Discounts

Dealing with the poverty you see on your travels is quite traumatic. It is difficult to come to terms with what you see to understand it and accept it.

Eden Riley, an Australian blogger, recently went to Niger, Africa with World Vision and has been trying to come to terms with what she saw. I thought I would write her this letter to see if I can help.

Dear Eden,

I?ve quietly listened in the background since your recent trip to Africa with World Vision. I?ve not said much because I haven?t known quite what to say, even though I understand what you are going through.

I have struggled for years with some of the things I have seen on my travels around the world. I understand the darkness, the tears, the frustration and the helplessness.

I started this travel blog because I believe that the world we live in is so beautiful and the people so amazing.Most of the time I feel as if the world has gone mad and nobody really understands this. I thought if I could just make people see that no matter the colour of our skin, the way we walk or talk, or our religious beliefs, we are so similar and this is what we should focus on.

I thought I could inspire people to travel and get to know the world. They?d then see for themselves and the world would be different. Just like that.

I could change the world and bring peace.

Imagine.

The Complexities of the Problem

When you witness poverty and desperation, a fire inside of you begins to burn.  The ideas race in your brain as to how you can fix it. I know I could do this?. or this? if only I could just make people see the truth.

But it?s never that easy.

You return to your own life, and soon enough, even though you swore it wouldn?t, your own difficulties begin to take precedence.

You struggle to keep on top of yourself, how could you possibly change a socio-economic global imbalance and crises?

You struggle with those feelings of guilt. You struggle with dealing with how unfair life is. You struggle with fitting back into Western civilization.

You return to a world where people have boxes of crap they never use, who argue over trivial matters, complain endlessly, bitch constantly and ram you with trolleys in the supermarket because you blocked their way struggling to balance with a baby in one hand with a basket in the other.

You want to scream.

Are you kidding me?  Do you not understand how bad people have it? You have fresh drinking water and you have two arms and two legs. You don?t have to steal, or worse, kill in order to make sure that your children are fed. You never have to reach that desperate point of survival instinct when you choose your own life over your child.

Wake up and be grateful.

People don?t understand because they have not had the first hand sensory experience. They hear the stories on TV and they want to make a difference and they do the best they can, but often they forget because soon their own relevant world becomes too complex and difficult.

It?s almost impossible to change people from the outside, which is why travel can bring about profound changes from within a person. The first hand experience seeps within your soul changing everything about yourself, just like you have discovered with your journey in Africa.

Our choice is: Do I let the memories haunt me or do I try to find a way to bring something positive from it?

My haunting memories

I was enjoying another glorious day on Nha Trang Beach, Vietnam. A jangling sound beside me disrupted my peace and I peered over the corner of my book.

A small man stood at the end of my beach chair squinting up at me. He was grasping a change bag with stubby fingers that protruded from his shoulder blades.

He had no arms and no legs.

I could not move or speak.

That was in 99. I saw him again in 03 doing the same thing in the same place.

He haunts me, yes. But he helps me more.

Since that day he?s been my reminder that there is ALWAYS someone worse off than me and no matter how bad I think I have it there is someone in the world DESPERATE to have my life.

After seeing the devastation the Vietnam War left behind, I swore I would never in any shape or form support a war.

How could we do this to people? What is our fucking problem? Why are we so unkind, so destructive, so uncompassionate?

Why do we fight over differences? Why is this all that we see?

??

I saw so many heart wrenching things on my journey through Africa.

Malawi was the fourth poorest country in the world at the time we visited.  Once you see the smiles of the Malawian people and experience the warmth of a friendship they so willing extend to strangers you understand why it?s called the Warm Heart of Africa .

Being poor does not mean that your soul aches and is empty. You can choose to be happy and to make the most of the hand that has been dealt.

Lake Malawi, the third largest in Africa, borders the country. The water stretches way beyond the horizon and you swear you are standing on the coastline, not in the middle of a continent.

Gallons and gallons of available fresh water, yet I felt the tug of my shirt and the pleading eyes of a small child staring up at me asking me for water.

Drinking water.

