By Adam Bisby, the greatest globe-trotting, child-wrangling, season-pushing and hyphen-abusing freelance journalist in Toronto's M6R postal code.
Mostly Amazing
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact

How to celebrate World Tourism Day without going anywhere

9/26/2014

1 Comment

 
Picture
There’s no need to panic if you forgot all about World Tourism Day. Unless, of course, your blender is kaput…

According to the UN World Tourism Organization, the purpose of tomorrow’s annual ode to travel “is to raise awareness on the role of tourism within the international community, and to demonstrate how it affects social, cultural, political and economic values worldwide, and to…”

Sounds like a thrill a minute, right? At least you know why you forgot about it.

In my neck of the urban jungle, these worthy-yet-tedious themes were given a shot in the arm earlier this week at G Adventures’ fourth-annual Future of Tourism event, which featured a lively panel discussion and presentation by the Toronto-based tour company’s energetic founder, Bruce Poon Tip.

The WTO, for its part, offers a list of “suggested WTD activities,” ranging from on-the-road electricity and water conservation efforts (viable on such short notice) to hosting special events like concerts and art exhibitions (maybe next year).

It’s all very earnest, in a United Nations sort of way, but at least the tips wrap up on an obvious note: “Take a trip.”

“Whether it’s around the world or within your own country,” the WTD website says, “read the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism before you go to make sure your trip is as sustainable and responsible as possible.”

So, if you don’t have the time or resources for a last-minute getaway, you can always celebrate WTD by breezing through eight pages of bureaucratic mumbo-jumbo.  

Another option, however, is to fake it. Here, then, are five ways to feel like you're exploring the globe without leaving your home base, or even your home:

1. Speak in a foreign language or with a foreign accent all day. I’ve always loved International Talk Like a Pirate Day, so this is really just another excuse to sound like I’ve suffered a brain injury.

2. Replace that TGIF beer with a TGIF blender drink (ideally served by a flying monkey). Speaking of brain injuries…

3. Use your passport as ID. Works great in combination with a North Korean accent.

4. Go out for an exotic meal. In Toronto, I recommend Mengrai Thai, which also offers Thai cooking classes.    

5. Visit a tourist attraction in your hometown. Does Honest Ed's sell miniature umbrellas? Two birds, one stone….


1 Comment

Wind farms: Beautiful, or blights on the landscape?

9/9/2014

1 Comment

 
Picture
France’s A10 autoroute between Paris and Orleans reminds me of Highway 401 between Toronto and Kingston. Both are mostly flat and featureless, with anything that breaks the monotony coming as a welcome relief.

Along the 401, these breaks come in the form of the Big Apple, the verdant hills of Northumberland County, and CFB Trenton’s roadside fighter jet. Along the A10, meanwhile, there’s the largest wind farm in France.

Watching its towering turbines align ahead of me, their spinning white blades overlapping to dizzying effect, reminded me of two things: One, it's no longer surprising to see wind farms dot the landscape; and two, they really are quite beautiful.

A week later, standing atop England’s White Horse Hill, I had the same thought when I noticed a line of them dotting the horizon (pictured above...look closely!). (This, combined with the recent demise of nearby Didcot Power Station, can only be a positive sign when it comes to renewable energy.) Then there are the Ontario road trips I've taken over the past two summers — to Sauble Beach, Kingston, Ottawa and Windsor — which have led me past hundreds of the spinning turbines. The same goes for recent international forays through upstate New York, Costa Rica (pictured below) and Ireland.

Never has a wind farm struck me as ugly, or detracted from the natural beauty of its surroundings. Quite the opposite: They usually serve as eye-catching landmarks, especially since their locations — along the A10, for example — tend to be flat and fairly featureless.

Not everyone will share my views on wind farms' aesthetic appeal. A surprising amount of controversy surrounds these installations — centred on issues such as health and bird deaths — given that their purpose is to provide the renewable energy our planet obviously needs.

