burial-ceremonies-from-around-the-world/feed/ 14 http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/06/06/how-travel-helps-you-see-past-the-headlines/ http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/06/06/how-travel-helps-you-see-past-the-headlines/#comments Fri, 06 Jun 2008 12:00:46 +0000 Brandon Wenerd http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/?p=584 The latest tragedy in the media is all too easy to forget, unless you’ve actually been there.

Waiting for relief in Burma. Photo by TZA

A few weeks ago I was going about my business, striding through the lobby of a building where a giant television was broadcasting CNN.

My previous three days had been consumed with a heap of work that made me retreat into my own little shell. I hadn’t been following any newsworthy events.

But today, in passing, I heard the news anchor say that things were getting worse for the people of Myanmar in the wake of Cyclone Nargis.

I stopped dead in my tracks and listened.

For the next few minutes, I stood in the lobby, hypnotized by the images of disaster and destruction in Myanmar (still known as Burma to democracy advocates).

There in the lobby, I couldn’t grasp the specifics of the situation. Rather, snippets of the news segment were weaving a horrifying web through my consciousness: “tens of thousands dead,” “No access to potable water,” and “Yangon paralyzed.”

My heart swelled with the emotional weight and felt as if it was dropping through my stomach, landing with an agonizing thud on the cold linoleum floor.

After my visit to Myanmar two years ago, I knew the shaky camera phone images were doing little justice to the disaster.

Memory Of A Trip

I grew frustrated with the seeming lack of compassion from companions and peers. I wanted them to have the same perspective.

My brief visit to Myanmar was an unexpected vision quest, an emotionally fulfilling, inspiring, and eye-opening experience to witness a complex country Orwellian in nature and seemingly frozen in time.

Because of economic sanctions, Myanmar is a country shrouded in mystery to many Americans, even to those who travel the Southeast Asia circuit.

I’ve felt a profound connection to the events unfolding in Myanmar, even if I had to experience them vicariously from the sterile comforts of a college campus: from the monks protest in October the so-called Saffron Uprising to the ongoing detention of Aung San Suu Kyi to the devastation of Cyclone Nargis.

These images of Myanmar projected in the mainstream media magnified my longing to return as soon as possible.

That night, I stayed up until the morning hours, checking and rechecking international news websites and The Irrawaddy a Thailand-based newspaper covering Myanmar, for more information.

With Myanmar’s free press quashed by the government and a moratorium on foreign journalists, I realized my efforts were relatively futile.

While the lack of information was frustrating, I grew even more frustrated with the seeming lack of compassion from companions and peers. I wanted them to have the same perspective.

The Power Of Empathy

After a week of grasping and reflecting upon every news-bit coming out about the country, my grandparents (seasoned travelers themselves) asked if I’d been paying close attention to the havoc in Myanmar

Cyclone Nargis ravages the city. Photo by Azmil27

I nodded and my grandfather replied, “Well, when you’ve been to a place and fallen in love with a country, and something like this happens, it’s hard not to feel invested.”

I was struck with the significance of a seemingly universal travel truth.

Obviously, traveling challenges and changes perspective. In our plugged-in, hyper-global society, perspective and context of a particular travel destination expands with the direct traveling experience to a realm of intricate visceral emotions, particularly when a disaster befalls upon a beloved place.

Once the essence of a country and its people are held dear to the heart, images of that place never appear the same again. Rather then being mere abstractions, they are humanized according to the traveler’s experience.

For me, images in newspapers of flooded Yangon streets near the Sule pagoda weren’t just abstract televised images; they were streets brimming with memories, crowds of laughing, smiling human beings, corners where I walked in a longyi, drank tea, and was hushed on touchy political subjects.

Contracting The Mind

No matter the location, a natural disaster broadcast to all corners of the earth tends to invoke a sense of sympathy from the global body.

However, the melancholy concoction of emotions from a tragic disaster is amplified if you’ve been there – eaten the food, drunk the local beer, wallowed in spicy olfactory sensations, rode a bicycle, reveled with the locals.

A connection to the country, geography, culture, and most importantly, the people, instills a feeling deeper than the shallow, distant sort of sympathy that’s limited to news reports and newspaper articles.

Perhaps this is what Paul Theroux meant when he wrote in The Great Railway Bazaar:

Extensive traveling induces a feeling of encapsulation, and travel, so broadening at first, contracts the mind.

Traveling narrows our perspective of a particular place while expanding our worldview. After the adventure is over, travel memories invoke a profound empathy, encouraging one to push the dramatic change of paradigms to others and further participation in the goodwill citizenship of a global community.

I can’t think of a better justification for wanderlust.

In the meantime, I’m still glued to news from Myanmar and I still can’t wait to get over there, to pitch in my share.

What do you think about how real-life experiences can open your heart to a certain place?

]]> http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/06/06/how-travel-helps-you-see-past-the-headlines/feed/ 2 http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/04/30/can-tribal-tourism-actually-help-preserve-indigenous-culture/ http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/04/30/can-tribal-tourism-actually-help-preserve-indigenous-culture/#comments Wed, 30 Apr 2008 12:00:54 +0000 Lucy Corne http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/?p=547 When the principal attraction of a trip is looking at other people’s lives, there’s a fine line between human interest and human zoo.

Photo by Monia Sassi

While much of Africa is best known for its stunning wildlife and superlative National Parks, Ethiopia’s main travel draws are scenic natural beauty and fascinating people.

Therefore, it seemed only natural that when our overland trip passed through Ethiopia, we took a detour to the Omo Valley, an area rich in colorful tribes.

But seeing the excursion on our itinerary alongside temple visits, camel treks and countless game drives made me feel a little uncomfortable. When the principal attraction of a trip is looking at how other people live, there’s a fine line between human interest and human zoo.

In our short visit to this tribal region could we really learn much about a people’s traditions or were we just wandering through to gawk and collect a few snaps for Facebook?

On the jarring 12-hour truck ride to Turmi, a dusty town deep in the valley, we quizzed our guide Wesigne about the Hamer people, their customs and whether or not they would welcome interlopers.

When the principal attraction of a trip is looking at how other people live, there’s a fine line between human interest and human zoo.

He assured us that as well as being the most populous, the Hamer were the friendliest tribe in the region.

Sure enough, as our truck neared its destination the faces gazing at us from the roadside were smiling, though it is a little tough to appreciate a friendly wave when the outstretched hand is clutching a Kalashnikov.

Automatic weapons aside, the Hamer are a striking people, their chiseled, androgynous beauty marred only by the occasional decorative scars scored with inch-long thorns.

The Appeal of Tribal Tourism

For some reason, tribal living holds an undeniable worldwide appeal for tourists.

Admiring unique styles of dress and witnessing time-honored practices that have long-since become obsolete in western culture, offer a peek into a world that we only know from books and documentaries.

Photo by Monia Sassi

In fact, many people travel just to seek traditional cultures, shunning Western countries as boring, safe destinations. They want to visit those remaining corners where ancient lifestyles prevail before outside influences dilute and destroy them forever.

Yet by insisting on visiting these societies, perhaps we travelers are the very ones who contribute most to their decline.

Tourist visits inevitably bring items with them that are alien to certain cultures, items which many people believe pollute traditional societies by inflicting ‘westernisation’.

During our brief visit to the Hamer, Wesigne was quick to scold a travel companion for giving his old sunglasses to a teenage member of the tribe. He claimed that, while seemingly insignificant, a gesture like this could gradually change the tribe – starting with their traditional dress.

But are these minor changes such a terrible thing? Why should we as outsiders be so intent on keeping tribal cultures so traditional?

Is cultural preservation a selfish desire, so we can take striking photos and have a riveting tale for our next email home?

Agents of Cultural Decay

We presume that anything western would be a pollutant, but perhaps even the most traditional of tribes would enjoy a few modern conveniences to make life a little easier.

It seems that Westerners are intent on preserving other people’s cultures, even if that means making those people work a little harder for their daily bread.

The Hamer have already swapped their traditional spears for rather alarming machine guns. No, they’re not part of the typical costume, but when you’re dealing with AK47-wielding cattle rustlers, maybe you need something more than a spear to defend your livelihood.

At times it seems that Westerners are intent on preserving other people’s cultures, even if that means making those people work a little harder for their daily bread.

While wandering through the hassle-free market (aimed at locals, not the trickle of tourists that venture to this remote corner of southern Ethiopia) our guide bumped into his good friend Kale, a Hamer warrior.

