Don's Place with Don George

Travelers looking for adventure travel tips can now get adventure travel advice from experienced adventure travel writer Don George. Don George, one of the top adventure travel experts, has a new space “Don’s Place” on adventurecollection.com. Don’s Place includes: Don’s adventure travel blog, an area to ask Don adventure travel questions, adventure travel advice, adventure travel tips, family adventure travel tips and stories about travel adventures. Don George also offers sustainable adventure travel tips and ecotourism tips for travelers interested in environmentally friendly travel adventures. Don’s Place is also a forum for aspiring adventure travel writers to display their adventure travel writing by relating stories of their adventure travel trips, or to find a published piece of adventure travel literature. Don’s adventure travel blog provides an opportunity for people to ask don adventure travel questions and receive adventure travel advice from various adventure travel experts, adventure travel tips, family adventure travel tips, links to adventure travel writing, adventure travel writers and adventure travel literature. Don’s adventure travel blog also allows visitors to ask Don adventure travel questions related to travel adventures that take care of the environment including ecotourism tips and sustainable adventure travel tips. Travelers can reply to Don’s adventure travel blog and not only ask Don adventure travel questions but post their own adventure travel tips, family adventure travel tips, adventure travel advice, adventure travel writing and stories of their own travel adventures. Ecotourism tips and sustainable adventure travel tips are welcome and adventure travel writing, adventure travel writers and adventure travel literature recommendations are encouraged. Don’s adventure travel blog will also include adventure travel advice from various adventure travel experts. Adventure travel experts will reply to and ask don adventure travel questions on Don’s adventure travel blog as well as discuss adventure travel advice, family adventure travel tips, adventure travel writers, adventure travel trips, ecotourism tips, sustainable adventure travel tips and adventure travel tips. Don’s Place will also highlight adventure travel literature put together by Don George himself. Don George is one of the most respected adventure travel experts in his field with a special flare for adventure travel writing. He’s gained the respect of his fellow adventure travel writers with his numerous contributions to adventure travel literature. Like his fellow adventure travel experts Don George specializes in adventure travel advice, family adventure travel tips, sustainable adventure travel tips, ecotourism tips and adventure travel tips. For adventure travel experts, adventure travel advice, family adventure travel tips, adventure travel trips, travel adventures, adventure travel tips, sustainable adventure travel tips, ecotourism tips, links to adventure travel writers, adventure travel writing and adventure travel literature visit Don George at Don’s Place. Ask Don adventure travel questions and read Don’s adventure travel blog for the best in adventure travel advice. We’re finally ready to enjoy the things we’ve been dreaming about doing, and on the top of our list is a trip to Africa. What do you recommend? See Don's recommendations in <a href="http://donsplace.adventurecollection.com/FAQs.php" target="_blank">Ask Don.</a> Whether your dream family vacation is an organized adventure or an on-your-own odyssey, here are five ways to minimize the hassles and maximize the highlights.  Summer is fast approaching. For kids, it’s time to kick back and savor long, school-free days. For parents, it’s time to embark on one of the year’s scariest roller-coaster rides: the family vacation. A successful family vacation is as good as it gets: Encountering new places and people with your children (and if you’re lucky, with your parents, too), away from the routines and roles of home, can make for lots of laughs, lessons, and the kinds of unexpected, unforgettable moments that will bind you even when you’re apart years later. But family journeys aren’t easy, and they’re certainly not naturally successful. You have to work at them, and the work begins well before you roll your bags out the door. One way to minimize the hassle and maximize the highlights is to take an organized family adventure tour; these trips are planned and led by seasoned professionals and feature road-tested, family-friendly itineraries and experiences. Family tours offer time for kids to engage with kids (and parents to engage with parents), and then time for families to re-group and share the day’s discoveries and delights. Some of our most memorable family journeys have been on organized tours. If you’re looking for some inspiration, I’ve listed ten wonderful, family-friendly trips at the end of this column.  