Archive for the ‘Travel’ Category
Farmers Market Love
IKEA Takes Over Paris Metro
Ah the combination of my two foreign loves, Sweden and France… Here’s a fun Friday post:
Forget a boring commute. In Paris, between now and March 24, the metro is being turned into a comfortable living room. That’s thanks to a marketing initiative by IKEA, which is turning 4 metro stations into furnished interiors.
A crazy marketing campaign? Maybe, but it is ingenious in that it gets people passing by to interact with the product. And ask any metro goer and I’m sure they’ll take a comfortable couch over a gum-covered steel bench.
More pics after the jump.
The City Girl’s Guide to Urban Hiking
Loved writing this piece for EcoSalon… but maybe that’s because I like in a city that’s particularly well suited for this sort of thing…
***
Soot, screeching sirens and forbidding skyscrapers; is this your definition of the big city? Think again. The urban landscape might seem like the epicenter of everything that’s wrong with the world, but in fact cities are where some of the most interesting components of the green movement are currently taking place.
With everything from urban farms and electric cars, large cities are surprisingly livable, and now there’s another trend on the rise: urban hiking. Living the city life has long been equated with staying indoors and neglecting to feed our human need for spending time in nature, but the onslaught of urban hiking tours is showing us that it is in fact possible to get outside, be active and explore new places in the process.
What is Urban Hiking?
Forget the days of mindlessly jumping in a taxi to go from point A to point B. Urban hiking is all about planning, executing and enjoying the journey, another great example of slow travel. According to the Urban Dictionary, urban hiking is “the exploration of diverse urban environments on foot.” Conservation and travel groups alike promote urban hiking, as it not only gets people outdoors and active, but also allows them to explore the ins and outs of urban landscapes.
The Girl Effect
Super inspired by this. Watch, then learn more here.
“It’s no big deal. Just the future of humanity.”
A Journey Through Asia
If you’ve spent any time traveling in Southeast Asia, this video, by Ivan Vania, will pull at your heart strings… beautiful landscapes, beautiful people, beautiful moments, beautiful memories.
The clip was filmed over a 24 hour period, traveling through Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.
[Via: Fubiz]
Fat Tuesday a la Sweden: Semlor
You think bright color bead necklaces and crazy carnival outfits are what Fat Tuesday is all about? Think again.
In Sweden there’s a different tradition, and it carries on all the way from January to March: semlor. A semla (plural: semlor) are wheat-flour bun filled with almond paste and topped with whipped cream and powdered sugar; the perfect combination for fending off the cold of winter. Traditionally eaten on Fat Tuesday, now you can find them in Swedish pastry shops and bakeries from the beginning of January onwards.
Or you can make your own. Here’s a great recipe to bring all the semla goodness right into your own home. I know what I’m doing tonight!
Want more semla stats and fun facts? Check out this great article on the Swedish baked good by my friend Lola Akinmade on Intelligent Traveler.
[Photo: Per Ola Wiberg]
How to Be an Explorer of the World: The Good Things in Life
I needed this today. And I’m sure you do to. A lovely list with some excellent reminders of things we could all probably use a little more of on a regular basis.
[Via: Under Solen]
Snowshoeing Mt. Rainier
Fresh snow crunches under your feet. Along the trail, paw prints of a small forest creature lead the way. The sun shines. You take a break to drink tea from your thermos and slice of a piece of brie cheese that’s your one gourmet indulgence in the backcountry. You continue along, excited about the prospect of an evening in front of a warm stove in a cozy ski hut. You contemplate to yourself how a winter trip doesn’t get much better than this.
***
Earlier this winter I was craving some snow time, and decided to check out the Mount Tahoma Trails Association hut-to-hut ski trail system, a collection of groomed trails used by the Forest Service in the summer and snowshoers and cross country skiers in the winter. A common obstacle to pursuing winter backcountry adventures is of course that it’s cold and gets dark early, not the optimal tent conditions for most. Fortunately the MTTA maintains several different backcountry accommodations, including a yurt, all complete with propane stoves, sleeping pads and complete kitchens. I wouldn’t go so far as to call it ‘glamping,’ but high end backcountry digs is certainly a fitting definition.
