Travel Passions
My travel passions include outdoor adventures, building relationships, learning about culture and cuisine. The three destinations I am going to reflect upon include Thailand, Costa Rica and Zion’s National Park.
My trip to Thailand isn’t the most recent, because it has been twelve years, but was the most memorable. My experience in Thailand was nothing short of amazing. I went there to volunteer in the orphanages, but left with so much more than expected. First, not only did I attain much needed humility, but I left with two relationships I never expected would occur. I got to know my sister-in-law who had recently married my favorite brother Matt, and finally understood why he loves her so much. I also had a very special bond with one of the orphans I begged my parents to adopt him since I was only sixteen.
I got to experience the beauty of the country during the weekends. Matt and Stacie have both lived in Thailand in the past and are fluent and familiar with Thailand. I got to scuba-dive and play on the breathtaking beaches of Phuket years before the tragic tsunami. We also took an all night train ride up to the northern Thailand to Chang Mai and stay in a jungle bungalow.
I also had the opportunity to eat delicious authentic Thai food at the best little places because Matt and Stacie know many locals. What an amazing place!!
The next destination I would like to reminisce upon is my trip to Costa Rica. My family and I went for my dad’s 60 birthday. It is hard to get my entire family together. I have two brothers, two sisters, in-laws and nine nieces and nephews all spread out across the United States. It was a full house and gave us all the unique opportunity to bond and reunite to know each other again.
I also got to experience many outdoor adventures. My dad was able to rent a private boat to take us scuba diving, snorkeling and to see a school of dolphins. We also had the opportunity to visit Manuel Antonio National Park. I recommend walking through if you have the chance. The squirrel monkeys will engage with humans, which is fun, but they are declining in their population due to tourism and the idiots who feed them. There is a small museum in the park that was quite interesting, http://centralamerica.com/cr/parks/momanuelantonio.htm.
Finally, we had amazing fruit and home cooked meals while we there. The rental house comes equipped with your own personal chef. Every meal was local food with a local special touch.
My final destination is not quite as exotic, but is perhaps my equivalent to Dr. Ralston’s love with Yellowstone National Park. With my hobbies and proximity taken into account, this location is Zion’s National Park. I have a passion for slot canyons, exploring down them, walking through riverbeds, swimming through dark cold water and the views from atop Angel’s landing.
In conclusion, I will always remember the great places I have been because of friendships, outdoor adventures and food. I dream of visiting Australia and scuba-diving the Great Barrier Reef, experiencing Sydney, and rock-climbing down in Tanzania. I also dream of traveling around Europe and see all the places I’ve read about in history classes. Last but not least, I want to go wine touring through France and Italy and enjoy the cuisine. As soon as I can afford to, I would love to go on as many wine tastings as possible in many different regions. The other passion I would love to blog about is canyoneering.
My trip to Thailand isn’t the most recent, because it has been twelve years, but was the most memorable. My experience in Thailand was nothing short of amazing. I went there to volunteer in the orphanages, but left with so much more than expected. First, not only did I attain much needed humility, but I left with two relationships I never expected would occur. I got to know my sister-in-law who had recently married my favorite brother Matt, and finally understood why he loves her so much. I also had a very special bond with one of the orphans I begged my parents to adopt him since I was only sixteen.
I got to experience the beauty of the country during the weekends. Matt and Stacie have both lived in Thailand in the past and are fluent and familiar with Thailand. I got to scuba-dive and play on the breathtaking beaches of Phuket years before the tragic tsunami. We also took an all night train ride up to the northern Thailand to Chang Mai and stay in a jungle bungalow.
I also had the opportunity to eat delicious authentic Thai food at the best little places because Matt and Stacie know many locals. What an amazing place!!
The next destination I would like to reminisce upon is my trip to Costa Rica. My family and I went for my dad’s 60 birthday. It is hard to get my entire family together. I have two brothers, two sisters, in-laws and nine nieces and nephews all spread out across the United States. It was a full house and gave us all the unique opportunity to bond and reunite to know each other again.
I also got to experience many outdoor adventures. My dad was able to rent a private boat to take us scuba diving, snorkeling and to see a school of dolphins. We also had the opportunity to visit Manuel Antonio National Park. I recommend walking through if you have the chance. The squirrel monkeys will engage with humans, which is fun, but they are declining in their population due to tourism and the idiots who feed them. There is a small museum in the park that was quite interesting, http://centralamerica.com/cr/parks/momanuelantonio.htm.
Finally, we had amazing fruit and home cooked meals while we there. The rental house comes equipped with your own personal chef. Every meal was local food with a local special touch.