Whether you choose to travel on a tour or on your own, here are five lessons from my own five decades of family travel, as child and as parent; I hope they help ensure your summer adventure is a blast and not a bust.     1: Location, location, location: You have to choose a destination that will maximize your chances for success. Take into account the weather, amenities and activities your family likes. We’ve found traveling with our kids in Greece, Fiji, Japan, and Australia to be especially easy. Other famously kid-friendly countries include Italy, Vietnam. Costa Rica and New Zealand. Of course, North America is family-friendly too! The bottom line: Look for a place and a trip – whether it’s biking, backpacking or beach-combing -- that will engage everyone.  2. It’s a family affair: Be sure to include your children in the trip-planning, so that they have a sense of “ownership” of the trip. If they’re older, it’s wonderful to involve them from the beginning of the process as you narrow your plans by region, country and activity. Once you’ve settled on a destination, buy a map and pore over it with your kids; read brochures and guidebooks together and get them to talk about where they would like to go and why. Buy a picture dictionary or phrasebook and practice saying simple phrases together. By the time you’ve finalized your itinerary, you’ve already begun the journey – with everyone feeling a part of the plan.  3. Better understanding through cuisine: If you can, introduce your kids to the local cuisine before you leave. If you’re going to Thailand, say, go to a local Thai restaurant. Ask the waiter to describe the various culinary specialties and have everyone order something different so that you can sample as much as possible. Tell the owners and/or staff that you're planning to visit their country; in many cases, they’ll offer kid-friendly suggestions about where to go and what to see and do -- and they'll be a first living bridge for your kids to the people and customs of the region.    4. Children first: In your planning and on the road, pay attention to the needs and pacings of your kids. Reward patience in a museum with an ice-cream cone from the vendor outside. Look for parks: A swing-set in Athens or a slide in Singapore can suddenly make the whole city seem more familiar and fun. Where possible, visit the beach: Kids can play boisterous beach games together without having to speak a common language; and they can be great ice-breakers for you to meet local parents, too. For older children, consider giving them an afternoon free and then reconvening for dinner. This will allow them – and you – a little decompression time and the chance to make individual adventures. It’s exciting to see them begin to gain confidence on their own in the world, and to explore that world through their eyes and experiences.   5. Finally, have everyone make a record of the trip. If you have younger travelers, bring a journal and glue sticks and paste in the pages what your children collect along the way, from leaves and candy wrappers to maps and brochures. Have older kids pack a diary for drawings, maps, and travel tales; make time for them to write -- even just a few sentences -- every day. Encourage them to get creative. Teens may want to make videos they can show back home, or create an ongoing blog of the trip en route. And be sure you keep a record too – the years blur by all too fast, and these memories will grow more and more precious as time passes!  My best journeys have been with my family – first with my parents, then with my children, and then with my children and parents together. There’s a kind of multigenerational magic on these trips that creates unique and irreplaceable discoveries, joys and memories for all. May that magic infuse your family’s adventures too.     To whet your imagination, here’s a range of family-tailored trips offered by the members of the Adventure Collection:    Backroads -- <a href="http://www.backroads.com/trips/BTTIF/europe-italy-tuscany-biking-tour" target="_blank">Tuscany Family Biking</a> Bushtracks – <a href="http://www.bushtracks.com/activities/family-adventures/southern-africa-private-air/overview/185" target="_blank">Southern Africa by Private Air: A Family Adventure</a> Canadian Mountain Holidays -- <a href="http://www.canadianmountainholidays.com/hike/experience/family_adventures/" target="_blank">Family Heli-Hiking Adventure in the Bugaboos</a> Geographic Expeditions – <a href="http://www.geoex.com/adventure-travel/galapagos/galapagos-islands.asp" target="_blank">Galapagos Islands</a> Lindblad – Baja: Where the Desert Meets the Sea Micato Safaris – <a href="http://www.micato.com/2008brochurepdfs/Heart.pdf" target="_blank">The Heart of Kenya and Tanzania</a>  Natural Habitat Adventures – <a href="http://www.nathab.com/family/family-canyons" target="_blank">Family Adventure in the Canyons of the American Southwest</a>    OARS -- <a href="http://www.oars.com/idaho/salmonriverrafting.html" target="_blank">Main Salmon River Rafting on the River of No Return</a> <a href="http://www.oars.com/idaho/salmonriverrafting.html"></a>    Off the Beaten Path – <a href="http://www.offthebeatenpath.com/territories/rocky-mountains/wild-western-adventure/?ggjid=156" target="_blank">Wild Western Adventure: Cowboys, Indians, and Yellowstone National Park</a> NOLS – <a href="http://www.nols.edu/courses/locations/yukon/yukonbackpacking.shtml" target="_blank">Yukon Backpacking</a> To explore the Adventure Collection’s full world of family odysseys, visit <a href="http://www.adventurecollection.com/">adventurecollection.com.