Lime tree in window © Brendan Gogarty

Lime tree in townhouse window, Florence, Italy.

Knowing some basic Spanish expressions before traveling to Spain is a good idea. Knowing some slang is even better.

Modified from a post from 2007.

Practise these phrases before your next trip to Spain.

Mas vales tarde que nunca = Better late than never

Me muero de hambre = I am starving

No es moco de pavo = Pretty impressive

No tiene ni pies ni cabeza = It doesn’t make sense

El mundo es un pañuelo = It’s a small world

Más vale una vez rojo que 20 amarillo = It’s better to sort things out now than let them keep annoying you over and over.

Tener el corazón en un puño = To be super worried about something

Hacer de tripas corazón = To make an effort to do something you don’t like/to be brave

Tener enchufe = To have a useful contact that helps you get ahead of the rest

No me entero de la misa la mitad = I don’t understand a thing!

Es un buen partido = He’s a good catch

Me ha dado plantón = He/she hasn’t turned up

Dar en la diana = To get something right

¡La moto va de escándalo! = This bike goes like a dream!

La tarta está de muerte = This cake is incredible

¡Estoy que peto! = I’m totally full up!

Lo hago en un pispás = I’ll do that in a flash

¡Eres un pesado! = You are a total pain!

Me mola mogollón = That is soooo cool

Ese chico es un zumbado = That guy is crazy

Nos hemos zampado todo = We’ve eaten the lot!

Ya era hora! = It was about time

Donde hay confianza da asco = Familiarity breeds contempt

En boca cerrada no entran moscas = Sometimes it’s better to keep your mouth shut

¡Te voy a dar! = I’m going to kick you

¡No me des más la lata! = Leave me in peace!

Más majo que la mar salada = You’re a really nice person

Modified from a post from 2008.

What some people seem to forget is that no matter where you live, people visit. Even if you haven’t been outside your hometown, you can break into travel writing.

First, research the markets. Major newspapers and glossy magazines are difficult to break into with no or little experience. Start small to build up a portfolio and save the “tougher” publications for later. Your local newspaper is probably the easiest one to approach since they often have more space for freelance writers.

Think about the town or city you live in. Every place generally has something that attracts visitors. Brainstorm; find something you’d feel passionate writing about. Are there any popular events or festivals where you live? Any famous sights or attractions? Perhaps your local restaurant serve an unusual or delicious specialty? Or, if you live in a town surrounded by vineyards, write an article on where to attend wine tastings and savor local wine.

Quotes are a perfect way to make your travel story fresh and original. If you opt for the wine angle, contact a wine expert for a short interview. You can easily find an expert through The Premiere Online Experts Directory.

If you have no idea what to write about, contact your nearest tourist office for free tips and brochures. Most tourist offices have media pages on their websites where you can find story ideas. Keep in mind that a destination is not a story. Come up with a unique and interesting angle.

Don’t forget to study professsional travel writers’ work to get a feeling for how to mix facts with history and personal observations. Inspiration is great because it can help you finding your own voice, but imitation is not. Trust your own writing ability and keep going until you get there.

I let this video from Iceland speak for itself. Music by violinist and composer Ysanne Spevack.

Surfing Dreams & Chaos from Philip Clemo on Vimeo.

Chicago at Night © Liliana Bettencourt

Chicago is especially beautiful at night.

Today I received an email from Navaya ole Ndaskoi who has been working on a pilot for a documentary aimed to bring attention to the issues concerning the Maasai and the wildlife in Tanzania. Please take a moment to read his message and help spread the word.

A group of Maasai people living in a traditional village © Louise Clarke

Written by Navaya ole Ndaskoi

Rumble in Paradise will be a 122 minutes documentary film, to be released in April 2010, aimed at exposing the dilemma of people living with wildlife in Africa with particular reference to the Maasai. The tragedy of the Maasai under the rule of wildlife conservation, irresponsible tourism and bad development is so deep, it is shocking. That wildlife exists in East Africa at all is because pastoralists, like the Maasai, did not kill wild animals; a point seriously missed by the international wildlife conservation movement and policy makers in Africa.

