“Every gap year student should have some skills training to help them travel in a more sensible and informed way. There are very few things in life that we expect to go off and do with no training, so why do we assume that travelling in the developing world can be achieved without preparation?”

Charlotte Hindle – author of Lonely Planet’s ‘Gap Year Guide’

Saturday 18 April 2009

New limits to Antarctic tourism


To view the original article Click Here
Title – New limits to Antarctic tourismSource – www.bbc.co.uk
Date – 18th April 2009

Antarctica is possibly one of the world’s last great frontiers in travel, with vast tracks of undiscovered and undiscoverable wilderness, it has over the last few years started to become accessible; if only in tiny fractions.

I am all for travel, it expands the mind and reminds us that our word is an exceptional and fascinating place with secrets yet to be revealed and places / people we can yet gain knowledge from; Antarctica is just such a place.

But there is always a balance to be found and with such a fragile ecosystem it needs protecting, so I welcome this move to limit numbers of people allowed to visit. Undoubtedly it will make the whole experience more expensive, but this is a price worth paying if it protects something so unique for future generations.

There other aspect I like about the proposal, is the limit of 100 people allowed ashore at any one time. Personally I can’t imagine anything worse than landing on Antarctica and being welcomed by crowds; it strikes me that emptiness is one of the attractions and one of the unique features of this continent, in an otherwise ever more crowded world.

I have yet to go to this magical place but some of our advisors have been and I feel like I have been given more time to visit now; let’s hope they follow through on their promises.

At Beyond The Blue (Safe Gap Year) our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness Workshop (GYITSA) considers issues of Ethical and Responsible Travel, alongside sessions on Travel Safety, Travel Health, Travel Equipment, Travel Insurance, Destination Advice, Transport Options, Documentation, Travel Money and Insurance and more. Travel is one of life’s great privileges and as with any privilege it should be appreciated and respected.

Please visit our website at www.safegapyear.com. For a complete list of Blog entries visit our National Press Archive page.

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