</a> Happy travels!   Nicolas Chorier's brilliant new collection of kite-perspective photographs presents an illuminating aerial picture-puzzle of India old and ever-new.  You may think you know India, but I’ll wager you’ve never seen it from the perspective of Nicolas Chorier, whose specialty is taking photographs with a camera held aloft by a kite. He utilizes this innovative art to illuminating and enchanting effect in this wonderful new book, presenting an aerial picture-puzzle of India with images of everything from historic monuments to everyday scenes.   The product of 10 years of traveling and photographing India’s length and breadth, Chorier’s portfolio opens with a stunning spread of photos of the lotus-like Bahai Temple in Delhi, followed by striking shots of the tower of Qutub Minar, the Jama Masjid mosque, Humayun’s Tomb and the Amber Fort. These popular Delhi tourist sights all take on an entirely different aspect when viewed from above.    Subsequent chapters present kite’s-eye views of Jaipur, Jodhpur (including some intricately thrilling shots of Ahhichatragarh Fort), and Udaipur. From forts and monuments, we then move to Pushkar and the fabled camel fair, presented here with an expansive, horizon-widening  dynamism I’ve never seen before.    Other highlights of the book include a striking series of shots of Varanasi, graced with an otherworldly order and calm from this angle; the ruins of Mamallapuram and Hampi, which I’d never seen before; and some exquisite seaside shots of Kerala. The collection ends with a triumphant, timeless set of photos of two students practicing the ancient martial art of kalaripayattu on a beach in Kozhikode. This extraordinarily beautiful and beguiling book is an achievement to honor and cherish, bestowing a soaring new appreciation of India’s ancient sites and its everyday treasures.     [Kite’s Eye View: India Between Earth and Sky, by Nicolas Chorier, with a Foreword by Zubin Mehta, published by Lustre Press, a division of Roli Books; copyright 2007 by Roli & Janssen BV; hardcover, 192 pages, $49.95.]   Here is a selection of Adventure Collection member trips to India:  Bushtracks Expeditions: <a href="http://www.bushtracks.com/destinations/tailor-made-adventures/north-india-rajasthan-air-safari/overview/317">North India and Rajasthan Air Safari</a>  Geographic Expeditions: <a href="http://www.geoex.com/adventure-travel/india/taj-to-tiger.asp">From Taj to Tiger</a> Natural Habitat Adventures: <a href="http://www.nathab.com/asia/wild-india">Wild India</a>    NOLS: <a href="http://www.nols.edu/courses/locations/india/semester_in_india.shtml">Semester in India</a>    Being the Account of a Whitewater Adventure on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River, in the Form of a ConversationBy Don George  Where have you been? It looks like you haven’t shaved in days!I haven’t – for six days, to be precise. I’ve been whitewater rafting on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River, in Idaho.    Where? The Middle Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho. You know how Idaho looks like a clenched fist with the pointing finger raised – kind of a “We’re number 1!” pose? Well, if that’s a map of Idaho, the route we rafted runs roughly from the top joint to the knuckle of the middle finger.  Right, that makes perfect sense. How’d you get there?  I flew from San Francisco to Boise, then met a posse of other rafters in the Boise Airport and we all crammed into Salmon Air’s propeller planes for the flight to the Old West mountain hamlet of Stanley, in the shadow of the snowcapped Sawtooth Range.  We spent the night in the Mountain Village Lodge. (And let me add parenthetically that the kind folks at the Stanley Public Library stayed open 15 minutes after closing time so that I could check email -- thank you, folks! – and that you should be sure to try the scrumptious pizza at Papa Brunee’s, across from the Stanley Post Office.) We had our first group meeting that night at the lodge and the next morning we piled into a bus and drove a couple of hours to the launch point at Boundary Creek.  We ended the trip 96 miles downriver at Cache Bar, a short drive from the bustling town of Salmon, where we spent the night at the Stagecoach Inn. The next day Salmon Air propellered me back to Boise Airport, where I caught a midday flight to San Francisco.   When were you there?  