LOCAL TRAVEL

destination

Experience a destination for what it is today.

Make personal connections with people from a different part of the world. Every destination has a living, breathing society that is evolving all the time.

The reality is that it’s on us as travelers to explore the diversity each country has to offer. Even the most visited destinations can offer extraordinary experiences when you go beyond the usual tourist sites, museums, and monuments. Life is changing all the time.

Allow yourself to get lost, use food as a window to cultural diversity.

Pick up a local magazine or check out signs posted on the street corners to find art exhibits, music festivals, or other events. Go beyond the most popular cities.

Leave the cities for smaller places like villages and suburbs to find the hidden treasures of many countries, with unique cultural experiences, beautiful landscapes, and powerful interactions.

While staying local when you travel is indeed one important facet of local travel, its equally critical counterpart is what some people think of as “going local” – an exploration of faraway places, anywhere in the world, as if one were local to that place.

Local travel is about shifting your travel values so that you are mindful and supportive of local people, the local environment, local culture and local economy. It’s about putting yourself in the shoes, hearts, and mindsets of locals and making choices that benefit them as much as they do you.

Travel local, and encourage everyone to do the same.

https://www.informationvine.com/index?qsrc=999&qo=semQuery&ad=semD&o=36177&l=sem&askid=854b0e70-4a9b-47bf-a506-52477ac0e309-0-iv_gsm&q=local%20travel&dqi=&am=modifiedbroad&an=google_s

Oma’s Old-Fashioned Rouladen

traditional

Back in the 40s and 50s, when my German mother-in-law (aka “Oma”) was a young girl in Northern German, rouladen was her family’s traditional Christmas dinner.

Now, this classic meal is a common Sunday supper all over Germany, but back then, when money was tight, Rouladen was a special treat served only once a year.

What is Rouladen?  Chuck roast is wrapped around bacon, onion and spices then simmered in pan gravy for hours until it becomes tender and flavorful.  This recipe has been passed down through Oma’s family for generations.  Oma learned it from her late mother who learned it from hers, etc. etc.  Since Oma has been visiting, we decided to capture this recipe for our official family record, but you can enjoy it as well.

So I present to you Oma’s Old-Fashioned Rouladen.

Oma’s Old-Fashioned Rouladen

  • 10 strips of chuck roast cut thin, approximately 3 3/4 pounds
  • 15-20 strips of bacon
  • yellow mustard
  • sea salt
  • freshly ground pepper
  • 1 large onion, cut in half and sliced very thin
  • vegetable oil
  • water, divided
  • sour cream, optional
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour (or cornstarch for a gluten-free option)

Serves 8-10.

ROLLING

Take a strip of chuck roast.  It should be about 1/4 inch thick.  If it is too thick, pound it down to the correct thickness.  Spread the meat with a thin layer of mustard, then sprinkle with pepper and salt (go easy on the salt).  Put a strip or two of bacon on the meat.  This depends on how wide your meat is.  You don’t want the bacon to stick out the side.  Cover that with a thin layer of sliced onions.

Starting at the small end, roll the meat with its contents into a tight cylinder.  Using kitchen twine (or in Oma’s case, sewing thread), tie this bundle tightly.

BROWNING

Put about 2-3 tablespoons of oil in the bottom of a heavy sauté pan.  When the oil is hot, add the rouladen, and cook, turning as necessary, until it is very brown on all sides.  This takes about 22-28 minutes.  When the meat is very very brown all over, place them in an oven.

Heat about 2 cups of water in small saucepan until hot.  Pour the water into the sauté pan that you used to brown the rouladen and scrape up the drippings.  Eventually, this will be the gravy.  Pour this sauce over the meat in the dutch oven.  If you didn’t get everything from the pan, add a little more water, scrape again and pour that over the meat.  Oma says this is very important.  Add enough water so that it covers about 2/3 of the meat.

