Tapping into Relief Organizations for Travel Advice

by Neil Woodburn on

Sometimes travel can take you to some pretty screwed up places. Sometimes they’ve been screwed up long before you arrived and other times they internally explode while you’re there.

It always helps to do your homework while planning a trip to minimize the catastrophes which might otherwise damper your journeys.

But, where to turn?

One of the best sites for giving the low-down on specific troubled areas is ReliefWeb–a wonderful place on the web dedicated to “serving the information needs of the humanitarian relief community.”

Although the site caters to aid workers, the information is just as valuable to travelers. Let’s say, for example, you’re interested in visiting Sri Lanka. A quick glance at their Sri Lanka page will provide all the latest news updates from the region, as well as travel advice and a list of aid organizations currently in the country. ReliefWeb also provides information about the very basic necessities of life such as food, health, security, infrastructure, water and sanitation, and so many other problems facing regions suffering through emergencies and natural disasters.

If your adventure lust takes you well off the beaten path, it’s a very smart move to start your journey with a visit to ReliefWeb. Your insurance company will thank us later.

DARFUR/DARFUR at the George Eastman House

by Adrienne Wilson on

Last weekend as I rolled into Rochester, NY I found out the George Eastman House / International Museum of Photography and Film was kicking off a new exhibition titled DARFUR/DARFUR with a candlelight vigil. As excited I was about attending the vigil which involved a short walk to the George Eastman House, I wimped out due to the cold weather. Instead I headed inside right at the museum opening to explore the DARFUR/DARFUR collection among others.

In DARFUR/DARFUR, a collection of digitally projected images by photographers Lynsey Addairo, Mark Brecke, Helene Caux, Ron Haviv, Paolo Pellegrin, Ryan Spencer Reed, Michal Ronnen Safdie and Brian Steidle are combined with words and Sudanese-inspired music. As I sat watching the images of torched civilians, villages afire, and orphans from the genocidal conflict in Darfur, Sudan my heart started to sting and I began to feel so inactive. More than 400,000 individuals have either died or been injured from the non-stop violence and even with numbers so high the glimmer of hope and a hint of a smile can still be found on the faces of those who have not yet lost it all. It is worth your time if in Rochester or visiting in the near future to check this one out. Pick up a fact sheet while you’re there and write a letter or learn more about DARFUR/DARFUR by clicking here.

The exhibition which runs from January 20 to April 22 also includes feature-length documentary films and a variety of programs to help lead a community-wide discussion on genocide and war.

GADLING’S TAKE FIVE: Week of January 21

by Adrienne Wilson on

With so many new bloggers it’s getting harder and harder to keep up with who’s who and whose blogging what piece of scrumptious travel news and oddities from around the planet, but fear not. I’ve read line by line through every post this week here on Gadling and now I give you this brief summary of five from some of the newbies and the old to while away your Friday night.

5. Introducing Gadling’s “Video of the Week”:
Newcomer, Justin Glow does a fab job of bringing a new category to Gadling. Even though we’ve showcased a video or eight in the past we’ve never honored or singled out one for “Video of the Week.” Now is your opportunity to have your travel footage featured on Gadling! Dark Havana alleys, bustling Bangkok markets, or mellowing out on la playa in Ibiza – you’re the driver and the director so you call the shots. Now where are we gonna go?

4.Bad Drivers with Bad Directions:
Speaking of drivers, Dave points us to a great post on man vs. the machine. The machine is the ever-so-popular GPS device man has decided to place all confidence and common sense into while driving on the road. The combination of the two sometimes leads us safely to our final destination or sometimes it simply causes us to ram up against a telephone pole.

3.Travel Theory #124: Travel is Good for the Ego:
Need to boost your spirits and confidence? Why not hit the seas, the road or take a hike? It’s no secret that a good week long vacation away from your home digs does wonders on the mind, body and ego. Take a look at the list at how travel can be just what the doctor ordered and start planning your escape today.

2. Permafrost Disappearing, Siberia Terraforming:
I don’t know if I’m directing you to the post or some of the surprising comments it seems to have generated. Overall, it is this plug on global warming and its effects on Siberia that is most certainly worth a glance. The planet is crying. Can you hear it?

1. New Passport Rules Tomorrow:
Here is a friendly reminder to get your passports my fellow American travelers. Travel by air to Canada, Mexico, the Bahamas or any nation in the Western Hemisphere will require a valid U.S. passport. Afraid to fly or too darn lazy to get a passport? Apparently these rules only apply to air travel, so you can still enter Canada with your driver’s license by car according to the Canadian border patrol officer I spoke to this week. Both land and sea dates keep getting pushed back, but if you travel by air you sure better have one.

Hawaii Bans Smoking

by Neil Woodburn on

Part of the beauty of traveling to a place like Hawaii is to suck in all that fresh, sweet, healthy, tropical air.

Unfortunately, this isn’t very easy to do when the beachgoer next to you is puffing on a cigarette and polluting the air like the guy in the photo above.

I am relieved to discover that this will no longer be the case. On November 16, the Smoke-Free Hawaii Law finally kicked into gear.

The law, which prohibits smoking in all public places, has remained very controversial, however. Smokers are naturally upset about the ban, but so are tourism officials and workers who depend upon tourism for a living. This is because Hawaii is a very popular destination for Japanese vacationers. And 45% of Japanese men smoke.

Will this new law have a detrimental affect on tourism and the amount of revenue that the Japanese demographic brings to Hawaii?

It is too early to tell.

Will it make Hawaii more enjoyable for avid non-smokers like myself?

Hell yes!

Park Problems

by Erik Olsen on

I’ve posted here with unbridled enthusiasm about our National Parks many, many times. They are, in the Interior Department’s own words, our nation’s crown jewels. But the parks seem to be under threat from several angles. There are issues of public use and whether motorized vehicles should be allowed in near-sacred places like Yellowstone.

There is a multi-million dollar backlog of needed maintenance and improvements that the government has not yet acted on. And, according to some reports, there is a growing indifference to the parks among the American public. This last issue, frankly puzzles me. Perhaps, as Neil discussed in a post a while back, this is due to the expanding waistlines and concomitant laziness of Americans. Who really knows?

Either way, the parks are having problems and, as this post over at Park Remark discusses, this is a matter we should all be concerned about. The post discusses several of the problems facing the NPS including another issue — Privatization — that faces parks like the Presidio, a lovely old military site that also happens to sit on some of the most valuable real estate in the country (right on San Francisco Bay). I have a feeling all these issues wil work themselves out, but only if we all pay attention to what is happening and act. The fact is, the parks are simply too important a national/public resource to let them fail.