Are you kidding me?

We shower in drinking water for Christ sakes.

Here was a nation that lived beside a freshwater lake and had no access to clean drinking water. AND WE SHOWER IN IT. What. the. fuck. is. wrong. with. our. world?

??

We sat on the beach of an evening with the local beach boys. They arrived with a chicken from their home pen. They used the lake to de-feather it, gut it and clean it before roasting it over hot coals. Just a bit further down those from the village bathed in it.

Thirsty and refusing to drink our clean bottled water, the boys took their cups and filled it with water from the lake and DRANK it.

I had to hold back the vomit that threatened to come gushing out of my mouth alongside of heaving sobs.

I struggled to dredge my heart back out from the bottom of that lake. Like you Eden, I was left haunted, afraid, angry, sad, and confused.

Why is our world like this? Why do I have so much and they so little?

Why can?t it be better?

How can we fix it?

When we look at problems so large scale like these we become lost in them and so frightened because it is beyond our capacity to fix them.

So what can we do?

Take the lessons, apply them to your own life and BE THE CHANGE YOU WISH TO SEE IN THE WORLD.

I can agonize over it, get angry, frustrated, sad and fight against it, but none of this will ever help solve the problem if I am not being the solution. I can?t just be it one day a week, or a month or in relation to a particular cause, religious dogma, or charitable organization.

I have to be it always.

We can never solve all the world?s problems.

But we can make a difference. Each and every one of us has the power within us to change the world, in the easiest way possible.

That power is to be the change.

Be the change you wish to see in the world.

I can?t change the fact that I was born here in Australia, a land of plenty, and those that haunt us were born in Africa, a land of so little.

I can never understand it either.

A twist of fate? An orchestrated plan whose purpose we will never know?

The whys will haunt you and plague you.

Wasting my tears and hours on trying to find the answers to these questions is fruitless.

All I can choose to do is to be better, to live my life fully and to be so grateful.

Yes. Africa (or travel) changes you. It causes you to look deep within yourself. It makes you question everything you?ve ever known and believed in.

Take with you the lessons

From the dusty village back roads of Cambodia, to the street stalls of Thailand, and the impenetrable forests of Uganda I shared many beautiful moments with those who were so less fortunate than me.

Yet were they?

Because despite their lack they were always so kind and so happy. Despite having so little they would share with me their meals, shove friends out of the way so I could be comfortable on difficult journeys on the backs of pickups, and adopt me as their child when I was sick, healing me with their home remedies.

My skin, my backpack, my ability to roam freely told them who I was. But they didn?t care.

Their eyes never held bitterness. They never spoke to me of jealousy or hatred. They didn?t steal from me, they never hurt me.

It was always kindness and love and so much laughter.

Their eyes showed me how lucky I was. Their smiles told me to be grateful. Their gentle touch asked me to spend every day making the most of my life. For them.

They would without a doubt do anything to trade places with me, but they still wished the very best for me.

Gratitude and living your best life

Sometimes I forget and bitch and moan about my life. Sometimes it takes days, or months, or sadly years before the ghosts reappear.

I hear the jingle of the coin bag and see the dark pleading eyes of a young girl speaking to me.

?I?d do anything to have your life for a second. Anything. You are lucky only because of the nature of your birth.

If I were you I would be kissing the ground in gratitude and embracing every single second of that life that most of us can only ever dream about. Be grateful. This is the best way you can honour us.?

My ghosts help me to remember that I have two arms and two legs and fresh drinking water. My problems are so bloody small and manageable.

I have no right to complain.

So I choose to spend every moment living life the best I can for them. I know how badly they want it so how dare I abuse that privilege?

I choose to work for a better world for them every day by being a better world.

My ghosts also help me in those moments when I see those who have more than me.. My thoughts turn to jealousy, insecurity and self-pity.

Once again I see the smiles, the kind eyes wishing the best for me always and the green envy evaporates.

I wish all the best for you. I am so happy that you have all of that what I want. You are so lucky. I would do anything to have what you have, but for whatever reason life is not choosing it to be so. So please live it fully for me. Don?t take it for granted, don?t whinge and complain, don?t be ungrateful because that is disrespecting those who would do anything to have what you have.