Curious to learn a local perspective, we asked what he thought of tourists visiting his tribe and were surprised by his response. Translated through Wesigne, he told us that tourism might actually benefit the Hamer.

“If we know that people are visiting to see our customs, we become more proud of them and maybe that means there’s more chance of us keeping our traditions alive,” he said.

It was a point of view that I had never considered.

Pride and Tradition

If outside interest maintains pride in tribal traditions and travelers provide a small cash injection that enables rural dwellers to avoid the worldwide trend of moving to urban slums, is it possible ‘tribal tourism’ could actually help to conserve traditional life?

As we left Turmi a day later, I tasted much food for thought. We’d worried that our visit might be met with hostility, but what we found was an overwhelming indifference towards tourists.

Perhaps it was shyness, perhaps a way of masking distrust, but I think that we were seen by the villagers as an inevitable occurrence that, for the moment at least, has little bearing on daily life.

On our return truck ride along the bumpy dirt roads I noticed two Ethiopians from out of town heading back to their homes after a day of trading with the Hamer. Their Nike shirts and shorts were coupled with the headbands and gold bangles sported by tribal warriors in a style I like to think of as ‘Hamer Chic’.

It appeared that while outside influences are bound to change the tribe, cultural exchange is not always a one-way street.

Community Connection!

Check out Matador founder Ross Borden’s 10 Essential Tips For Visiting Indigenous Peoples

Do travelers damage traditional cultures, or does tribal tourism keep traditions vibrant and alive? Make your voice heard by leaving a comment below.

]]> http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/04/30/can-tribal-tourism-actually-help-preserve-indigenous-culture/feed/ 9 http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/01/29/democracy-in-kenya/ http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/01/29/democracy-in-kenya/#comments Tue, 29 Jan 2008 14:00:06 +0000 Rehana Tejpar http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/01/29/democracy-in-kenya/

We’re in week three of a nation-wide civil uprising in response to the fraudulent December 27th Presidential elections in Kenya, and among the areas most affected are the slums of Nairobi.

The massive civil unrest began upon the announcement of the incumbent President Mwai Kibaki’s electoral victory, despite numerous local and international observers claiming widespread fraud.

During the President’s immediate inauguration, the people of Kenya took to the streets to fight for justice.

They’re fighting for Raila Odinga, leader of the opposition Orange Democratic Movement, who has successfully won the hearts and minds of the popular masses of Kenya, especially the most marginalised factions of society.

The poor, the unemployed, the landless, the homeless and the youth of Kenya participated whole-heartedly in the elections for the first time in Kenyan history, placing their faith in the democratic process. They believed that if they voted for Raila Odinga, their interests would finally be represented in politics.

But when the election was perceived as stolen, it was the last straw for many, and the protests began.

Tribal Politics

To make things even more complicated, President Kibaki is a member of the historically dominant and now much-resented Kikuyu tribe, while Raila is a member of the Luo tribe, a tribe that has never had a President in power since Kenyan independence in 1963.

Evidence of vote rigging was found in virtually every district, on both the government and opposition sides.

Evidence of vote rigging was found in virtually every district, on both the government and opposition sides.

Ballot boxes were stuffed with more votes than voters in certain constituencies; names beginning with A-E were removed from voter’s lists in areas dominated by Luo tribe members, such as the slum of Kibera, as most Luo names begin with such letters.

Incredibly, the opposition leader Raila himself was not even on the registrar.

After the election, it was only a matter of days before the entire country was up in arms. Neighbours who had lived together harmoniously began attacking one another. Members of the Kikuyu tribe have been the most affected. Many Kikuya houses and shops have been looted and burned to the ground, leaving roughly 300,000 people, mostly women and children, displaced in transit refugee camps across the country.

Entire villages have been pillaged, 1500 women have been reported raped and recent counts put the death toll at 700, though it’s known to be swelling higher as each day passes.

And yet despite all the violence and suffering, the opposition movement continues to call for nationwide protests, saying they will not stop until Kibaki steps down.

Fighting For Justice

Is this what democracy looks like?

While the poorest of the poor are out in the streets fighting for “justice,” up against heavily armed Kenyan police officers who are notorious for excessive use of force, the political leaders give orders while they sit comfortably behind walled compounds, seemingly unfazed by the bloodshed committed in their names.

Negotiations are failing. South Africa’s Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the African Union and Ghanaian President Kuffuor have both come to help mediate a dialogue between Kibaki and Raila, yet both sides seem unwilling to budge from their positions.

Kibaki will not step down and Raila has said that he will continue to call nationwide protests and encourage actions that cripple Kenya’s economy until Kibaki relinquishes power.

How many lives must be lost, how many people displaced and how many livelihoods ruined before our political leaders step aside from their egos and think about how much their selfish decisions impact the people of Kenya?

Estimates say there will be 500,000 more people unemployed as a result of this post-election violence. In a country with 40% unemployment, you tell me how that’s just.

Everyday Kenya loses 33 million dollars in investments and already 14 countries have halted their development aid.

Fighting For Change

If the people of Kenya are fighting for change, for a just leader who will help alleviate their poverty, then why are the actions taken to achieve justice exacerbating the suffering and poverty of the very same people who are fighting?

Children in the slums of Kibera, Mathare and Dandora eat tear gas instead of food and can’t go to school.

People can’t go to work and price inflation is rampant. Children in the slums of Kibera, Mathare and Dandora eat tear gas instead of food and can’t go to school; the death toll is rising by the minute with police brutality at its most vicious – officers shooting at random, breaking down innocent slum dwellers’ homes and killing them for no reason other than their geographical location.

The people of Kenya are living in a constant state of fear. For how long can this go on?

While protesters continue chanting “No Raila, No Peace,” it’s very difficult to predict where the future of Kenya lies.

The Road To Reconciliation

Thinking about what it will take for Kenya to return to a state of normalcy is not easy. The violence and fear will not disappear overnight. A return to stability will require a long process of reconciliation.

The aggression, violence and ethnic cleansing the country has witnessed in the past three weeks are symptoms of years of deep-rooted resentment and frustration. In many ways the current violence is revenge against the historically dominant and affluent Kikuyu people, yet some of the poorest Kenyans are Kikuyu and many of those worst affected by the violence are members of the other 41 tribes in Kenya.

At this point, most Kenyans are looking inward, trying to understand what it means to be Ukoo Flani – of a certain tribe, and what it means to be Kenyan in a country of 42 tribes.

At the end of the day, we are defined by our actions, by our thoughts and by our words – not by our tribe.

Last month a Luo was able to share the traditional maize meal of ugali na sukuma with their Kikuyu neighbour. Today such simple acts of shared humanity may seem impossible.

At the end of the day, we are defined by our actions, by our thoughts and by our words – not by our tribe.

Who we are cannot be classified simply along ethnic lines, because underneath the differences of custom, language, music and geography, all of us are human.

All Kenyans are Kenyan. Kenya is a beautiful country full of talented, energetic people who share a strong sense of brotherhood and sisterhood, whose people have chosen to stand together under the national language of Swahili.

We mustn’t classify this conflict as yet another failed African state immersed in the abyss of tribal conflict. We must look deeper and strive to understand why ethnic, racist and religious conflicts continue to arise.

A Final Prayer

Why does humanity fear difference and struggle for sameness when homogeneity defies everything that is natural? The beauty of our uniqueness and diversity is what makes us human, and our differences must be cherished.

Perhaps one day we will truly understand the meaning of togetherness, tolerance, acceptance and forgiveness, and realize that what hurts our brothers and sisters hurts us all.

I pray for understanding.

What do you think of the situation in Kenya? Please share your thoughts in the comments

Rehana T is a youth poverty and gender activist, currently working with Carolina for Kibera a youth oriented non-governmental organisation in the Kibera slum of Nairobi. A graduate from the University of Ottawa in Political Science, Rehana is focused on alternative means of education and building youth leadership through theatre and sports.

]]> http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/01/29/democracy-in-kenya/feed/ 4 http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2007/11/02/the-shameful-truth-about-sex-tourism/ http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2007/11/02/the-shameful-truth-about-sex-tourism/#comments Fri, 02 Nov 2007 15:14:01 +0000 Emily Hansen http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2007/11/02/the-shameful-truth-about-sex-tourism/ Is sex tourism about peace, love and happiness – or does it hide an uncomfortable truth?

