Mean and Green

I don't know about you, but I am sick to death of seeing the word "green" inserted into nearly every single sentence of company lingo these days. "How to green your home, green your car, green your pets, green your job, green your life." Is Ford Motor Company really going to teach me how to be more green?? Doubtful. Green has become almost completely meaningless as an eco-adjective anymore when the claims made are so disparate, so unregulated.

So with mild trepidation, I read National Geographic's Adventure cover story on "Best Green Adventures on Earth." Many make the argument that travel in and of itself can never be a truly green endeavor. But thanks to carbon offsets (the confessionals of the 21st century) we can pay a small fee to absolve our guilt and go on our merry traveling way. Or for those of us like you and me, dear reader, our guilt absolves itself naturally since our journeys take place solely in our minds.

Thank goodness because there is a winner of trip featured in this story (actually, there are many.) But my favorite is a rafting trip offered up by veteran adventure travel company Mountain Travel Sobek. Starting in Haines, Alaska, travelers raft their way down the Tatshenshini River through Canada amidst a glorious 2.5-million-acre protected area that the rafters themselves poked back at copper mine developers and successfully preserved.

With exciting whitewater (Class II/III so mean fun not mean terror), glacier hiking and nightly campsites fresh with moose, bear and wolf tracks, this trip promises a graceful glimpse at a relatively untouched part of the world. Add a scenic bush plane flight to Yakutat to round out your trip once the river reaches Dry Bay and your dream adventure is complete.

And I think these rafters might have a lot more to teach me about being green than Ford.

Under the Seafood

Last April, the Hilton Maldives Resort & Spa (now the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island) opened the first combination aquarium & dining experience -- the Ithaa Undersea Restaurant. Nice construction photos can be seen here.

To access the restaurant, diners cross a wooden walkway to a specially constructed deck and descend a spiral staircase into the curved dome dining area. Serving only 14 diners at a time, it offers up a pretty personalized experience. But how does it feel to order the fish of the day when his relatives could be watching you eat it? Is there a strange moral tug? Is it a little brazen? Could you chew your burger in a cattle field while Bessie chewed her cud?

Spring Awakening

From many of us (though luckily not for me this year), the winter has been harsh. The winter has been long. We are ready to say goodbye to it for another year. We're ready to believe in the promises and the hope that a new season brings.

Spring officially begins today and what better place to celebrate rebirth and renewal than the timeless favorite of springtime in Paris. Although I've never been much of a Francophile, I've always wanted to spend the first day of spring in Paris -- particularly lolling along in the gardens.

The Jardin Du Luxembourg has been the subject of countless works of art over the years -- including Henri Matisse's aptly titled, "Luxembourg Gardens" which was stolen in 2006 from a museum in Rio. Originally constructed in 1617 for Marie de Medicis and subsequently rather formal in layout, this garden to me epitomizes my vision of historical, sumptuous French gardens. I imagine a quiet reflective stroll which leads to a romantic tryst in a remote corner of the gardens -- far away from the children who come here based on the Madeleine books.

To a happy, passionate Spring!

Emerald Aisle

Nature affords many glorious green visions (rolling hills, majestic cliffs, grassy meadows), but today in celebration of all things green we veer from the greens of Ireland and instead venture to the magical depths of a bamboo forest.

Bamboo forests can be found in many places throughout the world, but the above photo is from one in Japan - Arashiyama, west of Kyoto to be exact. Walking through a bamboo forest offers one of nature's great reminders that we are but a small part in the bigger picture. With reeds towering more than 100 feet in some cases, bamboo forests surround their visitors with every green in the spectrum. From a brilliant lime at the tops to an inky greenish black in the densest areas with interesting dappled light throughout, bamboo forests are a peaceful, pleasant way to get your greens.

I'll close with a blessing from the real Emerald Isle: May you have warm words on a cold evening, a full moon on a dark night, and the road downhill all the way to your door.

Gee Haw!

In honor of yesterday's finish of the 35th annual Iditarod, my thoughts turn to mushing with my own pack in the arctic wilds of Greenland. Wintergreen (based out of Ely, Minnesota) offers up a serious call of the wild each spring with a 14 day odyssey through Northwest Greenland. Not for the faint of heart or the cold of toes, this is a true arctic trek via dog sled by day and winter camping by night.