I flew to Stanley on June 14 and flew home on the 21st. We were on the river June 15-20.    So why did you do this?  In 25-plus years of wandering the globe, I’d never taken a multi-day whitewater rafting trip. I figured it was time, and whitewater aficionados told me that the Middle Fork was the classic American whitewater trip.   Was it?  We’ll get to that. Let’s cover the practical stuff first.   OK, how many people were on your trip?  There were 18 guests and six guides.   What was the age range of the guests?  The youngest was 15 and the oldest was a 79. There were two family groups: a Mom with three sons -- the 15-year-old, plus a 16-year-old and 19-year-old; and a Dad with a 16-year-old son, an 18-year-old daughter, and her 18-year-old friend. There were four solo travelers, and three couples. The people were pretty evenly age-distributed from 30s to 60s.    What was the age range of the guides?  About the same as the guests. Not! 30s to 60s.   Did everyone get along?  Everyone got along splendidly! The two groups of teenagers quickly bonded and took to playing card games together every night in camp. The adults were an extremely congenial group. And the guides were fantastic – their passion, knowledge, respect for the wilderness and each other, and general camaraderie were inspiring.    Where the guides cute?  Uh, yeah, in a ponytail and beard kind of way. And that was just the women!  Just kidding! Yes, the guides – male and female alike – were indeed cute. Not to mention founts of information and good-naturedness.  Can you describe a typical day on the trip?  But of course! Just about every day began at 6:15 (for the guests, that is; the guides had been awake for at least half an hour before that starting to get breakfast ready). But anyway, for the guests, coffee was ready at 6:15, and we would emerge sleepily from our tents and huddle over steaming mugs of delicious coffee, hot chocolate and tea. At 7:00, breakfast would be served – pancakes, eggs, English muffins with butter and jam, cereal, lots of good food. Two mornings the guides served up food for the mind as well: Zak gave an in-the-field lecture on the geology of the region, and Barry passionately summarized the history of the wilderness we were rafting through.  By 8:00 we’d have cleaned our dishes and packed up our tents, sleeping bags and boat bags and taken them to the “sweep boat.” Once that was fully loaded, the genial guide known as Mr. H. would start oaring it ponderously downriver to set up our next site. Around 9:00 guests would banana into their peel-like wetsuits, clip on their life jackets, refill their water bottles, and use the al fresco facilities for a last time -- Excuse me – the al fresco facilities? Well, yeah, there’s no pay toilets in the wilderness. At each camp the guides would set up an ingenious portable potty in a secluded area with a great view of the river. This was a regular horseshoe-shaped toilet rim attached to a deep metal box. So you could sit in comfort under the sun (or stars) and do what you had to do – with the most amazing public toilet view in the world. A roll of toilet paper in a Tupperware container served as the “key.” If the roll was in the designated spot, the potty was available; if not, you had to wait. It was a flawless and comfortable system.  OK. So what happened at 9:00? At 9:00 we’d position ourselves in our chosen craft for the day and set off. We’d run the river for about three hours. On a few days we stopped en route to take side hikes into the hills to see some special natural or historic sites like an old homesteader’s cabin, Native American pictographs and amazing waterfalls. (For many of us, these were special highlights of the trip.)  Around noon we’d stop for lunch for an hour, then we’d set off on the river again. We’d reach camp around 4:00, unload our gear and set up our tents. Then we’d have a couple of hours to nap, walk, read, write and talk – or just absorb the beauty of the place.  Around 7:00 we’d gather for dinner, which was always amazingly delicious. So-yummy-I-can-still-taste-it salmon one night, steak another, salads, grilled veggies, heavyweight-contender brownies one night and a fantastic birthday-and-anniversary celebration cake another – great food every night! We’d eat until about 8:30, when we’d clean up and then sit around the campfire, talking and listening to the guides play guitar and harmonica.  Around 10:00 I’d crawl into my tent and quickly fall asleep.  Sounds pretty idyllic.  It was! What kind of boats did you use? We used one dory and four rubberized rafts. Three of these rafts were powered by guides using oars. One was a “self-paddle” boat where guests paddled under the direction of an enthusiastic and patient cheerleader-coach-guide named Ed. The dory was an aluminum boat roughly the size and shape of a rowboat; because of its material and shape, this one rode high in the water and offered a lot of wave action.    Speaking of wave action, how strenuous was this trip?  