Every year, tourists flock to Southeast Asia, in hopes of netting the tropical ocean dream.

Khaosan Road, Bangkok’s backpacker coconut cream pie, proves that not only can you sleep for three dollars a night, but you can also be anyone you want in Paradise.

For some, this means picking up dreadlocks while exiting Watson’s pharmacy, and wearing more tie-dye than would fit in the back of a VW van.

For others, however, it means purchasing sexual services from a woman, man, or even a child, and imagining themselves as Love Gods.

One can smell a lot of things on Khaosan Road- patchouli, pineapples, Pad Thai, and as well, the more pungent odor of sex tourism- the question is, whether or not it’s all about peace, love and happiness.

Sex tourism, present throughout the world, is particularly prevalent in South East Asia, where the connected problems of human trafficking, AIDS, and poverty, continue to flourish and claim lives at unprecedented rates.

The Choice To Sell

Sex tourists, defined as “those who travel to a country for the sole purpose of having sex” see it as an opportunity, or even an entitlement, to have sex available for less money than they would pay at home.

Sex tourists tend not to differentiate between buying groceries, and going to the brothel to buy sex – both provide someone with economic sustenance.

They perceive that those involved in the industry are making a choice to sell their services.

Some even say they are “helping” sex workers, as other available labor, particularly for women, generally yields a lower profit. Sex tourists tend not to differentiate between buying groceries, and going to the brothel to buy sex- both provide someone with economic sustenance.

It is also true that some sex workers tend not to distinguish between sex work and other work, which may or may not be any less exploitative- the difference, is in the body parts used.

We Westerners, products of Christian influence, have moralized sex, unlike in some other countries, including some Southeast Asian nations, where it is seen in more neutral terms.

Many sex workers wish to provide services without judgment or police interference, and continue to fight for better protection within the industry.

A Critical Eye

As an English teacher in Thailand for over a year, I had the opportunity of having a closer look at the sex industry in Southeast Asia.

I felt that sex tourists, and brothel-goers in general, radiated a patriarchal sense of entitlement which, in the case of the foreigners, would not be acceptable, or even possible, back home.

Honestly speaking, women who envision a grand life for themselves and their children are not lined up for extra-curricular sex with some (excuse the cliché) foul-mannered, overweight, middle-aged, married, balding alcoholic- only the most vulnerable are really up for this job.

Many sex tourists, who wouldn’t even be eligible for a date back in Germany, Canada, Australia, or wherever else they come from, find solace in the fact that their money buys their egos back, at the expense of someone else’s health or happiness.

Money buys their egos back, at the expense of someone else’s health or happiness.

The gratification is not in the sex (for even the married ones have it right up there lying in the bed) but in the fact that they have monetary power, and society supports the idea that money can buy you anything, including a beautiful woman or girl.

This ideology reeks with dehumanization and confirms that men are mere providers of money, and women are subject to its rule. There is also plenty of gay sex-tourism, in which (mostly young) boys are exploited in the same way as women.

Sex tourism, then, is a tragedy, for both the sex workers, who don’t always choose to be there, and for the men who pay them.

A Forced Profession

I do not mean to say that sex tourism, or sex work, for that matter, is a black and white issue, and for those sex workers who love their jobs, I am no one to judge their choices or their profession.

However, we can’t ignore the fact that many people are smuggled and then forced into the trade, either by lack of any other option, or by pimps, or even by their family members, who may be desperate for a piece of the profit.

As well, the risk factors for sex workers are very high, and many succumb to AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. Those who seek out sexual services, particularly those who are married or in other relationships, risk the lives of their partners when they return home.

Some say that sex tourism is about sex, but I think it’s about power and opportunism.

While awareness and prevention is the key to preventing these unfortunate outcomes, it is a reality that many wives, girlfriends, and boyfriends still become infected with these diseases, due to the irresponsibility of their loved ones.

Some say that sex tourism is about sex, but I think it’s about power and opportunism. I am not sure we are reaching our human potential, as tourists and ambassadors of our nations, by contributing to additional social gaps in the world.

While it is true that sex workers make more money than working in the market, there are other, more effective ways to improve the lives of people, besides buying sex from them.

For those women, men and children who are trafficked, or bound to the trade by economic desperation, it seems hopelessly unfair that they should have to sacrifice the most personal areas of their bodies for the sake of someone’s vacation, ego, or fantasy whim.

Perhaps as tourists, and as people, before we depart, we might care to ponder not only others’ choices, but also our own, and what we want to make of them.

Emily Hansen is a travel writer and teacher based in Shimla, India, where she is working on a book about her experiences as an expat. Her native land is Canada, and she has traveled to over 30 countries, and has lived in six, including Germany, China, Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, and now, India.

What’s your view on sex tourism? Please share in the comments.

]]> http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2007/11/02/the-shameful-truth-about-sex-tourism/feed/ 54 http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2007/10/31/hidden-hope-a-visit-to-thotulagalla-tea-estate/ http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2007/10/31/hidden-hope-a-visit-to-thotulagalla-tea-estate/#comments Wed, 31 Oct 2007 14:00:56 +0000 Cindy-Lou Dale http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2007/10/31/hidden-hope-a-visit-to-thotulagalla-tea-estate/ Television news bombards us daily with images of global destruction, famine, disease, and wars.

No wonder we despair at the future mankind is forging for itself, one filled with hopelessness and religious fanatics hiding behind guns.

However, what the news does not show is a modified trend amongst the citizens of the world – a transfer from salvation to liberation; a change in mindset and taking responsibility, teaching other like-minded individuals by example.

As a reporter I travel to many third-world countries, those with just emerging markets, and of late have seen this thread as a constant in all of them.

I had the privilege of meeting one such pioneer when I recently travelled to the tropical paradise island of Sri Lanka, just off the southern tip of India.

What the guidebooks promised and what I found were worlds apart.

Sri Lanka’s cities are full of dilapidated buildings, untouched since independence in 1948, with garbage strewn everywhere. The markets – noisy and confusing – are shrouded in tropical cloaks of decay. Nobody seems too concerned about living in squalor.

With no motorways and no sidewalks, pedestrians are forced to walk in the chaotic traffic where the ‘every man for himself’ rule applies. Thus I extracted myself from this mayhem and headed to the mountains.

A Deeper Paradise

“The Tea Country” is Sri Lanka’s most magnificent region – tropical waterfalls spilling to bottomless gorges, views of pastoral splendour to undulating horizons.

Punctuating these tranquil settings are cool mountain resort towns acting as gentle reminders of an era dominated by monied English tea barons’ colonial Tudor-styled homes, complete with trimmed rose bushes and manicured lawns.

I arrived at the Thotulagalla Tea Estate and was met by a barrel of a man who extended his meaty hand at me, giving mine a vigorous shake.

“Welcome”, he growled, “I’m Newman. Mike Newman.” He indicated that I should follow him up the sloping driveway to his house beside the factory. The Thotulagalla Estate is some 6,000 feet above sea level and produces organically grown tea which is processed at the on-site factory.

What the guidebooks promised and what I found were worlds apart.

Mike Newman, a seasoned planter who hails from a respected cultivating family, manages the Thotulagalla Organic Tea plantation with a labour force of some 350.

Mindful of the impact conventional farming practices have on the environment and society, the Thotulagalla Estate is committed to using only organic, environmental and socially ethical methods in the growing and processing of their product and carry the certified Level A (full organic) status.

We decanted into Mike’s 4×4 and drove through the immense Estate. I asked that he stop for a while so I could photograph and observe the spellbinding image of the vivid saris amongst the waist high emerald bushes.

The hands of the tea pickers resembled butterflies flitting over the shrubs, moving independently of one another, nipping off the youngest and topmost leaves by snapping the stem, then tossing the pickings into the large baskets on their backs.

Setting An Example

“Ceylon Tea,” Mike announced, “has for the past century had the clear distinction of being the finest, most fragrant tea in the world.” He considered the landscape before him.

“We are blessed with the ability to grow tea in an ideal climate and in near perfect conditions here in the Uva province. By us using only purely organic methods of growing and harvesting, we reduce the caffeine and tannin, which undoubtedly contributes to the distinct richness and flavour you’ll find in your cup – which is as nature intended.”

I enquired after the need to go organic, seeing that conditions where already so agreeable.

“The health benefits, to start with, are numerous,” Mike claimed.

