Survival School Search

Whether you sail, hike or ski, you’ll enjoy nature more by being prepared. When selecting a wilderness-skills course, consider these factors.

By Laurel Kallenbach for Experience Life

• Length and level of training. One- or two-day courses offer an outdoor-preparedness overview, whereas longer courses (four days to three weeks) delve deeper so you can hone real skills.
• Physical challenge. At minimum, you must be able to hike a few miles a day with a light pack. For rigorous or high-altitude trips, train in advance for several months. Courses that simulate emergency hardships (hunger, thirst, extreme temperatures) require physical and mental prep.
• Terrain and conditions. Most courses teach skills that focus on deserts, mountains, woodlands or extreme weather conditions. Consider a course that supports your favorite activities (winter safety for skiers, summer survival for backpackers).
• Cost. Outfitters charge $100 to $200 per day. Budget for extras such as a knife, compass or metal drinking container, but don’t count on a lot of additional gear.

Laurel Kallenbach is a freelance writer and editor from Boulder, Colo. She is a regular contributor to Experience Life.

Experience Life magazine is an award-winning health and fitness publication that aims to empower people to live their best, most authentic lives, and challenges the conventions of hype, gimmicks and superficiality in favor of a discerning, whole-person perspective. Visit www.experiencelifemag.com to learn more, to subscribe, and to sign up for the Experience Life newsletter.

Into the Wild

Build your outdoor survival skills – and reconnect with nature – on an educational wilderness adventure.

By Laurel Kallenbach for Experience Life

Sheri Webb moves stealthily through northern California’s Mount Shasta Wilderness, taking care not to step on twigs or crackling leaves. She pauses every few minutes to pick miner’s lettuce for food or to scrutinize a print on the ground. Is it a deer trail? Will it lead to a spring where she can drink?

For 36 hours last spring, Webb and her boyfriend, Frank Sturniolo, made themselves at home in this pristine forest, with only a knife, a flint, a canteen and a cup. It was the culmination of a six-day outdoor survival course called The Edge — a course that the outfitter, Lifesong Wilderness Adventures, patterned after the TV series Man vs. Wild. Their goal: Survive without the trappings of civilization. No cell phone, no Starbucks, no running water.

“When I hike, I normally tromp mindlessly through the woods,” admits Webb, 32, a nurse from San Diego. “In the hospital ER, survival is about speed. The Edge course slowed me down and taught me details like finding where clean water trickles out of the ground.”

After four days in a primitive tent camp learning wilderness skills, their instructors left Webb and Sturniolo to fend for themselves. The night temperature became Webb’s nemesis. “Even with a roaring fire, one side of me always froze,” she recalls. “And we didn’t pile enough pine needles in our bed to insulate us from the ground, so we were ice cubes.”

At 2 a.m., a shivering Webb yelled for help. “The instructors didn’t come because they wanted me to feel cold, hunger and panic, so if I was really lost, I’d know this was discomfort, not life or death,” she says. In the end, she was grateful she stuck it out. “The experience was scary, but empowering. It boosted my self-confidence outdoors.”

Outside the Comfort Zone
Wilderness skills courses are more popular than ever, in part because of TV survival shows and films such as Into the Wild. While most people won’t be marooned on a deserted island, many want to develop the kinds of skills and courage needed to feel at home in the wild.

“People want to be more self-reliant and learn to find edible plants, read the weather, track animals, and make their own tools and shelters,” says Tony Nester, the director of Ancient Pathways, a desert survival school in Flagstaff, Ariz.

Embarking on a wilderness survival adventure is no laid-back vacation, though. These demanding getaways teach skills that will keep you alive in extreme conditions in the desert, the mountains or in 10 feet of snow. Courses range from one-day outdoor classes that cover emergency preparedness to 28-day simulations of a wilderness worst-case scenario. Some survival-trip outfitters offer tent camping and prepared meals; others teach you to forage and sleep in dirt-and-leaf beds. Some excursions involve moderate activity; others are so physically and mentally grueling that they require a doctor’s permission.

When selecting a trip, take stock of your personal appetite for adventure, and keep in mind that wilderness travel always carries a risk of injury or death, even when monitored by experienced instructors.

Touching Nature
Why bother with old-fashioned survival skills like making and using a bow-drill to start a fire when we have modern-day conveniences (lighters, high-tech matches) at our fingertips? Tom Brown Jr., founder of the legendary Tracker School, argues that discovering outdoor skills brings us closer to nature — and ourselves.

“Primitive wilderness training gives us the knowledge to survive in any place with what we find in nature, and it gets us in touch with our ancestral roots,” says Brown, who was taught by an Apache elder. He passes on the wisdom to students who learn stalking, nature observation, edible plant identification and Native American earth philosophy in his classes in the New Jersey Pine Barrens and in Boulder Creek, Calif.