My final destination is not quite as exotic, but is perhaps my equivalent to Dr. Ralston’s love with Yellowstone National Park. With my hobbies and proximity taken into account, this location is Zion’s National Park. I have a passion for slot canyons, exploring down them, walking through riverbeds, swimming through dark cold water and the views from atop Angel’s landing.
In conclusion, I will always remember the great places I have been because of friendships, outdoor adventures and food. I dream of visiting Australia and scuba-diving the Great Barrier Reef, experiencing Sydney, and rock-climbing down in Tanzania. I also dream of traveling around Europe and see all the places I’ve read about in history classes. Last but not least, I want to go wine touring through France and Italy and enjoy the cuisine. As soon as I can afford to, I would love to go on as many wine tastings as possible in many different regions. The other passion I would love to blog about is canyoneering.
Ecotourism and "Eco-Selling"
The first tour operator I have chosen is O.A.R.S. The company headquarters are located in Angel’s CA, and they provide a grand selection of tours all over the western United States as well as some international destinations. O.A.R.S provides trips from white-water rafting, ocean kayaking, National Park adventures, outdoor photography, and wildlife trips. In addition, they can cater to you on solo adventures for anything you desire. Their website is found at www.oars.com.
I found O.A.R.S on the International Ecotourism’s Society website and have been a member since 2005. Furthermore, O.A.R.S has a page on their website dedicated to Responsible Travel and is found at www.oars.com/about_us/responsible_travel.html. I was quite thrilled to run across the company because I have been doing some research to plan a rafting trip through the Grand Canyon.
O.A.R.S is involved and practicing many of Pamela Wright’s Eco-Tourism fundamentals. The first fundamental I am going to focus on is that O.A.R.S provides education, engages guests and enlightens experiences. O.A.R.S. has incorporated programs for to enroll their staff to improve their communication and animation skills with their guests. The staff members are trained to help the guests understand the ways to preserve our ecosystems while making the trip fun!
The second fundamental I chose to focus on is that O.A.R.S takes a strong stance to benefit the locals and be consistently involved with long term preservation. O.A.R.S has been in business for over four decades and has donated over $3 million dollars in eco-tourism contributions. I strongly recommend reading their company history found at www.oars.com/about_us/history.html, as you will see why I am impressed and amazed at how much O.A.R.S. have contributed toward sustainability.
In conclusion, their website is very user friendly. There is a live chat that connects you with a guide, a very detailed blog, a subscriber list and a lot of happy customers and affiliations.
The second tour operator I have chosen is Western River Expeditions which is headquartered in Salt Lake City and Moab. Alike O.A.R.S., Western River Expeditions specializes in river rafting trips and run tours throughout the western United States.
The first Susan Wight Eco-Tourism fundamental I chose to focus on is the efforts to keep the rivers cleaned so they are getting involved with supply-management. The tour operator is taking pride in their efforts of “Guiding Green” by incorporating the “Alternative Motor Boat Project” to utilized non-fossil based boat engines to replace the motors currently being used. However, after searching the website, I found no mission statement, company information or a plan of executing the “Alternative Motor Boat Project”. The information on the website is rather vague, but can be found at www.westernriver.com/guiding-green/.
The second Eco-Tourism fundamental I believe Western River Expeditions exercises, is being active with their visitor’s experience now and in the future. Western River Expeditions has their guests donate $1 per day (included in the touring fee) to the The Grand Canyon Conservation Fund. There is no mention as to whether Western River Expeditions donates themselves.
In conclusion, the website is easy to navigate and the blog has some useful information. However, I was left with much more to be desired, especially when searching for information on their sustainable efforts. I am disappointed, because I think Western River Expeditions may be doing more “Eco-selling” rather than “Eco-tourism”.
I found O.A.R.S on the International Ecotourism’s Society website and have been a member since 2005. Furthermore, O.A.R.S has a page on their website dedicated to Responsible Travel and is found at www.oars.com/about_us/responsible_travel.html. I was quite thrilled to run across the company because I have been doing some research to plan a rafting trip through the Grand Canyon.
O.A.R.S is involved and practicing many of Pamela Wright’s Eco-Tourism fundamentals. The first fundamental I am going to focus on is that O.A.R.S provides education, engages guests and enlightens experiences. O.A.R.S. has incorporated programs for to enroll their staff to improve their communication and animation skills with their guests. The staff members are trained to help the guests understand the ways to preserve our ecosystems while making the trip fun!
The second fundamental I chose to focus on is that O.A.R.S takes a strong stance to benefit the locals and be consistently involved with long term preservation. O.A.R.S has been in business for over four decades and has donated over $3 million dollars in eco-tourism contributions. I strongly recommend reading their company history found at www.oars.com/about_us/history.html, as you will see why I am impressed and amazed at how much O.A.R.S. have contributed toward sustainability.
