More Than a Tourist #5

June 9, 2015September 21, 2015 / Professional Nomads / 2 Comments

I’m proud to conclude this installation with a submission from my dad, Dennis Olmstead. My dad was the first person I knew who openly saw through the manicured facade of big cruise ship companies and valued something more than a getaway. Instead he opted for sailboat tours and fell in love with the pace of island life. It is partially his love of travel that incites me to wonder what experiences are available in the world, because he clearly saw something more than just beaches on these trips. In Nevis, he rubbed elbows with a pace of life he’d like to adopt as his own. If circumstances twisted ever so differently, he’d gladly call Nevis home.

Click on the first photo to read Dennis Olmstead’s photo journal!

: More than a Tourist? It’s a combination of many diverse factors ending up with a “non-tourist feeling”. Nevis a small Eastern Caribbean Island, is to me, no longer a Tourist location To begin with it is not a fancy destination

: Time to relax or even work .

: You know a few of the local well enough to take a number of hikes with them.

: You have found the right beach for lunch.

: You have time to relax with a beer at the local bar.

: Locals have a jungle hike with you.

: You may even have a local Library card.

: When you return home you stay in touch by listening via the internet to the local radio station www.vonradio.com VON radio is the glue that holds this small island together. Listing to VON radio allows me, no matter where I am, to keep in touch with Nevis.

Thank you to everyone who submitted their interpretation of “More Than a Tourist!” Details for Adventures in Aperture’s next call for submissions will be revealed Friday, June 12th!

Return to More Than a Tourist #1, #2, #3, or #4

More Than a Tourist #4

June 7, 2015September 21, 2015 / Professional Nomads / 4 Comments

Itineraries are a jumping off point for misadventure. We travel to gain understanding and collect new experiences but our deepest memories are often etched where plans fail and resourcefulness takes over. Every country boasts unique attractions but the most impactful travel experiences are often found where money can’t buy admission. No matter how many incredible experiences we purchase, it is the unplanned moments and conversations that often resonate the most.

Cail Hubert spent a couple months backpacking around Indonesia with friends but his most meaningful memories were forged when he connected with local people—usually the result of something going wrong. Mishaps abroad can leave travelers feeling vulnerable, but Cail shows us it also opens us up to one of travel’s greatest gifts: human connection. When we drop our pretenses, we allow ourselves to understand each other on a basic human level unimpeded by language or cultural barriers. Misadventure, therefore, becomes a window to human connection.

Join us for the fifth and final installment of the More Than a Tourist series two day from now on Tuesday, June 9th!

Click on the first picture to expand Cail’s photo jounral!

: First day in Jakarta walking down the street scouting out the food. Roaming around just following our noses we stumbled into this bloody mess. There was a dead cow laying on the side of the road and about a dozen people around it forming an assembly line of cutting the meat into pieces. Half of them had their lunch in one hand and a bloody knife in the other.

: Enjoying the sunrise while Mackerel fishing off of the Amed coast in Bali. We got our butts out of bed at 4 in the morning to meet up with our local fishing captain. When we arrived to the beach, there was several other locals getting their sail boats ready to launch. Once we started seeing dozens of other sail boats taking off into the wind, it was our time to go.

: It was a bouncy and wet ride on the way out and I was glad I had put my camera in a sealed up bucket, or there probably wouldnʼt have been any pictures making it back home. Once we got way out in the deep blue sea, we started letting out the fishing line spaced out with a couple hundred hooks.

: Got lost…got dark…and once again the people of northern Lombok killed us with generosity. Pretty much the entire village formed around us to see what they could do to help us out. While we were waiting for the only english speaking person in town we were spoiled with drinks and snacks from the local community.

: Went on a search for a waterfall in Lombok riding motorbikes. Ended up with a flat tire, some cuts and bruises. This friendly community turned our somewhat rough situation into a time to remember. Tasty home-cooked dessert and plenty of smiles to go around.

Return to More Than a Tourist #1, #2, or #3

More Than a Tourist #2

June 3, 2015September 21, 2015 / Professional Nomads / 5 Comments

We continue our exploration into what it means to be “More Than a Tourist” with a submission from Patrick Kelly! After graduating with a master’s degree in outdoor and environmental education at Alaska Pacific University, Patrick seized an opportunity to participate in a week-long cultural exchange in the village of Tatitlek. In this piece, Patrick shares details from his impactful experience, and reflects on the greater importance of adventure, especially when juxtaposed against insulated, cruise ship tourism.