“Tracking and awareness open people’s minds and hearts to the wilderness — even the one in your backyard,” Brown says. “People begin to read animal tracks like a book. They see more wildlife and biosystems than ever before. They develop a commitment to Mother Earth.”

Without wilderness knowledge, we are aliens on our own planet, Brown maintains. “If you’re lost, you’re like a scuba diver without oxygen,” he says. By contrast, those who complete his workshops feel at home in the bush, even without fancy gadgets. “Living off the land awakens the adventure in people and inspires them to seek new horizons.”

True Grit
At age 27, Jimmy Ngo, a tech-support manager from Firestone, Colo., was burned out. “I’d lose my temper when people complained their email didn’t work,” he says. “I didn’t so much need a survival school as some perspective.” He found both during the Boulder Outdoor Survival School’s (BOSS’s) seven-day, ultrarigorous Field Course.

During the two-day “impact” phase in the dry Utah backcountry, Ngo and his group had no food or water other than what they scavenged. They carried only a knife as they hiked 20 to 30 miles in the heat, and they shivered from cold at night. “We didn’t find water for a long time, and I was losing it,” he explains. “I silently cursed the instructors because I wanted to quit. Then I thought, ‘Why am I blaming them? I willingly put myself in this situation, and if I do quit, I’m still going to have to walk out of here.’ Eventually I convinced myself I’d be OK if I just kept pushing forward.”

Ngo made it to the spot where a backpack with food, water, a poncho and a wool blanket waited. The rest of the course involved rigorous hiking and twice-daily oatmeal or grain meals, but now Ngo concentrated on mastering skills that would ease the hardship he’d just experienced. Over the week, he lost 30 pounds from the physical effort (not an uncommon occurrence, according to BOSS instructors), but he gained a new appreciation for his tenacity.

“I was humbled by how little I knew about keeping myself alive in a survival situation,” Ngo admits. “Getting back to basics made me realize we don’t need a lot of stuff in the wilderness to survive. I learned to focus on staying warm and dry and on finding food and water.”

Now, Ngo thinks he’s more patient — especially with those pesky email problems. “The experience also taught me not to overdo things: not to overeat, not to overcompensate, not to get upset over little things,” he adds. In the years since, he’s enrolled in first-aid training and completed other BOSS courses, including star navigation.

Why endure an ordeal like Ngo’s? “Fear comes from not knowing,” says Jeff Sanders, BOSS’s Utah field director. “When you freak out, things go badly. However, if experience teaches you that you can live a long time without food — and some time without water — then you don’t have to panic.”

Loving the Wilderness
The more you know about your place in nature, the less gear you need to carry with you to be safe — and even comfortable — in the wild. During his winter courses in Montana, Wilderness Arts Institute educator David Cronenwett challenges students to start a fire in 10 minutes with just one match and foraged wood. They can warm their hands at the group “backup” fire between trial runs. “It’s good to practice outdoor skills in the field, not just in your yard where conditions are less extreme,” he says.

Ultimately, the goal of instructors like Cronenwett is to help students respect nature, not fear it. Though a wilderness survival course might seem to focus on lost-in-the-woods, “man vs. wild” scenarios, it actually enhances the outdoor experience by helping you connect with nature, rather than facing off against it.

“The more you realize how much we humans depend on the land and landscape around us, the more you come to see that people aren’t separate from the rest of nature,” says Ancient Pathways’ Tony Nester. “We’re all part of that whole.”

Laurel Kallenbach is a freelance writer and editor from Boulder, Colo. She is a regular contributor to Experience Life.

Experience Life magazine is an award-winning health and fitness publication that aims to empower people to live their best, most authentic lives, and challenges the conventions of hype, gimmicks and superficiality in favor of a discerning, whole-person perspective. Visit www.experiencelifemag.com to learn more, to subscribe, and to sign up for the Experience Life newsletter.

The Right Ride

Longing to slide into the stirrups on an equi-adventure? Answer these questions to help you pick the horse trip of your dreams.

By Laurel Kallenbach for Experience Life

1. What type of rider are you? Most outfitters distinguish between beginner, intermediate and advanced trips so that you’ll be riding with peers of similar ­abilities. Family trips welcome all abilities. To brush up your skills, try guest ranches, whose instructors help you practice on the trail.
2. Do you want to gallop around the globe? Choose from Highland ponies in Scotland, Arabians in Morocco or Tennessee Walking Horses in the Appalachians. Consider all types of terrain — mountains, savannahs, beaches — and don’t limit yourself to summer. Think snow riding or driving a horse-drawn sleigh.
3. What do you want to do when you’re not in the saddle? Some people want to ride all day. Others prefer blending horse adventures with fishing, cooking classes, wine tasting, cultural sight-seeing, hiking or kayaking.
4. Where will you rest your head? Sleep under the stars like a cowboy, travel from inn to inn on horseback, or pick a home base such as a ranch house or wilderness lodge and make day trips from there.
5. What’s your budget? Prices for equi-adventures range from less than $100 to thousands, depending on where you go, length of stay and accommodations (the cheapest options are half-day rides during a vacation). Keep in mind that most packages do not include airfare to your destination, or additional expenses such as on-your-own meals, gratuities or optional activities.