SIMMERING

Bring to a boil on the stove top, then reduce heat, cover and simmer very low for 1 1/2 hours.  After the meat is tender, remove it to a plate covered with foil to stay warm.

GRAVY

Whisk together 1/4 cups flour and 1/4 cup water until smooth.  This mixture will be the consistency of cream.  Turn the heat off on the pot and add about 1/2 this mixture to the pan juices whisking until it is incorporated.  Then turn the heat back on and simmer until it thickens.  Just before serving, mix in approximately 1/4 cup of sour cream (optional).  Taste for seasoning.

Guten Appetit!

https://www.livinthepielife.com/2011/02/omas-old-fashioned-rouladen/

Ways to protect the environment

We all want to protect our planet, but we’re mostly too busy or too lazy to put up big change that would improve our lifestyle and save the environment.


These are 7 simple habits to implement in your everyday life which will make a difference. There is nothing new here but if you follow at least some of these tips, you can be proud of yourself participating in the protection of the environment.

  1. Use compact fluorescent light bulbs:
    It is true that these bulbs are more expensive, but they last much longer and they can save energy and in the long term your electricity bill would be reduced.
  2. Donate:
    You have tons of clothes or things you want to get rid of. If they are still usable, give them to someone who needs them. You may also choose to give them to associations. These associations may sell them and collect a little money. Not only will you protect the environment, but you will also contribute to a good cause.
  3. Turn off your devices: 
    When you do not use a housing device, turn it off. For example, if you don’t watch TV, turn it off. Turn off the light when you leave a room (even if you intend to return.) It’s an easy habit to take up which will help you save a lot of money.
  4. Walk or cycle: 
    Driving is one of the biggest causes of pollution. If you want to use your car, ask yourself the following question: do I really need my car? Walk or use your bike if the journey is a short one.
  5. Detergent:
    Follow the recommended dose of detergent to wash your clothes or dishes.
  6. leaky faucets:
    Watch leaky faucets, which can cause a significant increase in the water bill. An average of 120 liters of water can be wasted due to a dripping faucet.
  7. Rainwater:
    Think of recovering rainwater. This water can be used for different purposes.

http://greenliving.lovetoknow.com/Ways_to_Protect_the_Environment

 

RESPONSIBLE SAFARI HOLIDAYS

TRAVEL RIGHT WHILE ON SAFARI

Safaris are some of the world’s most exclusive holidays. Traveling to some of the least-explored wildernesses, staying in camps sleeping just a dozen people and enjoying the expertise of highly trained guides is an absolute privilege – as is seeing some of the continent’s most threatened wildlife, in the company of some of its most ancient tribes. But these indulgent holiday settings something belie the fact that most safaris take place in some of the poorest and least developed nations on earth – in regions where electricity and running water remain a privilege, not a right, and where, until recently, conflict or drought may have ravaged the landscape and its people. There is, of course, great potential for this wealth to cut through the poverty – to empower native communities who have long been without a voice, and to tackle conservation issues such as the extraction of natural resources and that ever-present voice: poaching. But doing so requires the participation of governments and tour operators, local communities and travellers, to ensure that safari is not something we will one day look upon as a quaint holiday of the past – while the animals still roamed the continent.

TRAVEL BETTER WHEN ON SAFARI

  • Remember that you are likely to be traveling in some of the world’s poorest nations. Do your bit by tipping your guides, drivers, cooks and hotel staff – discuss an appropriate amount with your tour operator before you depart, and come prepared with cash.
  • Never purchase items made from endangered species – including coral, turtle shells or eggs, ivory, fur or bone.
  • Learn the three-way African handshake – sure to be an icebreaker with the unsuspecting locals!
  • Water is extremely scarce in much of Africa’s safari destinations. Take short showers rather than baths and reuse towels. Some lodges provide buckets in the shower to catch water while it is heating and while you are showering. This is then used by staff for cleaning – you can also use it to do laundry. Clothes dry fast in the desert!
  • Limited water is also easily contaminated. Some lodges provide biodegradable toiletries and laundry detergents, but if bringing your own or camping, please use environmentally-friendly products.
  • It’s natural to want to get closer to the animals – but this will distress them. Never ask your guide to leave the trails or drive after wildlife, and be sure to obey all rules in the reserves.
  • Fires start fast and burn hard here; never drop cigarette butts or matches on the ground, be extremely careful when building fires, and keep water to hand to extinguish sparks and embers.

