If the whole family’s involved, there can be more to Cancun than one might think:

http://www.budgettravel.com/bt-dyn/content/article/2009/10/03/AR2009100303436.html?cnn=yes

… From Travel Educator Bob Fisher

… a podcast with Graeme Calder

To listen to this podcast, click here.

Culture and Permaculture

Culture is one of the prime reasons we travel. And travel as a unique human behaviour — as well as a concept — is always a process. Despite the perceptions of the traveller, the dynamic of travel is rarely an  isolated or one-dimensional event.

In the world of travel and tourism we often talk about intercultural understanding, and travel as a means of achieving universal aims and objectives.

Permaculture is also a conceptual and pragmatic way of interacting productively with the many “systems” inherent in the universe and in human communities. It is therefore a philosophical endeavour, a mindset, but above all it is a common sense approach to land management.

It is also not difficult to draw parallels between the Permaculture movement and the travel and tourism industry, given especially the regeneration of the Heritage Movement in which a return to a grassroots and meaningful form of travel is emphasized.

In addition, the increasing emphasis on responsible tourism (often referred to as green tourism or sustainable tourism) is also for many people a preferred method of travel which follows similar principles and ethics to that of the Permaculture movement.

Permaculture emphasizes the designing of human settlements and sustainable agricultural systems which in turn reflect the natural relationships found in the universe. The movement began as an agricultural phenomenon and quickly became an international movement, and for many a way of life.

Increasingly in the world of travel journalism — a corollary “system” to travel and tourism — many are also striving to go beyond the “Where’s the beach?” school of solely consumer-oriented travel. By emphasizing the advantages of a more integrated, reciprocal, and participatory approach to travel, the travel experience is re-affirmed as the most experiential form of learning.

And as you will hear Graeme Calder explain in this podcast, there are many opportunities throughout the world to “travel” in a Permaculture mode.

Statistical footnote

According to a recent Yahoo Travel/Forbes Traveler.com article, the essence of Permaculture is also statistically consistent with travellers who want a “big trip, low impact” travel experience.

“Along those lines, sustainable and eco-friendly tourism are also on the rise–and affecting people’s travel decisions. A survey conducted by the U.S. Travel Association and Ypartnership in July 2009 shows a 9% increase from 2007 in awareness of “green travel.” Six in 10 respondents in the same survey said they believed environmental programs at travel services could have a positive impact on the environment.

The general idea of such an excursion involves minimizing harmful effects on the environment and making sure the money tourists spend in a country stays there. For example, tourists stay at local accommodations and participate in fair trade, buying goods directly from the makers.”

To read more go to “World’s most unique places to visit” by Becky Chung.

Permaculture Resources

Pacific Permaculture

The Permaculture Research Institute of Australia

The Montréal Bisophere

The Green Barn Nursery

The Permaculture Guild of Montreal

Earthship Biotecture

The 9th International Permaculture Conference

“Common Circle Education – Permaculture Design Course” (Youtube)

“Permaculture in Action – Greening The Desert” (Youtube)

From Travel Educator Bijan C. Bayne

There are learning adventures in Southern Spain:

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TRAVEL/getaways/10/20/ronda.spain.travel/index.html

… From Travel Educator Bob Fisher

Jeroen Bechtold is a ceramic artist that I have had the pleasure of meeting, interviewing, and writing about.

His new series “15 Claims” which focuses on Climate Change is a remarkable work that accomplishes many artistic and human objectives.

For more information, visit:

Jeroen Bechtold Ceramics, Amsterdam, NL

See also…

The Virtual and Other Realities of Jeroen Bechtold

and

Jeroen Bechtold: A Dutch Ceramist in China, Australia … and Red Deer!

From Travel Educator Bijan C. Bayne

The D.R. beyond the beach:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TRAVEL/getaways/09/25/santo.domingo.tourism/index.html

… From Travel Journalist Julia Bayly

WHITEHORSE, Yukon Territory – Ah, to be a dog in Frank Turner and Anne Taylor’s Muktuk Kennel, a place where all 130 four-legged team members have the best of every possible world.

Part racing kennel and part adventure-tour camp, Muktuk is all heart and there are few better ambassadors for the sport of mushing than two-time Yukon Quest winner Turner and his dogs.

It’s a bright sunny summer day in the Yukon and the mercury in the thermometer is flirting with 80-degrees Fahrenheit. Hot for the dozen or so tourists who have come to experience an afternoon at a real working sled dog kennel, and certainly hot for the dogs.