Laurel Kallenbach lives and writes in Boulder, Colo.

Experience Life magazine is an award-winning health and fitness publication that aims to empower people to live their best, most authentic lives, and challenges the conventions of hype, gimmicks and superficiality in favor of a discerning, whole-person perspective. Visit www.experiencelifemag.com to learn more, to subscribe, and to sign up for the Experience Lifenewsletter.

Ride Away

Looking for an exhilarating way your whole family can explore the great outdoors together? Consider an unforgettably fun horseback-riding adventure.

By Laurel Kallenbach, for Experience Life

Coyotes howl in the distance as Jeff Moore and his daughter, Jill, eat cowboy grub by the campfire in California’s eastern Sierras. Nearby, horses nicker and munch hay. The Moores’ annual father-daughter horseback adventure — a four-day camping trip driving more than 100 horses 100 miles across the valley — lets them get away from daily routines and enjoy the freedom of wide-open spaces.

“I love horses and being outside with my dad,” says Jill, 18. “It’s fun getting dirty and riding fast to round up riderless horses that try to break away.”

The horse drives give the Moores, who live in Coto de Caza, Calif., a chance to bond. “There are no cell phones, laptops or TVs on this trip,” says Jeff, 52, a managing director for a commercial-real-estate brokerage firm. “I’m in beautiful country, riding a horse next to my daughter, having genuine conversations because we’re not distracted or busy.”

The two have saddled up every summer for the past 10 years, through 100-degree heat, rain, lightning, hail and even snow. “I used to think Jill would outgrow these horse trips,” says Jeff, “but she’s always excited to go and even invites other friends and families.” Wranglers from the Bishop, Calif.–based outfitter Frontier Pack Train match riders with a horse suited to their ability, so all ages can enjoy riding together.

Although Jill is heading off to college this fall, she intends to return next summer for the horse drive. “It’s a family tradition,” she says, “and it keeps us close.”

Equestrian treks — a.k.a. equi-adventures — are attracting both seasoned riders and first-timers. Less touristy than other getaways, horseback adventures take you through quiet countryside and challenging wilderness trails that are often inaccessible by vehicle or by foot, and they let you explore breathtaking landscapes in a unique, intimate way.

“Horseback riding can be such a rush — or really peaceful,” says Darley Newman, the host and producer of Equitrekking, a PBS travel series that takes viewers on horseback adventures around the world. “You get the physical challenge of riding different kinds of horses in the style of the place you’re visiting.”

You can gallop in Guatemala, canter in Canada, amble in Alaska or trot in Turkey. And you can choose rustic camping or opt for luxurious accommodations at a lodge or at inns along the trail. Either way, you’ll get plenty of fresh air and exercise — horseback riding works the inner thighs, hamstrings, calves and core abdominal muscles. (For equi-adventure planning tips, see “The Right Ride,” below.)

Never been on a horse? Not a problem. On some trips, wranglers coach beginners so they can improve while they ride on their vacation. If you’re a novice — or ride infrequently — start small before committing to a full-scale horseback ­excursion. “Incorporate one short ride into your vacation and see how it goes,” Newman suggests. “If you’re in Hawaii, spend one morning exploring part of the island on horseback. In wine country, take a bike tour one day, then ride a horse through a vineyard the next.”

Equi-adventures let you slow down and relive an era when horses were our primary mode of transportation. That ­historical appeal drew Trudy Campbell, an office administrator in Mississauga, Ontario, to sign up for a six-day trip through Wyoming’s Grand Tetons in a covered wagon train, organized by Hidden Trails, an outfitter in Vancouver, B.C.

“I hadn’t been on a horse in years, so I was wary, but I was so intrigued by stories of the Old West that I thought I’d try this trip,” says Campbell, 59. “The first day, the wranglers gave us basic riding instruction, then we got on our horses and away we went! The first thing we did was cross a flooded stream where the water was fast; I learned to trust my horse very quickly.”

Campbell’s vacation suited her skills. For half the day she rode a horse; in the afternoons, she traveled by covered wagon, which was also her night’s lodging. (The seats folded into bunks.) “Every morning I got up, stepped out of the wagon and — wow! — there were those incredible mountains.”