The film will also examine how the indigenous societies such as the Maasai co-existed with wildlife for millennium. It will also explain what happened to wild species like rhinos and others, which are reportedly on the brink of extinction. Tanzania, for example, had “over 10,000 rhinos less than 22 years ago but ‘poachers’ have drastically reduced their numbers to around 60″ (The EastAfrican [Nairobi] January 31, 2005). The rhinos have continued to disappear mysteriously, despite tight security, so much so that “less than 50 rhinoceroses survive in Tanzania today” (Arusha Times [Arusha] June 14, 2008). Wildlife must survive as long as human beings do. Tanzania must stop wildlife hunting.

Hunting is permitted in the laws of Tanzania. You need only $4,000 to kill an elephant for fun. Thousands of elephants are killed every year as are several other wild species. Wild animals are disappearing in this yet the Maasai are punished.

While state-sponsored hunters continue slaughtering wild animals in Tanzania, several international wildlife conservation agencies, such as WWF, African Wildlife Foundation, International Union for Conservation of Nature, Frankfurt Zoological Society and many others sit transfixed in Tanzania as if nothing is happening. They instead support Government policies that lead to forceful evictions of people like the Maasai from their ancestral lands to make room for national parks. Over 70 percent of the land that once belonged to the Maasai is today under national parks. These parks attracts tourists who bring in millions of dollars annually but the Maasai, who lost a huge part of their territory and a people who killed no animals, get almost nothing.

The Government admits that there are 42,000 Maasai in Ngorongoro. Every year, however, over 450,000 tourists visit the area. The central reason for eviction of the Maasai is to give room for a paradise for the rich of this world. These powerful and rich tourists include Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton and Laura, George and Jenna Bush. Others are Her Majesty the Queen of Denmark, Margreth II, and His Royal Highness, the Price Consort, Bill Gates, the late Pope John Paul II, Ambassador Andrew Young, Rev. Jesse Jackson and Chris Tucker. Others still are John Wayne, Tom Hanks, Ann Curry, Angelina Jolie and even David Beckham and Bono. This film will track down and document how their luxurious lifestyle in Africa is directly responsible for landlessness and dilemma of the Maasai.

Tour companies that bring their clients to Tanzania and other investors further intensify the calamity by grabbing even the marginal lands reserved for the Maasai. These evictions involve the police shooting and killing the Maasai.

The power of this story based on testimonials

This is a powerful story. In February 2009 Thomas Backwill, a documentary film editor, edited a 15 minutes pilot film. The raw footage was shot with a very poor quality camera, without a tripod, and without good sound equipments. Nevertheless the raw pilot was send to a few around the world. They say:

1. ‘…This is a very strong story my friend.’ Hubert Sauper, Director of the Oscar winning Darwin’s Nightmare documentary film.

2. ‘I just watched your video. Very interesting. These are important issues that the rest of the world needs to know about.’ Erica Johansson, Editor, Travel Blissful.

3.  ‘Congratulations Navaya! You have produced an informative and thoughtful as well as visually interesting piece.’ Rudolph C. Ryser, PhD, Chair of the Board, Center for World Indigenous Studies, Olympia, Washington DC, USA.

4. ‘…The pilot looks like you are off to a great start.’ Nikki Keegan, New Zealand.

5. ‘I did get the film to download; it took some time but was of very good quality running.’ Bob McIntosh, EWS Business Faculty, the Evergreen State College.

6.  ‘…I was able to watch the piece that Thomas edited together. I think you have a good project and hope you are able to finish it. Thomas has done a nice job of pulling together good segments to use. I also liked the voiceover.’ Laura H. Congleton, documentary film Editor, New York, United States.

7. ”I have now seen the pilot. My first impression was; it has important information.’ AslakMikal Mienna. NJ, former Cameraman, Saami TV, Kautokeino, Norway.

8. ‘…It is griping.’ Christina Wambui, film Editor, Camerapix, Nairobi, Kenya.