 

http://www.responsibletravel.com/holidays/safari/travel-guide/responsible-safari-holidays

 

The Myth of Authentic Travel

For the 21st century traveller, authenticity has become the goal and measure of travel. “Real” travellers avoid expensive attractions, preferring to wander off the “beaten track”. They avoid the “touristy”, wanting to see how the “locals” live. They bemoan tourism and commoditization as “polluting” the culture of a place. “Don’t sell us stuff”, they say, “Give us the ‘real’ thing, the ‘authentic’ experience.”

But what is “authenticity” exactly? As we excavate the term, we find that it is founded on particular ideas of what “culture” is, and should be. And these ideas are shaky.

Robert Shepard, an anthropologist at George Washington University, writes, “What is most commonly referred to as the tourist impact on Others is grounded in the unspoken presumption that these Others at some point in the past have lived in enclosed spaces of cultural purity, protected from outside contamination.” In other words, if tourism is contaminating, there must be something pure to contaminate.

But in reality, there are no untouched and unchanging cultures. The world has always been in interaction. In ancient and medieval times, the Silk Road and sprawling empires (the Romans, the Mongols, the Han). Starting from the 16th century, imperialism, industrialization and globalization. Conquerors, traders, missionaries, adventurers. To say tourism corrupts local culture ignores all the changes that have come before.

CULTURES ARE INTERMESHED, AND EVER-CHANGING. THERE EXIST NEITHER A SPATIAL NOR TEMPORAL BOUNDARY AROUND A CULTURE.

Culture not only changes with time, it also varies within itself in the present. That is to say, culture is heterogeneous, diverse, and hybrid. A country varies hugely within its borders. The city is different from the countryside. The lifestyles of the rich are different from the lifestyles of the poor. The beach-towns are different from the mountain villages. The experiences of one ethnicity are different from the experiences of the other. What authority is able to say what or who gets to exemplify a country?

IT IS BY KNOWING ALL THE DIVERSE THREADS OF THE COUNTRY, NOT SHUNNING ONE FOR THE OTHER, THAT WE GET TO UNDERSTAND IT.

Searching for escape, authenticity and identity: Experiences of ‘lifestyle travelers’

If individuals are seeking „experiences‟ through the vehicles of leisure and tourism, how can researchers begin to understand experiences from a participant perspective? Certainly, this is a complex question that is not satisfied with the simple assumption that individuals seek to escape to authentic experiences. Nonetheless, the theories surrounding escapism and authenticity have been historically relied upon in various attempts to understand participant experiences in leisure and tourism. However, recent post structural approaches have questioned both the possibility of escape and the grounds for authenticity, hoping to bury both of these concepts on the basis of their relativity.

 

Deconstruction has threatened the validity of the meanings and rewards that individuals may perceive in experiences by favoring discourse over subjectivities. The resultant backlash has re-emphasized „self‟, as individual worldviews have been relied upon to re-justify escape as a state of mind and shift the focus of authenticity away from „objectivity‟ and instead towards the authenticity of subjective experiences. With this, movement has come a wealth of research on identity as the notion of searching for a stronger sense of self has gained momentum as a useful tool in understanding leisure and tourism experiences.

