Competing with the "developed" world: Issue # 21 - Travel

Frankly, I have not counted the issues, I have to admit. I just put in # 21 because I am quite sure that the list extends beyond this, and I might continue this series (lets see!). This comes first hand, trying to travel to the UK right now for WTM and years travelling in the "developed" world - for business and to compete in the global travel market as a Nepalese entrepreneur.

Business is about opportunities, and one has to be able to pounce on them. This means the ability to quickly get to places where the opportunities arise. Unfortunately, for a large part of the world, travel has several hindrances, and the biggest hurdle is the visa.

You are guilty unless proven innocent, and the visa official is the judge. We have to prove that we have no intent to stay or seek employment. All this sounds OK, countries have the right to check this. But how can this be proven.

1. Are you employed? If yes, give us originals of your salary sheet for at least three months to six months and a letter of temporary leave from employment.

2. Are you self employed? prove that you have an organization. Is it legal? Give registration papers, and possibly bank statements, to prove that this is not a paper organisation.

3. Are you married? do you have children (you might consider coming back to)?

4. Who invited you to the UK? Do you have papers to prove this? Originals please, no emails or faxes! Can this organisation please prove that you will go back once the business is over? (by the way, there is not much chance that an organisation from "our" parts of the world would have enough money and zeal to actually travel on their own, without having to get an invitation)

5. Have you booked your tickets? Return please. We want to make sure you are coming back. So there is no chance that you can change your dates without spending big money, even if the opportunity arises?

6. Are you applying from your home country, or a country where you are a resident? If not, please go back there to apply. (no way you are allowed to change your itinerary)

7. Do you have enough personal savings? please give us an original of your six monthly bank statement of your personal account.

Finally, after all this preparation, you might get a visa (or you might not!).

Compare this with someone coming from the UK, or the US, or the EU into Asia, or Africa or Latin America, specially in some countries with entry visa that can be bought at the airport, or have a limited gratis visa.

How can WE compete in this globalised world?

btw, I have not been refused the visa!

The Essence Of Travel

Sustainable travel, responsible tourism, ecotourism, green travel. The whole idea of travelling in a manner that encompasses all that these tags imply sounds less and less fun to me as the movement grows. Every now and then I feel the need to reinstate what Make Travel Fair is all about and just how important I think its message is. No one has the right to fill others with guilt about their travelling habits. I'm exhausted with hearing about what I should be doing as a 'responsible traveller', that I shouldn't fly, that I should visit an orphange whilst i'm away, that I should patronise local businesses, that I shouldn't use a guidebook. The problem lies in promoting travel as a commodity. It destroys the essence like water to a single malt whisky - the essence is what Make Travel Fair is all about.

Tourism is big business. The elaborate stands on display at the World Travel Market in London next week will be testament to that. Even the most well intentioned individuals promoting 'responsible tourism' will find it becomes increasingly hard to stay true to the essence of travel in order to get on in the tourism business, because here there is no money to be made. You cannot sell travel. You cannot sell the unique journey that each person experiences by travelling independently. There is simply no substitute for making plans yourself and experiencing the world that way. Of course tours and packaged experiences are necessary and desired sometimes, but let them be bought up on a whim when you roll into town, after you've checked out the competition, or when you want to learn a new skill. Rarely will you require a tour lasting longer than three to four days, don't dilute your experience by leaving home as part of one.

Travel in its purest form removes the need for any categorising or labelling of intentions under green travel, eco travel or any other banner. What is most important is that travel is a personal, inner journey that challenges us and encourages personal growth; an experience that we can learn from and can use to connect more intimately with the world around us. Being 'responsible' or ethical today is portrayed as a conscious travel choice and is catered for accordingly by businesses falling over themselves to give you that ethical experience that you've been told to seek. However, the 'responsible' or ethical choice has been made unconsciously for years by those who travel freely. Independent travellers don't need to be sold on sustainable travel, for them it's what they do anyway because the essence of travel is intact, no additives or preservatives.

Cost vs Environment

It's been over two months now since I left the UK with my backpack, bound for New Zealand. Last time I took a trip of this length my camera would only take 24 photos before it needed a new film, everyone travelled on round-the-world tickets, internet cafes used dial-up connections and carbon offsetting didn't exist. How things have changed. Now I can take a virtually limitless amount of photos, book one-way tickets on low-cost airlines whenever I decide on a date, wireless internet connections are everywhere, and the environment is everyone's concern.

This trip was always going to be made on a tight budget, but I had the best of intentions to minimise my carbon footprint as I travel. It turns out that the best intentions just aren't enough when faced with cheap air travel with proliferant low-cost operators. The UK has Easyjet and Ryan Air. Australia and New Zealand have Virgin Blue, Tiger Airways and Jetstar. Malaysia has Air Asia. My next flight will be from Jakarta, Indonesia to Kota Kinabalau, Malaysia and will cost less than US$30.

Along with reducing the number of flights I take, Carbon Offsetting was also high on my priority list when I left the UK, but as my funds have dwindled it seems less and less likely that I will voluntarily pay money to do this. When I booked my flight from Sydney to Bali with Jetstar last week I even opted not to pay the extra $7 to offset my emissions. That's 2 hrs of internet time in my new cost-conscious world. I've found it remarkably easy over the last year or so to write about our need to offset carbon emissions, travel slowly and shun short-haul air travel, but in reality budget travel decisons are much more driven by cost than environmental concerns. It takes a very hard headed individual to reject travel opportunities in favour of 'doing their bit' for the environment. It is on this basis that environmental concerns must be addressed by corporate and government bodies and not left open to consumer choice.