Riding in the wagons let Campbell rest enough that she eventually was able to spend one full day in the saddle, a feat that left her spirits buoyed and her legs a bit rubbery. “I had to learn to walk again when I got off the horse,” she jokes.

Besides spotting bear, elk and beaver, and reveling in the scenery, Campbell relived a cushier version of pioneer life — complete with cowboy songs and poetry. “The food was awesome, so other than sore butt muscles, there was no suffering on this trip.”

There’s no more empowering adventure than one with a horse, says Bayard Fox, owner of Equitours, based in Dubois, Wyo. “Horses are dynamic; it’s exhilarating working in partnership with these animals,” he says. “They’re completely with you — even if you’re riding in Africa when the lions are giving chase or when a zebra challenges you to a race. And you can feel the horse’s excitement and pleasure when you’re taking an exhilarating gallop on a beach.”

Many animal lovers sign on to an equitrek to spend time exploring the horse-human relationship. Outfitters usually pair each rider with a single horse for the entire trip, so you can request the type of personality that makes you comfortable: spirited or steady. On some riding trips, Fox says, you feed, saddle and groom your horse, too.

It’s a good idea to practice your riding skills before joining a trek — especially one rated as intermediate or advanced, which often requires riders to be on the horse for at least six hours a day, every day. (Horse ranches often offer this kind of training.) “If you’re in shape, you shouldn’t be the least bit sore after covering 10 to 20 miles a day in the saddle,” says Fox.

For her 70th birthday, Sally Schoettgen of Columbia, Calif., invited three girlfriends on an eight-day Equitours trip in southern Spain, where they rode purebred Andalusian horses from inn to inn. “Don’t let my age scare you!” Schoettgen quipped on the company’s questionnaire, which assesses riders’ skill and endurance. At home, she rides in the mountains three times a week, so she was in great condition for a cultural horse trek through villages in the Spanish Sierra Nevadas.

Astride a white Andalusian named Adra, Schoettgen followed ancient bridle paths through fig and almond farms and explored spectacular gorges. “We trotted and cantered a lot,” she recalls, “but it was thrilling when Adra and I could really run fast through the beautiful meadows.”

At day’s end, she and her friends arrived at a small ­village inn (their luggage came by van). “Our Spanish hosts treated us like family and prepared lovely dinners featuring the region’s best foods and wines,” she recalls.

“Having a hotel room ­waiting is a touch of luxury at the end of the trail,” Schoettgen says of the tour’s inn-to-inn ­format. “We could clean up, relax and get a good night’s sleep, which made it possible for us to ride six days in a row.”

During the week, the group covered a lot of territory and visited villages whose cobblestone streets were so steep and narrow that the riders had to lead their horses. “It was the perfect physical adventure,” Schoettgen recalls. “Instead of being just a spectator, I was an actual participant.”

Laurel Kallenbach lives and writes in Boulder, Colo.

Experience Life magazine is an award-winning health and fitness publication that aims to empower people to live their best, most authentic lives, and challenges the conventions of hype, gimmicks and superficiality in favor of a discerning, whole-person perspective. Visit www.experiencelifemag.com to learn more, to subscribe, and to sign up for the Experience Life newsletter.

Endangered Places to See Now

By Laurel Kallenbach for Experience Life

Thinking about visiting an area hard-hit by global warming? Far-flung or nearby, many landscapes are in flux. Here are some important U.S. locations. For more ideas, read Frommer’s 500 Places to See Before They Disappear by Holly Hughes (Wiley, 2009).

Death Valley, Calif.: The vegetation that holds the desert soil and dunes in place is being threatened by heat and drought.

The Redwoods, Calif.: The giant, 2,000-year-old trees are at risk from forest fires.

Cape Hatteras National Seashore, N.C.: Severe storms and rising sea levels have caused beach erosion and loss of flora and fauna.

Nachusa Grasslands, Ill.: One of the last surviving prairies, this area is being protected from encroaching development.

Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida Keys: This low-lying island is threatened by rising seas, reef bleaching and hurricanes.

The Everglades, Fla.: The marshy landscape and bird species are threatened by dwindling water, pollution and urban development.

Glacier National Park, Mont.: The namesake glaciers are melting and could be gone by 2030.

Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska: Rising sea tides and glacial melting are changing the face of these mountains.

Experience Life magazine is an award-winning health and fitness publication that aims to empower people to live their best, most authentic lives, and challenges the conventions of hype, gimmicks and superficiality in favor of a discerning, whole-person perspective. Visit www.experiencelifemag.com to learn more and to sign up for the Experience Life newsletter.

Disappearing Destinations

Many of the world’s most spectacular landscapes are vanishing because of climate change, spurring concerned visitors to experience and protect them before it’s too late.

