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July 15, 2010

12:00 am

Here’s an organization that’s working to promote peace by supporting American volunteerism in mostly-Muslim parts of the world. That’s a cause worth supporting!

And they have  announced an essay contest and a video contest. If I had done anything that qualified, I’d definitely enter this contest. The prizes are real ($2,000 for the 1st place video; $1,000 for the first place essay) and my guess is that there won’t be a huge number of competing entries. Deadline is July 15, 2010.

“America’s Unofficial Ambassadors  Read more... (427 words, 1 image, estimated 1:42 mins reading time)

A Village, or a Zoo? I Wanted to See Thailand’s Long-Necked Women. Some Would Say That Makes Me Part of the Problem.

“Almost any traveler who has ventured into nature or the developing world has to grapple with such moral dilemmas. Some people think it is cruel to swim with dolphins, because it forces the animals to be kept in captivity. Others refuse to visit authoritarian countries such as Zimbabwe, fearful that their tourist dollars will help prop up repressive regimes. And almost anyone wanting to catch a glimpse of an indigenous culture—in the rain forests of Ecuador or the yurts of Mongolia—has to be aware that the very presence of a foreigner likely alters and distorts typical native behavior.  Read more... (156 words, estimated 37 secs reading time)

If you travel to experience other cultures and expand your awareness, you may wonder how you can participate in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which has just begun. Here’s an article on Brave New Traveler by Joyce Hanson about 5 Ways a Traveler can Embrace Ramadan.

I enjoyed hearing Tim Cahill speak last night at the 18th annual Book Passage Travel Writers and Photographers Conference, where he let us in on the secret to travel writing. We all know the secret, right? Tim said. “Something goes wrong.” That’s what makes the story interesting.

What if nothing goes wrong? “Have a spiritual experience! Spirituality is the last resource for the travel writer.” As soon as I see that the author is going to have a spiritual experience, I know nothing is going to happen in the story.

Ha ha.

Other notes from Tim’s talk:  Read more... (501 words, estimated 2:00 mins reading time)

September 1, 2009

12:00 am

From Christy Quinto at Travelers’ Tales:

Travelers’ Tales is seeking submissions to its annual anthology of the greatest travel stories penned by women from around the world. Our books capture the full range of travel experiences: adventure, mysticism, humor, cross-cultural connection, transformation.

Story length can be anywhere from 1,000 to 5,000 words. Previously published pieces are fine, as long as you retain the copyright. Payment is $100 plus a free copy of the anthology. Author Stephanie Elizondo Griest will edit the collection.  Read more... (119 words, estimated 29 secs reading time)

Thanks to Diane LeBow for forwarding this press release:

For Immediate Release (August 13, 2009)

National Writers Union Opposes Settlement of Class-Action Lawsuit Against Google for Copyright Infringement

The National Writers Union today announced its opposition to the proposed $125 million settlement of a class-action copyright infringement lawsuit brought by writers and publishers against Google because its massive book-scanning project violated their copyrights.  Read more... (707 words, estimated 2:50 mins reading time)

When Travelers Take Too Many Risks is a series of articles from the NYT inspired by the recent incidents in which “reckless” American travelers were detained after illegally entering North Korea and Iran. The articles present a range of thoughtful—and thought-provoking—opinions, including these:

• While Americans are celebrating the return of journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling after four months of captivity in North Korea, there’s also been an inevitable backlash. Some commentators have suggested that their actions — and the pardons apparently negotiated in exchange for a visit by President Clinton — have jeopardized U.S. strategic interests….

  Whatever the particulars of these two cases, the argument misses the broader point. We as a society benefit enormously from the work of U.S. journalists who travel to remote and dangerous places and report back on what they see.  Read more... (396 words, estimated 1:35 mins reading time)

Thanks to Diane LeBow for sending the link to this article by Thomas Friedman about the importance of education, in Afghanistan and elsewhere. (Diane has traveled extensively in Afghanistan, and is writing about her experiences there.)

Teacher, Can We Leave Now? No.
by Thomas Friedman for the NYT

I confess, I find it hard to come to Afghanistan and not ask: Why are we here? Who cares about the Taliban? Al Qaeda is gone. And if its leaders come back, well, that’s why God created cruise missiles.  Read more... (925 words, estimated 3:42 mins reading time)

Thanks to Jim Land for sending along this inspirational message from Paul Hawken:

Paul Hawken is a longtime friend of CharityFocus, renowned entrepreneur, visionary environmental activist, founder of Wiser Earth and author of many books—most recently Blessed Unrest. He was recently presented with an honorary doctorate of humane letters by University of Portland, when he delivered this superb commencement address to the class of 2009.