“An organic workplace provides for a safer working environment. In conventional agriculture there is widespread misuse of agro-chemical fertilisers, herbicide and pesticides due to lack of awareness, due to not reading instructions, due to not wearing protective clothing or lack of chemical storage knowledge. No such issues exist with organic products.”

He continued. “The misuse of chemicals often leads to products reaching local markets with harmfully high level of pesticide residue. This does not occur with organic food.”

“As nothing is paid to national- and multi-national companies for the supply of chemicals, money stays on the farm, in the farming community, and in the country, thus ending the poverty trap.”

A Holistic Work Environment

I noticed some tea pickers being bussed off to a building in the valley and enquired after their destination.

“Nursing mothers are transported to the crèche three times a day,” Mike claimed.

Encouraged by this show of humanity, I enquired after the other facilities Thotulagalla Estate provides their staff and discovered that not only was there a crèche, but a primary school and a newly built secondary school too

The teachers are provided by the Education Department; along with an estate medical practitioner, a brand-new community centre, and really good housing – each with a patch of land for self cultivation or live-stock grazing.

“They give me a free hand and let me run the Estate as I see fit,” Mike said.

I walked around the little village which contained neat brick houses (water and energy supplied by the Estate) and found willing models for my camera. Mike and his petite wife, Hirani, chatted with off-duty staff that came out to greet them. Clearly the Newman’s were held in high esteem.

“This is our newly built community centre,” Hirani Newman announced. “It was built with funds partly derived from Fair-trade and partly our Social Committee.”

Although it is optional to buy Fair-trade labels the Thotulagalla Estate take it a step further and direct a sizable chunk of their profit towards the Estate’s Social Committee.

The Thotulagalla Estate is owned by Greenfield Bio Plantations and has five foreign directors – two based in India, two in Australia and one in Switzerland, and promoted worldwide by Lanka Organics based in Colombo.

“They give me a free hand and let me run the Estate as I see fit,” Mike said.

The Taste Of Hope

We proceeded to the large white tea factory where Mike guided me through the complicated process of tea withering, rolling, firing, drying and grading.

“Our present range of organic teas includes organic black tea from pure Ceylon to English Breakfast, green teas, herbal and fruit teas.” I sampled each one and could not decide which I liked more, then decided to try them all again.

Standing at the precipice of the Thotulagalla Estate, mist swirling around my ankles and a light breeze dancing with my hair, I surveyed before me a mystic valley in hues of blue and lavender, stitched with wisps of silver mist.

I could hear shrieks of hilarity of a joke being told by the usually serene pickers behind me and distant laughter of school children ambling home.

I turned to look at Mike and Hirani, who were embraced, and quietly wondered where the television news cameras were now.

I thougt how refreshing it would be if, for just one day, we were bombarded by images like this – images portraying citizens of the world offering hope and prosperity, kindness and guidance.

I felt somewhat humbled standing in the presence of true leader.

Cindy-Lou Dale is a journalist and travel writer who goes beyond being strongly evocative of place and tells of the idiosyncrasies of cultures and the wonder of a destination, speaking to the very soul of travel. Visit her website Cindy-Lou Dale.

]]> http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2007/10/31/hidden-hope-a-visit-to-thotulagalla-tea-estate/feed/ 2 http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2007/10/10/dark-tourism-more-than-a-spectacle/ http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2007/10/10/dark-tourism-more-than-a-spectacle/#comments Wed, 10 Oct 2007 14:00:13 +0000 Eric Daams http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2007/10/10/dark-tourism-more-than-a-spectacle/ The practice of visiting sites related to death and suffering is known as “Dark Tourism.”

It’s been two years since Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans. Slowly but surely, tourists are returning.

Coupled with the city’s old bag of tricks is a new draw card: the chance to glimpse New Orleans’ destruction firsthand.

But New Orleans isn’t the only place where suffering has turned into a tourist attraction. In New York, Ground Zero is the iconic memorial to the September 11 attacks.

Outside the United States, places like Auschwitz and Cambodia’s killing fields have been drawing tourists for decades.

The practice of visiting sites related to death and suffering is known as “Dark Tourism.”

Dark tourism is not a new phenomenon. Scholars see parallels in such historical activities as gladiatorial contests in Ancient Rome, public executions in the Middle Ages, and guided tours of morgues in Victorian England.

Today, dark tourism still presents a few hard questions for ethical travelers.

Is it right to turn other people’s death or misery into a spectacle? Why are humans even attracted to morbid places?

The Benefits Of Dark Tourism

Like any tourist attraction, “dark sites” can turn a handsome dollar for those shrewd enough to capitalize on the site’s popularity.

But does the commercialization of dark sites necessarily mean that we travelers should avoid visiting them? Not quite.

Often, the countries or cities featuring dark attractions are in great need of tourist dollars.

Take New Orleans for example. After Katrina, the city’s tourism figures have dropped to about 35% of what they were in 2004. A surge in tourism is vital if the city is to successfully rebuild.

Isabelle Cossart, a New Orleans tour operator, alludes to another benefit of dark tourism: its educational value.

“Nobody realizes, [Hurricane Katrina] destroyed seven times more than Manhattan. It was larger than the size of Great Britain. This is two years later. We have to show it. At first, people feel guilty to say they want to see the tours. After, they’re amazed at the destruction that’s there after two years, and the size of it.”

Dark tourism puts you face to face with some of the most painful and frightening aspects of human existence: genocide, natural disasters, terrorism, slavery.

As much as our society may tout its historical “progress”, it has not seen the end of any of these grave evils. By raising our awareness of horrific events in the past, dark tourism guides us to a sobering understanding of the world we live in.

Why The Attraction?

Earlier this year, Rolf Potts wrote about a trip into New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward, one of the areas worst affected by Katrina. He described it as a “vividly, irrevocably authentic” experience.

While much of modern tourism is simply about recreation, dark tourism is different.

Rather than offer you a few hours of entertainment, it ought to provoke and confront you in a profound way. It is a multi-dimensional experience that can have a deep impact on your life.

It is a multi-dimensional experience that can have a deep impact on your life.

Much of modern-day travel revolves around scripted experiences. Package deals. Group tours.

With crafty expertise, the tourism industry creates our holiday for us. Some holidays require about as much interaction as watching a movie – just hit play and watch the scenery unfold.

The appeal of dark tourism is not that we get away from this kind of scripted travel. It’s just that the script is a whole lot more confronting.

If “scripted tourism” is like watching a movie, dark tourism is like watching Hotel Rwanda.

The Choice to Bear Witness

Whether we choose to witness dark tourism in this profound way is another matter. Dark attractions are often also famous attractions. It’s easy to let them become mere spectacles – like the Eiffel Tower or Sydney Opera House.

But if dark tourism is little more to us than entertainment, surely we are disgracing those whose suffering, past and present, has become a “spectacle”?

If you’re thinking about visiting a dark attraction, ask yourself why you want to visit.

Do you genuinely want to honor and learn about the victims whose lives and deaths are commemorated at the site?

Or is it just an attraction to you – a way to be entertained?

Frankly, if entertainment is all you’re looking for, in my opinion you should spend your tourist dollars elsewhere.

I hear Disneyland is a lot of fun.

Eric Daams has lived in the Solomon Islands, Netherlands and Micronesia, but these days he calls Australia home. He is the editor of Travellerspoint and enjoys hunting down spammers, reading about people’s travel adventures, and writing for the Travellerspoint blog.

What do you think about “dark tourism?” Share you thoughts in the comments!

]]> http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2007/10/10/dark-tourism-more-than-a-spectacle/feed/ 16 http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2007/09/17/a-history-of-why-people-travel/ http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2007/09/17/a-history-of-why-people-travel/#comments Mon, 17 Sep 2007 13:00:40 +0000 Lucia Byttebier http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2007/09/17/a-history-of-why-people-travel/ Ever notice how when you sit still for a few hours without moving, you suddenly get up and find your legs are cramped, or asleep, or feel tense?

That’s because they’re not meant to be still…at least not for long. We’re meant to move. Our limbs have to be in motion almost constantly.

Humans have always been on the move. Our skeletons and muscle structures have evolved to facilitate gathering our food, escaping from predators, and to satisfy our animal curiosity.

As our brains grew larger, so did our inquisitiveness, and driven by different reasons, humans began to travel.

The Early Explorers

In the Neolithic age we saw the first sailing vessels and the invention of the wheel, both designed to move us around in different ways.

