In This Issue
Travel as a force for positive change
Digital Detox
January Webinars
Why Bulgaria should be on your list
2012 Trips
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The Pirin Mountains
The Pirin Mountins look like the Colorado Rockies, rocky with lots of lakes and wildflowers.
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The Rhodope Mountains
The Rhodopes are much gentler and lusher, with some amazing limestone caves (we visit one where Orpheus descended to the underworld).
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Melnik
Melnik is only 30 miles from Greece and the whole area feels much more like Greece than the other parts of Bulgaria.
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Sustainable tourism at work
You may not be the first group to visit them, but you'll feel like you are! Visiting these two sisters is a true highlight of the trip.
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The monasteries
The monasteries are not only beautiful, they were responsible for keeping Bulgarian culture alive during the Soviet domination.
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Travel as a force for positive change
We believe that travel is absolutely always a good thing for the traveler. Even if the trip is a disaster, you see and learn new things and are challenged in ways that wouldn't happen if you stayed at home.
But sometimes we struggle with the impact of travel on the places visited, particularly third world countries where unemployment is high and opportunities are low. Yes, our visit may mean employment for some people. But it may also mean their exploitation. So is it better not to go and not contribute to exploitation but also not contribute to employment? Obviously what's best is to find ways that directly benefit the people who live there.
So I was very encouraged by a recent conversation I had with Karen Valenti of the Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance Project (KPAP). KPAP's mission is to improve the conditions of porters on Kilimanjaro by providing clothing, training and employment conditions. Karen said that in the last year, she had noticed a change in the attitudes of local tour operators because their potential clients were starting to ask them whether they were KPAP partners. You can't be a partner if you don't meet some fairly strict guidelines that include monitoring of porter treatment, so it is more than just window dressing to be listed as one.
This is a model for how travel can be a positive force in the countries you visit. It doesn't even take that much effort on the part of a traveler, just awareness and willingness to ask questions about how their tour operator assures that the local people they hire are treated well. Any company that cares about this issue will welcome those questions. If the answer is defensive or incomplete, then you have all the information you need.
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Digital Detox
At a recent gathering of people in the travel industry there was a lively discussion of "digital detox", the idea of unplugging from technology such as cellphones and the internet. On the one hand many destinations are still touting the availabity of wifi in their marketing. At the same time a few destinations are starting to trumpet the lack of availability as a way of truly getting away from it all i.e. a digital detox.
We posed the question last year on our survey: 41% said they preferred no access, 53.4% said they preferred access but could live without it, and 5.6% said they had to have access. On our Facebook page we also had lots of interesting answers when we posed the question. A recurring theme was that people brought their cellphones because they wanted to be able to be reached in the event of an emergency.
Whether you choose to bring your cellphone or laptop or visit an Internet cafe is a personal decision. However, for those of you seeking a digital detox, we offer 2 possibilities: 1) leave your cellphone at home and give your loved ones our office number. We always know how to reach our guides unless that simply isn't an option (and in a wilderness, it usually isn't but your cellphone won't work either); or 2) sign up for a trip where is no access, for at least most of it. For example, once you hike into Havasu Canyon (one of the most beautiful places in the U.S.) your cellphone is worthless. If, like me, you want to get away from it but have a hard time resisting checking email when its possible, wilderness is the best solution.
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January Webinars
January is often a great time to plan big adventures in 2011 so we are offering 3 webinars on consecutive Thursdays this month.
January 13: Hiking the Austrian Alps
January 20: Bulgaria's Mountains and Monasteries
January 27: Trekking to Everest Basecamp
Click on the name to see a description of the webinar and to register for it. All you need is an internet connection and phone. Even if you have no plans to travel to one of these destinations with us or have already been there, you are very welcome to join us. And other than automated emails to remind you of the webinar, we will not be inundating you with follow ups. If you've never attended a webinar, give it a try. I think of it like giving slideshows at a library when your audience lives all over the world!
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Why Bulgaria should be on your list
Here are the top three reasons you should take a look at Bulgaria's Mountains and Monasteries and strongly consider joining us this year:
1. It is absolutely gorgeous (see pictures on the side). Not only that, but the landscapes are all different. From the rolling green hills of the Rhodope Mountains to the rocky peaks of the Pirin to the Greece-like sand towers of Melnik, each place is unique, and each is fascinating.
2. It is the kind of place where older women in traditional Balkan babushkas share the streets with stylish looking young women chatting on their cellphones. The transition in Bulgaria, ever since the collapse of the Soviet Union, has been painful - but that makes it a very interesting place to be.
3. It's still cheap! Maybe you think we only charge $1625 for the 9-day trip because you're staying in hostels and eating porridge for 3 meals? Nope. It's cheap because while it is a member of the European Union, it has not yet adopted the euro. Prices will go up, as they did in Slovenia, if and when it does.
And then there is the pleasure you get when you tell people you're going to Bulgaria this summer. I mean how many people do you know that have ever been to Bulgaria? It definitely sets you apart as a traveler, not just a tourist! People have often told us that Bulgaria was not on their bucket list but they were attracted by the price and the itinerary. No one has ever told us they were disappointed or wish they hadn't gone.
But Bulgaria was on Lonely Planet's 10 places to visit in 2011 and all this may change if it becomes more of a mass tourist destination. The time to visit is now!
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2012 Trips
Yes, we are already thinking about 2012. We'll have many more details later, but in 2012 we plan to return to Patagonia, Mont Blanc and Bhutan, and add a new kayaking trip in the Bahamas and a new hiking trip to the Swiss Alps. Just FYI for all of you who plan months in advance...
But right now we're excited and ready to start 2011. Our first trip goes out tomorrow and in the next 10 months we'll be going all over the U.S. and the world. Join us! As a recent New York Times article recently pointed out, travel to new places keeps your brain young!
--Marian, for all the guides at Adventures in Good Company
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