While I’m a firm believer that every day should be Earth Day, it is always exciting when a major environmental achievement coincides with Earth Month. Peru’s sustainable Machu Picchu Pueblo has reached an exciting environmental goal. The city has been crowned the first in Latin America to become 100 percent sustainable.
Have you ever been traveling and wondered, “how can I experience life as a local rather than a typical tourist?” Well, I am glad you asked! I recently returned from my third trip to Italy where I participated in a Florence food tour. It’s my absolute favorite city, although in my short 27 years I can’t claim the list is too long. I decided I must do something unforgettable this time around to see more of the life a Florence local lives.
A crushed and broken doll, unread school books, homes taken back by nature, peeling paint on a glorious mural and a rusted amusement park; these are the images that come to my mind when someone mentions Chernobyl. April 25th marks the anniversary of the one of the most dangerous and expensive nuclear disasters in history. Tourists to Ukraine can take part in a Chernobyl tour and experience a rare opportunity visiting the disaster area. It is surely a trip you will never forget.
On that date, there were the conditions for a perfect storm. A design flaw in the reactor was coupled with a late night safety test. During the test, the security systems were turned off; an explosion and fire spewed radiation into the environment for hundreds of miles.
March is Women’s History Month. This year, the theme is #BalanceforBetter, a balanced world is a better world. I can’t think of a better reason for marking the occasion of women’s achievement and trying to raise awareness against bias.
Celebrating women who travel is just one of the many categories of impressive females in our history. We’ve all heard of Amelia Earhart, Jane Goodall and Nellie Bly, the list of inspiring women is a comprehensive one. Intrepid explorers all: one part bravery, one part brains and a whole lot of wanderlust and passion.
In celebration of International Women’s Day, I thought I’d share the stories of a group of relatively unknown women with very different histories. One a survivor, one a wealthy explorer, one a remarkable artist and a group of women scaling new heights of adventurer. The common thread- women who travel runs through and changes their lives in unexpected ways.
The words of the Hawaiian language are melodic. From the voice of the right storyteller, they roll off the tongue in a form of lyrical poetry. When joined by the ukulele and hula, they combine to tell a verbal history that is passed from generation to generation. This is what they call in the Hawaiian Islands Talk Story. It was one of the highlights of my trip when I had the opportunity to cruise the islands aboard a 36 passenger expedition ship.
What makes a good storyteller? It’s a question I often ask myself as I try to translate the experiences I have as a traveler into words for my readers. As one who loves the telling of tales, I don’t think I could have been luckier than to have Danny “Kaniela” Akaka Jr. and his wife Ana as our onboard hosts during a 7 day island exploration with UnCruise Adventure in Hawaii. I had the chance to interview them both during a quiet moment on deck overlooking the Pacific and volcanic mountains of Maui.