Relief is on the way however and the guests are about to get their first look at sled dogs in action.

Working with an international team of volunteers and guides, Muktuk handler Manuela Albicker – herself a native of Germany – unclips 10 huskies who instantly streak out of the yard and down a well-worn path to the Takhini River about a half-mile away.

With a few stops to mark a favorite bush or a bit of rough and tumble with each other, the dogs lead the way and lunge full tilt into the water.

“This is a good way for them to cool off and to socialize,” Albicker explains as the guests snap pictures. “Of course, they know to come to me because I have the treats,” she adds, tapping a pouch hanging from her belt.

“They don’t fight with each other?” one guest asks, as the dogs splash past.

Albicker shrugs. “We do a lot of work with them like this so they establish a kind of pecking order,” she said.

But typical of sled dogs, a moment later two of the huskies seemed intent on contradicting her and entered into a minor tussle with a few growls and were instantly separated by Albicker.

“That’s why we carry these,” she said, holding up a leash and clipping on to the collars of one of the dogs while an assistant clipped on to the second dog.

It’s all part of the up close and personal learning philosophy behind Turner’s tours.

“This is just awesome and he’s such a wealth of information,” Linda Steckley of Green Coast, Florida, said. “I’m learning none of this is as easy as it looks.”

Steckley, her husband and four of their fellow Floridians were spending the afternoon at Muktuk taking part in the kennel’s Taste of the Yukon Tour.

One of five summer “mini-tours” offered at Muktuk, the Taste of the Yukon is an in-depth introduction to sled dogs, the Yukon Quest and includes an authentic northern barbeque of Arctic char, bison, caribou and elk compliments of Taylor.

In addition to the free run with the dogs to the river, Turner offers a hands-on demonstration of the equipment and gear needed to mush during a Yukon winter and plenty of time to interact with the dogs and a new litter of 8-week-old puppies.

“We are really learning how much love he has for his dogs,” Steckley said. “The dogs are so energetic and rambunctious.”

Jean Slody of Port Charlotte, Florida, agreed.

“People always tell you these (sled) dogs are happy but I really didn’t believe it until I saw it,” Slody said. “I can’t get over how you can go up to any one of these dogs and they come up to you like you are their long lost friend.”

That’s exactly how Turner likes it.

“It’s really funny,” he said. “You know what these dogs can go through on the trail but they really just want to be couch potatoes.”

In fact, clients taking part in the over night mushing adventure tours have the option of bringing dogs into the guest cabins with them.

During the winter months Muktuk’s winter packages range from the Rookie Ranch for novice mushers wanting to give the sport a try to the Spring Camping Tours in which the serious musher follows a traditional trail from Aklavik to Herschel Island in the Arctic.

Turner also has a Quest Trail Tour that follows the same route as the Yukon Quest.

“That’s a great trip to get some inside perspective on the Quest,” Turner said.

It’s a trail he knows well, and not just because it passes within a mile of his kennel.

A veteran of 24 Yukon Quests, Turner was in the first running of that race in 1984. Ten years later, he won the race and successfully defended that win in 1995.

While justifiably proud of the back-to-back victories, it’s the two Aleyska Vet’s Choice Awards he picked up in 1991 and again in 2001 he really treasures.

“The trophies get rusty and the money gets spent,” Turner said. “But that mutual support you have with the dogs never goes away.”

That’s why it’s “dogs first” at Muktuk Kennel.

“I’ll never do anything to compromise the dogs’ health or safety just because someone paid me money,” Turner said. “Mushing is not about going out to prove something. If that’s what you want, go bungee jumping.”

With 130 dogs, it’s easy for Turner to field both competitive Quest teams and gentler teams fit for a rookie.

“Most of the competitive dogs go toward the Quest team,” he said. “But just because a dog can’t race doesn’t mean it’s not a good dog and they can go on our tour teams.”

Turner’s racing days are now behind him and Albicker is training the new racing stock.

She had intended to run the Yukon Quest 300 last year, but a foot injury forced her to abandon those plans. Now she’s aiming for this year.

“A dog team isn’t a random group of dogs,” Turner said. “Each dog has its different strength (and) it’s kind of like puzzle where you try to fit all the pieces together.”

For their part the dogs, Turner said, are intuitive creatures who get to know the different mushers – whether rookies or experienced – fairly quickly.

“If the dogs could talk they’d tell you the best thing about the person behind them on the sled is trust. The treats are nice and pats are on the head are nice, but it’s really about the trust,” Turner said.