By Laurel Kallenbach for Experience Life

What would an autumn cycling trip in New England be without colorful maples? What’s a ski vacation without fresh snow? Or an outing to the shore where the beach has eroded? These scenarios are unimaginable for many, yet global warming threatens to make them a reality as species extinctions, severe storms, flooding, drought, melting icecaps, and warmer, more acidic ocean water transform the outdoor environments we love. 

People are responding to the threat by rushing to destinations hard-hit by climate change before they disappear. They want to climb Tanzania’s Mt. Kilimanjaro before its fabled snows melt forever, or paddle Florida’s Everglades before its grassy swamps dry up. The see-it-before-it’s-gone philosophy has launched an entirely new form of tourism: climate-change sightseeing.

While the trend has spurred a rise in expensive once-in-a-lifetime trips, you don’t have to visit far-flung continents or invest your life savings to witness global warming’s destruction — and get inspired to do your part to help ward it off. 

“People think of climate change as happening somewhere else in the world, but the issue is right in our backyard,” says Alexandra Cousteau, granddaughter of legendary oceanic explorer Jacques Cousteau and the founder of Blue Legacy International, which works to tell the story of our water-based planet and to inspire people to take action on critical water issues. 

Indeed, in the United States, global warming threatens everything from the redwood forests (succumbing to fires) to the Gulf Stream waters (ravaged by hurricanes). In Montana’s Glacier National Park, record high temperatures have caused the namesake glaciers to recede. In the western United States, the death rates of trees in old-growth forests have doubled in the last two to three decades due to droughts caused by longer, hotter summers, according to a recent study published in Science. 

From Tourist to Advocate 

Awareness about the causes and consequences of climate change inspires our commitment to preserve wild areas — rivers, oceans, mountains, forests — which also happen to be great places for rafting, snorkeling and backpacking. By visiting a threatened destination, you may become one of its champions. (For more on athletes and outdoor enthusiasts preserving their outdoor playgrounds, read “Back to the Land” in the April 2005 archives at experiencelifemag.com.)

For example, melting polar ice receives much media attention, but few people brave the frozen regions, so eyewitness accounts are critical. “The Arctic is white, desolate, remote and dynamically beautiful like nowhere else on the planet,” says Keith Heger, a guide for PolarExplorers (www­.polarexplorers.com), which leads ski and dogsled expeditions to the North Pole, Antarctica and Greenland. “Those who go to the effort to spend 24 hours a day in minus-30-degree weather are forever connected to the North Pole. They become its ambassadors.”

That’s exactly how Brian S. Jones, a Fredericton, New Brunswick, investment adviser felt after joining PolarExplorers’ 12-day North Pole Last Degree Expedition. Jones, 37, trained six months to be fit enough to ski and pull a sled 10 hours a day. Despite the constant challenges and risks of spending time in the frigid Arctic environment — the threat of frost injuries, lack of nearby emergency facilities, and cooking and sleeping in tents — he and the seven other skiers in his group gained a deep appreciation for the fragile terrain. 

In fact, traveling over the huge ice floes inspired Jones to start Ski for Green (www­.skiforgreen.com), which promotes climate-change education. “I’m one of very few people who’s skied to the North Pole,” Jones says. “Based on the melting ice, I doubt there will be many more.” 

Like many outfitters, PolarExplorers offsets all the carbon emissions created by its operations and flights. The company also follows Leave No Trace principles by packing out all supplies and waste.

Rescuing Reefs 

Rising ocean temperatures and CO2-related acidity are straining coral reefs worldwide, but don’t hang up your fins just yet: Breathtaking undersea life still remains. Bonaire, a Caribbean island just 50 miles north of the Venezuelan coast, boasts a well-managed marine park that protects coral from careless divers and boat anchorage. 

Unfortunately, the park can’t shield its reef from global warming. “There’s been a huge change in the underwater world I love,” laments Francine Hammer, 57, of Naperville, Ill., who has visited Bonaire regularly since 1979. “I was shocked to find bleached and algae-covered reefs. That distracted me from seeing all the beauty that’s still there.” 

Over the years, Hammer has done her part to keep Bonaire’s magic alive by participating in garbage-pickup dives and helping to create moorings to keep boats from anchoring on fragile coral. The prospect of losing her undersea view of parrotfish, seahorses and octopus has Hammer “thinking about global warming and going green.” 

Conscientious tourism is critical, says Cousteau. “There’s a surge in people who want to see endangered environments, but they need to be cautious they’re not making the problem worse,” she says. 

If you plan to explore any region at risk from climate change, stay at an eco-lodge or environmentally conscious hotel, Cousteau advises (many mega-hotels are notorious for practices that cause pollution and excess waste), and be sure to minimize your impact while you’re there. For snorkelers or divers, that means never touching coral (it harms the organisms). Likewise, wilderness campers shouldn’t bring their own firewood. Just one log infested by elm bark beetle, ash borer or mountain pine beetle could kill an entire forest. 