But controversy breeds curiosity, which must be part of the reason for the proliferation of wind-farm tours. Staff at the 86-turbine project on Wolfe Island near Kingston, for example, will show groups of 10 or more around (depending on availability), with a self-guided tour map available for smaller groups. In Michigan, home to 900-plus turbines, the town of Ludington runs $10 bus tours of the Lake Winds Energy Park in summer and fall.

In Prince Edward Island, the North Cape Wind Farm Gift Shop and Interpretive Centre attracts 60,000 visitors a year (according to its website), while Manitoba's St. Leon Interpretive Centre offers walking tours.

Then there's the Eye of the Wind turbine atop Grouse Mountain near Vancouver (pictured below), which lets visitors take in alpine views from a glass viewing pod just below its massive blades. It's even worth checking out the informative panels at the base of WindShare's 91-metre-tall turbine in Toronto's Exhibition Place, which was the first turbine installed in a major North American city centre when it went up in 2002.

So next time my eyes start glazing over as I speed down the 401, I’ll take a detour to Wolfe Island. And should my wind farm tour conclude with a couple scoops of “keylime blast” ice cream from Café Tenango, well, so be it…

1 Comment

    Author

    Follow Adam Bisby
    as he indulges his passion for globe-setting
    and jet-trotting.

    Archives

    December 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    September 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014