Clients are each assigned their own team of dogs from the Muktuk kennel and learn everything that goes along with proper sled dog care from feeding to booting to trail etiquette and commands.

There is perhaps no greater testament to Turner’s marketing skills than the fact people pay him to shovel dog poop.

His most popular tour is the six or eight day rookie ranch where beginners start out with a guide but are soon driving their own teams on overnight expeditions in the Yukon wilderness.

Turner noted because Muktuk is a relatively small operation, it’s easy to tailor trips and tours to individuals and small groups.

“As well as learning about the dogs people learn about themselves,” Turner said. “They learn how to channel stress because if you just get mad when the dogs don’t do what you want them to do, you’ve blown it and you’re not sending good messages to the dogs.”

As far as Turner is concerned, his dogs can run on a team for as long as they want, even if it’s only for a mile.

“We have some dogs that we are focusing on strictly for the Quest and some that are strictly for tours,” Turner said. “But as long as a dog wants to pull we try to create a team for that dog.”

There are currently 24 retired dogs at Muktuk living out their lives between the kennel and guest cabins.

For Turner, each and every dog is a lifetime commitment.

“We never cull in our kennel and don’t place or sell dogs very often,” he said. “We give the older dogs palliative care because as long as a dog is eating, drinking, mobile and not in discomfort we believe they deserve to be well looked after in their retirement.

“A lot of people say it’s so nice I have old dogs,” Turner said. “But we get so much from them and I learn so much from them, the least I can do is make them comfortable when they are done running.”

Turner recalled his early days of mushing in the 1970s when whips and fear were the motivators in a race.

“Now we work with the dogs,” he said. “If you take care of them and give it your best effort, they will, too.”

Turner and his guides explain all this at the start of each tour and he said most of the clients get it, but every so often there’s an exception.

“If a problem comes up on the trail between a client and the dogs I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and re-explain the rules,” Turner said. “But if it happens a third time we turn around and come back and that’s it.”

In the years Turner has offered his tours that has only happened once.

“His philosophy is not just for the dogs but it’s for people, too,” Steckley said.

“His whole personality just transfers to the dogs,” Slody added.

“You have to love dogs, nature and the wilderness to do this,” Turner said. “But for the people who come up here we do our best to make this an educational and fun experience.”

Muktuk offers adventure tours year-round ranging in price from the informal $15 self guided summer tour to 10-day camping trip starting at $2,600.

Complete information is available through his website at www.muktuk.com

•

Julia Bayly is a freelance writer-photographer and musher living in Fort Kent, Maine. She can be reached at jmbayly@fairpoint.net.

•

Julia is also a professional photographer and has taught the art form. Below is a series of her “mushing” photographs.

… From Travel Educator Susan McKee

I write a regular blog – Road Trips for Foodies – so I’m always sniffing out indigenous cooking. On a trip last July to the Yukon Territory of Canada, I was wandering past the Dänojà Zho Cultural Centre in Dawson City when the delicious aroma of bannock caught my attention. What’s a traditional Scottish treat doing up in the Yukon Territory?

The building, owned by the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in, a First Nations people of the region, houses a museum and gathering areas. I was headed there to see an exhibit called “Stitching First Nation Society Together”. Because indoor tasks are best suited for a long, cold winter, beading and other forms of stitchery are popular in the northern reaches of Canada. Leather jackets with embellished yokes, boots with elaborate cuffs and snuggly baby bags with fanciful flowers were on display.

But…the bannock lured me back outside. The young woman cooking the bread explained that the foodstuff was brought to Canada in the mid-1880s by Scots working for the Hudson’s Bay Company. Because it was so easy to cook and transport, it became popular among the hunters and trappers (who spent many months traveling) and was quickly adopted by the native First Nations people.

The Scottish bannocks of the 19th century were heavy, flat cakes of unleavened barley or oatmeal dough formed into a round or oval shape, then cooked on a griddle. Bannock, however, is an Old English word of Celtic origin, said to derive from panicium, a Latin word for baked goods. Its first use was recorded at the turn of the first millennium.

Whether the Yukon’s bannock came from Scotland, or was an adaptation of the typical fry bread made by indigenous peoples on both sides of the U.S./Canadian border, it doesn’t really matter to Road Trip Foodies (it’s the eating we love best).