Nomadic hunters and gatherers moved in search of food following seasonally available wild plants and game.

Nomadic hunters and gatherers moved in search of food following seasonally available wild plants and game.

Then Ancient man began to build roads to facilitate the movement of troops through empires, and eventually civilians began to travel in caravans. Travel for the purpose of commerce and trade took explorers to strange lands to meet other people, and bring back riches of unfathomable value.

Wealthy Greeks and Romans began to travel for leisure to their summer homes and villas by the sea in cities like Pompeii and Baiae.

The freedom of travel in the Roman Empire brought many Jews to flourishing cities of the ancient world, and Jesus himself is thought to have traveled a great deal with his disciples.

We know that Vikings had a particular skill for sailing and a keen interest in exploring. Through perilous voyages they conquered areas such as Iceland and Greenland, and were even the first to accidentally discover America in 985 A.D, when a ship was blown off course on the way to Greenland.

In 1001, Leif Eriksson sailed back to explore it further and called it Vinland, or ‘land of pastures’.

Enter the Dark Ages

In Medieval times, the most notorious travelers were pilgrims and missionaries. Driven by their religious convictions, pilgrims made dangerous journeys to places like Santiago de Compostela, Canterbury, and Jerusalem while missionaries traveled to heathen areas to evangelize the people, such as the Celts in Ireland.

In the late 16th century it became fashionable for young aristocrats and wealthy upper class men to travel to important European cities as a crowning touch to their education in the arts and literature, designed to enlighten Europe’s young elite.

This was knows as the Grand Tour. London, Paris, Venice, Florence and Rome were visited by these grand tourists to expose themselves to the great masterpieces.

The French revolution marked the end of the Grand Tour as was known, and with the coming of rail transit in the early 19th century, travel was revolutionized.

Travel was no longer limited only to the privileged as it became cheaper, easier, and safer to travel. Young ladies began to travel too, chaperoned by an old spinster as was appropriate, as part of their education.

Steam and Steel

The Industrial Revolution brought leisure travel to Europe.

The new middle class now had the time to travel thanks to industrialized production with efficient and faster machinery.

The new middle class, comprised of factory owners and managers, now had the time to travel thanks to industrialized production with efficient and faster machinery. They had more money and more time to relax and take part in recreational activities.

For the first time ever, traveling was done for the sole pleasure of it.

This was how Thomas Cook, in 1841, put together the first package holiday in history. He started off with tours in Britain but with his rapid success soon moved unto other European cities, where Paris and the Alps were the most popular destinations.

Thomas Cook pioneered all the common services that travel agencies undertake for the passenger today: accommodation, travel tickets, timetables, attractions, currency exchanges, travel guides and tours.

Air travel began after World War II, when a surplus of aeronautical technology and ex-military pilots who were more than ready to fly. Only the rich could afford holidays with air fare, whereby an all-inclusive two week holiday in Corsica cost around £32 in those days.

The Modern Age

Affordable air travel soon contributed to international mass tourism, pretty much as we know it today.

Over the years different developments in tourism have changed the way we travel, such as technology, safety and security, costs, social changes, etc.

The Grand Tourists of the 17th and 18th centuries echo today of the hoards of backpackers and gap-year students who, not content with traveling through one continent, do so throughout the entire world.

Much like the young European aristocrats of the time, we today also consider traveling as a rite of passage, an initiation, a transition, an opportunity for soul searching.

With tourism currents like Eco-travel, Ethical Travel, Volunteering, Mystical tourism, Dark Tourism, Pop-Culture tourism, Cosmetic Surgery tourism, and Independent traveling, the travel industry has reached an apogee never before seen.

So when we wonder why we travel, and where it all started, it might be comforting to think about our predecessors, and how they moved first out of necessity, then for religion, migration, emigration, commerce, enlightenment and finally for pleasure.

Today each of our personal reasons may vary, but one thing is certain: there will never be rest for a species that can only move, move and keep moving.

Lucia Byttebier left her life behind in Buenos Aires to travel the world with her boyfriend. Follow her adventures via her excellent travel blog.

]]> http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2007/09/17/a-history-of-why-people-travel/feed/ 4 http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2007/03/20/black-mesa-navajo-resistance/ http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2007/03/20/black-mesa-navajo-resistance/#comments Tue, 20 Mar 2007 14:12:37 +0000 Jenn DiPiazza http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2007/03/20/black-mesa-navajo-resistance/

When you live with people who have lost everything, can you learn to forgive?

Black Mesa, also know as Big Mountain, is a beautiful desert land out in the northeastern tip of Arizona. It is dotted with few sheep and other livestock.

It is also home to the Navajo Nation and the Hopi Tribe.

“We are humans but our laws have been broken. All of these people’s rights have been violated.”

– Percy Deal, Dine’, Hardrock Chapter

These two peoples have peacefully shared and lived off this land from time immemorial. But the United States government, who holds these peoples in its charge, drew their own borders in 1974, leaving over 10,000 Navajo (Dine’, “The People”) and about 100 Hopi families on the wrong side of the line.

This land is held sacred to these peoples. It is the physical representation of Mother Earth.

So the irony wasn’t overlooked when these artificial boundaries were drawn in order to exploit the land for the coal, uranium and natural gas in the earth below.

The tribes do not benefit from the resources themselves – they have no electricity, running water or plumbing, not even a phone. They make their way as they have always done, through their livestock and agriculture.

Yet their very existence was threatened in order to power cities like Las Vegas and Phoenix; to water their many golf courses in the desert. The Dine’ watched as their wells dried up, the wildlife disappeared, and the plants for the sheep to graze on become more and more scarce.

A Familiar Tragedy

Like similar stories heard the world ever, these sad events and measures were agreed upon by corrupt leadership.

The US Government decided to solve this crisis by relocating these Dine’ families now on the Hopi Reservation to track housing projects in suburban Phoenix.

Most of these families did not know how to survive in urban areas. They could not afford their mortgages because they could not find jobs, as many of these relocatees were elders who are illiterate and speak no English.

Some of these elders, who know no other way to live than by herding sheep and living off the land, started resisting this relocation. Thirty years later, they are still fighting for the right to remain on their ancestral lands.

The US government, through the Bureau of Indian Affairs, called the Hopi Tribal Police to coerce them to leave, enforcing laws to make those resisting families lives harder. Their livestock were impounded, they were barred from collecting firewood, and even their homes and sacred spaces were bulldozed.

Journey To Black Mesa

Winter is an unforgiving time on the Mesa. Many elderly resisters die because of sub-zero temperatures, and with wood difficult to stockpile, many get sick, and they freeze.

In 1998 my conscience called to me to action.

I went out to Black Mesa to spend several months with an elderly couple, to help them with their daily tasks and to keep watch over them. I also went to bear witness to the atrocities.

It was a sadly documented reality that Indian families in the company of a white person were less likely to be harassed by the Hopi Police. If anything happened to a white person up on the Mesa, it would be all over the airwaves.

During my time there I had the honor of staying with the *Smith’s. (*I have changed their name in this article, for their protection). It wasn’t long before they were known to me as “Grandma” and “Grandpa.”

When a person of relative privilege goes to a place where the basic amenities and comforts of home are absent, it forces you to become what is really inside of you, to call upon your deeper nature. You find out what you are really made of.

It gets down into your core of you and just… simplifies everything.

As you focus on the things that really matter in life, the value of “stuff” becomes unimportant.

No more taking for granted running water and flushing toilets or a hot bath. As you focus on the things that really matter in life, the value of “stuff” becomes unimportant.

How much does one really need in order to be content and happy? Does it come from things, or the beautiful exhaustion that comes from having an actual relationship with the land and the earth’s creatures?

I learned to talk to myself and to listen. I wondered, what are the issues in my life that I would be willing to fight for?

In The Presence Of Tradition

I helped Grandma and Grandpa too. I was there when the Hopi Ranger arrived with a semi-automatic, entered their home and questioned them in a language he knew they didn’t understand.

I was there to take care of the goats and the sheep when Grandma needed to go to her heart doctor, 3 hours away in Phoenix.

Alone and afraid, I brought the herd home when the snow and ice were so deep that ice balls had formed on their fur and weighed them down so much, they could no longer walk. Relying on my newfound inner strength, I found a stick and beat the snowballs off the goats until I could get them up the hill and to safety.

