VirtualTourist Member iris2002 |  email me
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iris2002  
Embrace life, get some blisters and walk your talk!
| Real Name: |
Iris :) |
| Lives In: |
Buckinghamshire, UK |
| Birth Date: |
October 9, 1969 |
| Member Since: |
Aug 10, 2002 |
| Last Login: |
Jul 25, 2008 12:59 UTC |
| Member's Time: |
Jul 27, 2008 02:03 BST |
| VT Rank: |
721 |
| Deals Rank: |
723 |
| External Page: | www.inspiremethursday.com |
| Travel Interests: |
Other Arts and Culture, Hiking/Walking, Other Adventure/Outdoor, Backpacking, Rail Trip
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| Page Views: 15,914 | carbonated footprints... oops! by iris2002 - last update: Jul 25, 2008  |
******************************************** I WOULD LIKE TO DEDICATE MY VT HOMEPAGE FOR A WHILE TO ALL ISSUES CONCERNING RESPONSIBLE PLANET HANDLING!
So don't be shy and explore ... sustainable-organic-fair trade-eco-friendly and all that stuff :)
Responsible Travelling & Tourism
Join the Responsible Tourism Campaign!
Offset your travel carbon footprint *
I have recently wrecked my brain regarding how I can combine my passion for travel with the more accurate need of this planet to regain it's balance and me not participating too much in it's decline ... WHAT a can of worms I opened there - ohhh boy!
First - as we want to spend 3 weeks trekking in Morocco this year, I looked into travel companies and flights where you have a responsible tourism offer and can off-set your Carbon Foot print - so far so good - but that's not where it ends ...
Once I got going with the research I was SHOCKED just how little I actually knew. And I consider myself a very "ethical responsible" girl.
So I will have to do a lot more work, and make a decision on how best to join the global battle against - eg. Global warming, or exploitation of communities, depletion of fauna and flora etc...
On one level I prayed for immediate amnesia ---- it's scary to think of the BIG picture and really expanded my awareness by another gazillion square mile.
(Gulp) to realise the full impact of all the things that are not going to plan with our lil' green planet, and looking at my day-to-day routines - it was heartwrenchingly sad.
I am guilty - I am lazy, I do recycle however as best as I can but am not too good on energy saving or buying "fair trade" .... (mea culpa)
But awareness is my oportunity to change things. No- i don't see myself as the full blown Lara-Croft of Eco warriors, but I want to participate now...
It would be so much easier to turn a blind eye, but now (I crunch my teeth) now I have the knowledge and can't fain unawareness ----- now I am much more aware of my responsiblity. So.. how do I tackle this life from now on? That's the really big question, after all - life IS the biggest journey :)
My "green diaries" will soon be started and I hope to share them on here too.
Ok - so - what now??
I thought a first step would be to make an effort and really share the information I came across to the masses... in a simple way...
Below I have listed links I discovered or researched and found helpful.
DO DARE - DO EXPLORE ... and let me know your opinion and experiences!
HAPPY TRAVELLLLLLLS!! ** |
|  | ********************************* Informative links:
BBC Green Action plan for a greener living
Friends of the Earth !
Offset your travel carbon footprint *
... soon more to come, so watch this spot!! :D
Notes from Delhi
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Notes from Kathmandu
Pokhara diaries
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What Spain Was Like
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I am from AUSTRIA
I hope you find much inspiration and enjoyment in those pages, they are made with sweat, love, blood and tears and the passion of an adventurer who is not afraid to push the boundries a bit further...