Journey to Kathmandu: Beautiful Documentary About Nepal’s Dashain Festival
There is a big place in my heart for the people of Southeast Asia. Smiles. Generosity. Beauty. Simplicity. So it’s no surprise that I love this trailer for Journey to Kathmandu.
The documentary is about the once-in-a-lifetime journey that goats make from their lives in Tibet to their sacrificial deaths in Kathmandu during the annual Dashain Festival, and this trailer is downright beautiful. I was so inspired by it I interviewed the documentary’s director, Chris Parkhurst. Here’s an excerpt.
What has inspired you to focus on SE Asia?
As ‘Bombhunters’ opened my eyes up to the wonderful world of documentary films, it also inspired me to travel and do work in SE Asia. Cambodia blew me away. SE Asia, as a whole, blows me away. It’s very difficult to explain to people who have never been. Sure, all the cliches apply here. It’s life-changing. Once you’ve been, you’re forever changed. But, you know, it’s absolutely true.
What can I say? It just gets in your blood, in your heart, on the brain. Once I’d done it, I only wanted more. I was addicted. Don’t get me wrong, this is not to say that countries like Cambodia, Nepal, Indonesia, Thailand… they’re not for everybody. They’re uncomfortable. They’re dirty. They’re corrupt. They make you sweat. They can make you sicker than you’ve ever been in your life. You’ll see some of the most decrepit, sorry things you’ll ever see. People without limbs. Kids playing in garbage dumps the size of my neighborhood back home. But I love that. I really can’t get enough.
Because what goes along with all of this are the beautiful things that you don’t get here in the States. Community. Perspective. Compassion. Appreciation for friends, family, your neighbors. Soul and spirituality. People treat one another with a kind of dignity, honesty and love that seems to be lacking here. These are all things that I hope to share with Westerners in hopes of creating some sort of better consciousness, some better ways of living and interacting with one another.
Read the whole interview over at Elephant Journal.
Travel Spots to Avoid: Galapagos, Antarctica and Beyond
It’s tempting to write about the top ten places to travel, but it’s equally important to focus on the places NOT to go, particularly because of environmental reasons. Here’s an excerpt from my latest post on EcoSalon.
With a rise in eco-tourism, it’s tempting to think that sustainable travel is easily achievable, but in some places, exploring and voyaging have a higher impact than the supposed benefits. In fact, many organizations around the world are constantly working to develop stricter regulations that will protect local environments, cultures and populations. Thinking about ourtravel impact is essential.
When it comes down to it, no matter how badly we want to visit, there are some places that we just shouldn’t go, and if we do travel to them we need to be very conscious of our impact. We’ve pulled together a list of places that we hope travelers will pass on, be it for environment, social or cultural reasons. But since we do believe in the power of seeing the world, we’ve also provided some great alternatives.
1. Galapagos Islands
Although a popular destination for seeing biodiversity at its purest, the Galapagos is under threat. In 2007 UNESCO deemed increasing human immigration and uncontrolled development of tourism as threatening the “outstanding value and physical integrity” of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Ecuadorian government sees the same problem, and last year raised the entrance fee to the park.
So where to go if you still want to see some of South America’s island biodiversity? The Islas Bellestas. Often called the Galapagos of Peru, Islas Ballestas is a natural reserve comprised of over 700,000 acres. In order to protect the wildlife, visitors are not allowed to land on the island, but you’re sure to spot sea lions, penguins, pelicans and a diverse array of bird species from the comfort of the boat. You’ll have much less of an impact but still get to see some amazing wildlife.
2. Antarctica
A pristine environment threatened by climate change, many travelers are flocking to Antarctica to see the continent up close before it’s too late. But the increase in tourists has not been beneficial for Antarctica. Over 45,000 people visited Antarctica in the s2008, up from 10,000 a decade ago.
An increased number of tourists has meant increased methods of travel, and cruise ships pose a significant concern to the continent and its surroundings. After the MS Explorer cruise ship sank in 2007, leaving a diesel stain five kilometers in diameter, the countries of the Antarctic Treaty came together and decided to limit tourism to the region by controlling the size of cruise ships and the number of tourists taken ashore in order to prevent environmental damage.
Check out the other four places on the list here.
[Photo: alh1]
blog.annabrones.com 