I was also there for humor. Slaughtering a sheep and preparing the meat afterwards is a process that takes all day. The first time I participated, I was given lots of little jobs to do. The Dine’ eat every part of the sheep.

I watched as Grandma sat emptying the bowels of the animal into old coffee cans and cleaning the intestines in hot water. She took parts of the fat layer that had dried in the sun and wrapped the cleaned pieces of the intestines around it. She then put these packages into clean water to keep them fresh.

She motioned for me to do something with the bowl of water with intestines and the dirty coffee can. I could not figure out why she wanted me to put the clean intestines in the dirty coffee can. I pretended to do it and she nodded.

I dumped the intestines in the coffee can. I had almost dumped it all when she yelled and came over to me with another bowl of clean water and motioned for me to take the intestines back out of the coffee can and clean them.

I realized then that all she had wanted me to do was dump the dirty water out of the cleaning bowl into the coffee can.

I felt horrible. But instead of being mad, it became the joke of the duration of my stay. She started calling me dygyss (some form of “stupid” or “git”) and even when we had visitors she would tell the story of how the stupid bilaga’ana (white girl) dumped clean food to be eaten into sheep dung.

A Place In Their Family

The most treasured gift they gave me was the gift of humility; of knowing how much space I take up in the world. That humbleness has nothing to do with weakness, but is perhaps the most powerful human attribute of all.

The silent power of knowing more is not better. To give when you have nothing and never presume to know anything.

Since then I give thanks that I don’t have to sleep with one eye open, worry about freezing to death or having my home torn down when I am away.

After all the pain and sadness these Dine’ resistors had experienced at the hands of outsiders, to know they invited me into their home, eat their food, and made a place for me in their family is overwhelming.

These people, on the brink of losing everything, can still forgive. It changed the perspective of how I think. Even now, almost ten years later, as I sit here writing this, the tears well in my eyes as I wish I could have done more.

When I was there, I even considered staying with Grandma and Grandpa indefinitely, helping them as my life’s work. But I knew I had to get back to head home eventually. My job was to bring these lessons back with me, and implement them into my own life.

To tell people what is happening up there, on a beautiful desolate land full of people who “Walk in Beauty”.

Epilogue

Things for the most part have remained the same on Black Mesa. Grandpa died of old age about 5 years ago. Grandma, in her 80’s continues to live out her years, on her own, with her piece of land and her sheep.

In November, she suffered a minor heart attack after a harassing confrontation with a Hopi Ranger while herding her sheep. (Read her statement here)

Currently her case is on continuance and the pre-trial date is March the 12th.

Jenn DiPiazza is a freelance writer living in Florida. She has a degree in Anthropology and Native American studies. You can check out her latest reviews, recipes and travel destinations on her food and travel blog at TravelCloseUp.

]]> http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2007/03/20/black-mesa-navajo-resistance/feed/ 7 http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2007/03/12/the-case-for-documenting-death/ http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2007/03/12/the-case-for-documenting-death/#comments Mon, 12 Mar 2007 14:22:44 +0000 Ian MacKenzie http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2007/03/12/the-case-for-documenting-death/

The stacked skulls at the site of the killing fields, Cambodia.

In the journey for the authentic, we inevitably find ourselves confronted with the horrors of humanity’s past.

Famine. War. Genocide. Not only do these spectres haunt the tourist’s path, but they’re increasingly part of the tour.

I found myself face to face with these demons on my trip to the Killing Field’s of Cambodia, a topic I’ve touched on numerous times in the past.

“I have been a witness, and these pictures are my testimony. The events I have recorded should not be forgotten and must not be repeated.” – James Nachtwey

I remember standing before the tower of skulls, the instruments of torture, and the remnants of mass graves, and removing my digital camera from my pack.

I had never known the stories of the victims, nor would I ever understand the trauma experienced by those still living. Perhaps that is why I struggled with the dilemma of documenting this death.

A part of me felt like a crass tourist, simply collecting photographs just like any other scene – no different than the motivation behind a snapshot of the Eiffel Tower or an elephant ride.

But another side of me felt compelled to bear witness, fulfilling the solemn duty of the traveler to collect evidence of sorrow in order to share it with their friends and family, who would likely never see these places on their own.

To Reflect A Human Being

Recently, I posed this dilemma to the travel community at 9rules, and received some thoughtful replies.

Gnorb wrote:

“I say document it. Too many people don’t realize the true horrors of places like these, and while reading a story is no substitute for actually going to the place, at least information is out there about what has happened.”

Kristin, a photographer, confessed she’s debated this topic many times with other photographers.

“Really.. it just depends in the manner of which you do it. If it is tasteful and respectful then I’m all for it. We had to take this photography ethics course in school and I’ll always remember what my professor said: “How does the photo reflect on you as a photographer and a human being, and does it show the subject with a degree of integrity.”

In my own example, with the subjects long since dust, the judgment on their preservation of integrity is left up those living. Or more accurately, the survivors that endure.

Tin Tin, our guide one afternoon in the weeks after the Killing Fields, was only too adamant in sharing his personal history.

He spent months as a boy in a Khmer Rouge work camp, half-starved and worked to death, at one point forced to inadvertently poison his own mother. He had little knowledge of Pol Pot and his agrarian reform, yet only knew he must survive.

We listened in disbelief, unable to fathom such sadness. Yet I believe he told us for the sole reason of hearing his tragedy, not to solicit our pity, but to prevent us from stumbling down the same path.

Since, as we all know, societies are often doomed to repeat the same mistakes.

Confronting Our Own Truth

Having spent two months in Southeast Asia, I returned home and collected all the photographs, all the video clips, and all the memories. I arranged them into folders, neat and tidy, and marveled at how little disk space such a span of your life can occupy.

I set about editing the trip into a DVD.

Each section was a rousing 5-6 minutes of compelling visuals and music, meant to entertain as much as invoke envy in my future audience.

When it came time to include the section from the killing fields, I hesitated.

It was an infinitely sobering montage of torture chambers, shallow graves, and black and white photographs preserving the dead. Did it belong in the middle of an otherwise uplifting travel slideshow?

But then I remembered my promise to Tin Tin and the rest of the Khmer I met on the road. I promised to share their story.

For that reason, the final cut of the film included the Cambodian interlude. And in a small way, I feel like I kept my promise.

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

Have you had a similar experience on your travels? How do you decide what to capture and what to leave alone?

]]> http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2007/03/12/the-case-for-documenting-death/feed/ 8 http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2007/01/18/cambodian-killing-fields/ http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2007/01/18/cambodian-killing-fields/#comments Thu, 18 Jan 2007 15:27:24 +0000 Ian MacKenzie http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2007/01/18/cambodian-killing-fields/

A film montage I shot during my visit to the Cambodian Killing Fields in early 2006. The song is called “Dusk” by Canadian artist Matthew Good.

Just one hour’s flight from Bangkok, Phnom Penh is the capital city of Cambodia, and shares much in commom with other major urban centres of Southeast Asia.

It’s loud, swarming with motorbikes, tuk-tuk drivers, and piles of plastic wrappers piled behind rusted tin dwellings, all nestled amongst countless hotels, neon signs, and a melee of citizens.

For many people, Cambodia conjures images of genocide, specifically the terrible reign of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge.

My fiance Karen and I ask our taxi driver to drop us in “The Lake District” — which sounds much more prestigious than the name implies. Picture a crowded alley of guesthouses, moneychangers, and monkeys screeching from the rooftops of the single story buildings.

Most of the guesthouses look out onto Boeung Kak Lake, an emerald green body of water thick with snails and garbage. After the first night’s sunset over the city, I forgave everything.

Our first stop the following day allowed us to delve into the troubled history of the country, which seemingly consists of little more than constant warfare and occupation.

For many people, Cambodia conjures images of genocide, specifically the terrible reign of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. From 1975 to 1979, he instituted an agrarian reform policy based on Maoist ideology that saw the forced relocation, torture, and murder of at least a million people.

With these facts in mind, Karen and I rode out to a former site of mass slaughter — Choeung Ek (The Killing Fields).

It’s difficult to describe what we found. I could offer a list: empty grass fields, signs marking the mass graves that appeared to innocently indent the earth, pieces of bone poking out of the path amid tattered remnants of clothing, skulls packed miles high, their hollow sockets uttering in silence the only question they can fathom, why?

