Taking off Travel blog

The Caribbean is often a place of extremes and that was never more apparent to me than on my last trip to Jamaica. As we were driving out of Port Royal and heading for the hills, we passed through a bustling town with the usual Saturday morning market sounds and smells. It was busy and colorful – like what many tourists expect from a foreign market. At the same time, there were dozens of people dressed up to the nines as they went to church or did other business that called for a little more formality. Shops were crammed along the streets cheek by jowl, while vendors showed off their wares to every passer by. But once we’d left that area behind, the landscape changed.

The next part of our journey took us past one of the island’s top educational institutions on one side and Jamaica’s Beverly Hills on the other. Don’t scoff at the thought of Beverly Hills on a Caribbean island. These mountain top mansions were pretty impressive, sprawling over several acres, covering a few floors and looking as though they’d been recently painted. And let’s not forget the equally impressive satellite dishes to keep the occupants in touch with the world. I thought that they must have had a fabulous view of most of the island, though not all of it. Jamaica is so big that you can’t always see the sea, a rarity in the Caribbean.

In the Mountains

Climbing higher took us to the end of our journey and another quintessentially Jamaican experience. As we pulled into the John Crow Blue Mountains Holywell National Park, I felt a sense of coming home. I’ve always loved the mountains and now I was surrounded by them. Climbing more than 4,000 feet, the mountains are pretty impressive, and the park is a testament to how you can enjoy nature without defacing it. Wooden cottages and gazebos were set into different areas, accessible by short trails, so you could have privacy while enjoying nature. These were only partly accessible by car.

Once we reached our hut, I was able to sit on a mound and look out towards Kingston or back towards more mountains. it was a peaceful location, largely untroubled by the sound of transport, and with a refreshing breeze. The highlight for me was to be able to look across and see the clouds move past at eye level, seemingly close enough to touch. That’s something you just don’t see every day – and it’s why I’m sure I’ll be visiting Jamaica and the Blue Mountains again.

Flying to Jamaica? You can travel from JFK on United, JetBlue, American Airlines and others, including Air Jamaica. There are also direct flights from Miami and other US cities. Don’t forget you can park and fly with Park Ride Fly USA –  check us out on Twitter and Facebook for coupons.

Have you entered Recyclebank’s Green Your Vacation contest yet? The company offers rewards for going green in everyday life. There are a couple of weeks left to enter the contest to win some great prizes. Prizes include a 10 night cruise, a 5 day, 4  night stay at a luxury resort (Four Seasons Costa Rica), 10 grab bags of travel goodies (really good stuff!) and some gift cards and Recyclebank points. Read the rules and find out the details here and check out this video:

Recyclebank’s Green Your Vacation Contest! from Ali Kalis on Vimeo.

Recyclebank has provided some tips on greener vacations:

• Leave the extra pair of shoes at home:  When packing your bags, consider scaling back and only packing the essentials. That extra pair of shoes will make the plane just a bit heavier, increase fuel consumption, and lead to increased greenhouse gas emissions. Multiply that pair of shoes by one thousand summer travelers, and we’ve just made a huge impact. Alaska Airlines actually found that they could save $10,000 per year in fuel costs just by removing five magazines per plane. Packing a lighter bag is better for your back, and for the fuel usage.
• Take the scenic route by train or bus: Sit back, relax and enjoy the view from a train or bus this summer vacation. Train and bus travel leads to fewer emissions per passenger than traveling alone in a car or by plane, and it is often cheaper! Per passenger mile carbon emissions by plane: 0.48 kg. By train: 0.21 kg. By bus: 0.056 kg. Reducing your environmental impact while on vacation: priceless. (Data on carbon emissions sourced from Amtrak and American Bus Association.)
• Bring a reusable water bottle: Did you know 86 percent of plastic water bottles in the U.S. are still NOT recycled? This year, instead of buying a case for your road trip, take a stainless steel, aluminum or bio-plastic reusable bottle; you never know when you will have easy access to a recycle bin on the road. Also, there is no need to toss your bottle before going through airport security—just empty it out and refill it inside!
• Rent your gear: Americans spend $289 billion on outdoor gear activities every year. Packaging, shipping and transporting the gear to your vacation destination all add up to a significant impact on the environment. Consider renting your surfboards and snorkeling gear instead of buying it this year. Rentals can be cheaper and better for the environment!
• Give your appliances a vacation: By turning off your hardworking, energy-sucking devices while you are gone, you will be helping your energy bill and the environment. Electronics with digital displays, instant-on features or remote controls consume energy even while not in use, so give them a rest!  Remember to unplug TVs, cable boxes, DVD players, computers, printers, digital clocks, etc. when you leave home.

A couple of weeks ago when I wrote a post on responsible travel, I ran into Alexia Nestora on Twitter. Alexia runs the Voluntourism Gal blog. With this type of tourism regaining popularity, I interviewed Alexia about voluntourism in general and her experiences in particular.

So what is voluntourism and how did it start?

Alexia Nestora of Voluntourism Gal

Voluntourism has been around for as long as people have been traveling, it’s nothing new but recently it’s gotten a lot of media attention and as a result is rising to the surface a lot more. The Peace Corps was one of the first organizations to formalize volunteering abroad and of course missionaries have been going abroad to serve for years.

The real voluntourism boom in the US happened after 9/11 and the tsunami. All of a sudden it seemed that people wanted to get more out of their vacations, they didn’t just want to sit on a beach anymore, they wanted to give back and get involved in the community.

What are the chief advantages of voluntourism for travelers?

As a voluntourist you will see a side of a community that is hidden away from traditional tourists. While most people will only take pictures of a sight, a voluntourist will live with the community that surrounds the sight and will truly understand what local culture is like – it’s so much more than a bus tour could ever show you.

What are the chief advantages of voluntourism for destinations?

There are many ways that, when voluntourism is done well, destinations benefit. Firstly, they get free labor. Maybe a local school needed to be rebuilt for decades but the workers in the area are spending every second they have trying to make money to support their family, and while they’d like to build a new school, they simply are too busy trying to survive.

Secondly, the communities benefit from the resources volunteers bring with them. Maybe the volunteers will bring new books for the library or maybe they’ll donate money so a group of local women can start a cooperative; this can be a slippery slope but as long as the giving is done responsibly the communities benefit greatly. Lastly, the intercultural relationships that are formed and the understanding of different nationalities greatly contributes to global cooperation. It’s easy to hate all Americans if you have never met one, it’s a bit harder to hate them if they lived with your family and diligently helped on your farm for 2 months. Read more »