Well, it varied quite a bit from guest to guest. If you wanted to be active, you could join the paddle boat every day and get a great work-out. If you wanted to take it easy, you could just sit in the raft or dory and watch the world float by. In that case the most exertion you’d have would be putting up your tent. In addition, just about every day there was at least one optional hike; in our group, most people joined these hikes, but there was no pressure to do so. The hike on the second day sounded extremely strenuous, and I and many other guests opted not to do it. I did the other hikes and while a couple involved some scrambling over rocks, they weren’t prohibitively difficult. The 15-year-old and 79-year-old both did these three.   How big were the rapids?  Well, this was a big-water time of year. The water was high with snow melt, so the river was very cold and flowing very fast. Each of the six days had some Class 3 rapids, and four of the days had at least one Class 4. Of course, as the guides told us, the river is different with each journey – depending on the water level and so the speed, the currents, and what is exposed or just under the water surface. This made for some excitement.   Were you scared?  No, of course not! Well, actually, yes, on the second day at a place called Lake Creek Rapid. As we approached this rapid, the guides said it had changed completely since last year. (This is one of the really interesting things about rivers: Their map changes from year to year and season to season. Winter floods might deposit huge tree trunks in an area that had been unobstructed the year before; or a flood of water might open up a previously impassable stretch.) So we beached our boats upriver and all got out and walked to scout the rapid. The guides spent a long time – How long? I’d say at least 20 or 30 minutes looking at it, studying it and talking about it. There was a narrow channel on the left of a big hole in the center. They concluded that we had to hit that channel.  Then they walked further downriver to scout another big rapid, Pistol Creek, which was located just a minute or two float-time downriver.  When we got back to our boats, everyone was very somber and serious and the guides talked with us about what we should do if our raft was overturned or we were thrown out of the raft into the river. Basically, because the water was extremely fast and cold and there was another rocky rapid just downriver, we had to swim like hell to get to the riverbank as fast as we could. Guides would be positioned on shore with throw ropes to toss to us.  As we oared back out into the river and approached the rapid, I could actually feel the fear in my pumping heart and dry, coppery mouth.  So what happened? Did you get dunked? No, we all got through fine! The self-paddle boat went first and they pushed right through the channel and on to the other side. Then the dory bounced cleanly through. We went last. We headed in a little too close to the hole and for a moment I could look right into the maw of the roiling water, but then in a roller-coaster split second -- surging freezing water slamming us up and down and slapping over us, the sensurround roar of the water deafening us -- we slipped through and out into the calmer stretch beyond. (Thanks, Sarah!)  Was that the hairiest moment of the trip?  Yes, but on the very first day I was sitting alone directly in the back of one of the rafts, and I planted two inglorious face-dives – one into a duffle bag behind the rower, and the other right into the rower’s back. (Sorry, Zak!) After that, the left side of my head/face smarted for a while, and my right arm tingled for a half hour or so. But I was fine the next day.   What was the highlight of the trip?  I thought you’d never ask! There were really many highlights, but for me, it was the overall immersion in the wilderness. The landscape each day was spectacular, soul-soaring stuff: deep green pine trees and steep rocky slopes, long stretches of burned-out trunks from fires last August, the snaking white-roiling curves of the river, stark sun in a deep blue sky. The crispness of the air. The perpetual Zen background-roar of the river.  The so-close-you-could-touch-them stars at night, and the so-bright-it-startled-your-eyes full moon rising over a pine-silhouetted crag.  Being immersed in that wildness for six days gave me a wider perspective on the world and a deeper sense of time; it also made me realize how fundamentally important wildness is.  Another highlight was, as I mentioned before, the passion, knowledge, respect and camaraderie of the guides.  Another was camping with the luxury of having delicious meals prepared for us and clean-up done by others, too. All we guests had to do was set up and take down our tents, and rinse our plates and utensils at the end of each meal.   Would you do it again? Absolutely!   How much did it cost?  