Honour the Ghosts

Those who struggle in Africa would change places with you in a heartbeat. They would give you all their poverty, all their hunger, their thirst and their pain, just so they could have your life.

So in honour of them, it is important that you make the most of your life, that for whatever reason you have been so graciously given.

This is one small , yet powerful and positive way we can give back and spread healing energy to our world.

We MUST do this without being plagued by feelings of guilt. We CAN do this without being plagued but feelings of guilt. We can life our most beautiful life and reach out a hand to help others at the same time.

Those who suffer would want nothing more than this for you too Eden because it is so desperately what they crave.

We can never change our world by being an outside force. There are too many things working against us.

We can however change our world by being better, by loving what we have been given, and by making the most of it.

Once we do this we are in a more powerful position to create solutions to our global problems.

So take those horrible memories Eden, take those soulful eyes that taught you so much and turn it into a positive and a gift.

What have they taught you?

To be more grateful? To choose happiness? To practice peace? To reach out a hand of compassion to all people? To donate and not fight against, but work towards? To spread the message? To be the voice? To make a difference?

Be all of these things. Let others know they can be too.

Otherwise the ghosts will haunt you even more than before.

Love and Peace

Caz
xx

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Arriving in a new city, I usually ride the local buses to get a feel of the place.

But on my first visit to Madrid, handicapped by limited time, I decided to take the tourist option and use the hop on hop off sightseeing bus. This highly visible red double-decker bus travels two routes ? the historic and the modern ? around the city.

Each trip takes around 45 minutes and provides a great overall of places and sights around Madrid. ?On boarding, you are given a red headset that you plug into the seat in front of you for a running commentary in the language of your choice. Be warned, though, not all plugs seem to work. It took me three seat changes before I found my commentator. Luckily, with very few passengers on this run, changing seats wasn?t a problem.

It sure made sightseeing around the city easy, allowing me to discover the location of places that I had previously only seen in pictures.

The bus travelled down the Calle Mayor to the Plaza Puerto del Sol, then on to the Atocha Train Station, stopping briefly at The Prado, skirting the Parque del Retiro and heading back toward the Palacio Real..

Sitting up top, on open air level of the bus, it sure was easy to look down onto the street and observe locals and tourists alike.

It?s a bit voyeuristic really.

I could watch people as they wandered along the streets, stopping at lights, and shopping for food and drink.

And from such an elevated location, there was also a much clear view of the buildings, and in particular the monuments and murals that seem to be commonplace along the streets of Madrid.

Along the way, I also learned some interesting things about buses and sightseeing?

-       getting a good photo shoot when the bus is moving is impossible.

-       whenever the bus stops, you can guarantee that the view will be either blocked, shadowed, or non-existant

-  ?     standing up when the bus is moving is not always a good idea.

-       sun burn and heat stroke is a good possibility when sitting in an open air bus.

On a month-long trip in Myanmar, you pass through a lot of strange doors and gates, entrances and exits. Here are some memorable ones from the author’s recent trip–at a time when the country is on the brink of great change…

This is no ordinary gate. It is the tall gate that leads to the house where one of the great heroes of our times lives: Nobel laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. “Daw Suu” as she is affectionately known by the Burmese, was locked away here under house arrest for more than 15 years?”a prisoner in her own country,” as she once put it. In November 2010, restrictions were lifted, and suddenly her iconic image (previously forbidden) was plastered all over the place: on posters displayed outside shops and houses, on T-shirts, on calendars.

On April 1st, 2012, important by-elections include the NLD, Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, for the first time in two decades. Two days before the elections, she has called a press conference at her lakeside home in Rangoon. Having caught wind of this, I show up–and am dismayed to find a long line-up of press people with big cameras–and press passes prominently displayed. I have no press pass. Indeed, I have no press ID at all. That’s a throw-back to the paranoid era, even a year earlier, when discovery of an unofficial visit by someone with any press affiliation would get you booted out of the country.

