Video Post Cards from Hawaii

lovely :)

Leah---have a great time---you've made me want to go back..................................

pjacobs---I'm in Portland, not too far from there---I'll have to go there sometime this summer. Directions????

Mt. Hood and Columbia River Gorge are why we landed here----right at the mouth of the Gorge. Our next destination soon will be Mt. Rainer---one of our favorite areas, and some more coastal exploring.

Sometimes you have to see other places to appreciate what's in your own backyard. National forests are my favorite---no hassles about Dixie and Riga coming too----my two German Shepherds who are seasoned travelers. LOL, they've done more traveling than most people.

ooohh i really need to go back!!! im stuck in san diego, really envious of my sister. shes out there in pahoa. ive been thinking of getting back once n for good.... i've just been waiting on a sign that its the right choice to go back to being a hippie instead of a capitalistic tool. i miss walking across the caldera, though i hear that might not be an option since theyre active right now....

I really appreciated hearing your thoughts on tourism and "eco-tourism". It is indeed a dance of delicate balance. I too feel that it is important for humans to connect with the natural world for so many reasons, and yet, the conservation issue must be taken into consideration. That will take a lot of education which we don't have in our current school system, but it is by people actually experiencing these places where their sense of wonder and appreciation for the incredible beauty of the natural world can be awakened. Most of the places I have photographed are this way - so I go, and I see, and I marvel, I learn something new, I document and try to tread lightly...

It was heartening to hear about the shift regarding produce from imports to locally grown, and it is heartening to see more and more hotels paying attention to water use (don't need your sheets washed every day).

What a tease. That was way too short. ;-)

Take some more video Leahl!

Cool project (said with obvious envy)

I think that part of the problem is the "framing" that the word "tourism" leads people to adopt (I being a "people" myself).

Tourism literally means, well, the activity of touring. I know people for whom traveling is an end in itself. Personally I hate traveling. But before retiring I tried to visit and experience at first hand the people and places and art and architecture etc. about which I was teaching my students. I never toured for touring's own sake.

To call the activity tourism isn't wrong, but it makes it seem less meaningful. ("If this is Tuesday, we must be in Brussels.") Remember, I'm not saying that touring can't also be inspiring, instructive, reinvigorating, etc. I'm just talking about the subconscious mind set the term implies.

And, no, I don't have a substitute term to recommend. Wish I did. :-(

Awwww You are making me jealous! Enjoy your wonderful trip but please come back so we can chat :)

next time you go somewhere awesome, count me in!

Thanks for the videos, feels almost like we are there. I always wondered why such a fertile area brought their food in(so expensive).
They were self sufficient before they were colonized?!

wow that place looks amazing