Indeed, air travel itself can contribute to the problem. Diving Australia’s endangered Great Barrier Reef might awaken your dormant environmentalist, but flying there from New York City spews out 2.2 tons of CO2 per person. Is the trip worth emitting this much greenhouse gas? 

“If everyone flew as avidly as Americans, we’d have a much bigger greenhouse problem,” admits Robert Henson,  meteorologist and author of The Rough Guide to Climate Change (Rough Guides, 2008). “Yet if everyone stayed home, it would be a bleaker world. What matters is how smart you travel and that you conserve energy in everyday life.”

Exploring Solutions 

If you’re more interested in fighting global warming than witnessing it, a volunteer vacation may be the climate-change trip for you. On these getaways, participants lend a hand with conservation projects led by environmental organizations.   

Warren Stortroen, 76, of St. Paul, Minn., frequently volunteers for research projects with the Earthwatch Institute, a nonprofit that lets you join scientists doing field research. He chose a 14-day Mammals of Nova Scotia trip where principal investigator, Christina Buesching, PhD, was studying how climate change affects woodland animals, from moose to mice. On the trip, the volunteers — who were provided with accommodations and meals as part of the volunteer package — gathered population data on small rodents, deer, fox and snowshoe hare. 

“It’s a rewarding vacation that matters,” says Stortroen. “It sounds insignificant, but catching and studying white-footed deer mice is as exciting as working with a large moose — which we never found.” 

Buesching appreciates the dedication of volunteers who help her piece together these clues. For instance, missing moose are linked to shorter, milder winters. “Moose are equipped to bulldoze through deep snow, but the daintier deer (who aren’t native to Nova Scotia) can’t,” she says. Harsh winters normally control the deer, but without heavy snow, they overpopulate and spread disease to the moose. “The white-tailed deer carry a parasitic nematode, the brain worm, that when spread to the moose, kills them by destroying their brains,” Buesching says. 

Stortroen worries that some animals won’t survive human-made shifts in the climate. “That’s why I’m so eager to see the world and help out more,” he says. 

His vacation has broader ramifications, too. Stortroen’s slice of climate-change research creates a ripple effect: Buesching shares her findings with other scientists, who may themselves go on to help reverse climate change. 

What will an expedition to a calving glacier or a sailing vacation among the whales in Baja inspire in you? You’ll never know if you don’t head out and see.

In writer Laurel Kallenbach’s home state of Colorado, winter temperatures are no longer cold enough to freeze mountain pine beetles, which are destroying forests.

Experience Life magazine is an award-winning health and fitness publication that aims to empower people to live their best, most authentic lives, and challenges the conventions of hype, gimmicks and superficiality in favor of a discerning, whole-person perspective. Visit www.experiencelifemag.com to learn more and to sign up for the Experience Life newsletter.

Your Eco-Adventure Awaits

Explore nature and respect area environments by following the code of an eco-adventurer.

By Laurel Kallenbach for Experience Life

Travel responsibly. Stay close to home or purchase carbon offsets for any air or road travel. Lighten your impact on local resources.

Leave no trace. When you enter a wilderness, take care to leave little or no evidence of your presence. Stay on trails, remove your trash and waste, and don’t disturb animals or plants. 

Patronize locally owned businesses so that local residents benefit economically from your visit and from preserving the area. 

Choose a sustainable outfitter. Ask the company how it protects the areas you will be visiting, how it cares for natural resources, and how it supports local or indigenous people. (See Resources for directories of responsible outfitters.)

Learn about your destination. The more you understand area ecosystems and cultures, the more respectful and appreciative you’ll be when you’re actually there. 

Show your gratitude. Consider spending an afternoon of your visit giving back. Pick up trash from a beach, clear brush from a trail, or volunteer to help with a community project.

Experience Life magazine is an award-winning health and fitness publication that aims to empower people to live their best, most authentic lives, and challenges the conventions of hype, gimmicks and superficiality in favor of a discerning, whole-person perspective. Visit www.experiencelifemag.com to learn more and to sign up for the Experience Life newsletter.