But for those who can brave the cold, they will be richly rewarded with spectacular fjords and coastal scenery, daylight round the clock and wonderful wildlife including caribou, polar bears, seabirds and arctic fox. You'll observe the native Polar Inuit in their hunting and fishing and share meals with them in the evening for a unique cultural understanding presumably so very different from your own.

Now you, dear reader, may take issue with dog sledding -- many animal lovers do. But as a lifelong lover of animals myself, I feel that sled dogs were born to race, born to love the snow and cold. And yes, unfortunate accidents and injuries sometimes befall them. But I feel no different about them than I do about mountain climbers, deep sea divers, heliskiiers or any other adventurers who tackle difficult journeys and climates -- they are equally born to love what they do and fate ultimately plays the tune we all dance to (thank you, Al Swearengen.)

Mush on!

No Cars Go

The band Arcade Fire's "No Cars Go" teases that they know a place where no cars go -- a place where almost nothing goes. I instantly conjure up an image of a place untouched, unaltered by humans and all the mess we tend to bring. A place as close to its natural state as possible.

These places are nearly impossible to find anymore. Some say the only true wild places are under the sea or out in space. But there are a few locations that cling to their remoteness as their selling point for people who crave that sense of exploration.

And nothing says remote like a float plane! I came across King Pacific Lodge more than ten years ago and bookmarked it in my head as a must-see if for no other reason than it's only accessible by float plane. It has since been bought by a resort chain (it's nearly as impossible for hotels to remain independent as it is for any business these days.) But I still think it's worth a visit.

Located on the shores of Princess Royal Island in northern British Columbia, the lodge's biggest draw is fishing. I would opt for paddling around in a kayak or hiking through the woods of the Great Bear Rainforest, the largest intact temperate rainforest left on Earth. With the elusive white Spirit Bear, rainforest wolves, bald eagles and virgin wilderness as far as the eye can see, I think it's as close to "No Cars Go" as you maybe can get.

Plus...did I mention the float plane??!

Welcome to Daydream Nations

This blog was born out of collecting many places I've wanted to visit over the years. With scraps of articles here and notebook scribbles there, I've finally decided a blog would be a good repository for me and a nice way to share it with others who dream of being in far off locales as they slug through the daily grind at home.

So I'll start with the holy grail...the Tui Tai. Located in the glorious South Pacific islands of Fiji, Tui Tai Adventure Cruises takes a small group of travelers to remote beaches, snorkeling/diving choice spots, kayaking jaunts up lush rivers -- all while providing a rather luxe journey on their boat with good food and, no doubt, good cheer without being remotely cruise-like. It's hard to imagine a better way to experience the dream of isolated, untouched island life than by boat and I can't imagine a better boat than this. Five days would be great, but if you make it to this remote corner of the world, I would definitely do seven.

In one of my many plane trips of the past, I struck up a conversation with a fellow passenger (no...I'm not one of "those." In fact, I hate plane chat so much that I always board the plane with headphones on & reading material firmly in hand to bury my nose in once I'm settled.) But I have had a few memorable conversations over the years -- all of which have been with people over 60 and mostly men.

This particular salty dog had logged journeys to many daydream nations over the years (he was a certified member of the travelers' century club.) After many stories about the South Pacific, Africa, Europe and his lovely wife who doesn't share his enthusiasm for the road, I asked him his favorite. He said, without a doubt, it would be Fiji. He had been traveling there for more than 30 years and, while it gets more expensive all the time, it's still rather affordable and "un-stuffy." And while the fishing is great (he was an enthusiastic angler -- even wrangling catfish by hand, but that's another story), he said for him it was really all about the people. He felt Fijians are the most friendly, welcoming people on earth and a genuine pleasure to be around.

Well, who doesn't look for exactly that when you're traveling? The sites and natural wonders are the draw, but isn't it always the people that truly bring them to life?

So here's to the dream of Fiji, the Tui Tai and meeting my old salty dog again on the beach to share more stories. I hope to see you there, too.