Here’s the recipe I copied down in Dawson City:

3 cups flour

2 level teaspoons baking powder

4 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

Preheat some cooking oil in a frying pan. Mix together with about 3 cups of water, stirring until the batter is smooth. Scoop a large spoonful of dough into the frying pan and flatten it. Cook, turning once, until both sides are golden brown. Serve with “butter, jam or anything else that would go great with bannock”.

If you’re ready to go to Dawson City, start your planning here. (www.dawsoncity.ca).

•

You can see more of what Susan McKee has written about food at Road Trips for Foodies.

From Travel Educator Bijan C. Bayne

My colleague, Fulbright Scholar Dr. Kyi May Kaung, has translated her recent Voice of America interview from Burmese:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvlXLXpQP8E

Thank you to VOA, U Win Pe and videographer Ko Panthee (U Win Pe’s son).

Informal summary:

UWP:  In the USA where there are so many strong(artistic)influences, poet, political scientist and economist Dr. Kyi May Kaung has managed to forge her own artistic vision, resisting those influences.

KMK:  There is the influence of all the paintings I have been looking at my whole life, but I am not a graduate of the (State)School of Fine Arts in Burma, although as a child, famous artists U San Win and others taught me some basics at home.

UWP:  Since you are also a poet, what would you say is the connection between poetry and visuals in your art work?

KMK:  At the time I was painting these pictures,I did not think there was any connection.  Most of these, such as the Saffron Revolution ones, I was painting while the events were happening in Burma, to calm my own mind. I wanted poetry to be poetry and painting to be painting, not one illustrating the other, but integrated into a cohesive work of art.

But now that I think of it, there must be some connection. For instance, as the monks walk forwards, the lotus for instance is about 6′ tall and the banyan leaf is too big, and the monks walk (over water) on (a raft of) bones. So there must be some poetic metaphor in this.

(Other picture not shown — of Nargis survivors, are the birds so big and puffed up because they have fed on the dead?)

UWP — holding up collage “Newspeak” — how would you describe this kind of work in Burmese?

KMK:  Well, it’s a collage, 3D collage (made from trash or found objects.)

In the eye, there is a photograph of (former Military Intelligence chief) Bohmu Khin Nyunt (purged in 2004).  There are also the 5 points that must appear in the front of every published book (in Burma) –”oppose the destructionists, etc.”

Famous writer George Orwell lived for some time in Burma and invented the term “newspeak.”  That’s why I named it Newspeak.

Informal transcript, notes and translation — Kyi May Kaung 9-17-09

… From Travel Educator Bob Fisher

The annual World Congress of the World Federation of Journalists and Travel Writers (FIJET) will take place in Shanghai in October 2009

There is little doubt that human beings are a migratory species. However, even though most of us moved beyond the transient stage in our evolution and “settled down” in permanent communities – in which our diverse cultures soon began to take root – many of us continued, of necessity, to migrate throughout the world.

There are of course many historical, economic, and sociological reasons why human culture (in its various hues and shades) continued to spread far from and beyond the initial “borders” in which it developed; but history shows how these migrations also contributed to the mosaic of other indigenous cultures, and to human culture in general.

As we look to the near future, and our FIJET Congress in Shanghai, it is perhaps worthwhile attempting to get an overview of the enormous contributions that Chinese culture has made to global culture – and to many of our individual national cultures.

The numbers speak for themselves

Worldwide, there are an estimated 40,000,000 “Overseas Chinese.” These are people of Chinese birth or descent; and we must not forget the additional numbers of individuals of partial Chinese ancestry who may also consider themselves as belonging to the Chinese diaspora.

The latter term, by the way, is from the Greek and means dispersion. It also has connotations of forced exile, and a collective migration out of the traditional homeland. Also implied in the term is the immigrant experience of living as a minority in a majority culture.

In many nations around the world, this minority cultural experience has often been the norm for Overseas Chinese, and a significant hardship. In Canada for example, where I live, people of Chinese descent are the largest non-European ethnic origin in our nation today; and the fifth largest of any ethnic origin in Canada other than English or French. Most were also born outside Canada. In fact, when you include all Chinese dialects and the two principal languages of Mandarin and Cantonese, Chinese is the third largest mother tongue in Canada after English and French.

But we have a number of skeletons in the Canadian historical closet, one of them being the Chinese Head Tax. Although Chinese workers (male primarily) were the main immigrant group that built our transcontinental railway – the “national dream” that united Canada east to west and was one of the most important factors in our becoming an independent nation – the head tax was first imposed when the Canadian Government passed the Chinese Immigration Act of 1885 whose purpose was to discourage Chinese from entering Canada once the railway was completed.