Earth-Friendly Outfitters and Resources

By Laurel Kallenbach for Experience Life

Ecoventura: A carbon-neutral adventure-tourism company in the Galápagos Islands that operates trips aboard the Flamingo I, Eric and Letty yachts; 800-633-7972; www .ecoventura.com

International Ecotourism Society: Search for an eco-outfitter or eco-trip; www .ecotourism.org

Planeta.com: A global journal of practical ecotourism, including info on guides and destinations; www­.planeta.com

REI Adventures: Find carbon-neutral outdoor adventures around the world; www.rei.com/adventures

Surfrider Foundation: A grassroots environmental organization that works to protect U.S. and Puerto Rican oceans, waves and beaches; www.surfrider.org

Sustainable Travel International: Supports travelers and travel providers that protect the cultures and environments they visit. Search its eco-directory for sustainable destinations and tour companies; www­.sustainabletravel.com 

Hard Facts on Climate Change

 

• Every five minutes, the Arctic loses up to 3 square miles of its multiyear ice. — The Rough Guide to Climate Change by Robert Henson (Rough Guides, 2008) 
• 40 percent of the Arctic icecap will be lost by 2050. — National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, www .noaa.gov 
• Every five minutes, the Amazon loses 600,000 square feet of climate-preserving rainforest. — The Rough Guide to Climate Change 
• Australia’s Great Barrier Reef could be functionally dead before 2050. — Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, www .ipcc.ch 

In writer Laurel Kallenbach’s home state of Colorado, winter temperatures are no longer cold enough to freeze mountain pine beetles, which are destroying forests.

Experience Life magazine is an award-winning health and fitness publication that aims to empower people to live their best, most authentic lives, and challenges the conventions of hype, gimmicks and superficiality in favor of a discerning, whole-person perspective. Visit www.experiencelifemag.com to learn more and to sign up for the Experience Life newsletter.

Earth-Friendly Forays

Outdoor excursions restore and rejuvenate your body, but if you travel with the environment in mind, your vacation can also help restore some of the world’s most pristine wilderness.

By Laurel Kallenbach for Experience Life

On a Galápagos Island beach, two sea lion pups are playing king-of-the-hill on a flat-topped rock. With each wave that washes over the rock, the two-week-old pups lose their balance and tumble head-over-flippers onto the sand. I’m standing 10 feet away, snapping photos and laughing at their antics.

After a week of hiking and snorkeling in the Galápagos Islands with Ecoventura, an environmentally responsible tour company, I’ve grown used to seeing wild animals in their natural habitat. In this paradise, 500-pound Galápagos tortoises lumber about munching on leaves. Some are so old they might have been hatchlings when scientist and evolution theorist Charles Darwin visited the islands in 1835. Here, I’ve also had a front-row seat to see a flightless cormorant mother peck and squawk at a marine iguana sunning himself too close to her chick. Both the bird and reptile live nowhere else on the planet besides these 13 isolated, volcanic islands in the Pacific.

 

I’m on an “eco-adventure” – a vacation option that lets people head into the wilderness without destroying it. Responsible, low-impact tourism sustains natural places and encourages locals to be good stewards of the land and waters. With natural ecosystems worldwide increasingly threatened by development and climate change, eco-adventures are an important antidote to conventional mass tourism, which contributes to pollution and erosion, disturbs wildlife, and brings unwelcome influences to once-isolated cultures. 

My Ecoventura trip, for example, has been recognized by the Rainforest Alliance’s SmartVoyager, a sustainable tourism certification program. It accommodates visitors aboard yachts that carefully manage fuel and augment their water supply with desalinated ocean water. When we disembark to explore an island, we’re careful to take nothing but pictures and leave nothing but footprints. Our naturalist guides instruct us not to touch or feed the animals that live in this desert landscape – not even the Galápagos mockingbirds, which thirstily eye our water bottles.

On board the boats, we’re conservation-minded, too: We dump no waste into the ocean, and we take hasty, water-saving showers using biodegradable soap and shampoo. A portion of our food is grown locally with few or no pesticides. To help fight global warming, Ecoventura purchases carbon-dioxide offsets for all its voyages, so tourists know their vacation has less impact on climate change. 

The Conscientious Adventurer 

“Avid, active people tend to appreciate natural areas and want to protect the places they’ve come to love,” says Peter Krahenbuhl, cofounder and vice president of Sustainable Travel International (STI), a nonprofit that promotes responsible tourism. Eco-adventurers are also more likely to explore remote wilderness areas for an ecological experience – even when it means forgoing posh accommodations. 

Ecotourism isn’t on every traveler’s radar quite yet, but it’s definitely an emerging trend. In 2004, ecotourism/ nature tourism grew three times faster worldwide than the tourism industry as a whole, according to the World Tourism Organization. 

Is your Maine-coast sailboat idyll or Himalayan trek an eco-adventure? Some people define ecotourism as any vacation in the outdoors, but industry leaders such as Krahenbuhl agree that ecologically savvy people go the distance to lighten their impact on nature – including sometimes paying a bit more. Like any travel, ecotourism prices run the gamut – from backpacker accommodations to luxury eco-lodges. In general, what you pay for on eco-adventures is access to pristine outdoor settings, lower-impact accommodations and a closer, more beneficial working relationship with local communities. At eco-lodges, you’ll often find “rustic luxury” – clean, comfortable rooms furnished in accordance with the local environment. You’re likely to get great food and excellent service from local people, and nature or activity guides who are financially vested in the business. What you won’t be paying for are TVs, phones, computer access, casinos or nightlife. The more remote the destination, the higher the cost, but that’s also true of remote or exclusive locales that aren’t ecologically oriented. Prices at eco-lodges may be slightly higher, but are, in general, comparable to similarly scaled conventional lodges in the same region. 

