Tag / eco tourist

In episode 9 of The Eco Tourist, my very home-shot/edited series documenting a 3 week volunteer conservation trip to Thailand where my travel partner and I work with the endangered Asian elephant, we check out what other conservation initiatives, besides endangered species rescue, the Elephant Nature Park takes to protect the environment, culture and species.  Told from the perspective of two Hollywood-based high raw vegans working in the film/television industry, please enjoy my self-produced web series, The Eco Tourist, episode 9.

Read about some of the other rescues at the Elephant Nature Park, Thailand here.

My travel partner and I do partner yoga standing bow posture on the Winter Solstice Sun rise at the Elephant Nature Park, Thailand.

City standing bow here.

Episode 10 of The Eco Tourist, my web series documenting a 3 week volunteer conservation trip to Thailand where my travel partner and I work with the endangered Asian elephant.

Told from the perspective of two Hollywood-based high raw vegans working in the film/television industry, in this tenth episode, you’ll see some very healthy and hilarious behaviors of Asian elephants. If the zoo, circus, sanctuary or trekking camp you are considering attending does not provide the opportunity for their elephants to exhibit these natural instincts, then find another. Find a true sanctuary where the elephants are free to:

1. scratch all day! 2. rumble, trumpet, squawk and communicate with other elephants 3. dust themselves with loose dirt 4. forage for wild plant food 5. roll in mud pits! 6. touch constantly and socialize with other elephants continually 7. raise the youngsters with familial discipline 8. be free from poking, stabbing and beating with the bull hook

These elephants at the Elephant Nature Park in Thailand (a real elephant sanctuary) are free to exhibit all these natural behaviors and are obviously healthy elephants.  Just take a look:

Read about the difference between most circus, zoo and trekking elephants vs. HEALTHY elephants in sanctuaries in my award-winning column, Clean and Green Every Day, in EcoHearth online magazine here: Circus Elephants Life and Exposing Cole Bros Circus Elephant Cover Up.

I thought I had happily escaped the holiday madness by visiting a Buddhist country during the season in question.  Little did I suspect the Elephant Nature Park had a very unexpected event planned for the park volunteers:

Christmas party at Elephant Nature Park, Thaland

The volunteers of Elephant Nature Park, Thailand

Mae Lana, the rescued elephant

Read why I try to get away from the US during the holidays here: “Christmas Is Trying To Kill Me“

See more photos from this volunteer trip to Elephant Nature Park, Thailand.

It doesn’t take a cast of thousands or a studio budget to produce media anymore. As soon as I switched to a Mac computer, I became a media mogul. I joke to myself sometimes that “I was born content”—in other words, I was born with an adventurous spirit, a desire to communicate and the talent to entertain. With such user-friendly creative tools on the computer nowadays, nothing holds me back from sharing the entertaining and hopefully thought-provoking content that is my life.  Read more …

Episode 6 of The Eco Tourist web series is LIVE! I never thought I’d be called to protest – I mean; rally – in Thailand, but as I mentioned in episode 5, to save an endangered species, you have to address the social, cultural, environmental AND political issues as well. We’ll here’s my chance to walk my talk!

This rally at the Governor’s Mansion in Chiang Mai, Thailand was a quite unexpected opportunity that presented itself during my volunteer position at the Elephant Nature Park. With support from international protesters, this video is in multiple languages, including Dutch, Israeli, Mandarine, French, Thai, Finnish and Scottish (which SOUNDS like another language, that’s for sure!). Enjoy episode 6 of The Eco Tourist:

In episode 5 of The Eco Tourist, my travel partner and I shovel dung, scoop the mud pit and harvest corn – all volunteer chores at the Elephant Nature Park in Thailand.

View episode 5 of The Eco Tourist here:

Read how I kept the rain forest mosquitos away naturally – without chemicals – while working at the Elephant Nature Park in my award-winning column in EcoHearth magazine: Natural Inset Repellant.

In episode 4 of The Eco Tourist, my travel partner and I arrive at The Elephant Nature Park, where we will volunteer with this endangered species. But on our arrival day, a special treat – we get close to a baby elephant.

Read 6 Ways To Drop Tourism and Really Travel in my award-winning column in EcoHearth magazine: Lodge Locally, Public Transit, Seek Out The Cultural and Natural.

The Eco Tourist, episode 3 is LIVE! In this episode, I lose my Steripen virginity. UV water sterilization made this trip the FIRST ever wherein I did NOT suffer the digestive repercussions of traveling a developing country. Thank you, Steripen!

Read about other ways I approach being a vaccine-free traveler in my award-winning column in EcoHearth online magazine.

And some other thoughts on clean water.

The Eco Tourist, Episode 2 is LIVE! In this episode, we arrive in Chiang Mai, Thailand and adventure the Sunday walking street (coolest weekly art fair in the WORLD), Awana House (artsy city lodging for $18/night) and the Wat Suan Dok temple with the famous golden Buddha and Pun Pun vegetarian restaurant.

I wrote about why I believe Thailand and the Buddhist culture is so affluent in vegetarian culture while there.

If you wanna know, read about why I personally went vegetarian, vegan and eventually raw vegan in my award-winning column in EcoHearth magazine.