Want more from Adventures in Aperture? Check back Friday, June 5th for the next installment of “More Than a Tourist,” or click “follow” in the sidebar and let us remind you. New photo journals from readers like you will be published every other day for the next two weeks!

Click on the first photo to expand Patrick’s photo journal into a storybook!

: Leaving Whittier, my contingent from Alaska Pacific University embarked for the village of Tatitlek to teach kayaking for the Peksulineq Cultural Heritage Week.

: Over the course of the week we got dozens of new kayakers, Alaska Native and non-Native, onto the water.

: A theme of the week was traditional subsistence food. The seal was hunted, skinned, and cleaned. The meat from the seal was eaten later in the week. Two visiting Alaska Native artists collected the bladder for a traditional bladder ceremony and gave the seal a drink of water to assist in its return to the spiritual realm. This beautiful tradition of giving thanks has been lost in many villages today.

: The land of the midnight sun extends to Prince William Sound as well. The village is a breathtakingly beautiful place, with its scattered children’s bicycles and distinguished dogs adding a flare of the pragmatic.

: After the bladder ceremony, releasing the bladder of the seal back into the ocean, we had signs of its spirit as free once more. That evening, two seals were spotted off of the ferry dock, an extreme rarity, and later that night, the Aurora came out full-bore. The lights danced for an hour beginning at exactly midnight. The lights whipping across the sky, seemingly erupting from Copper Mountain, made the night like nothing I have seen before. At one point, the lights gathered together and formed what looked like an ethereal seal in the sky. It may seem coincidental or like confirmation bias, but even in reflection the only way I can think of the events of that night, after that powerful ceremony, was incredible and appropriate.

: As the lights grew dimmer, we remained by the fire, keeping watch for more aurora, and speaking to each other about what it all means.

: The next day a sea lion was hunted and brought on the beach. Local children had never seen one up close before. Their reactions were mixed, between two little boys poking the body with their feet, and one little girl who kept asking if it was dead, and why.

: Eventually, the sea lion was harvested, and the remains were left off of Dead Dog Point, where eagles swarmed the carcass to feed for days.

: Leaving Tatitlek with an expanded group of friends, we were all taken aback by the splendor of Prince William Sound. Our group came to Tatitlek separate—as kayakers, artists, musicians, dancers, and storytellers—but left embodying all of these traits and passions. The power of travel, of embarking on a genuine adventure, is in the discovery of passion. What drives people? What do they have to share? What do you have to share?

: After nine hours on the ferry, we arrived back in Whittier to beautiful vistas, and the Grand Princess cruise ship. The difference between the adventures of us, and the “Princess people” became palpable, even from a distance. We had just spent the past week, and even the last several hours, outside and in the fresh air. We were sunburned, exhausted, and yet energized by the adventure we had all been a part of. We were not whisked away from one insulated boat to another insulated train car, just to make it to our insulated hotel rooms. Adventure is about more than spending money to look outside of a window for a week, it’s about spending time actually in a place, and learning to see beyond the dichotomy of self and place. Tourism let’s one take pictures of their self being in a place. Adventure allows one to let the place become a part of their self.

Continue to More Than a Tourist #1 and learn about Becky Kusar’s transition from tourist, to outsider, to local in St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands!

More Than a Tourist #1

June 1, 2015September 21, 2015 / Professional Nomads / 8 Comments

Professional Nomads is proud to announce the first installment in the reader-submission photo journal series, “More Than a Tourist!”

You showed us that ProNo readers deeply value authentic travel experiences with cross-cultural connections. Beyond manicured tourism and away from the guise of business, political, and religious agendas, lies the stuff that genuine connections are made of: people. From transplants, to cultural exchange programs, to befriending locals abroad, the ProNos featured in this series each experienced genuine human connection that still resonates today.

Perhaps no one’s story echoes as loudly as Becky Kusar’s. Becky currently lives as “more than a tourist” in St. Thomas. Her photo journal invites us to understand her meaningful progression from tourist, to outsider, to local, and sets the standard for the rest of the series.

We’ll continue posting new photo journals every other day for the next two weeks so check back Wednesday, June 3rd, for the next installment. Better yet, click “follow” from the sidebar and we’ll help you remember!