We pass a large tree offering momentary shade from the sun. A sign beneath it describes how children were beaten against its solid trunk, before being tossed into the graves with their mothers. Why do these things happen? The rest of the trees have no reply.

We move on to the Toul Sleng Genocide Museum, known as S21 during the Khmer Rouge. It had been a school before they turned it into a prison, knocking out the walls between classrooms, piling brick after brick to fashion tiny cells for “political enemies” to be interrogated and tortured before being sent to the Killing Fields.

Nowadays, the Cambodian government opted to let the prison stand as a testament to the genocide, altering little since it was liberated by the Vietnamese army in 1979.

The grounds are particularly disturbing.

I enter a classroom turned torture chamber, and come upon a rusted metal bed, with arm and leg chains still hanging from both ends, a pair of large metal pinchers suspended on the mesh. The concrete walls are gouged with holes, some from the fingers of time, some perhaps from the fingers of prisoners trying to escape. Dark spots on the ceiling whisper blood.

Above the bed a large photograph is mounted, depicting the scene the Vietnamese found upon entering this particular room. I have trouble discerning what is lying on the bed in the image, due to the thick swathes of black on the floor.

I realise I’m staring at a mangled body. The very same body that now lies buried in the courtyard along with 14 others who were found in similar conditions. In total, the prison “processed” some 14,000 people. Only a handful survived. I leave the compound with the taste of ash in my mouth.

A few days later, Karen and I head south, to the beaches of Sihanoukville. It had been a while since we’d seen the ocean, and we could tell it missed us. We checked into our guesthouse, stopping only to change into our swimming attire, before hitting the lazy waves that rolled into the shore. The water felt like slipping under an electric blanket, the warmest ocean I’ve swam in — perhaps ever. Yet the feeling of comfort failed to last as we left the surf and had scarcely settled to dry on the sand.

Immediately, we were confronted with a steady string of hawkers — women offering fruit from the baskets on their heads, children slyly slipping bracelets over our wrists before demanding money, and legless men crawling along the shore with quiet determination, reminding us just how poor Cambodia continues to be. A part of me wished to dole out bills in the hope of assuaging my guilt (whether founded or not), but I knew this was no lasting solution.

A part of me wished to dole out bills in the hope of assuaging my guilt (whether founded or not), but I knew this was no lasting solution.

But then I heard of the Children’s Art Gallery, a local initiative started by a visiting English painter who discovered that poor Cambodian children would much prefer to paint and sell their artwork, rather than beg or hawk for change. I asked the painter, Roger Dixon, if he would mind doing an interview. With his white ponytail and eyes shining, he gladly accepted.

“Things are getting better here,” he said, reflecting on Cambodia’s dark history. “I’ve been coming here for years and it’s changing.” He revealed how little more than a year earlier, he had found himself bandaging up the wounds of the local children because no one else would. When the children saw his paintings they asked if they could create as well. Almost a year later, they’ve sold hundreds of paintings and the children exhibit a renewed enthusiasm for life.

They still hawk their bracelets, of course, but they do it with that smile that can only come with developing self respect, rather than self pity. And certainly, none are more deserving of hope than Cambodia’s children, something Roger Dixon must have decided when he quietly began the art program.

He waved to us as we left the makeshift beach gallery, five original paintings under our arms.

The contrast is stark: on the one hand, the malicious sway of dictators such as Pol Pot, murderer of too many to name, killed for reasons uncertain, not by his own hand, but through the hands of the hundreds of generals, soldiers, guards, and regular people who believed in such death — or if they didn’t, failed to recognise the gathering darkness before it was too late.

On the other hand, there are the silent ones like Roger Dixon who dedicate their lives to the small, significant tasks that better the lives of those around them, in subtle ways that are difficult to pinpoint, yet echo nonetheless. These people demand no recognition, no attention, beyond the sense that in the only way they know how, they’ve made a difference.

And that is the only reason I can step to the edge of a mass grave and still believe in humanity.

“How monotonously alike all the great tyrants and conquerors have been: how gloriously different are the saints.”
– C.S. Lewis

Have you ever visited the site of former genocide? Please share you experience, or thoughts on this topic.

]]> http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2007/01/18/cambodian-killing-fields/feed/ 7 http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2006/11/20/article-culture-hopping/ http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2006/11/20/article-culture-hopping/#comments Tue, 21 Nov 2006 02:29:56 +0000 Cameron Karsten http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2006/11/20/article-culture-hopping/

Like a roasted pepper, you’re done: well cooked, charred on the outside, burnt, spent. But on the inside, hidden within the veil of life’s fire-burner, you’re soft and ready-anticipating for more.

However, it doesn’t come all that easy. After the months, weeks, or often only the days of travel, you return home to the accustomed life once left behind, and there, piled with new baggage you thought you were ready to unpack, you find yourself overloaded with a new beginning.

And despite how many times you attempt to escape from this, seeking the bliss of freedom discovered upon the open road, mixed within the world’s vast cultures-leaving, returning, leaving, returning-you are met face to face time and time again with this long winding path returning home. It stares at you. It tempts you.

Upon returning, afflictive emotions once erased resurface (they never erase, only transform). In order to take this road, you know you must begin this new journey with your new bags; keep on traveling, keep on truckin’ to peel away your charred surface layers to reach that core you initially sought and prepared for.

You must emerge from the cultures of the ancient times of open-air fires and stone and brick ovens to reveal a modern complexity of steal and chrome. The time allotted is the progress made, and until then the core will not be exposed. Instead, the fires will continue to char, and char, and char returning you back to the start of that winding path, through and through. Call it culture hopping.

And You Are?

Whether Africa, Asia, Southeast Asia, Europe, South America, North America, or some distant cardinal tropic marooned from the flanks of one’s accustomed culture, the traveler is an explorer in the miasmic layers, colors and spices of the world’s cultures. To have that desire for taste, for preparation and creative roast is to obtain the initial interest of discovering a lifestyle other than one’s own.

It is a yearning for experience, for knowledge, for an accumulation of wealth that can never be bought, never be taught or sought in books: It’s the potential growth of the soul that comes with willingness, dedication and an awareness given the time and space to be sown in the soils of one’s consciousness.

Through the journey beyond, an epic tale of letting go and allowing those fires to char on their own accord, experience becomes wisdom. It becomes that seed enriched with appreciation for life, a life involving a continued exploration of man, woman, Nature and their intriguing interwoven dynamics. Alone, this path cultivates and further roasts one’s seed of awareness allowing the pepper to blossom and the fires to cook.

For such a traveler, life is the essential ingredient. Within mind, body and soul there contains all components and it’s only fed when the traveler throws oneself into this very unknown. This is where life itself revolves.

Certain characters are necessary for the traveler to embark and take upon these fires when ready: Such one loves the unknown.

He or she loves taking this upon destiny like a parasite caught in flesh. It is a necessity, a fertilizer sucked from the deepest soils, where the senses abide to the farthest root tips; stretching, distending, growing further and reaching for that appreciation of life, its beauty and the diversity which flourishes. These cultures of humanity define the sustenance of life, and without their firsthand experience there would be no worth to the traveler in the life surrounding.

For such a traveler, life is the essential ingredient. Within mind, body and soul there contains all components and it’s only fed when the traveler throws oneself into this very unknown. This is where life itself revolves.

And so, with a firm grip upon an adventurous nature, a character ready and willing to let it all go for something without any future at all, the traveler within me tossed this mind, body and soul into the deep soils of the earth. Seed planted, sustenance fed-my pepper of various layers, colors and spices began to sprout. The fire was already provided. I began my culture hopping.

Cultures Revealed, The Culture Transformed

I went abroad, explored the cultures of islands, of development and riches, of poverty and those stricken with the despair of unjust treatment to their basic human rights. I went abroad and found turmoiled markets unlike my hometown grocer’s. I was ingrained within them like a fly caught in a web where I wove my thread with theirs, calm and observant with the people of Africa, Asia, south-north-east-west and beyond. I spun more, throwing an innocuous trust within my surroundings.

Further, I found isolated pockets of forest, tropical with malarial mosquitoes and monkeys. I saw fauna and flora of the imagination, and I let my own wander to color my thoughts with its fragrance.

Things filled my senses. Life invaded me. From one culture to the next, I let go, stepping deeper into the unknown. I let go once more.

Literally it all consumed me, and as the small seed, a sponge underneath the flowing faucet, I soaked in it. I was free. I was the traveler. I absorbed this flow-people, thoughts, situations and circumstances, foreign politics, cuisines and their palates, lifestyles and manners. They became a part of who I was, and who I sought to become.

