ROAD TRAVEL STATESIDE

I arrived home on Monday after spending 3 weeks in and around Washington D.C.. During my last weekend I took a road trip up to Boston with Make Travel Fair Researcher Fariza Ibrahim, to visit some family and also to experience road travel stateside.

ENVIRONMENTAL
Petrol Prices in the USA are around $2.30/gallon for unleaded/regular. In the UK we pay about £0.88/litre for unleaded. If the USA paid the same for their petrol as we do in the UK, it would cost them nearly $7.00/gallon (1 US gallon is equivalent to approximately 4 litres). If we paid US prices our petrol would cost us roughly £0.30/litre. Is it any wonder that so many Americans drive around in trucks rather than cars? Who doesn't like the security, independence and comfort offered by a large vehicle? The New Jersey Turnpike even has 2 separate lanes for trucks and buses!

I watched an article on the NBC Today show a few days ago titled 'Green cars, not the colour'. It was a good insight into the future use of Hydrogen to power cars and nice to see the topic taking such a prime time slot on TV. Although it'll probably be a good 10 years before any large scale shift to cleaner energy takes place, it is good to see the subject being aired.

Our road trip from Washington D.C. to Boston covered a distance of some 450 miles. Road tolls totalled nearly $24. Journey time was 8hrs. Petrol costs were less than the price of a full tank in the UK.

FOOD
I couldn't help thinking whenever we pulled into a rest stop/services, just how good it would be if instead of the Burger King, Cinnabon and Popeyes Chicken outlets, that there was local, traditional, regional food available. So many states have their trademark dishes. Interstate road travel could be made so much more interesting and educational this way. Maryland Blue Crabs, Boston Clam Chowder, Philly Cheesesteaks...a Burger King Double Cheeseburger just doesn't seem to encourage you to appreciate your new environment and all it has to offer. Food can be exciting and connect us socially, environmentally and economically with our surroundings and other people. I guess some Americans might argue that Burger King and Popeyes Chicken are traditional foods.


Since returning home I have begun to resume building the website. I hope to add Conservation and History sections to the site soon together with a food directory and photo galleries under several topics. Learning about the history of people and places is an important part of the travelling experience, and is central to us being able to take a sensitive and responsible approach to a new destination. It is also vital to helping us become aware of our own traditions, where we have come from and where we are going to.

INVASION NOT DISCOVERY

I spent most of yesterday at The National Museum of the Native American Indian being inspired and reminded about some of the original reasons why Make Travel Fair was created.

"Native spiritual values live in stories. Passed verbally from generation to generation, the stories preserve Native culture, languages and ways of explaining the universe."

Emil Her Many Horses, 2003

HISTORY
The original contact made by Christopher Columbus with the indigenous people of the Americas did not just deliver livestock and European culture but also a host of deadly microbes that withered the native population. With little immunity to European disease they fell victim to measles, small pox, influenza, mumps and other diseases. From 1492-1650 contagious disease claimed 9 out of 10 lives. This wave of disease that swept the Americas ahead of the Mayflowers Pilgrims arrival emptied entire Indian villages...the colonists settled in one and named it Plymouth. If European farmers had landed in the Bahamas with nothing more than good will, their diseases would have killed just the same. These health problems were unintended and unavoidable, even inevitable; what happened in its wake however was not.

We must support the indigenous communities that live amongst us and help them to retain their identity. The new world was not discovered but invaded.

"Art is a visual language and when contemporary Native artists
use the vocabulary of the tradition, they too, are keeping a language
alive. When they use that vocabulary in a new way, they show that we can
innovate yet remain connected to our Native identity. Embracing change
while holding on to our philosophical center, is survivance."

Jolene Rickard, guest curator, and Gabrielle, NMAI,
2004

Thanks to all who have contacted us regarding spelling mistakes and inconsistencies in the site design and content, all feedback is appreciated. It is still early days in our development and everything that is brought to our attention will be seen to and acknowledged gratefully. Whilst I am away in the USA the website will remain in hiatus except for this blog which I will be updating frequently. Any suggestions or submissions of articles can be made to any member of the team and will be greatly appreciated.