I am standing near the gate when it opens–and wave at the press officer, who recognizes me from a previous interaction when I donated some books to the cause. She calls me forward. And by this lucky turn of events, I am the first through the gate that morning. Gate-crashing! I sprint around the perimeter of the garden to stake out a position near the podium where Daw Suu will speak. In the background is the two-story house where she lives: it looks run-down, but I’m sure she has other things on her mind than painting the walls.

It is enthralling to be standing just a few feet away from a person whose courage–and perseverance in the face of extreme adversity–is legendary. A barrage of photographers and videographers home in on her, with camera flashes popping. “Just like Cannes!” says a French photographer.

Daw Suu speaks flawless English, with an Oxford accent. Responding to a question about the elections, she breaks into a smile and says, “We have unreasonable expectations. We’re going to be unreasonable.” She wants to win every seat in the by-elections. She’s been banging her head against a brick wall for 20 years and still she is unreasonable. Question: “On a democracy scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being idealist perfection, where does Burma stand today?”

“We are trying to get to number one,” she quips. As questioning wears on, she sits down, appearing tired. She is 66, and she has been on the road for the last few months, traveling the length and breadth of Burma, speaking at every opportunity, drawing massive crowds.

The Wrong Door
Let’s rewind a few weeks here. The normal mode of operation in Burma is when time is rolled back. Or turned upside-down. Burma is a classic riches to rags story. It was once the jewel of Asia, with a prosperous, thriving economy. Under military dictatorship, the last 60 years have seen the country isolated from the rest of the world, and battered economically with sanctions. Which has created Burma’s strange time warp; it’s out of sync with the rest of Asia.

One place you definitely do not want to experience a time warp is at an airport: as in riding some vintage Russian aircraft. I breathed a sigh of relief when I spotted an ATR-72 turbo-prop on the runway: the flight to Myitkyina. I have decided to take a plane from Rangoon as far north as I can, and head down the map by boat on the Irrawaddy River.

But on arrival in Myitkyina, I discover I cannot get out of the place overland except by train. Fighting with Kachin rebels has flared up, making the river and roads to the south unsafe to negotiate. The fighting has been going on sporadically for the last 60 years. More recently, Kachin rebels have delivered an ultimatum, telling Chinese dam-builders to cease and desist from destroying the environment and flooding Kachin villages. That call has been ignored, and so the fighting has resumed.

I take a short hop by plane to Bhamo, to the south, and launch on the Irrawaddy there, heading for Katha. Next problem: dry season. The river is at a record low, causing boats to get stranded on sandbars–which requires everyone to evacuate to dry land so the vessel can be dislodged.

The scenery is nothing special: the trip highlight is actually rubbing shoulders with Burmese people: men chewing betel-nut, women with cheeks coated in thanakha (home-made sunscreen and moisturizer), cigar-smoking wizened old women. And youth experiencing the joy of acquiring their first cellphone. The price of a cellphone SIM card has plummeted from US$2,500 to just US$200. A bargain! For people poor as church mice, a SIM card is now a possibility, though the price tag represents over a month’s wages.

Continue to Page 2

Adopt a pet for less this month

May 14th, 2012, 3:06 am · · posted by Marla Jo Fisher, Staff Writer

This is a guest post by Ian from Eager Existence.

For many years Europe has been popular amongst the travel crowd and backpacker circuit, but the assumption is always travel in the West.

Is it because of pop culture and plenty of media coverage; or simply ease of getting around, communicating in English, and a common currency? Many have no ambition to travel to the East; when really, why not?

So where exactly is Eastern Europe?

It?s in the East, right? But where do you draw the line exactly?

Back in the Cold War days, defining the borders of Eastern Europe was easy; it was made up of all the communist countries on the other side of the Iron Curtain. Nowadays, it depends where you get your information. For me, Eastern Europe is everywhere east of the Adriatic Sea and west of Asia-Minor (the West side of Istanbul).