Carbon offsetting fees should not be optional, they should be included in the cost of a ticket.

How To Feel Like A Kid Again

It's almost time to leave the comforts of a home behind and head off on our travels. I actually left home two weeks ago but my girlfriend's house here in the U.S. is a home from home these days, and the surrounding area is pleasantly familiar.

I love that 'novelty' feeling of arriving into a new country, all your senses are heightened and your awareness is raised to new levels. It's like being a kid again. Your mind works frantically to absorb everything about your surroundings, even the most mundane objects like road signs and pricing labels in supermarkets command your attention and become fascinating.

How often have you laughed as a tourist takes a photo of the sights you see everyday on your way to work? If travel teaches you nothing else it can certainly remind you to open yourself up again to your surroundings at home. The longer you spend somewhere the harder you have to work in order to really appreciate it and really see things. Over the years that i've been travelling here i've felt my familiarity with the U.S. grow. Each time I visit, something else falls off my radar and becomes just another part of the scenery.

I'm not sad that my 'childhood days' in this part of the U.S. are over, I'm lucky to have the opportunity to feel so at home here but I cannot wait to see new places next week and be a kid again - San Francisco, The Cook Islands, New Zealand... - i'll be snapping away with my camera like any other tourist.

TV Ones-To-Watch: Monday 28 January 2008

You can watch these programmes around the world anytime in the next 7 days on BBC i-player.

Panorama
Alex James in Colombia
8.30-9.00pm BBC ONE
www.bbc.co.uk/panorama

Alex James, bassist of hugely successful Britpop band Blur, goes to Colombia to report on the effect the cocaine industry is having on the country that supplies 80 per cent of the world's cocaine.

Paradise or Bust
Episode Two
9.00pm-10.00pm BBC TWO
http://www.tribewanted.com/blogs/tribal_gatherings/1056

The Island of Vorovoro is open for business, and the first 13 members of this 21st century internet tribe are living and working alongside an ancient Fijian tribe. Led by 26 year old Ben Keene they are now working together to tackle their first major construction project - building a traditional Fijian house, which will be one of the biggest in Fiji.

The Convenience Of USB

We won't be travelling with a laptop on our travels so pay-per-use internet will be our connection whilst we're away. There are steps you can take to minimize the security risk to your personal information. If you have a USB Memory Stick (it doesn't need to have a huge capacity) plug it into your computer before you go, download the Mozilla Firefox Portable Edition and the free anti-virus software ClamWin, and install them onto your memory stick.

Every time you use a public computer whilst you're away simply plug in your USB stick, open the Portable Firefox Browser from your folder, and all of your personal data will be confined to your USB stick. There are lots of different tools that you can download from PortableApps including the popular Thunderbird email client. You can also easily customize your portable firefox browser with your favorite links and add-ons, saving you valuable time when you log on.

Recommended add-ons: Gmail Manager, Facebook Toolbar, New Tab button, Meebo Toolbar, PicLens.

An SD or CompactFlash memory card reader is also a great idea to save carrying computer cables and fumbling around with your camera. You can pick one of these up for about £10.

Carbon Offsetting

A growing number of us find it difficult these days not to look at the bigger picture that surrounds our lifestyles, and the internet ensures that there is no excuse for ignorance or 'gaps' in our knowledge. Information on anything that interests you is at your finger tips. Environmental issues can be notoriusly difficult to relate to, but in the Cook Islands global warming has hit home in a big way. In 2005 five devastating cyclones ripped through the islands in the space of five weeks - traditionally the Cooks could expect one such cyclone every 20 years. Coral bleaching, changing seasons and rising sea levels are all evident - many of the Northern Group barely rise 5m above sea level.

Blue Ventures is an award winning, not-for-profit organisation dedicated to marine conservation, education and sustainable development in tropical coastal communities. Their research and observations on the changing environment around Andavadoaka, Madagascar inspired them to setup their own carbon offset projects to address anthropogenic effects on the environment.

BV Carbon Offset is currently running an energy efficient and solar stove programme in Andavadoaka, Madagascar, and hoping to replicate it in other rural villages in the region. Their projects are sustainable, independent, verified, not for profit, and benefit communities in the following ways:

• Economic improvement - job provision and reduced fuel costs.
• Health improvements - reduced smoke related illnesses.
• Environmental improvements - reduced deforestation and reduced carbon emissions.

We will be using Blue Ventures to offset our own carbon emissions generated by our travels this year. The journey from London to Auckland will emit a total of 2765.312kg of carbon.

• Equivalent to 92 Televisions being left on standby for a whole year (Rainforest Concern).
• A 25 year old forest of 405 pine trees would need a whole year to absorb our total emissions.

Blue Ventures Carbon Offset

Auckland > Cook Islands
3010.4 Km using 0.125 Kg of Carbon per Km.
A total of 376.300 Kg of Carbon
At £12 per 1000Kg that will cost £4.52 per flight

Cook Islands > San Francisco
7647.3 Km using 0.14 Kg of Carbon per Km
A total of 1070.622 Kg of Carbon
At £12 per 1000Kg that will cost £12.85 per flight

San Francisco > Washington D.C.
3926.8 Km using 0.125 Kg of Carbon per Km
A total of 490.850 Kg of Carbon
At £12 per 1000Kg that will cost £5.89 per flight

Washington D.C. > London
5911.0 Km using 0.14 Kg of Carbon per Km
A total of 827.540 Kg of Carbon
At £12 per 1000Kg that will cost £9.93 per flight