In conclusion, their website is very user friendly. There is a live chat that connects you with a guide, a very detailed blog, a subscriber list and a lot of happy customers and affiliations.
The second tour operator I have chosen is Western River Expeditions which is headquartered in Salt Lake City and Moab. Alike O.A.R.S., Western River Expeditions specializes in river rafting trips and run tours throughout the western United States.
The first Susan Wight Eco-Tourism fundamental I chose to focus on is the efforts to keep the rivers cleaned so they are getting involved with supply-management. The tour operator is taking pride in their efforts of “Guiding Green” by incorporating the “Alternative Motor Boat Project” to utilized non-fossil based boat engines to replace the motors currently being used. However, after searching the website, I found no mission statement, company information or a plan of executing the “Alternative Motor Boat Project”. The information on the website is rather vague, but can be found at www.westernriver.com/guiding-green/.
The second Eco-Tourism fundamental I believe Western River Expeditions exercises, is being active with their visitor’s experience now and in the future. Western River Expeditions has their guests donate $1 per day (included in the touring fee) to the The Grand Canyon Conservation Fund. There is no mention as to whether Western River Expeditions donates themselves.
In conclusion, the website is easy to navigate and the blog has some useful information. However, I was left with much more to be desired, especially when searching for information on their sustainable efforts. I am disappointed, because I think Western River Expeditions may be doing more “Eco-selling” rather than “Eco-tourism”.
Fair Trade
http://www.amerikaventure.com
The tour operator Amerika Venture was founded in 1996 and they provide tours and cruises through Central America, South America and Canada as a Cultural Ecotourism Tour Operator. Amerika Venture is also a member of the The International Ecotourism Society found at http://www.ecotourism.org, and Sustainable Travel International found at http://www.sustainabletravelinternational.org. Amerika Venture practices the elements of fair trade through their partnerships with local communities. “For operating tours the way we do it, for all our tours, we depend on local communities: their culture and environment are sacred to us.” http://www.amerikaventure.com/eng/ecotourism.php. The following are examples of how Amerika Venture incorporates the five cornerstones of fair trade into their organization.
Fair Working Conditions: Amerika Venture employs locals to execute a lot of their hospitality operations from catering and lodging, many of which are family owned entities, to human resources, tour guides, and transportation. Amerika Venture also helps their local employees with healthcare, education and housing because they want their employees to be inspiring, enthusiastic, hard-working, healthy, caring and very educated.
Fair Prices: Although Amerika Venture utilizes locals, the prices can compete with corporate hotels and restaurants. Many of destinations along the route do not offer corporate options because their goal is to get away from mass tourism. This is a very good example of fixed price by producers and purchasing partners.
Integration Into the Local Economy and Regional Development: Many of the tours participate in community and environmental support projects to engage and educate their guests into ecotourism and local cultures.
Fair Trade Partnerships Between All Actors in Tourism: Amerika Venture incorporates direct trading relationships with their suppliers. No middle men are involved because their main principle is supporting the locals. In addition, the locals are very appreciative and supportive of Amerika Venture and give the best performance possible for the tourists. On the feedback webpage of Amerika Venture’s website, the reviews were very consistent and exceptional. Almost every review talked about how great and educated the guides are, how amazing and tasty the food was and how each lodge was unique and very accommodating.
Sustainable Resources and Environmental Justice: Amerika Venture’s vehicles are low-emission and the boats utilized are small and locally/national operated. After booking, the traveler is provided documentation prior to arrival to educate them of the local communities and cultures as well as the development and environmental projects that they will be participate in along the tour.
In conclusion, after reading and examining Amerika Venture’s webpage. I have the inclination to believe the company is truly supporting the principles they portray and genuinely executing fair trade through their partnerships with local communities. I am interested in learning more about their programs and the many different destinations they travel to.
The tour operator Amerika Venture was founded in 1996 and they provide tours and cruises through Central America, South America and Canada as a Cultural Ecotourism Tour Operator. Amerika Venture is also a member of the The International Ecotourism Society found at http://www.ecotourism.org, and Sustainable Travel International found at http://www.sustainabletravelinternational.org. Amerika Venture practices the elements of fair trade through their partnerships with local communities. “For operating tours the way we do it, for all our tours, we depend on local communities: their culture and environment are sacred to us.” http://www.amerikaventure.com/eng/ecotourism.php. The following are examples of how Amerika Venture incorporates the five cornerstones of fair trade into their organization.