University of Portland, May 3rd, 2009

When I was invited to give this speech, I was asked if I could give a simple short talk that was “direct, naked, taut, honest, passionate, lean, shivering, startling, and graceful.” Boy, no pressure there.  Read more... (1805 words, estimated 7:13 mins reading time)

From Janice Cook Newman: Just posted the first essay from one of my students in the Afghan Women Writers Project. It’s heartbreaking & lovely. Read it, and please help spread the word. We want to get these women’s voices out there.

“When I was child I wished to be a doctor like my uncle, who wears a white shirt and everyday checks on lots of ill people. But one day, all of my wishes were destroyed. It was the day the Taliban came to our country, Afghanistan…”

[And, from your editor, Laurie McAndish King: I'm experimenting with using Apture links in this post. If you click on Janice's name above, there should be three related links. Try it!]  Read more... (123 words, 2 images, estimated 30 secs reading time)

Here’s a link to Randy Cohen’s New York Times column, The Moral of the Story. Interesting because he considers the ethical implications of international adoption. And of adoption by Madonna. Also because he’s not only an ethics writer, but has also “written humor articles, essays and stories for numerous newspapers and magazines. His first television work was writing for “Late Night With David Letterman,” for which he won three Emmy Awards. His fourth Emmy was for his work on “TV Nation.” He received a fifth Emmy as a result of a clerical error, and he kept it. For two years, he wrote and edited News Quiz for Slate, the online magazine.” No worries, apparently, about his writing falling into a niche and getting stuck.

Editor’s Note: Here is an open letter from Rita Golden Gelman, whose goal is to “make the Gap Year experience of living in another culture, preferably in the developing world, an accepted and popular practice in the U.S., not just a luxury for the elite.”

I think this is a laudable goal, and would be an enormous help in bringing world peace through increased cross-cultural understanding. This is a long post, but please read it if you—or someone you know—could contribute in even the smallest way towards making it happen. You can reach Rita at femalenomad@ritagoldengelman.com

From Rita Golden Gelman:

The GOAL hasn’t changed: it’s to make the Gap Year experience of living in another culture, preferably in the developing world, an accepted and popular practice in the U.S., not just a luxury for the elite. I’m defining Gap Year as the year between high school … and college or work or vocational school.

HOW to reach that goal: There are two obvious routes (see below) but they both require a major PR campaign … nationally, locally, in every school and community in the country if we are going to reach every segment of the population … the urban poor, the rural communities, middle-America, the South, the Appalachians, the Pacific Northwest and everywhere in between.

I see as the first order of business of Global Learning a huge campaign to get out the message that a Gap Year is a great experience, that it will create more mature and motivated students and employees, that it will change perspectives, enrich the participants, enlighten the country, and produce a positive and friendlier opinion of the U.S. throughout the world.  Read more... (1397 words, estimated 5:35 mins reading time)

Postcard from Pipelineistan
By Pepe Escobar

What happens on the immense battlefield for the control of Eurasia will provide the ultimate plot line in the tumultuous rush towards a new, polycentric world order, also known as the New Great Game.

Our good ol’ friend the nonsensical “Global War on Terror,” which the Pentagon has slyly rebranded “the Long War,” sports a far more important, if half-hidden, twin—a global energy war. I like to think of it as the Liquid War, because its bloodstream is the pipelines that crisscross the potential imperial battlefields of the planet. Put another way, if its crucial embattled frontier these days is the Caspian Basin, the whole of Eurasia is its chessboard. Think of it, geographically, as Pipelineistan.  Read more... (187 words, estimated 45 secs reading time)

January 25, 2009
From Don George at The Adventure Collection:

“Even when the world is unsettled, travel is too important to put on hold. The stakes, both personal and global, are too high. Personally, there is nothing like travel to renew us, grace us with knowledge and perspective, and forge ties that bind around the world. Globally, there are so many countries, cultures and economies that depend on travel — not just economically but artistically, philosophically – that to stop travelling is to abandon them to almost inevitable disruption and degeneration. Read more…

January 26, 2009 Press Release:

GO Philanthropic enters 2009 with a host of new travel programs aimed at providing support for the empowerment of communities worldwide and the protection of heritage and environment. The socially-conscious travel company embraces the combination of Travel Philanthropy, Geotourism and Sustainable Travel, coupling Vacations and In-depth Educational Tours with support for social and conservation projects worldwide.  Read more... (265 words, estimated 1:04 mins reading time)

From Christopher Baker on February 9, 2009:

Dear friends,

Last week a bipartisan bill (H.R. 874) was introduced into Congress that would lift travel restrictions to Cuba for all U.S. citizens and residents.

You can read all about this landmark legislation at my blog: www.moon.com/blogs/cuba-costa-rica/freedom-travel-cuba-bill-introduced-congress

Meanwhile, I urge everyone to take individual action by asking your congressional representative to co-sponsor the bill. It’s simple to do and will take less than one minute of your time. Click here: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/625/t/1707/p/dia/action/public/index.sjs?action_KEY=539

Let’s seize the moment together!