Just having the geographical North, East, South, and West makes life easier. Wikipedia suggests Belarus, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, and Ukraine as Eastern Europe. So where does that leave Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, Hungary, Serbia, and Slovenia? You get the idea; let?s just say Eastern Europe is in the East.

Eastern Europe is not as unsafe as you might think. The people are genuine and friendly, things cost less, it?s easy enough to get around, there?s plenty of history and geographic diversity.

However, for the first-time traveller, travel there requires a little more flexibility (and perhaps planning) than Western Europe; but overall it makes it an excellent region for travel.

Safety

Hollywood movies would have you believe that Eastern Europe is an extremely dangerous place. But in all honesty, it?s no more dangerous than anywhere else you?d travel. I think it?s a fear of the unknown that has the majority of people avoiding travel in the region.

I travelled Eastern Europe (mostly) solo, and didn?t have any trouble at all. In fact, it was North Africa and Western Europe where I had troubles with scammers and thieves.

If you are really concerned, there are several well-known travel techniques to keeping yourself safe. If it?s your first time in the region, consider following the advice of a local tourist bureau, not because it?s unsafe, but because it?s quite different to the travel you?re used to.

Further Reading: Safety in the Ukraine: Avoiding Theft and Personal Danger

Culture & History

Eastern Europe has the geography, weather, and history you?d want to experience when travelling.

Bulgaria has the Cyrillic alphabet, and the Black Sea coast. I can recommend Plovdiv, Sofia, and Veliko Tarnovo.

Croatia has the beautiful blue oceans, the cliffs, and islands; as well as Roman ruins. Zadar is magical, and Vis will always hold a special place in my heart. Split, Dubrovnik, and Hvar are touristy, but definitely worth a visit.

Czech Republic is the beer drinking capital. But it also has beautiful historical centres like Cesky Krumlov.

Hungary has Budapest (and the Roman Baths), is completely land-locked, and has the Hungarian Sea (Lake Balaton). I spent a summer on the lake (CouchSurfing with a Grandmother) during an annual wine festival, and had one of the best summers of my life.

Eastern Europeans are friendly, warm, and still curious about foreigners. It?s not uncommon to be invited into someone?s home for a meal. I?ve met many backpackers and hitch hikers with stories of genuine hospitality and concern for their welfare.

Each country has unique cultural traditions, influences, and historical experiences.

Further Reading: The Day I held the Iron Curtain in my Hand via @insidetravellab

Challenging

Perhaps the greatest challenges you will face in your travels are the language barriers. I managed to get lost in Hungary when the clerk at the train station put me on the wrong train.

Miscommunication is somewhat common practice, but makes for great travel tales later. The fact that many places are off the backpacker circuit means that hundreds of thousands of tourists haven?t been there before you. It just means that all those little things like catching the bus, buying a meal, meeting locals, and navigating your way around become more of an adventure.

Further Reading: How to Hop Around Language Barriers via @traveldudes

Less Tourists

One of the biggest draw cards to Eastern European travel would have to be the lack of Western tourists. In many places you can move around freely without hearing English chatter, except for the hostels and bars obviously.

It?s a great ?off the beaten path? feeling when you have to try and communicate with broken English or the local language. However, there are still a few well-trodden tourist places like Split and Dubrovnik in Croatia, Krakow in Poland, and Istanbul in Turkey.

Further Reading: (listening) Why You Should Visit Eastern Europe Now via @FrommersTravel

Getting Around

Flying into Eastern Europe is fairly straightforward, with budget airlines servicing major cities. Once there, train travel is a great low-cost option; although not everywhere supports the high speed Eurail network ? so check before using Eurail passes. But, local trains are many and very cheap. You can check Eastern Europe train schedules on the German Train site DB Bahn.

Buses are also frequent and low-cost.

Further Reading: A Guide to Booking Travel in Eastern Europe via @WomanSeeksWorld

Budget

If you are a student, or if you have a student ID, many museums and other attractions in Eastern Europe offer a student discount when an ID is presented.

Remember, Eastern European countries aren?t on the Euro (except Greece), so you have to make use of currency exchanges. Be sure to protect yourself and your finances by going to official exchanges, but avoid using airports and hotels (they charge a higher exchange rate).

