Eco Holidays

posted by Catherine on Jan 25

All your outdoor and adventure needs and resources under one roof!

And it will actually be filled with real life adventurers who have travelled to the North Pole, the South Pole, across the Sahara and having rowed the Atlantic! Including Ranulph Fiennes, Simon King and Ben Fogle.

Not only will you be able to listen to these great explorers talking about their inspirations and future plans - you will be able to indulge in some activities you have been meaning to get around to for some time!

And as the Outdoors Show is at the end of March this year, you have plenty of time to research the types of travel and outdoor experiences you want to find the most our about - therefore making the best use of the resources available.

What’s There?
Well, if you have ever wanted to use a climbing wall - you won’t be short of opportunities here, there is also abseiling, slacklining (a bit like tight-rope walking but with a wobbly flimsy line to walk on instead(!)) and even using crampons for some ice climbing too!

And it’s not all about far flung destinations - and for those who like to stay closer to home you can enjoy the careers zone focussing on your 5-year plan (basically seeing what type of things employers you like the look of are looking for in a new recruit and aiming for them with courses and real-life experiences).

Add to this the Wilderness section, where you can get hands on advice about bush-tracking, cooking, and camping whether you are at home, in the Arctic or the desert!

Many UK tourist boards will also be found pitching the outdoor appeal of their part of the country to you!

If you are like me, then you will be wanting the opportunity to take advantage of some of the retail offers - I am looking for new walking boots and a nice fitted waterproof coat.  So, I can find out the best styles and prices beforehand - and hope to get a great deal at the show!

Why Go?
Well, if you have any sort of adventure in your heart and need a tiny bit of a push to really get excited - then there could be no better place.

Yes, there are other travel shows going on around now but this one should really get to the ground roots of eco adventures.  Other will talk only of far-flung places, whereas this show is all about advenutres at home as well.

The UK is a great country and can appeal to all sorts of people - and so why not find out what landscapes and cultures we have here before heading across the world to see what they’ve got!

And, you might just meet someone famous along the way…….

posted by Catherine on Jul 26

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Did you know that climbing Ayers Rock is offensive to the locals?

So is calling it Ayers Rock if you think of it.  And so is calling the people that live there ‘the locals’.

But, how often do you read up about indigenous cultures and beliefs before you set of on your green holidays?  How many countries have you already been to that you didn’t really know anything about?

We need to be more considerate of other cultures and religions before we traipse around their villages and ’sites’.

Ayers Rock In Australia:
Recently, this large red sandstone formation in Northern Territory is becoming known by it’s ‘original’ name of Uluru - as according to the 2 Aboriginal tribes in the area: the Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara.

For years tourist have driven to the middle of the ‘Outback’ to see and climb this giant ‘rock’, not having a clue that it is extremely disrespectful to the local people to do so.

Yes, there is a path to the top, with a loose handrail hammered into the stone itself to help you on your way - but it doesn’t mean that we ever had any right to just clamber all over it.

To tourists it’s just an public Australian natural landmark - just like a mountain or something - and therefore it is assumed that we have a right to do what we want to it.  However, to people from the Pitjantjatjara or Yankunytjatjara it is like a church or other sacred or personal building.

Turning this on it’s head then is like tourists coming to London and climbing up the side of Westminster Abbey and sitting on the roof eating lunch.  Or hacking a path across the faces of Mount Rushmore in South Dakota.

What would you think of that?

Another World Heritage Site At Risk?
Tongariro in New Zealand is also a place where traditional Maori culture has been ‘taken over’ by tourists.

In 1887 a local Maori chief gave the volcanic peak and the surrounding region to Queen Victoria so that it would be protected for the future - but other tribes in the area are now hoping to claim it back and stop tourists walking all over it!

Apparently the local chief who gave it away was only one of the many chiefs that worshipped and revered the volcanic peaks of this area - and now the others are trying to have their say as they want to keep their cultural rights alive and give the region the respect it deserves.

What can you do?
Before traveling to areas where indigenous people still live and work - find out a bit about them.

Find out how to act in their prescence, how to react to their questions and what not to do!  The latter is probably the most important.

Find out a few words in their language as well so that you can let them know that you planned to visit them and wanted to make the effort to be welcomed - rather than get dragged there by a tour guide and offend them left right and center with your behaviour.

Mistakes could be a simple as keeping your shoes on in buildings, showing your bare soles to elders, pointing, baring your shoulders and all sorts of other everyday things in our culture!

It only takes a second to offend someone - so take care not to!