Christopher P. Baker

Lowell Thomas Award 2008 “Travel Journalist of the Year”  Read more... (206 words, estimated 49 secs reading time)

January 15, 2009

12:00 am

From Global Volunteer Network (GVN): what if this year our New Year’s resolutions not only focused on bettering our personal self but also bettering the global community?

If you have ever had a desire to learn about working for the United Nations, or a desire to start an international charity, or have just wondered how to get into the field of International Development, then GVN’s ‘Be The Change Program’ in Jamaica is the perfect way to start 2009.  Read more... (248 words, 1 image, estimated 1:0 mins reading time)

Thanks to Kalpana Mohan for this link to a New York Times article, What They Hate About Mumbai, by Suketu Mehta.

“I once asked a Muslim man living in a shack without indoor plumbing what kept him in the city. ‘Mumbai is a golden songbird,’ he said. It flies quick and sly, and you’ll have to work hard to catch it, but if you do, a fabulous fortune will open up for you. The executives who congregated in the Taj Mahal hotel were chasing this golden songbird. The terrorists want to kill the songbird.  Read more... (192 words, estimated 46 secs reading time)

Congratulations to Linda Jue, who was given a much-deserved award at the annual banquet for the NorCal chapter of Society of Professional Journalists for her outstanding service to the profession. And thanks to Joanna Biggar for letting us know about it.

November 6, 2008
6:00 pm	to	8:00 pm

Rowing for Children: For those of you who have been keeping track of Erden Eruç’s progress as he rowed—singlehanded—from the waters off California to those off Papua New Guinea, you can hear a first-person account of the adventure at the Corinthian Yacht Club in Tiburon on November 6. Click on the link to learn more, or to RSVP.

From Erdun: “There will be dinner beginning at 6 p.m. and I will begin my presentation at 7 p.m. about my row across the Pacific Ocean from California shores to the Papua New Guinea waters…  This singlehanded crossing by oars was especially meaningful for me since we raised about $47,000 for charity during that crossing to benefit the rural primary school children in regional boarding schools in Turkey.  Read more... (233 words, estimated 56 secs reading time)

I found out last night, in an entertaining evening at the War Memorial in San Francisco. It was a Recce conversation, sponsored by Geographic Expeditions, in which Don George interviewed Robert Thurman, to the extent that Thurman can be interviewed.

Bob Thurman is one of the world’s leading experts on Tibetan Buddhism, “the founder of Tibet House, the President of the American Institute of Buddhist Studies, and the Jey Tsong Khapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University. He was the first American ordained as a Tibetan monk and Time magazine named him one of the 25 Most Influential People in America.” (GeoEx)  Read more... (382 words, estimated 1:32 mins reading time)

“WARNING” the site reads. “This game may make you smarter. It may improve your speaking, writing, thinking, grades, job performance… ” The oh-so-addictive-and-good-for-you-too vocabulary game works like this:  Read more... (119 words, estimated 29 secs reading time)

• You’re presented with a word.
• You click on the answer that best defines the word.
• If you get it right, you get a harder word. If wrong, you get an easier word.
• For each word you get right, FreeRice donates 20 grains of rice to the United Nations World Food Program.

Check out the Exquisite Safaris website, with sections on philanthropic travel, an article about Marc Gold and the 100 Friends Project, thoughtful—and thought provoking—articles about kindness, spiritual activism, and related topics … and beautiful photographs.

“The Exquisite Safaris philanthropic mission integrates a guided visit to a humanitarian outreach project into every private, luxury, epicurean experience we create. These personal introductions create authentic cross cultural friendships that generate trust, respect, and generous donations funding philanthropic travel projects worldwide.”

“If you are coming to help me, you are wasting your time but if you are coming because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.”
– Indigenous Saying

“If you have been wondering how you can make a difference and ‘give back’ while you travel and explore this extraordinary world of ours, this is your chance. Your grace, interest, and generosity as a traveler will impact the lives and the future of the people you meet. Don’t miss the opportunity—come along on a life-changing experience with The Cultural Explorer. Call us at 415-387-1335.”

Check out the Making a Difference trips, special two-week, hands-on tours that give you the opportunity to get involved and make a difference while you explore and learn about South Africa.  Read more... (161 words, estimated 39 secs reading time)

Dear Supporters of the 100 Friends Project,

Greetings from Thailand! So far this year I have been using your donations for humanitarian projects in Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Nepal and Indonesia, Tibet, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Iraq, Guatemala, Laos, Myanmar and other countries.

This is the time for our semi-annual appeal for donations.

You can view photos of recent project activities individually or in a slide show format related to all the activities described below by clicking here:

View Slideshow

You can read a more detailed report about recent 100 Friends activities described below by
clicking here  Read more... (772 words, estimated 3:05 mins reading time)

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