Wanderlust and Lipstick » Travel Videos

West Seattle Christmas Lights

Beth Whitman - Wanderluster — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 18:22:02 +0000

If you live in or around Seattle, here’s a must-see Christmas light display this holiday season.

The Helmstetlers live just a couple of blocks from us so we have the opportunity to drive by their home each year for this brilliant creation that’s by their friend, Jim Winder.

When you stop by, bring some canned goods because there’s a bin for the foodbank.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Travel Well,

Beth

Photo of the Day: Bhutan Video

Beth Whitman - Wanderluster — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 15:04:38 +0000

During my most recent trip to Bhutan, I was fortunate to have a pretty talented videographer come along with us. Michael Murphy from Travel On Productions put together a number of wonderful videos. Here’s one of my favorites because it shows off the the spectacular Himalayan range:

See more lovely photos at DeliciousBaby’s Photo Friday!

Travel Well!

Beth

Mid-Month Mish-Mash

Beth Whitman - Wanderluster — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 21:46:04 +0000

A few quick items…

Passports with Purpose
We’ve got less than a week to go for our Passports with Purpose fundraiser. Donated your 10 bucks yet to help us provide food and clean water to those kids at the soon-to-be Passport School? Not to worry, you have until end of day Monday, December 21 to choose a prize, make your donation and then tell all your friends to do the same.

Hint – if you’re not sure what to bid on, consider this list of prizes. The odds of winning one of these is just a bit better than some other items.

Bhutan
Check out this video of Bhutan produced by Michael Murphy of Travel On Productions. Michael’s a friend of mine and (nearly) a neighbor. He joined our group to Bhutan in November and went above and beyond to get some amazing footage of the people, architecture and festivals. More videos are coming, but this will whet your appetite.

Cool – huh?

Giveaway Alert!
This month you can win travel gear from XShot by subscribing to the Wanderlust and Lipstick Newsletter and/or the RSS feed for this blog (see sidebar at right). It’s easy peasy. Won’t you? Please? It’s free! And you have two chances to win if you subscribe to both!

Holiday Gifts Galore
Most people are focused on holiday gift buying right now. If you’re still looking for stocking stuffers or special items for that traveler in your life, consider an item from one of these lists of my favorites:

10 Must-read Travel Books – because everybody loves a good travel story!

Stocking Stuffers for Women Travelers - small items for that gal (OK, or guy) traveler

Travel Gear for Your Gift List – a roundup of some cool gear

What’s on your wish list?

Travel Well!

Beth

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How Not to be a Trashy Tourist

Beth Whitman - Wanderluster — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:42:16 +0000

My friend, fellow West Seattleite and videographer, Michael Murphy from Travel On Productions, sent me links to a couple of videos he recently produced about the trash problem on Ko Phi Phi in Thailand (see below).

These videos reminded me of the impact we all have on local cultures and the environment when we travel. Let’s consider just some of the garbage we leave behind:

water bottles
packages from processed foods
toiletries including travel-sized plastic bottles
soda cans and straws
paper and/or plastic shopping bags
waxed paper or tin foil used to wrap vendor food
travel docs such as maps that are printed out for specific cities and then tossed away once you’ve left
boarding passes and itinerary
the list goes on…

Piles of recklessly discarded trash can be found from India to South America, in pristine wilderness as well as cities and, along the most beautiful mountain trails in the world. Several factors have caused this growing issue.

First, people in developing countries have traditionally subsisted on compostable food grown locally without ever being packaged (fruit, vegetables and meat). They now have access to packaged goods such as soda and snacks. In the countryside, where farmers used to compost their food scraps directly into their farmland, they are now tossing their non-recyclable waste into the soil.

Second, in these countries, the infrastructure does not yet exist to curb this problem. It’s often difficult to find a garbage bin even in the largest of cities, and locals therefore toss their garbage on the sidewalk or in a garbage pit created in any empty strip of land. Travelers quickly follow suit.

The vast increase in tourism in the last 30 years has only exacerbated this issue.

While it’s true that ultimately the locals need to get a grip on this issue, it’s a relatively new problem for them. They need to be taught that this is a problem of great concern to travelers, that it will eventually effect tourism and that the ultimate cost is grave harm to their environment. As long as tourists continue to visit these destinations, pay good money for being there AND do nothing about the issue themselves, the locals have no reason to change.

(see Michael’s follow up video here)

This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t travel – you should do so, however, with a light footprint and be mindful that there’s opportunity to change your small part of the world.

Here are a half dozen easy things you can do to lessen your impact on local communities:

1. Avoid using plastic bags whenever possible. These often get tossed into the streets and can ultimately end up in the stomachs of animals where, like in the case of India, cows die from eating the garbage that gets caught in their digestive system. When not consumed by unsuspecting livestock, plastic bags end up in the trash system for years to come.

2. Don’t buy bottled water unless it’s absolutely necessary. I carry a SteriPen with me and drink tap water that’s been purified. I can then feel good about not contributing to the garbage problem, particularly in countries where recycling is non-existent.

3. Pack it in, pack it out. If you’re trekking, be sure that you leave with everything that you brought with you. Even small discarded packages add up.

4. Spend a few hours of your trip picking up the garbage. It doesn’t matter whether you left it there or not, helping clean an area may give the locals some ideas on how to keep their area beautiful.

5. Consider not printing out maps that you’ll eventually just toss in the garbage. Refer to your guidebook (or gently tear out the map from your guidebook) or a map program on your smartphone rather than wasting paper.

6. Don’t use electronics that require conventional batteries. Use ones that have built in batteries that you can recharge. You’ll save all those batteries from going into a landfill.

7. If they don’t already have a program, encourage your hotel to recycle. You may not change their ways overnight but if enough people ask, they may implement a program.

In these small ways you can begin making an impact on the your, and other, corners of the world.

By the way, if you want to see a rant about Ko Phi Phi, read NomadicMatt’s post about his recent visit there.

Travel Well,

Beth

Photo: loufi

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Walk Across China: A Must Watch Video

Beth Whitman - Wanderluster — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 01:13:54 +0000

Not sure this needs an introduction except, YOU MUST WATCH THIS.