Worlds worst place to backpack #7 ..... continued....

Following on from my list of the worlds worst places to backpack, I had ranked Libya as #7. It now seems like that was a gross under estimation.

This video speaks for itself.

Mother Nature not happy

Mother Nature is rumbling....

earthquakes - check
hurricanes - check
droughts - check
floods - check
global warming - check
volcanic eruptions - check
tsunamis - check

tsunami

Haiti, Chile, New Zealand, Japan.....the earth's tectonic plates have been jostling for position beneath the surface of the ground we walk upon. Tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanos, floods, droughts, cyclones and storms, this world, our world, is volatile at the moment.

JapanTsunami5Capture

As volatile as it is, it is also fragile. Breaking apart, breaking open, crumbling and deteriorating before our very eyes, under our very feet.

Im from New Zealand. Its a small country. Everyone was effected someway or another by the recent earthquake. 200 dead for a small country is significant. Haiti lost hundreds of thousands and now Japan, the latest findings only hours after the quake struck is that police have found a couple of hundred of bodies on a beach. The worst is obviously yet to come when examining the death toll.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Earthquake_damage_in_Jacmel_2010-01-17_2.jpg

What is one to make from all this? This momentum of natural disasters. I can't help but think of the Mayan prophecy surrounding the year 2012. Next year its all meant to come to a head. The details of what was forecasted to happen on this date in the earths calendar was never recorded, only that it would signify a dramatic event or turn in the earths calendar. Reading between the lines leaves me with an empty feeling considering the Mayans were and still are one of the most respectable and intelligent races to ever grace this planet.

Scary

In the build up to this year of 2012 predictions were made that 'waves' of natural disasters would take place, presumably leading to a larger, more profound event.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Moore_Oklahoma_Tornado_Damage.jpg

Is this it?! These succession of events just a prelude of what is to come...?! Pachamama is pissed off. Mother Nature is hurting. She has awoken and she will have the last say as us humans continue to rape and pillage her soul.

This video is interesting, the guys voice is classic at the start, but hang in there..



Beware, 2011 is going to be a rocky one. If you were thinking of traveling, do it. Next year you may not be able to travel to many parts of the world, hell, even this year, a lot of the earth may not be so attractive for a backpacking destination. So dont procrastinate anymore, dont delay any of those backpacking dreams you harbour. Seize the day and get amongst as 2012 is going to be .........

Day 100

Its Fair Trade Fortnight!!!



Fair trade travel. I urge you all to think about it for a moment.

Your travels are intertwined with trading with locals no matter where you are. Buying a deep fried papa rellena down the side streets of Bogota, your vegetables from mama down at the local market in Luang Prabang or your fridge magnet you bought for your granny in Rome.

Street food
IMGP6970.JPG

Your trading with locals. Haggling, bargaining, purchasing, buying, swapping, cashing in, cashing up. The locals feel the brunt of your actions. Their livelihoods depend on where and how you spend your money. Think about it...

India - Koyambedu Market - Faces 17

But does it stop there. Your purchasing power stretches further. In an ever increasingly globalised world we buy goods that have an adverse effect on someone 10,000 miles away. Think about it.....

Aruba - Ship Unloading Produce

Your down at your local Tesco......swimming through the aisles blindly, hunting for those bargain stickers, 2 for 1, half price, whatever floats your boat at that particular moment usually gets waxed into your trolley. But do you stop and think about it?! You check the label, those blueberries you bought, have come half way round the world to land on your table. An Argentinean farmer feels the impact of your spontaneous purchasing decision. The locals in the banana plantations in Ghana feel the heat of your purchasing power.



Trade is so seamlessly intertwined into our every day lives we often forget the repercussions of it all. They sell, we buy. End of. Nope, not really. Think about it.

With the pickers

I urge everyone to think about trade and travel. It can make or break people. Your purchasing power is mightier than you think.

Have a positive effect on peoples lives. Think before you buy....

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