One way to travel ecologically (and economically) is to explore closer to home. You might be surprised at the natural beauty within a short journey, and less driving and flying means fewer carbon-dioxide emissions. Better yet, skip the fossil fuels altogether and use muscle power – paddling, pedaling, walking – to reach your destination. 

If, however, your heart is set on climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, you can offset the climate damage created during your airplane flight to Africa by investing in renewable-energy and energy-efficiency projects that reduce carbon emissions, a process called “carbon offsetting.” 

For my Galápagos trip, I logged onto the STI Web site (www­.sustainabletravel.com), where I learned I had created 2.5 tons (!) of carbon dioxide on my roundtrip flight to Ecuador. It cost just $45 to assuage my eco-guilt. 

The idea behind carbon offsetting, explains Krahenbuhl, is that if you produce carbon dioxide in one place, “you reduce an equal amount somewhere else.” It’s not an exact science, clearly. But it’s a start. 

Arriving ecologically at your adventure destination is a first step; the next is calculating who profits from your excursion. The travel and tourism industry generates $1.3 trillion in the United States alone, reports the Travel Industry Association of America, but most of that money goes to giant corporations that own hotel chains and cruise lines. 

“True ecotourism provides economic benefits to local communities who then have more incentive to preserve their wildlife, land, ecosystems and indigenous culture,” Krahenbuhl explains. 

He has firsthand experience. In graduate school, he worked on a conservation project in the Ecuadorian cloud forest. “We helped the people establish small-scale ecotourism so they had a viable economic alternative for putting food on their tables without cutting down trees.”

The Power of Preservation

Can going to a place actually help preserve it? Unfortunately, tourism is paradoxical. When too many people flock to beloved wildernesses, nature suffers. For instance, as many as 4 million people visit California’s popular Yosemite National Park annually, and their vehicles spew so much pollution that vistas are often clouded by a brown haze. On the other hand, if a beautiful place goes unnoticed and unappreciated by tourists, it’s more likely to be developed or exploited for its natural resources. 

Take Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), which has been the source of a perennial debate over oil drilling. On a backpacking trip there, Janet Cerretani, a Boulder, Colo., advertising art director, realized the value of its remoteness. “ANWR is one of the last truly wild places left in our country,” she says. “You hike for days without seeing anything man-made. From the air, it looks somewhat barren, but if you land your plane and get out, you’ll see it’s a beautiful, thriving, untouched place. It’s been the same for thousands of years.” 

Inspired by this unspoiled land – a vital habitat for gray wolves, grizzly bears, caribou, Dall sheep, migratory birds and arctic flowers – Cerretani is working to raise public awareness by documenting ANWR through photography and by using her advertising and marketing skills to support environmental issues. “I like the idea that there’s somewhere left in this country where animals can live undisturbed,” she says. “ANWR is definitely worth preserving – even if 99.9 percent of Americans never see it.” 

Surfing for Solutions

People who appreciate the outdoors – by canoe, on skis or while hang-gliding – can support their favorite places by joining local efforts or donating to environmental and conservation causes. 

Over the years, surfer Rick Erkeneff has watched many prime surf spots in Southern California deteriorate. “Mini-malls, beach parking lots and multimillion-dollar coastal developments shore up the sand. Surf conditions are dependent on the shifting sandbars, and less sand means less-than-ideal waves,” says the Dana Point resident.

The Surfrider Foundation enlists boarders to help protect beaches and oceans. Erkeneff got involved with the group when he realized the beaches weren’t clean or safe for his two young daughters. Surfers nowadays contract ear, sinus and throat infections because contaminants such as fertilizer, pet waste, agricultural chemicals and spilled motor oil wash into the water.

With Surfrider, Erkeneff coordinates litter cleanups, organizes preservation projects and helps educate beach lovers about environmental issues. He finds that beach activism is almost as satisfying as hanging 10.

“I’ve caught the ecology bug,” he admits. “Now I tell local and visiting surfers: ‘If you’re out here loving the waves, you need to get active. Every little bit helps.’”

Laurel Kallenbach is senior editor of Natural Home magazine.

Experience Life magazine is an award-winning health and fitness publication that aims to empower people to live their best, most authentic lives, and challenges the conventions of hype, gimmicks and superficiality in favor of a discerning, whole-person perspective. Visit www.experiencelifemag.com to learn more and to sign up for the Experience Life newsletter.