“Pump your arms, your legs will follow…”
– Marathon advice. Life advice?
As I struggle to process what happened at the Boston Marathon yesterday, I wonder: “How is it that we humans invest so much energy in our own destruction?”
Then I consider what’s at the heart of the spirit of marathons, and the reasons why crowds of people were gathered at the finish line in the first place. Through this process, I attempt to restore some of my lost hope in humanity, because I believe if we lose that marathon spirit, that’s when we’ve really lost. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Perspectives by: Audrey Scott
14 Comments | 16 April 2013
This is about fear and awareness and how recognizing a distinction between the two can improve your travels…and your life.
At the extremes, we have two choices in life: a) sit back and be afraid of absolutely everything and never leave the couch, or b) proceed recklessly and lean blindly into situations that will likely harm us.
Or, there’s a third way. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Personal Growth, Perspectives, Travel by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
36 Comments | 11 April 2013
We just celebrated. An anniversary. Six years. On the road. Why am I addicted to sentence fragments?
Celebrating our 6-year anniversary on the road in Nicaragua — with a break, a bench, a sunset.
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Filed Under: Perspectives by: Daniel Noll
33 Comments | 14 December 2012
A few dollars here, a few dollars there. Does how you spend your money when you travel really matter? Is it possible to align your travel approach and spending decisions with your values?
In the first part of this series, The Importance of People in Travel, we explored the relationship between people and the travel experience and we spoke of serendipity and human connections. In this segment, we talk deliberate decisions and the potential impact of our travel purchases on the communities we visit, and on the world.
Goofing with local kids having breakfast in Tarija, Bolivia.
Continue Reading »
- Travel and Your Values: The Power of Deliberate Spending
- Tourism, It’s the People’s Business
Filed Under: Perspectives, Sustainable Tourism by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
26 Comments | 19 November 2012
In pursuit of the iconic, sometimes we lose the people. Then we need to come back. Here are a few thoughts on the often overlooked importance of people to travel and the connection between travelers’ experiences, their spending decisions and the impact on the communities they visit.
So much ink is spilled, understandably so, on the budget aspect of travel — how much we spend vs. the value we receive – almost to the point of commoditizing every dimension of one’s travel experience.
One bit is often missing in this discussion, however: people. Continue Reading »
- Travel and Your Values: The Power of Deliberate Spending
- Tourism, It’s the People’s Business
Filed Under: Perspectives, Sustainable Tourism by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
34 Comments | 2 November 2012
This is a short story in the form of a touching email I received recently. It demonstrates how life sometimes comes full circle in odd and delightful ways.
When Dan and I recall all the unusual yet universal connections we’ve uncovered throughout our travels and life experiences, we often reflect on how “we’re all more connected than we think.” However, each time we accept this maxim and settle comfortably into its implications, life surprises us once again in an odd, humbling and inspiring way.
A few weeks ago, we’d just arrived in Berlin, fresh off of speaking at the World Domination Summit (WDS) conference in Portland. Then, I received this email. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Perspectives by: Audrey Scott
35 Comments | 22 August 2012
For this Mother’s Day, we are in Hiroshima, Japan, the site of the dropping of the first atomic bomb. Although the city was once a site of death and destruction beyond what we could ever imagine, the message here now is one of peace.
A reflection at the Children’s Peace Monument in Hiroshima, Japan
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Filed Under: Perspectives, Photography by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
12 Comments | 12 May 2012
Today is International Women’s Day. To celebrate, we share an updated version of our Women from Around the World slideshow.
You probably won’t see any of these women on TV or on the covers of magazines (well, maybe someday). Instead, they are the women we meet in markets, on public transport, in the shops that they run, in rural villages, on city streets. They are the everyday human landscape — mothers, grandmothers, daughters, sisters, friends, colleagues — perhaps sometimes overlooked or taken for granted. But look into their eyes, and through life and its challenges, pride prevails.
With the slideshow below, we celebrate the collective spirit of these women and the beauty of their diversity. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Perspectives, Photography by: Audrey Scott
4 Comments | 8 March 2012
Do you ever question what popular news media have to say about what’s going on in other parts of the world?
Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Perspectives by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
60 Comments | 22 January 2012
You guys are the Perception Busters.
– A comment on our Facebook page in response to our arrival in Cairo earlier this week. And a label we’re happy to embrace.
Egyptian man on the streets of Alexandria, Egypt.
If you’ve been following us on Facebook or Twitter recently, you’re probably aware that we’ve been in Egypt this past week.
Egypt? But isn’t it unsafe now? Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Egypt, Middle East, Perspectives, Travel by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
17 Comments | 23 December 2011