DREAM **** DARE***EXPLORE*** -------------------------------- when it all began ..... I was 4 when I tried my first big solo-adventure - in my slippers, a crinkled map from a Reader's Digest booklet, packed lunchbox ...walking to the next bus-stop (3 miles away crossing a major rail track) to "go and see the world"... until a neighbour spotted me and brought me home. My favourite bed-time story was reading Livingstones Adventures & the stories of Marco Polo, Vasco da Gama and so on ---- I had stacks of these little Readers Digest collection - that my parents had signed up for from a door-to-door salesman .......... and never cancelled the subscription. I loved to just look at the pictures and hear of all the explorations. Climbing Mount Everest, battling tigers in the jungle, I saw myself doing just that. My curiosity is - as ever - undeminished --- and I shall find out for myself what lies behind each horizon. And one day, maybe---- write my own book :) PORTUGAL SHORT BREAK SEPTEMBER 07
>> ALL NEW >>
LONDON PAGES
TOUR DE FRANCE
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All counties of England ticked off now :) Yes I can hardly believe it myself, but ... as of this weekend, I have been to every county in England.... here is the list:
Bedfordshire
Buckinghamshire
Berkshire
Cambridgeshire
Cheshire
Cornwall
Cumbria
Derbyshire
Devon
Dorset
Durham
East Sussex
Essex
Gloucestershire
Greater London
Hampshire
Herefordshire
Hertfordshire
Kent
Lancashire
Leicestershire
Lincolnshire
Norfolk (in loving memory of Berni Shand, my VT-mum XX
Northamptonshire
Northumberland
Nottinghamshire
Oxfordshire
Shropshire
Somerset
Staffordshire
Suffolk
Surrey
Warwickshire
West Sussex
Wiltshire
Worcestershire
Yorkshire
TATAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA !!!! |
****************************** And since books were my initial inspiration, here are some that have inspired me: "Nathaniels Nutmeg" - Giles Milton "The little Prince" - Antoine De Saint-Exupery "Livingston Seagull" - Richard Bach "Vertical Limit" - Mel Odom "Himalaya" - Michael Palin "A mapmakers dream - Fra Mauro" - James Cowan The Zahir - Paolo Cohelo "Gorillas in the mist" - Dian Fossey "Cry Freedom" - John Briley "poemas" - Pablo Neruda "The God of small things" - Arundhati Roy most recently: "The History of love" - Nicole Krauss "Cloud Atlas" - David Mitchell
A poem for India
Between death and colourful butterflies
she lies -
breathing heavily under the mid-day sun
dust whirls causing her eyes to narrow
and look for shadow under the blooming
acacia trees
She is brutal in her extremes yet beautiful
always swaying between exotic temptress
and deathly strikes to those
who already have nothing -
she is loud, shrill and pulsating life
out of every pore
that sweats a history so old,
no one can comprehend,
but it's wisdom is still growing
amongst the roots of the jakharanda
and between the slums and the palaces
she finds peace at night
while the days heat only lingers now
under the skin of her children
This is her- this is Delhi
(by Iris B. 2007)
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USA HIGHLIGHTS
Florida Tip Off the beaten path
St.Petersburg Tip Off the beaten path
Dallas Tips
San Diego Tips
>>>> !!!American Hill Billy Slang Dictionary !!! | | | courtesy of HillBilly Chilly |
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*********************************************** | | | Ireland - collage by Earthlore |
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| Mantra - tibetan medicine |
| | ************************************************ A place I want to visit > Men-Tsee-Khangh H.H. Dalai Lama Medicinal Centre in Tibet
and here is the wonderful traditional Tibetan Medicine Buddha Mantra
" Om Namo Bhagavate Beshajeya Guru Bedurya Prabha
Rajaya Tathagataya Arahate Samayak Sam Buddhaya
Tadyataya Arahate Samayak Sam Buddhaya Tadyatha
Om Beshajey Beshajeya Maha Beshajeya Beshajeya
Rajaya Samungate Savaha "
... it is said that just by reading these lines, ones general wellness is increased... |
 iris2002's Albums | | | |
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 Comments for iris2002 | | | | |
songlines Sat Jul 26, 2008 07:25 UTC
Hi Iris, greetings from Ireland! I sure enjoyed your pics and writings, great pages! | WorldMeet2008 Fri Jul 25, 2008 16:41 UTC
Your next trip? Make it really unique! It's not too late to attend WM08 - Jerusalem, Tel Aviv & Dead- Sea on 25- 28th Sept (+Petra 29-30th). We want to double the num of attendees to 100! Click to learn where, when, what, how, how much! Avi [FruitLover]. | alusru Fri Jul 25, 2008 13:17 UTC
Noch in Ägypten und ab Montag in Jordanien für eine Woche. Bin erst am 13.8. wieder in Wien!!! Habe dein VT-mail nicht erhalten, sorry! Aber jetzt hast eine lange Antwort auf hotmail bekommen! Bussal | Waalewiener Fri Jul 25, 2008 01:53 UTC
Hi Iris How are things with you ? You probably know that Lori & I are going to the Halifax U K VT meeting in early September . I do wish you could be there ,but if you could well then you prob would have allready signed up Wishing you all the best Iris |
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