Creative tourism invented by UNESCO means that there are cities called creative cities that the travelers in those cities can take an active part in the community, it give the traveler an authentic experience of the place and heritage of the people who live there.

Sally Moore the author of two guidebooks and member of the Authors Society of American Travel Writers, write in her blog about the conference on creative tourism held in Santa Fe earlier this month.

I was able to attend the Wednesday session, and in the following days, I will discuss our roundtable on Gastronomy, which attracted delegates from Japan, France, Santiago De Compostela, Barcelona, Bologna, as well as several of us New Mexicans.

to read her full review about the conference click here.

courtesy of The Kids and Kahlie

When in Varanasi I first discovered the advantages of renting a bike to move in the city in addition to just plain old walking.

When in the South I first learned to use the Ferry to see sites and explore the area and just recently in Greece the ferry became an important part of the travel.

When you’re a tourist you are constantly bombarded with offers for expensive travels and special routes whose main advantage is that they cost more and show you basically the same scenes.

It took one or two trip to understand that using the local transportation can be really fun and teach much more about the lives in the places I visit.

If you can resist all the offers that come your way because people recognize you as a tourist you’ll realize that you are having so much more fun in your travel. It is also a greener way.

If you read this post you’ll find many more tips for a green cheap trip. The key is to be assure of yourself that you have all the tools to see what you want to see and experience what you want to experience without buying into all the tempting offers that are intendant for tourists.

courtesy of mtl2tky

I don’t know if the SPAs in Thailand are the best in the world as I haven’t been everywhere yet. I decided to takL lara Dunston word on it, as I wrote on the previous post travel guides get to know all the secrets.

She has compiled a list of the top 10 Thai spas and this is a list you’ll want to have!

Here is the post.

I’ve been to Thailand several times and each time spoiled myself a little what can be better than the perfect massage and oils after a period of traveling?

courtesy of Yuen-Ping aka YP

One of the countries I’ve never been to but really plan on visiting is Morocco.

My mother who is fortunate enough to have a good friend that is a travel guide gets to visit almost for free many amazing places last year they have been to Morocco.

When you travel with a travel guide as her partner on a preparation tour you get to travel like kings reach the most interesting places, get the most luxurious accommodations and really see the world.

The only disadvantage is that the travel is usually short but I would have jumped at the opportunity anyway.

Seeing this photo of the camel train in Morocco really brought back the stories that I’ve heard from her after her return.

Maybe next year.

This is a guest post by my fellow blogger Bart from Bart’s Peru Travel Blog.

I’ve seen along my various travels many people traveling with children so I was very happy when Bart suggested the post to me.

Enjoy

courtesy of szeke

As my line of work pushes my family around the globe throughout the year, I have chosen to ignore the conventional wisdom regarding traveling with young children.  Of course, this poses more of a problem at some destinations than others.  Take a recent visit to Machu Picchu for example.  Traveling with an infant or small baby to someplace that’s not only off the beaten track but located at an unusually high altitude seems like it would be a risky venture, not only for the success of your trip, but for the health of your child.   Since Machu Picchu is located at an elevation of 2,500 meters (8,200 feet), even seasoned adult travelers are wise to be wary of Altitude Sickness (otherwise known as “Soroche”) that often accompanies visits to Machu Picchu.

While we are on the subject of ‘Soroche’, let’s take a moment to review its causes and effects:

Altitude Sickness or ‘Soroche’ is caused by 2 main factors:

1. Lack of oxygen in the air
   The higher you ascend in altitude, the less oxygen there is in the air so therefore your lungs aren’t getting as much oxygen to your brain and heart for each breath you take as they normally would.  Since you have to inhale more often to get the usual amount of oxygen into your body it leaves you with the constant feeling of being “out of breath”.
2. Lower air pressure at higher altitudes
   At an altitude of 3,400m (app. 10,000ft) there is that much less air/air-pressure pushing down on your body then sea-level (0m). At lower altitudes, a body has had to build up certain pressure within in order to withstand the outside air-pressure. This is done through nitrogen bubbles in your bloodstream. These bubbles create inner pressure and equilibrium with the forces of the outside air pressure. Once you reach a certain altitude very quickly (while flying, for example), your body may have difficulties adjusting itself to the sudden difference in outside pressure and for a while (usually a maximum of 24 hours) your inside pressure may be higher than the outside air-pressure, causing a series of possible discomforts, such as headache, dizziness, intestinal unrest, etc. This all has to do with the fact that your body tries to make the nitrogen bubbles in your bloodstream smaller and readjust itself to the outside pressure, but hasn’t gotten there yet. Normally this is no big problem and you will get over it within 24 hours.

So, back to the issue at hand; should you take the kids with you to the elevated altitudes of Machu Picchu?  All medical research suggest that young children rarely suffer from the effects of altitude sickness, as their bodies tend to adjust themselves much faster than those of adults. People might ask: “Why would you take them somewhere, at that age, when they probably won’t have any recollection of it later?” 

It’s been our experience that children are as receptive to travel experiences as they are to languages at that age; their mind is a sponge and they can absorb lots of valuable information from a trip like this. While they may not consciously remember all the details as they grow up, you know that at some level their minds are opening up as they are taking in the new sights and sounds with all the curiosity and wonderment that is unique and common in young children.

Karin and I have had nothing but positive experiences traveling with our young children and we feel comfortable about doing so until proven otherwise.  We sincerely feel that getting to know different cultures and ways of living will help and accustom kids to becoming tolerant teenagers and adults.  As far as learning tolerance goes, there is no better time than the present.  Keep on traveling…

Saludos,

Bart