 

Existential authenticity

 

Is described as a process of „being in touch with one “sinner self, knowing one’s self, having a sense of one’s own identity and then living in accord with one’s sense of oneself‟

 

Conclusion

 

Modern theories on seeking escapism, authenticity and identity point to each of these concepts as critical in understanding dimensions of tourism and leisure experiences. Although the actual possibility of escape, an objective basis for authenticity and the concept of self have all been subject to deconstruction, the lifestyle travelers in this study seemed to have taken little heed of the supposed „illusion‟ at the basis of their searching efforts. Indeed, the case study has demonstrated that some individuals still seek experiences that allow for feelings of escape and a stronger sense of identity, and that meaning and value may be attached to experiences that provide for these perceptions.

 

Sources:

Cohen, E. (1988) Authenticity and commoditization in tourism. Annals of Tourism Research                  15,371– 386.

 

Cohen, E. (1995) Contemporary tourism  trends and challenges: Sustainable authenticity or contrived post-modernity? In R. Butler and D. Pearce Change in Tourism: People, Places, Processes

(pp. 12-29). London: Rout ledge.

 

Why Consider a Self-Drive Holiday

The benefits of a self-drive holiday are multiple and should be considered before choosing your holiday.  One of the most important benefits of such a holiday is that it is the most cost-effective way to travel in Southern Africa.  Not only is it more cost effective, but you get to see a side of Southern Africa that will keep you coming back for more.  South Africa especially is known for its vast different landscapes and activities across the provinces.  Even more so, South Africa is known for its hidden treasures.  Beautiful quaint places that one do not see as part of an organised tour. 

As mentioned (by www.audleytravel.com) “one of the drawbacks of an organised tour is being shunted along with lots of other people to tourist attractions but then only having a limited amount of time to appreciate them, or spending time in the confined quarters of a coach, bus or train with people you have little or nothing in common with.”

Here are some more reasons why you should consider a self-drive holiday
  • You decide the overall pace of the holiday.
  • Regardless of the car type you choose, you have the total freedom and flexibility to get to places off the beaten track, and then spend as much time as you want there.
  • You can enjoy greater comfort and privacy.  This is especially appropriate for if you have a young family.
  • You get to experience the different cultures,people

    and facilities in their everyday lives.

  • You have to option to choose where you want to spend more or less time, depending on your own interests and experiences.
  • If you enjoy photography, a self-drive holiday is recommended.  You might, for instance, return to the same destination, but at a different time of day to catch the sunset or sunrise.
  • You get to choose your own type of accommodation.  Some people prefer staying in the hub of things, whilst others prefer a more secluded or scenic stop-over.

These are some of the benefits of choosing a self-drive holiday.  You can now enjoy the flexibility to decide for yourself to what degree this will suit your needs.

Sources

https://www.audleytravel.com

https://www.africantravel.com

http://www.thetravelparadise.net

Self-Drive Vacation in South Africa

Self-drive travelling in South Africa ensures that you see a unique side of the country that you haven’t seen before.  It can, however, prove to be challenging with the unpredictable elements of Africa.  Here are some tips for when you attempt a self-drive vacation in South Africa:

General tips
  • Keep to the prescribed speed limits.  “The general speed limit on South Africa’s national highways, urban freeways, and other major routes is 120km/h (75mph). On secondary (rural) roads it is 100km/h (60mph). In built-up areas, it is usually 60km/h (35mph) unless otherwise indicated.”  It is advisable that you always check the road signs.
  • It is advisable to switch on the headlights of your vehicle to be more visible to other drivers, especially in dusty or rainy conditions.
  • Many of the national roads between the major centres in South Africa are toll roads. Confirm the toll fees before you leave, and make sure that you have either a credit card or cash to pay.
    Toll fares may vary from R2.50 to R61.00 per toll plaza – you may pass through three or four of these before you reach your destination.
  • Make sure that you have a trustworthy and updated GPS.
Choose the best route

In South Africa, there are multiple routes to get to your destination.  Make sure you know what routes have road works and what routes have become difficult to drive on.  Also, make sure how far the gas stations are situated from each other.