From one individual to the next, from village to village, city to city, via bicycle, rickshaw, tuk-tuk, taxi, bus, train, boat-or by foot-I was culture hopping. I was experiencing this life I knew and never knew. It was withdrawn from within me where I allowed an awareness to manifest the road ahead. And on every step, the journey started anew as the flames were fueled, the fires turning hotter.

Eventually, I was done.

The pepper: blackened, charred, burnt on the outside. Work was now necessary to peel away the layers, and so the traveler returned home to the culture left behind. There, after faced with one phenomenon to the next, culture hopping at its finest
(the pepper well-done, the fly entombed, a sponge oozing the sustenance of life), explorations changed courses and routes led homeward to the familiar lifestyle. But through each interlope and interchange of culture there was that reunion affected by this so-called hopping.

It was a reemergence with the traveler’s old self-again, bags ready to unpack before discovering there were still more bags to be carried.

Still Traveling

Often it’s unexpected, meeting this thing left behind which is now present; all around you, within family and friends and customs and routines. It is the traveler of the past; the traveler before the traveler was ever a “traveler”. In essence it is the mind, body and soul in which everyone knew and everything expected despite the change.

Returning from Southeast Asia to southern California, my confidence and belief within my own self and the direction I was heading hit a steel-plated wall. All happiness faded.

But now, unexpected, the new traveler facing the old traveler before the traveler was ever a traveler becomes paralyzed. He or she is overwhelmed with the past culture amounting to that of the new various cultures adopted. Known collectively as “culture shock”, there is no turning back.

The old sages comment, “Easy is the choice to begin or not, but once begun, better finish.”

And like a dish of foie gras to a vegetarian consciousness, like a Russian bath for the Hawaiian local, culture shock throws you into a chasm where the lights are dimmed to view only the faint silhouettes ahead. There is nothing left behind. You must continue and accept a responsibility, for this very shock is the effect of your culture hopping. It stuns, saddens-and more significantly-paralyzes the senses and any feeling of centeredness.

Questions arise again, afflictive emotions stir as remorse composes a symphony of disgust, despair and pain before the next layer of the pepper becomes charred. There is never the chance of having the opportunity to live the life of its soft sweet flesh. This is the case involving a reemergence into Western society.

Returning from Southeast Asia to southern California, my confidence and belief within my own self and the direction I was heading hit a steel-plated wall. All happiness faded. What I remember most having returned from the months abroad was entering that Ralph’s “superstore” on Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena.

Culture shock as loaves of bagged bread-signed, sealed and delivered-shook with a consumerism’s shopping rage. It was like an exemplified spree; carts with gargantuan mouths, open and wired to the teeth. They could be stuffed full, occupying up to ten bags if willed. There were meats, animals to be more specific, which now took the form of slice after slice, shank and steak and thigh and breast-or why not whole? My eyes witnessed the abundant glory to what a Newari family in the Nepalese Himalayas might perceive: I’m in heaven!

No. To me, having experienced the impoverished of India, Africa and Asia; having walked the mountains and beaches where a family was considered lucky if a porter succeeded in bringing what they requested, this mass production of animals, genetically modified fruits and vegetables, and aisles upon aisles of sugared dumplings called Ding-Dongs and Twinkies hit my lower abdomen with an iron cudgel.

Cheeses and yogurts fermented beyond their expiration date. Fizzing bottles of Coca-Cola and Tab blew their tops. Bottles of water became dirty.

What happened to the market? To morality? What happened to globalization and our care for others’ well-being?

No, I concluded, there was never a moral concern for life. And there never will be. What the hell am I doing here? I was culture shocked.

A Welcome Home

It’s the most difficult stretch of the journey; to return home to family and friends, to routine-to life as you once knew it-and apply successfully all the lessons of travel. People look at you as they did in the past, but you say, you stand up for yourself: No, I’ve changed.

The world revolves.

You see the news. You have the luxuries you once forgot and indeed took advantage of in the past. Daily life causes its stresses. Anger, confusion, and all the other emotions come to greet you with a slap in the face, smiling like they’ve never done before. Even those plates of food adorning your dining table are a blessing-truly-but no one else seems to see.

Likewise, you yourself begin to struggle. In your silent prayers you return your conscience back to your center and thank the sustenance before you and your family. You thank the Universe for this life compared to others witnessed far away, an observance you’re beginning to forget.

You thank the Universe for this life compared to others witnessed far away, an observance you’re beginning to forget.

As with most, the first return and its adaptation is the hardest. You cope with it, you deal with it and you hopefully take in the lessons for your growth. The second and third become easier due to experience, and with the appropriate placement of the lessons recalled, your life, whether traveling or at “home” in your own culture, becomes a continued journey of culture hopping.

You are the traveler and you feed this, caring for yourself with the practice of your experiences from the places you’ve been. It is your new culture in which you live and grow from. But how do you get passed the initial return, and the second and the third?

Over my travels an unknown quote to an unreligious individual has reminded me of strength and courage: “God comforts the disturbed and disturbs the comfortable.” It is a message interpreted as there is always more growth to be had-top is never the top.

Greeted with the eruption of past habits and routines, I have taken the journey of reentering the life I left behind as a whole new opportunity to evolve further to that infinite goal. And what keeps me sane throughout the process is the remembrance of the journey passed and how it’s still in its entirety churning within me.

Therefore, I’m brought to the present, the internal traveler awoken within to become the traveler of the present moment no matter what road I might be on. I see family and friends; they might mistake me for someone of the past.

Sure, I’m still that person, but now I’m that person including this new traveler.

I see shelves of abundance in a culture appearing oblivious to the rest of humanity’s infirmities and I become grateful to have that awareness of the resources in my life, their precious blessings, and how most persons round the globe might not have such a luxury as the basic necessity of shelter to plates to eat upon, or surviving family and a network of friends.

I remember how I used to take things for granted, including as a boy that dumpling of sugar, the Twinkie. Hence, there is no need to despise it, but be appreciative of the options and leave it for others who might harbor interest. And I’m grateful for the world’s diversity and the cultures out there to be explored.

Though what remains most important, disregarding the adventure of external discovery, is the magnitude of a continued internal exploration. It is an application of one’s new understanding and belief into mainstream life that keeps this cyclone of the Self gyrating.

Barriers are discovered, analyzed and then toppled; passed through to advance further into the conscious Self.

Each step hosts the opportunity for growth-mentally, emotionally and spiritually-and with the continued practice of one’s lifestyle within the new surroundings of home, obstacles of daily living no longer appear as they once did. Instead they take the form of that flame, licking the edges of skin to provide a tool to peel away the outer layers in order to reach its core. That fire is of love and peace, as is the core-as is the practice, the people and places-as are those once termed “obstacles”.

And So, To Hopping

Today, there is more of Asia, West Africa, Europe and more Central America, including my own culture, within me.

As a traveler with a continuous yearning for growth through an experience of culture hopping, and a lessening culture shock, I have come to peer through a cleared perception, recognizing the differences and similarities of each land and its people. I have come to accept these cultural barriers as a part of this physical world, established in total for our growth. Beyond these barriers, they dissolve and I perceive a life with the oneness of all peoples. My heart opens as I remind myself and take recognition. Happiness returns.

Yes, I’m still traveling.

Life keeps churning, and as a morsel within the stew-that spice-as a bubble in a boiling pot, we have only so long before we leave and transform, before we are eaten by our own creation.

In order to fill this duty with its finest, in order to allow the fires to masterfully complete its roast, a strive to dig deeper attains progress. It is the act of reaffirming the underlying connection between people and their cultures. It is the subtle continued establishment within the mind that they-we-have founded this very life and that we are here together to share it. Through this realization, carrying for myself and reawakening from sleep each fleeting moment, the afflictive emotions associated with the road and the return into daily life subsides.

A roasted pepper, charred skin peeled, I am now ready to continue with the ingredients of this infinite stew of culture, traveling deeper into the feast of life. Culture hopping is my vehicle of choice.

Ambitious and driven, Cameron Karsten left for SE Asia at 19 years of age, alone with his journal, camera, some clothes and few photos to remind him of where he began. He left to follow a dream. And what led him from there was the whisperings of his own heart and the push and pull of life’s current. Visit his personal website at www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/cam2yogi

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