Charles B
Pegi, thanks for an excellent, thought-provoking film, although the thoughts it raised with me were mostly pessimistic ones. It brought to mind the joke about the driver who curses a traffic jam without realising that he is the traffic jam. Like many others, I travel because I can, inwardly seething at the mess everyone else is making, forgetting that I am contributing to that mess. Can we really hope/expect officialdom somewhere to come up with a solution - some kind of sustainable approach to tourism? Isn't that just us - people - passing the buck? My view is that the problem is me and my fellow travellers, and the solution is for us all to travel less. But since that is not going to happen any time soon, we are doomed to continue damaging the planet. I hope I'm wrong...am I?
Hi Pegi, you'll have seen from my earlier post that I think that the unprecedented and uncontrolled travel we have now is a Bad Thing, that it is inherently destructive. But I still travel. What about you? As one who raises these issues so well, what influences your holiday choices? What choices do you personally make to be a "responsible" tourist?
Hi Al,
Love the microadventure idea, but where's the line between having an adventure and just living like a tramp for a bit? Is there a line? Have you ever had an idea for a microadventure and rejected it because it might have been just too trampy?
Charles,
Yes, and rule number two is to remember that sometimes shit happens. He nearly went home because someone nicked his phone? He needs to grow up.
Great, heart-warming film. Loved it. Congrats on getting it.
Great heart-warming and life-affirming film Tom, congratulations. Two related questions: The actual film quality is outstanding. Did you have an extra cameraman with you, or was it all shot by you? Secondly, there are some wonderful scenes, the shepherd and his family, for example. But did the filming ever get in the way or cause you difficulties, or perhaps even alter people's behaviour towards you?
That's really interesting - the love story happened almost without you noticing it. Ironic because to be honest, that's what makes the film so great, lifting it out from being a travelogue, or a story about a man finding himself, etc, although I'm sure that would have been good too. But are you now tempted to make another film? Would you be looking for a story next time? Or just take it as it comes and hope for something serendipitous?
Good film, but will Rob be be allowed to do a similar job on the North Korean death camps I wonder? That would be worth seeing. http://www.amnesty.org.uk/North-Korea-prison-camp-officials-raped-women-killed-secret#.U-iEhY90yUk
Aung San Suu Kyi in Yangon; Leonard Cohen in Montreal;
Bruce Springsteen in New Jersey; Roger McGough in Liverpool; Woody Allen in New York
Could the minister please outline what the authorities do to ensure that as much as possible of the money tourists spend in Uganda goes to local people.
Hi Chris. A couple of Qs:
- Of all the cases you've encountered over the years, do you have one that sticks in your memory as particularly unjust?
- Roughly what % of issues do you resolve in the customer's favour? Do you find companies tend to back down as soon as you get involved?
- You can't help everyone out - what's the best course of action for other travellers who have a problem with a large and unyielding travel company?
What about adding a writing workshop area so the aspiring travel writers/bloggers among us can post work and invite constructive criticism from fellow Outbounders?
What a great idea, it's been haunting me, taking me back to some of my favourite books. Here's four:
Mexico: Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver. A brilliant tale that brings together Trotsky and Frida Kahlo.
USA: American Pastoral by Philip Roth. The unravelling of the American Dream told through the story of one family. For me it edges out On The Road.
Italy (Sicily): The Leopard by Giuseppe Lampedusa. Again, a family caught up in a time of devastating change. Wonderfully evocative of time and place.
India: The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. Prize-winner about the tragedy of the caste system.
Someone needs to point out to Creepytings that her "art" is rubbish.
Excellent, thought-provoking film. Most of us believe that the democratisation of travel since the 60s been a good thing, but surely we now see that you can have too much of a good thing. We "travellers" are helping to choke the planet and destroy the very things and places we value most. What has become a daily mass movement of people sloshing around the globe, some looking for fun, others for a better life, is clearly unsustainable but probably also unstoppable. Sadly Sonja, it's hard to see community-driven tourism trumping big business and mass-market travel on a scale that would make a difference. Bhutan can control the number of visitors (for now) only because it's a tiny and closed society. And the problem simply moves elsewhere. It's a conundrum. Thanks for raising it by getting the film for us, a real coup. Must dash now, got a plane to catch!