My river trip cost $1,908 (the “value season” rate; peak season departures are $2,115). In addition I had to pay for airfare from San Francisco to Stanley and Salmon to San Francisco, which cost a total of about $600, about $200 total for accommodation at the Mountain Lodge and the Stagecoach Inn, and around $50 for meals before and after the trip.   Who would you recommend it for?  I’d recommend it for anyone who wants a dose of wilderness in their lives. As I said before, we had families with teenagers on our trip and a solo 79-year-old. And the ages of the other guests ranged from 30s to 60s. You didn’t have to be in tremendous physical condition to enjoy this trip. I’d say the condition of your spirit is more important. If you’re ready to camp out for five nights, if you enjoy the great outdoors, you’ll love it.  Bronco, our endearing and inspiring trip leader, said at the beginning of our journey, “The Middle Fork is one of those places that will make you a better person just for being out there.” When I first heard that, I had some inkling of what he meant, but now that it’s over, I really understand: The river, the wilderness, gets inside you – it becomes a dynamic thing, churning through your veins. You absorb the wildness – the fresh open air, the green straining pines, the rushing roaring river, the geological texts of the implacable ageless crags. It freshens you and stretches you and puts you in synch with something deeper and broader than yourself.  I don’t want to get too sentimental or philosophical about this – it was just a six-day rafting trip, after all – but here’s what I feel: You leave the river, but it doesn’t leave you. Instead, you bring it to the life that roars and flows and bends before you; you map its depths and channels and flows, ride its surging waves and roiling holes, with a wisdom and courage that you didn’t have six days before. And that is wild.     *****  Don's trip was organized and hosted by OARS, Outdoors Adventure River Specialists.  For more information on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River trip, click <a href="http://oars.com/idaho/middleforkwhitewaterrafting.html">here</a>. For general information on OARS, visit <a href="http://www.oars.com/">oars.com.</a>        Photo by Justin Bailie A conversation with the Founder and Director of Natural Habitat Adventures.  DG: How, when and why did you found Natural Habitat Adventures? BB: I couldn't find a job! Seriously, I was not qualified to do anything except for work for myself. I was a teacher at a prep school in New Hampshire and I took a group of kids skiing and came up with the idea to start an adventure travel company. I quit teaching that summer and drove a garbage truck at an amusement park in New Jersey where I saved $600 to print (photocopy, really) a typed brochure. Needless to say, it took many years to get the company started... For a background, see this page on our site: <a href="http://www.nathab.com/about/index.aspx?pageID=100">http://www.nathab.com/about/index.aspx?pageID=100</a>  What were the biggest challenges at the beginning?   The truth is that the biggest challenges were that I knew nothing about business. I was 21 years old and had a passion for travel and nature, but that did not mean I knew anything about running a business. With that in mind, you can imagine the number of mistakes I made.    What was the biggest mistake you made, and what did you learn from it?   As a business founder, I have made plenty of mistakes. I usually need two or three chances before I learn from them. The very best mistake I have learned in running a business is that I tried to expand beyond that which we do best — nature expeditions. We tried to run yoga tours and walking tours for our partner company, Gaiam, and it was a total failure. Why? Simple — just because we know nature tours does not mean we know anything about walking tours or yoga tours. Not only did the tours run crappy, but we lost money on them. I have definitely learned to do what you do best (I try regularly to get that valuable lesson across to my wife when she wants me to do yard work and I tell her I am much better at drinking beer and watching television, but she ain’t buying it). How has the organization evolved through the years? About 5-8 years in, even though the business started to gain a little traction, we were still driven exclusively by me -- my ideas, my marketing vision, my destinations. More recently, like about ten or 12 years ago, we started to be driven by a team of people, really anyone in the company who had the passion for nature and travel and the ability to accomplish their goals. In short, the company is now well beyond being "Ben Bressler," which makes it a great company. What are the primary hallmarks and goals of Nat Hab trips? Guests know they are on a Natural Habitat trip when they come into close contact with remarkable natural sights and the experience is greatly enhanced by their guide. It is our goal that each and every guest be infected with the same passion for our natural world as we are, and we do