Fair Working Conditions: Amerika Venture employs locals to execute a lot of their hospitality operations from catering and lodging, many of which are family owned entities, to human resources, tour guides, and transportation. Amerika Venture also helps their local employees with healthcare, education and housing because they want their employees to be inspiring, enthusiastic, hard-working, healthy, caring and very educated.
Fair Prices: Although Amerika Venture utilizes locals, the prices can compete with corporate hotels and restaurants. Many of destinations along the route do not offer corporate options because their goal is to get away from mass tourism. This is a very good example of fixed price by producers and purchasing partners.
Integration Into the Local Economy and Regional Development: Many of the tours participate in community and environmental support projects to engage and educate their guests into ecotourism and local cultures.
Fair Trade Partnerships Between All Actors in Tourism: Amerika Venture incorporates direct trading relationships with their suppliers. No middle men are involved because their main principle is supporting the locals. In addition, the locals are very appreciative and supportive of Amerika Venture and give the best performance possible for the tourists. On the feedback webpage of Amerika Venture’s website, the reviews were very consistent and exceptional. Almost every review talked about how great and educated the guides are, how amazing and tasty the food was and how each lodge was unique and very accommodating.
Sustainable Resources and Environmental Justice: Amerika Venture’s vehicles are low-emission and the boats utilized are small and locally/national operated. After booking, the traveler is provided documentation prior to arrival to educate them of the local communities and cultures as well as the development and environmental projects that they will be participate in along the tour.
In conclusion, after reading and examining Amerika Venture’s webpage. I have the inclination to believe the company is truly supporting the principles they portray and genuinely executing fair trade through their partnerships with local communities. I am interested in learning more about their programs and the many different destinations they travel to.
Maple Canyon, Utah
Maple Canyon is one of Utah’s finest secrets. The canyon walls are made of conglomerate rocks and this creates cobblestones; thus has become a haven for rock-climbers. There is an entire spectrum of difficulty levels among the hundreds of routes. A beginner and a professional climber can both be found enjoying this canyon on any given day. Climbers from all around the world travel to Utah to experience this distinctive rock. I have met many Europeans and Canadians on various trips.
The canyon is located about 2 ½ hours from Salt Lake City, all accessible by paved road except the last 3 miles. It is located right outside of a local town, so if something is forgotten, a convenience store isn’t too far away; however, you still get the sense of seclusion that is to be desired when camping, climbing, hiking and enjoying nature.
There are 13 different campsites that can be reserved ahead of time online or over the phone up to 3 days in advance or on a first-come first-serve basis for those not reserved. The campsites include fire pits, tables, parking and outhouse bathrooms. If the campsites are full, there are many trails with wide open spaces that could be used.
There is a wall in the canyon called “Petroglyph Wall” with real petroglyphs and only 1 minute walk from the road. I also want to point out that as the canyon is private property, dogs are allowed to join their owners. There will always be dogs around to play!
Although any time from spring through fall has good weather to visit, my favorite time of the year is in the fall. The fall colors are simply gorgeous the weather is perfect. It gets a little chilly at night, but with a huge campfire and good friends, it is an experience that will never be forgotten.
In conclusion, this is a one-of-a-kind destination. Please be mindful of this and continue the beauty so the canyon can be appreciated and played in for years and years to come.
http://www.utahoutdooractivities.com/maplecanyon.html
http://www.utah.com/centralutah/maple_canyon.htm
The canyon is located about 2 ½ hours from Salt Lake City, all accessible by paved road except the last 3 miles. It is located right outside of a local town, so if something is forgotten, a convenience store isn’t too far away; however, you still get the sense of seclusion that is to be desired when camping, climbing, hiking and enjoying nature.
There are 13 different campsites that can be reserved ahead of time online or over the phone up to 3 days in advance or on a first-come first-serve basis for those not reserved. The campsites include fire pits, tables, parking and outhouse bathrooms. If the campsites are full, there are many trails with wide open spaces that could be used.
There is a wall in the canyon called “Petroglyph Wall” with real petroglyphs and only 1 minute walk from the road. I also want to point out that as the canyon is private property, dogs are allowed to join their owners. There will always be dogs around to play!
Although any time from spring through fall has good weather to visit, my favorite time of the year is in the fall. The fall colors are simply gorgeous the weather is perfect. It gets a little chilly at night, but with a huge campfire and good friends, it is an experience that will never be forgotten.
In conclusion, this is a one-of-a-kind destination. Please be mindful of this and continue the beauty so the canyon can be appreciated and played in for years and years to come.
http://www.utahoutdooractivities.com/maplecanyon.html
http://www.utah.com/centralutah/maple_canyon.htm