A blatant example of discrimination, it took until June 22, 2006 for the Canadian government to issue a formal apology (via our current Prime Minister Steven Harper) to the Chinese Canadian community for the prejudicial use of a head tax and the exclusion of Chinese immigrants to Canada. In his speech to Parliament he said, “… we fully accept the moral responsibility to acknowledge these shameful polices of our past.”

And although people of Chinese descent are the communicators of one of the world’s greatest cultures, many have experienced similar negative experiences elsewhere on the planet. For reasons that are of course complex but nonetheless problematic, Chinese culture – which is often highly misunderstood in terms of its extraordinary diversity – the cultural “gifts” that the Chinese people collectively have contributed to human society may be unparalleled.

Integration and heritage preservation

The Chinese people have always been a migratory culture. As early as the Ming Dynasty they were exploring trade opportunities in the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean. Different waves of emigration (and subsequently immigration) followed to regions as diverse as North America, Oceania, the Caribbean, Latin America, South Africa, Russia, and Southeast Asia. In the 19th century, the age of colonialism was at its height and the many multinational colonies far from their cultural homelands required labourers, and China often supplied a pool of such workers. These people of course were most often economic refugees and frequently they worked in backbreaking and dangerous jobs such as the building of railroads and mining. This, as I have indicated, was how Canada’s transcontinental railways completed the east-west natural flow of which the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes were the first stage in the longest freshwater waterway to the interior of the North American continent.

As economic refugees, these migrant Chinese struggled long and hard to improve their lives and to successfully integrate into the “host” nation. This was not always easy as racism and other forms of discrimination often relegated them to the status of second class citizens. However, as difficult as their lives were overseas (often living isolated existences; for example along the route of the aptly named Canadian Pacific Railway where even today you can find small Chinese businesses in the smallest of communities) what they did manage to do was to hang on to their culture. And as we all know, language is the core of any culture. In many ways the Chinese who emigrated throughout the world became role models for preserving thousands of years of history and art, while at the same time contributing to infrastructure-building far from “home.” And they continued to speak Chinese.

Subsequent historic events both slowed and precipitated further emgiration. Following challenges posed by emigration regulations in the 1950s, the first steps to the transformation of Hong Kong from a British colony to a Chinese territory began in 1984. New waves of emigration began again but slowed by 1997 when China reclaimed sovereignty over the colony.

And as we now know, China has emerged (along with India) as one of the most important “business partners” in the global marketplace, especially in certain countries of Africa where development is the highest priority. The entry (or re-entry) of China as a major player in the global economy has also led to a renewed interest in all things Chinese, especially in the field of the arts. However, as is the case with any national group that leaves its cultural homeland, the Chinese have assimilated to a lesser or greater extent into the mainstream culture of the host nation. But assimilation can be a two-way street.

While assimilating and accommodating themselves to their overseas adopted nations, the Chinese also contribute to the overal “persona” of the host nation’s culture. And as we travel journalists know full well, human culture is not a static entity; it is dynamic and constantly evolving. What is interesting however, and this would appear to be global phenomenon, is that cultural diversity, multiculturalism, and the transcending of borders (both geographical, cultural, and conceptual) is becoming the new mainstream. This is especially true, for example, in Toronto which many people consider to be the the most multicultural city on the North American continent.

A question of identity

In my belief, one of the strongest attributes of travel journalists is our ability to identify with “the other.” Like all skills, this ability to relate comes with practice; with frequently “getting up close and personal” with the subject matter. In our business, that subject matter is human culture. And at this point I would like to leave the last word to Margaret Mead, the well-known American anthropolgist who said:

“If we are to achieve a richer culture, rich in contrasting values, we must recognize the whole gamut of human potentialities, and so weave a less arbitrary social fabric, one in which each diverse gift will find a fitting place.”

………………………………
Three Interesting and Related Resources

Chinatown Europe: An Exploration of Chinese Identity in the 1990s
The Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Toronto
World Tourism Day

FIJET (Fédération Internationale des Journalistes et Écrivains du Tourisme/World Federation of Journalists and Travel Writers) is an official member of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

The American South at once calls up scenery, slavery, and its Spanish, French and Scotch-Irish settlement. Its Native American past is largely unsung, its music and cuisine celebrated as uniquely American (despite Irish, creole, African, and Arcadian influnces). Travel Educator Kelly Westhoff looks among the live oaks for the lessons of stately St. Francisville, La:

http://www.gonomad.com/destinations/0909/louisiana-st-francisville.html