Do your research first, and establish the rates & all costs before handing over your cash. Either spend all your cash, or exchange it before leaving the country.

Most of Eastern Europe is still relatively cheap to travel through compared to the West.

Further Reading: The Cost of Traveling Far-Eastern Europe via @NomadicMatt

The Global Village

The number one reason to get to Eastern Europe now, is that the world is shrinking at a phenomenal rate. It?s not westernized yet, but who knows in a few years from now? Cities in the East are growing, and rural areas are becoming urbanized.

You?ll find Internet cafes common-place, McDonald?s here-and-there, but for the most part you can still find great off-the-beaten-track destinations.

I remember walking down the street in Hvar, I approached people asking for rooms to rent, and pretty soon found a great 3 bedroom place overlooking the town at a very reasonable price (less than a dorm bed in the West). Approaching locals for accommodation is not so common place in Western Europe, with the abundance of hostels and campsites.

Bio: Ian is a 20-something year old guy who gave up his career and mortgage for solo long-term travel. He travelled extensively across Europe for a year before heading onward to North Africa. Catch him on Facebook and his travel blog Eager Existence.

* images credit 1, 2, 3, 5, 7.

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It doesn?t always work out as expected, but there is something compelling about trying to build a Utopian community; one that has an answer for most or all of the problems inherent in housing and supporting groups of human beings.

A combination of thoughtful design and consideration of basic requirements like food, water, health care, education, transportation, etc. are the hallmarks of such projects.

The remnants of many in the US survive today ? the Hancock Shaker Village in Massachusetts, the Amana Colonies in Iowa, the Oneida community in New York and the Harmony Historic District in Pennsylvania. I get a little Utopian/New Urbanism buzz every time I drive through Austin?s Mueller complex ? a former municipal airport turned into a planned community with many amenities and thoughtful design to make it as livable as possible.

South of Chicago, Illinois, George Pullman of the Pullman Palace [Railroad] Car Company wanted to build a model industrial town for his thousands of employees.  In less than four years (by 1884) over 1,000 homes and public buildings had sprung to life in 4,000 acres next to Lake Calumet.  In 1896 it was named ?world?s most perfect town? at the Prague International Hygienic and Pharmaceutical Exposition (an odd place to win an urban planning prize, but no matter?.)

The dream came crashing down for a variety of reasons, mostly that Pullman insisted on charging his employees the same amounts for housing even as he cut their wages because of the 1893 economic crash. Anger and frustration resulted in the infamous 1894 Pullman railroad strike and riots.

Today, what makes the Pullman Historic District different from other historic Utopian places is that, although the Pullman business is defunct, the community itself lives on. Hundreds of people still live in those carefully planned homes. You can buy one if you want to, and at pretty good prices these days because the ongoing real estate mess and foreclosures have hit Pullman just like everywhere else.

In a walking tour of the Pullman District led by tour guides who live there, here are some of the places we saw:

There are homeowner codes for the houses to insure historic accuracy, especially in the front, but they are not so draconian that this owner wasn?t able to have a purple stairway to heaven?.

This house had a discreet ?Honey for Sale? sign in the front window, and I loved the tidy little bee houses in back.

This is the Hotel Florence, a swank lodging confection named for Pullman?s daughter, Florence. It had the only bar in the town, and only visitors could drink there. Its renovation is being funded by the state of Illinois as part of the Pullman State Historic Site; I?d love to stay there when it?s finished (hopefully they?ll re-open the bar.)

The 1882 Steere and Turner ?Opus #170? manual tracker organ (1,260 pipes of all sizes) in the District?s Greenstone Church. Players must wear ballet slippers to protect the pedals.

Disclosure: I was hosted on this visit by the Chicago Southland CVB (Convention and Visitors Bureau) which covered my fee to take the walking tour. Special thanks to CVB staff member Scott Bort, who ruthlessly kept us to a tight schedule so that I could see as much as possible during a short visit. I raise a Flossmoor Pullman Brown Ale to him!

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