    Categories

    All
    Adam Bisby
    Adventure
    Aeroplan
    Airbnb
    Air Canada
    Air Miles
    Airport Lounges
    Airports
    Air Rage
    Air Transat
    Air Travel
    Alberta
    Alps
    Animal Therapy
    Animal Therapy Day
    Anniversary
    Antarctica
    Apps
    April Fools Day
    Archaeology
    Architecture
    Arctic
    Arizona
    Art
    Astronomy
    Australia
    Austria
    Awards
    Babies
    Bahamas
    Baked Goods
    Banff
    Bangkok
    Banksy
    Bars
    Baseball
    B&bs
    Beach
    Bed Bugs
    Beer
    Berlin
    Big Lebowski
    Bitcoin
    Black Friday
    Black Mirror
    Blogs
    Blue Jays
    Blue Mountain
    Boating
    Books
    Boston
    Breweries
    British Columbia
    Bucket List
    Budget Travel
    Calgary
    Calgary Flames
    California
    Camping
    Camps
    Canada
    Canada 150
    Canada 150 Countdown
    Canada 200 Countdown
    Canada 420 Countdown
    Canada Day
    Canadian Dollar
    Cannabis
    Caves
    CBC
    CFL
    Charities
    Cheese
    Chicago
    Christmas
    City Of Toronto
    Climate Change
    Climbing
    Cocktails
    Coffee
    Cold
    Collingwood
    Colorado
    Conservation
    Contest
    Costa Rica
    Cottage Country
    Cougars
    Couples Travel
    Covid 19
    Covid-19
    Crowdfunding
    Cruises
    Cruising
    Culture
    Cyber Monday
    Cycling
    Dance
    Daylight Savings Time
    Deals
    Decor
    Degrassi
    Destination Weddings
    Disaster
    Disc Golf
    Dogs
    Dogs At Work
    Donald Trump
    Donate
    Drake
    Ducks
    Earth Day
    Easter
    Eco Travel
    Eels
    Egypt
    Elon Musk
    England
    Escape Winter
    Extreme Sports
    Fall
    Family
    Family Day
    Family Travel
    Fans
    Father's Day
    Fees
    Feminism
    Fes
    Film
    First Nations
    Fishing
    Florida
    Food
    Fort Mcmurray
    France
    Freelancing
    Frequent Flyer Plans
    Friends
    Gadgets
    Gatineau
    Gear
    Getting Lost
    Gift Cards
    Gifts
    Gisele Bundchen
    Glaciers
    Global Warming
    Globe And Mail
    Golf
    Gord Downie
    Gps
    Great Canadian Travel Deals
    Green Travel
    Halloween
    Health
    Helicopters
    Highway 401
    Hiking
    History
    Hoaxes
    Hockey
    Home Office
    Hotels
    Hotels.com
    Hotel Theft
    Hot Tubs
    House Of Cards
    Hugh Hefner
    Iceland
    Ice Storm
    Indigenous Peoples
    Instagram
    International Day Of Happiness
    Iphones
    Italy
    Jasper
    Jerusalem
    Jesus
    Jokes
    Justin Bieber
    Kamloops
    Kids
    Kingston
    Kiwi Kronicles
    Labrador
    Lake Louise
    Lakes
    Laos
    Last-minute
    Las Vegas
    Leap Day
    Lockdown
    Loire Valley
    London
    Lord Of The Rings
    Luggage
    Macguyver
    Mad Men
    Magazines
    Manitoba
    March Break
    Marrakesh
    Mexico
    Miami
    Miami Beach
    Milkshakes
    Mobile Devices
    Montreal
    Mont Tremblant
    Monty Python
    Morocco
    Mother's Day
    Mountains
    Movies
    Multimedia
    Museums
    Music
    Muskoka
    Myrtle Beach
    Nairobi
    Namibia
    National Parks
    Nature
    Nepal
    Nepal Earthquake
    Netflix
    Netherlands
    New Brunswick
    Newfoundland
    New Orleans
    New Years
    New York
    New Zealand
    Nhl
    Niagara
    Nineties
    Northern Lights
    Northwest Territories
    Nova Scotia
    Nunavut
    Ontario
    Ottawa
    Owen Sound
    Oxford
    Paddling
    Pandemic
    Parenting
    Paris
    Parks
    Pei
    Perks
    Pets
    Photography
    Playboy
    Podium Of Idiotic Tourists
    Poetry
    Politics
    Poutine
    Prairies
    Prince Edward County
    Privacy
    Prizes
    Productivity
    Provincial Parks
    Psychology
    Public Transit
    Pubs
    Pulp Fiction
    Quebec
    Quiz
    Religion
    Remembrance Day
    Resolutions
    Resorts
    Restaurants
    Ripley's Aquarium
    Road Trips
    Rob Ford
    Rodeo
    Room Service
    Russia
    Santa Claus
    Saskatchewan
    Science
    Science Fiction
    Selfies
    Seven Wonders Of The World
    Shuswap
    Simcoe
    Simpsons
    Ski
    Skiing
    Skydiving
    Smartphones
    Snow
    Snowmobiling
    Snowshoeing
    South Carolina
    Spa
    Space Travel
    Spain
    Speed
    Sports
    Spring
    Spring Skiing
    Squamish
    Stargazing
    Staycations
    Stockholm
    Stowaways
    St. Patrick's Day
    Stranger Things
    Summer
    Summer Holidays
    Superheroes
    Survey
    Sydney
    Taxes
    Technology
    Television
    Tesla
    Thailand
    Theme Parks
    The Shining
    Tiktok
    Tik Tok
    Tim Hortons
    Tobogganing
    Toiletries
    Tom Brady
    Top 10 Lists
    Toronto
    Toronto Islands
    Toronto Maple Leafs
    Toronto Star
    Tours
    Tragically Hip
    Travel
    Travel Deals
    Travel Gifts
    Travel Rewards
    Trees
    Trends
    Tripadvisor
    Tube Parks
    Turkey
    Turkmenistan
    Turks & Caicos
    Union Pearson Express
    United States
    Utah
    Valentine's Day
    Vancouver
    Vermont
    Vintage
    Viral Videos
    Volunteering
    Water Can
    Waterparks
    Water Sports
    Weather
    Weird
    Westjet
    Whistler
    Wildlife
    Wind Farms
    Wine
    Winter
    Working From Home
    Workplace Morale
    World Heritage Sites
    World Tourism Day
    Yukon
    Yyz
    Zoo
    Zurich

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.