These testimonials springs from a pilot shot with a camera which is a little bigger than a mobile phone and without a tripod as well as sound equipment. In effect some clips are shaking while strong winds hit the camera and similar shortcomings. The pilot can be viewed here. Once funding is secured the best equipment will be purchased, the best film crew will be employed to start filming for this project. A better and shorter pilot film will also be edited to replace the first pilot. (See it here http://www.dirtyprettypost.com/cut_1-navaya-H.264.mov.)

The capital needed to make this project a reality

As shown above this is a very powerful story. It is a very expensive venture however. To make it fast and without compromising its quality, £460,000 is needed. See the budget for details. Is this not a low budget for a serious documentary film? £460,000 is approximately a third of the cost of an equivalent production. We are able to do this, without any loss in the quality of the final product, and meeting the February 2010 deadline because; (1) the film director has been researching this subject since 2000 and so most of the information is at hand (2) we have most of the skills and the best editors willing to edit this film at reduced salaries since they are very sympathetic to this cause (3) most of archive contacts for footage and stills are established and the prices are known (4) end credit music license price has been established and the negotiations are going on for other few songs (5) filming costs in Tanzania, where the documentary film is focused, are comparatively low.

Spread the word, invest and donate

We all have friends.  More importantly we all have friends who share our passions and interests.  So when you discover a project that NEEDS your help to be made, share it with the friends who would want to see it made too. Send this message across your mailing list, personal websites, social networking sites and blogs.  Spread the word and help the project build an audience. Please forward the trailer and this message to your mailing list and publish it on your website, blog, facebook and others. Kindly ask the recipients to do the same in turn. Also discuss it with your colleagues, fans, friends, family, relatives and neighbors. Encourage them to take action (contribute money, invest, share, endorse, rate and comment) to help raise funds and expand this audience.  Every little bit counts.

In 4 emails and 9 days, Robert Greenwald and Jim Gilliam raised over $267,000 from their fans to fill the financing gap for their film IRAQ FOR SALE.

Contact details: If you wish to get the detailed film proposal and contribute please contact Navaya ole Ndaskoi at navayand@gmail.com and telephone number +255 754 453 192.

No matter how much you love something, too much of it is likely not any good.

“To make the right choices in life, you have to get in touch with your soul. To do this, you need to experience solitude, which most people are afraid of, because in the silence you hear the truth and know the solutions.” – Deepak K. Chopra

After finding this quote a couple of days ago I realized why I have felt so unfocused the last two weeks. From the time I woke up until I went to bed I had music, voices or sounds around me 24/7. No silence whatsoever. I woke up to my clock radio, had music on in the background whenever I ate breakfast, showered, did yoga, wrote, blogged, worked, surfed the Internet, and cooked, as well as listened to my mp3 player or iPod every time I went out on my own. I even fell asleep to music. Around friends there are no quiet moments, and both cafés and restaurants/bars have the radio or some music on throughout the day/night. The same goes for most stores. Even the bathing house. I’m not complaining. Music is great. I simply reached a point where I got too much of it. For some reason, this lack of silence caused me to start doubting and questioning myself and others, and let me tell you, that was not a nice feeling. I had too much going on in my head instead of living in the moment.

Around midnight after one of those days I went outside and watched the stars for 10-15 minutes. Reminded me of how good it can feel with quietness. If only for a while.

Once I learned to live in the moment again, everything changed.

When browsing photos on Flickr one day I found this photostream of beautiful pictures with different quotes as titles, including “The past is history, the future is imaginary, and today is all I have. The now, to hope, to live, to love.”

The benefits of going with the flow and living in the moment apply to all things in life, especially when traveling. Have you ever not been able to enjoy the moment ’cause you’ve worried about missing your flight, having forgotten something important at home (your passport, or tickets), whether they’ll find your lost luggage, or how to find your way in an unfamiliar city? If so, I’m pretty sure you’re not alone. Learning to live in the now instead of being stuck in one’s head is well worth it.

I still listen to music a lot. Hard not to. But I took up meditation again, because that’s one of the easiest ways (among yoga and jogging) to get in tune and stay balanced.