Archive for the ‘Personalities’ Category

5 Questions with Alice Gugelev, Founder of The Muskoka FoundationIn 2009, Jay Shapiro and Alice Gugelev founded The Muskoka Foundation, an organization that inspires travelers to “use what you know, to do good as you go.” Volunteering and travel go hand-in-hand for Jay and Alice, and the mission of their organization is to transform the travel sector so that meaningful volunteering is a part of every travel experience. They are building a global network of travelers that are interested in donating their time and skills at partner organizations all over the world. All programs available through The Muskoka Foundation focus on building cross-cultural relationships, empowering youth and local staff through skill transfer workshops and providing market access for local products.

Though I don’t believe there is any right or wrong way to travel, I’m definitely a believer in travel that supports local communities and sustainable programs, so when I learned about The Muskoka Foundation, my interest was piqued. I haven’t worked with the organization, but I wanted to learn more about it, so I got in touch with Alice about how the organization works, what its goals are and what makes it different from other volunteer organizations.

1. Why did you start The Muskoka Foundation?  Have you had volunteer experiences that shaped the way you created your organization?

When Jay and I embarked on an around-the-world trip a few years ago, we found it difficult to find the right volunteering opportunities that fit our experience, philosophy and mode of travel — hence The Muskoka Foundation was born. In the last three years, we have found that more and more people share a similar profile and intent. The Muskoka Foundation currently has 20 local partners around the world where volunteers can come for a short term to conduct training workshops based on local needs and on their skill sets.

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6 Questions with Chris Breitenberg, Change MakerThough I’d been to Canada, I didn’t actually board a plane and travel abroad until I was in high school. My first trip was to London, England, to play with my high school band in the New Year’s Day parade. I followed that up with a three-week trip to Australia via a leadership program for high schoolers. With that, my love for international travel was a done deal.

I think introducing international travel to students when they are in middle and high school is incredibly important. The world is much bigger than our own backyard, and when students have the opportunity to learn about other people, places and cultures, their perspectives regarding what is important and what is real may change, often for the better.

This came to mind when I learned about Daraja, an international high school leadership program that caps enrollment at well under a dozen students. Daraja’s first trip is this year, when students will travel to Oaxaca, Mexico, for 16 days to partake in skill-building classes, social entrepreneurship and service learning development. I’m intrigued by the potential of Daraja, so I dropped Chris Breitenberg, the brainchild behind the organization, a few questions about what he hopes Daraja will accomplish and his own travel dreams as well.

1. Tell us about Daraja. Why do you believe programs like this one are important?

Daraja is the work of my heart. When I was 16, I took a trip to Mexico that changed my life forever. I met people who lived in a state of material suffering but who had spiritual joy. And I really saw myself, living with material wealth but in a state of spiritual suffering. The contrast was so stark. I had never been so far out of my own context before (growing up in central Jersey) that I had never had any perspective on life, the word, my own thoughts/feelings/actions.

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6 Questions with Zoe Zolbrod, Author of CurrencyI recently finished reading Currency, a novel about a Thai man and 20-something American woman who get tied up in an exotic animal smuggling ring. It’s been awhile since I read a novel for fun, but I was given a copy of this book and the cover intrigued me (though it’s not particularly relevant to the story), so I dug right in.

In the story, the Thai man (named Piv) and American backpacker, Robin, are intimately involved and, for the most part, devoted to each other. But Robin, being the starry-eyed backpacker that she is, runs out of money and has to leave the country because her visa is about to expire, but schemes with Piv about ways the two of them can continue to live the dream of traveling the world. Doing that requires money, which is where the animal smuggling comes in.

The chapters in Currency alternate between Piv’s voice and Robin’s point of view. I found the chapters told by Piv to be a bit jarring and awkward to read, and though the book started out a bit slow, I couldn’t put it down by the time I reached the end. The concept of smuggling terrifies and grips me, and the story contained in Currency was no exception.

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6 Questions with a Videographer on the John Muir TrailOne of the goals on my bucket list is to hike the John Muir Trail, so when videographer Peter Bell got in touch with me to share his story about his time on the trail, I knew I had to share it with you.

In the summer of 2008, Peter hiked the John Muir Trail, but he didn’t just strap on a backpack and go. Instead, he hit the trail with nine other people … six of whom were boys in high school. Many of these boys were novices to backpacking, especially on something as intense as the John Muir Trail. In fact, even Peter had only ever backpacked for a couple nights at a time. Knowing what I know about high schoolers, this seems like quite the courageous endeavor and I give Peter huge kudos for introducing these kids to the California wilderness.

The other thing that made hiking the trail tougher than normal for Peter was the fact that he had to haul along video equipment. The purpose? To film the trip and create a documentary, which he has entered into the Sundance Film Festival, Mountain Film Festival and Wild and Scenic Film Festival. A trailer for the film is at the bottom of this post; I personally can’t wait to see the whole film!

Peter was kind enough to answer a few questions about his 2008 hike on the John Muir Trail. If you have other questions, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if you hit him up on Twitter.

1. What was the catalyst for hiking the John Muir Trail with this group of high school students?

I came up with the idea to film the John Muir Trail while hiking in Shenandoah National Park in Virginia in college. We made a really bad hiking and camping TV show for college credit. We were hiking along the Appalachian Trail and some dudes were like, “You have to see the JMT out West. It is pretty much the best and most amazingly scenic hiking trail ever.” I took their word for it.

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6 Questions with a U.S. Based NomadI met Cherie Ve Ard at Burning Man in 2009. After some snafus with the camp I was originally supposed to stay in, Cherie and her partner, Chris Dunphy, invited me to stay in theirs. Their Burning Man community, Camp Nomadia, is very much in tune with their lifestyle: minimal, interactive and drama-free.

You see, Cherie and Chris, known jointly at Technomadia, travel, work, play and live full-time in a small solar-powered RV. They go when and where they choose, traversing the United States with their cat, Kiki. Cherie and I have remained in close contact since meeting nearly a year ago, and she was kind enough to answer a few questions about the life she and Chris lead as nomadic ambassadors.

1. Tell me a little bit about your nomadic lifestyle.

I’ve been on the road full time since May 2007 in a small, solar-powered, geeked out travel trailer roaming around the USA with my life and business partner, Chris, and our cat, Kiki. We run a software development and technology consulting firm, doing a variety of remote and onsite work … embracing nomadic serendipity at every turn. We have no physical home anywhere else.

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6 Questions with a Budget Conscious Traveling CoupleTravel has always been a part of Laurie and Bryan’s life as a couple. From week-long getaways while they were dating to a month-long trip in Central America, the two balanced a life of paying for school and daily expenses with the ever-antsy travel bug.

They recently returned from a year-long, around-the-world trip that took them to Africa, a small part of Europe, the Middle East, India and Nepal. Along the way, they learned a thing or two about traveling on a budget …

In this interview, Laurie shares their story of budget-conscious travel and how they’re helping travelers save money.

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