that by putting an enormous focus on the services of our Expedition Leaders. How would you describe the typical Nat Hab traveler? The Nat Hab traveler is not a specific age or demographic. He or she is a person with a passion for nature — whether it’s to view an enormous herd of elephant in Botswana or to sit quietly at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. What are the prime challenges facing Nat Hab today? Of course we face business challenges like anybody else – slowing economy, poor exchange rate and escalating fuel prices. But this is normal and we accept it and take it in stride. Our bigger, overall challenge is balancing our own passion for protecting our planet with the fact that we are, after all, a business. I guess, if we had our druthers, our staff would spend all day working towards protecting our natural world through all sorts of initiatives, including, of course, eco-tourism which we see as the best way to protect our planet. But we have to remember that on a daily basis we are running a business and marketing and accounting and sales are all a part of that. How are you addressing these challenges? Our business, like life, is a balance between what you love and want to do and what you need to do. There are some very gratifying moments in running a business and while we may want to spend all day helping polar bears and baby seals, it is equally as gratifying when our guests return from a trip and tell us that it was the most meaningful moment in their lives. What are the prime challenges facing the larger travel industry today? On a conservation level, climate change is already starting to have negative affects on certain areas: the Arctic in particular. In the long run, it is likely to be devastating. In a business sense, the declining exchange rate will have an affect on the amount of money Americans will have to spend overseas. As the dollar declines, it is natural that it does not go as far in travel which obviously reduces the number of Americans who can travel overseas. Of course, fuel prices aren’t helping either. How do you think the industry needs to evolve? The good news is that companies can now save some costs by using advancing technology —things like online reservation systems and electronic communications. This not only helps us keep our prices to our guests down, it also helps us reduce paper waste substantially. But companies need to embrace this technology and, at times, it is difficult for established institutions to make changes. How do you see Nat Hab evolving in the future? Natural habitat Adventures will hopefully not change in our offerings. We plan to stay the course — the world’s greatest nature expeditions! That said, we have been investing in other partner companies who offer unique adventure trips that will complement our nature-based offerings. By creating an intimate group of small companies, each of us can focus on what we do best but we can share technology, buy product at better rates and share specific operations in order to reduce the cost to our guests. What’s the greatest pleasure of your work for you? My greatest pleasure is clearly watching the young (and not so young) staff in our office or in the field embrace our philosophy and take it to the next level. I am exceedingly proud that I have been able to offer jobs to these passionate people who are capable of absolute greatness and who work diligently to provide our guests with lifetime experiences and to protect our planet. At this point in my career, I am the keeper of our structure and the staff make the company great.  Is there one moment or anecdote that captures the rewards of your work? Many years ago, probably 1990, I was working for the month of March in the Gulf of St. Lawrence running our Seal Watching expeditions. The intention was to create an alternative revenue for the tiny islands that had depended somewhat on seal hunting in the past but now, due to international pressure, could not earn money on harvesting seals. It was the perfect eco-tourism story and, as an animal lover, I was proud to be a part of the story. Since this particular adventure was so focused on such an adorable animal -- the baby harp seal -- it attracted many people from around the world who cared deeply for animals. Most of the guests had donated for years to help protect these animals and the plight of the baby harp seals became an important element in their lives. Some of the guests had saved for years to be able to afford the journey to northern Canada and one particular aging British woman, her name escapes me, told me how she shad saved her pounds in a jar in her kitchen in order to afford the trip. When she exited the helicopter, assisted by an ex-seal hunter we had hired, she had tears in her eyes as she took me aside to tell me that now that she had seen the harp seals and they were safe, she could die a happy woman.    That’s a beautiful story! Thank you, Ben.

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