What not to do when you self-drive

Rural areas can be particularly poorly lit and not all roads have proper fencing for animals and life stock.  You need to be mindful of drunk drivers, pedestrians and even life stock at night.  South Africans also know that Kudu’s tend to jump in front of cars at night, so it might be a good idea to avoid driving long distances at night.  Never leave your vehicle unlocked, even if it is for a short period.  Also never pick up strangers or hitchhikers.

Source

www.drivesouthafrica.co.za

Common Travelling Mistakes

As a first-time traveller you may hear a lot of “what to do’s”, but rarely do you hear about the mistakes your friends made.  It would be a lot easier to travel if we also knew what those mistakes were and how to avoid them.  After all, those mistakes can lead to a lot of lost time, wasted money and above all, missed opportunities.  Isn’t one of the biggest reasons you travel after all for new experiences?  Here is a list of common things to avoid whilst travelling:

Do not eat near a tourist site

Although a major tourist site may be convenient, the restaurants there knows that you probably aren’t coming back.  Their focus is therefore on getting the most customers and not necessarily providing the best quality food.  A suggestion would be to rather travel four or five blocks away before you look for someplace to eat.  Asking at a hostel might also provide some great options.  In conclusion – its best to go to a place where you know that the food must be high quality, otherwise the locals won’t go back there.

Be money wise – Do not make use of traveller’s checks and do not exchange money at the airport

Using traveller’s checks are outdated and most banks don’t even accept them anymore.  It is best to use plastic as much as possible.  Especially if you make use of a bank card without fees.  In order to get the best exchange rates, make use of an ATM or credit card.  If you can, it’s best to never exchange cash.

Do not skip on travel insurance

It is always one of the most difficult expenses to make, but also one of the most important.  You cannot afford to travel without travel insurance.  It might just take one fall, one slip or an unexpected virus to spoil your whole holiday and whole savings account.

Above mentioned dos and don’ts won’t just save you time and money, but also add to the quality of your travels and some unforgettable memories.  Enjoy!

Source:

http://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/not-to-do/

 

 

 

 

 

 

5 Things to make travelling more memorable

 

Most people save up to go on a special holiday, whether locally or abroad.  It is important to make your trip memorable, so keep these things in mind when travelling:
1.  Meet the locals

You always get those guys that wherever they go, they have awesome experiences.  Experiences that are off the map and not within the usual day schedule of a traveller.  One way to have those experiences yourself is to meet the local people.  Locals usually know best – they know where you can find the best quality for your money, the best service and if you are looking for something different – they will know.  Basic English is spoken more widely than most people think and hand gestures also goes a long way.  It’s always good to know one or two basic words or greetings in the local language.

2.  It’s okay to laugh at yourself

Misunderstanding people and their customs happen quite often.  Instead of dropping your head in shame, laugh it off.  Making a fool of yourself, even unintentionally, is the perfect way to meet new people.  Locals and travellers will immediately identify you as someone who is fun to be with and seek out more opportunities to befriend.  People enrich your travels more than the everyday sights do.

3.  Take some photographs and then some more whilst travelling

Take lots of photographs – even if it is uncool to look like a tourist.  Memory might fade, but the photographs will always be there to remind you of the special places you’ve visited.  Before you travel, make sure that you are comfortable with the phone or camera you are using.

4.  Stash some extra cash

In some places, especially Africa, one can get far with cash.  ATM’s and banks aren’t always as easily accessible as one would like.  In Africa, cash tips also give you access to information and special services.  You can stash extra cash in your shoes, toiletry bag or special places inside your bags.  Always make sure that no-one knows that you have cash available.

5.  Dress the part

Make it easy on yourself at airport security and don’t dress like you are part of the mafia.  Also, wear comfortable clothes and comfortable shoes that make your time travelling easier.  Pack an extra pair of socks for if you are travelling long distances – even if it’s only for the comfort of your fellow passengers’ sense of smell.