One World is Enough

“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.”

- Henry Miller

I suspect for some of you the words live large probably conjures up McMansions, $800 shoes, lavish yachts and all sorts of other self-indulgent toys and behavior that continue to be celebrated in wretched excess by mainstream media. I think we’re long overdue for a new travel-centric definition of what it means to live large. A definition that embraces sustainability, responsibility and stewardship of our planet.

To me, living large (and treading lightly!) means getting out of my comfort zone to deeply appreciate myself and my fellow human beings, and to preserve the richly vibrant flora and fauna that make up our wondrous and fragile planet. It is precisely this belief—along with my love of connecting and inspiring enlightened travelers with the companies and destinations that offer adventure & experiential travel both close to home and to the far corners of the globe—that inspired me to start this blog.

As I wrote this, I thought of the times when I have felt myself most truly alive. When I was humbled, awed, challenged and ultimately transformed. And sure enough, it was when I was definitely out there and often out of my comfort zone…or when I was surprised and delighted by an experience that was better (or very different) than I had expected. Simply put, I came home different…and definitely the better for it.

I think of snorkeling in Baja when without warning an armada of rays came leaping above us, literally right next to us, and swimming below us. After the initial wave of a few dozen, I realized I had a huge grin on my face and I like to think the rays might have been smiling and laughing as well. Whatever, they sure seemed to be having fun.

I think of being in Moroccan desert late at night and looking at the reflections of my fellow travelers lit by lanterns as they danced around the inside of the dining tent, led by our local guides with their quick smiles and infectious enthusiasm. And I remember the wizened old Berber man who led the support camels from camp site to camp site…how kind he was and the tears that were in his (and my) eyes when he bid us goodbye. We didn’t speak Berber and he didn’t speak English, but honestly, words were unnecessary.

I think of the infants and children I saw at the Mother Teresa orphanage in Kolkata who surely would have otherwise perished without the loving care they received from the staff. Of how our donation of some cash and the pooled leftovers of our gourmet box lunches from our 5-star hotel seemed so very small yet meant so much to the grateful staff. And I can’t erase the searing memory of the stench of heaping mounds of garbage that lay in piles on the streets just outside the facility. The contrasts of India are undeniably jarring. But I have never seen or felt the human spirit to be as alive as I did in India.

Finally, I think of being completely awestruck as I witnessed a mother humpback and her baby swim right up to and directly underneath our skiff in the icy waters off the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula; the mother whale’s tail was nearly the size of our skiff and one flick could have easily sent us into the frigid water. Our expedition leader thought the mother was teaching the baby to navigate and hunt; I felt nature had just given me one of the most powerful lessons in faith I’ve ever experienced.

A friend of mine has described adventure travel as medicine that cures us of alienation, frees us from the bondage of self-obsession and helps us to experience the whole and vibrant world. As I’m sure you’d agree, there are very few other types of travel that offer you the opportunity to both receive and give such an incredible and transformative gift. This is truly living large, version 2.0.

I hope this will inspire your imagination and you’ll begin dreaming about where your next adventure vacation will take you. In my upcoming posts I’ll be writing about trends, people, places, activities and more to help you make your dream a reality. Besides their unmistakable passion for what they do, the people, companies and destinations I’ll feature also have something else in common – they are all members of the Adventure Travel Trade Association. The mission of the ATTA is to raise the profile of adventure travel in the world travel market and provide a unifying voice for the industry in innovating and disseminating environmentally and culturally sensitive practices.

In the spirit of what really matters and each of us doing our part to restore balance and heal our planet, I wanted to share with you a program called The Footprints Network which aggregates thousands of consumer micro donations made while conducting online transactions in order to help fund community development projects that fight poverty worldwide.

The global initiative was organized in 2004 by WorldNomads.com a company that is setting the travel services industry bar for corporate social responsibility. As of this writing, 316,647 people have helped raise $821,580 for 54 projects around the world. Each individual contribution ranges from $1 to $5, and helps in the fight to alleviate crushing poverty and the health, social and environmental ills that accompany it which today affects over two billion people that live on less than $2 a day. Projects include eyesight restoration, farming, education, clean water, sanitation and other essentials. Most of the projects The Footprints Network supports are in developing countries, which yield the greatest social return on investment.

WorldNomads.com supports all administrative costs of the program so 100 percent of donations go directly to the projects. The Footprints Network is an alliance of e-commerce companies and their customers plus project partners. For travel services, charitable contributions and more information please visit WorldNomads.com.

Until next time, dream big and live large. I’d love to hear from you with your comments, questions and suggestions: mark@livinglarge.travel.

About the author: Proof that following your passion is always a good road to travel, Mark has been blessed to work for some of the world’s best travel & hospitality companies including Mountain Travel Sobek, Virtuoso, TCS Expeditions and Kimpton Hotels. As the founder of Solaia Consulting he now offers marketing, branding, operations and general management expertise to his clients. He resides in Seattle with his wife, two boys and their Bernese Mountain Dog.

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