Posts tagged ethical travel
Slideshow: Visionary Recycling
Quirky places where artists and dreamers turn trash into structural works of art
“Some people say this is sculpture but I didn’t go to no expensive school to get these crazy notions,” observes John Milkovisch, a retired upholsterer for a railroad who saved and collected over 50,000 aluminum receptacles to create his shiny Houston masterpiece, the “Beer Can House.” Creative reuse of scavenged materials is nothing new—in fact it seems to be a human instinct that, for some, can border on obsession. While there are trained artists—perhaps inspired by Gaudí’s early 20th-century mosaics or Marcel Duchamp’s readymades—who sculpt and construct large-scale artworks made from repurposed cast offs, many more are dreamers with ordinary day jobs who abhor waste, have a penchant for collecting, and seize upon an unstoppable urge to create something beautiful from the flotsam and jetsam modern life.
Some, like the beer can guy, hold onto their own trash until it reaches a critical mass of building material. Others seek out and collect bits and pieces that catch their eye on their daily meanderings (mailmen and those in the construction industry seem particularly susceptible). Unlike the hoarders portrayed on A&E, these visionary artists transform their trash stash into something much greater than the sum of its parts (though it makes you wonder if many of the compulsive hoarders are similar creatively motivated folks with grandiose, unrealized plans for their treasured cache of objects).
America is littered (in a good way) with art yards, trash houses, and found-object sculptures. A sense of whimsy and ingenuity pervades these 13 places, among them a sound sculpture made from demolished cemetery marble, a 10-story children’s wonderland built from salvaged industrial waste, houses made of wine bottles, a desert mountain of discarded tires…
Image courtesy of the City Museum
Close Encounters With Primates in the Wild
View the Slideshow
When our ancestors climbed down from the trees and set into motion an incessant wandering in search of greener pastures, most humans lost touch with our fellow primates. Perhaps this is why finding ourselves face to face with furry long-lost cousins can be so compelling. How could we not recognize ourselves in those faces, fingers, and familiar gestures? While homo sapiens sapiens has spread all over the rest of the earth, 90% of the world’s primate species live in tropical forests—fragile ecosystems that are hard to navigate without a prehensile tail or grippy toes, and which chainsaw-wielding bipeds seem hellbent on destroying. To get to the habitats where wild primates live often requires an arduous journey off the beaten path to remote national parks, reserves, or rehabilitation centers. Many of these places are learning how to save the forests by encouraging a new kind of sustainable tourism—one that makes conservation a more attractive option for local communities than poaching and slash-and-burn deforestation.
Travelers unaccustomed to living with monkeys in their midst can get into some pretty entertaining trouble when the opportunity for contact arises. The animals often come out of neighboring forests and into tourist towns plying their furry wiles and foraging for easy snacks. A magical monkey moment can quickly morph from the mystical meeting of the minds depicted in Gorillas in the Mist to the menace of the Planet of the Apes. Sticking with more conservation-oriented protected areas will get you closer to the family groups and simian social clubs in their natural setting. Here they put the kibosh on full body contact and feeding the animals, but in return you get to observe the comings and goings, grooming, mating rituals, and general goofing off of non-captive primates. It’s far more entertaining and insightful than any reality TV—though strangely similar plot-wise, what with the nit picking, scuffles, primal screams, intense snuggling, and silly posturing.
September/October Freelance Writing Assignments + New November Assignments
We’ve been busily reading all of the excellent submissions for our first (we hope of many) weekend-getaway freelance writing assignments. There were so many high-quality pitches, in the end, it was quite difficult (bordering on agonizing!) to narrow it down to just one person per region. Here are the final six:
A bit about our selection process: We first do a preliminary reading of all of the submissions. At this time, we select a group for a second reading. Then we pick of favorites from among this batch and “trazzlerize” them (that is, we make them Trazzler trips or send them to get photos). These trips rise to the top of the list of submissions and the editors give them another reading (or two or three…) to narrow things down further. In the end, about 10-20% of the submissions become Trazzler trips and make it to this final round. While we aren’t able to provide a lot of feedback on individual trips (we wish we could, but we’re a small team and are perpetually swamped), we have written extensively about our editorial criteria and philosophy:
http://www.trazzler.com/about/writing-guide
http://www.trazzler.com/about/writing-nuts-and-bolts
http://blog.trazzler.com/2009/08/trazzler-nycgo-summer-contest.html
This last link, in particular, goes into a lot of detail about why most trips don’t make it to the final round. If this is the case, keep trying!—many of our freelancers and contest winners have entered multiple times before winning. We love it when a writer “gets” our (admittedly quirky) editorial style and focus—even if it takes a couple of tries.Which brings us to this month’s assignments… We’ll be doing another round of $1250 weekend-getaway writing adventures:
Any writers who applied for the last assignment and had a submission that was promoted to “Trazzler Trip” status will automatically be considered for the same region this month (though feel free to add more information to your bio or additional submissions if you think it might be helpful).
Winter is perhaps the best season to escape the reality and routine of everyday life—we can’t wait to read about these beautiful spots.
Thank you again to all who took the time to submit a trip or participate last month. Please keep writing!
Can travel make us better people? Can it make the world a better place?
We knew that travel could provide a (desperately?) needed break from day-to-day life. And that, at its very best, it has the capacity to open minds, dispel stereotypes, and even make us better human beings. (And, at its worst, make us kiss the ground when we get home.)
But what about the places we visit? Is it possible that we can leave a place better than we found it, just by having traveled there? Our writers have found trips all over the world that do just this—without sacrificing an iota of the joy of travel.
Rose wrote about rainforests destined to be chopped down that are now being preserved because they are more valuable as ecotourist destinations. Our freelancers, Tracy Broom and Livia McRee, submitted trips that struck a balance between ecotravel, volunteer work, and animal encounters. Phillip Orchard wrote eloquently about the humanity of finding peace and relaxation in places where tourists seldom venture.
Preserving Rainforest/Wildlife/Local Culture:
Zipping From Tree to Tree With Gibbons in Bokeo, Laos
Embarking on an Ethical Elephant Trek in Hongsa, Laos
Voluntourism
Restoring Habitat for Wildlife in San Cristobal, Ecuador
Bathing Elephants at a Rescue Center in Bangkok, Thailand
Building a Kindergarten to Save Coral Reefs in Vanua Levu, Fiji
Protecting Sea Turtles in San Miguel, Costa Rica
Socially Conscious Travel to Unexpected Places
Relaxing in a Women’s Prison in in Chiang Mai, Thailand
Basking in Peace on War-less CeCe Beach in Monrovia, Liberia
Travel experiences like these not only do good in the communities in question, they give us an opportunity to get deeper, to do something, and meet interesting and enterprising people off the well-beaten tourist path. If you contribute a trip that falls into this category, give it the tag “ethical travel” so that others can find it here:
http://www.trazzler.com/trips/tags/ethical-travel
But I don’t think we have to travel halfway around the world to make a difference in people’s lives and livelihoods. My next post is going to be about a fascinating person who has traveled close to home, making a herculean effort to save a beloved (and delicious) local cultural institution from homogenization and extinction… And you’ll get to read all about it here on Trazzler.
—Megan
