In 2011, I volunteered in the Ecuadorian Amazon. I discovered a delicate yet complex world teeming with life and giving life. Seeing this ecological wonder in person is life-changing to me. My summer in the Amazon took me to a little village deep in the heart of the rainforest. To get there, I travelled from Quito, through the Andes Mountains …
Going to Alaska is quite an adventure, especially if you are out having fun in the snow and searching for the Northern Lights. To give you an idea of what an arctic experience is like, here are a few things you should pack: A Winter Hat This hat should protect the top of your head, back of your head, ears …
1. What time of year to do it: Photographing the northern lights is an incredibly rewarding activity, though a little knowledge goes a long way in capturing the dancing wonders. Autumn and Winter are the best times for viewing the aurora, while March and October are regarded as the two months with the most impressive light shows. However, visibility fluctuates …
A question we commonly receive is “When is the best time to see the northern lights?”. While we can maximize our odds, there really is no way to predict the Northern Lights or nature for that matter. Because of our understanding through scientific observation we are now capable of forecasting nature to a degree. Like storms here on earth, the …
My last post, 9 Things You Didn’t Know about the Northern Lights , inspired me to research other mythologies about the Northern Lights because the fact why it is called Aurora borealis: it was named after the Roman goddess of dawn, Aurora, and the Greek god of of the north wind, Boreas. This lead me to ask the question, before …
1. Aurora Borealis is a natural phenomenon named after a Greek god and a Roman goddess. The 17th century astronomer, physicist and philosopher, Pierre Gassendi, saw the Northern Lights on a trip in the North and named them the Aurora Borealis. Aurora was the Roman goddess of dawn who woke up the world with her torch. She was trailed by …
“How Likely Is It to See the Northern Lights?” People often ask about the likelihood of seeing the Northern Lights in Alaska, and I wish I had an exact answer. I usually tell people that if you go far north to a place like Fairbanks in the winter, you have a great chance of seeing them. To put it in …
Hunting for the Northern Lights The Northern Lights: The spirits of our ancestors hanging out in the sky, or the scientifically-explainable phenomenon caused by high-speed subatomic collisions? Most folks have heard of the majestic dancing lights in the sky. We all probably know that they are the identical twins of the Southern Lights, and that both are visible near the …
Your Brain on a Plane First, I should begin with a disclaimer: I am not a practicing neuroscientist. In the article that follows, I will explore, reference studies and make my own wild claims about the nature of travel with respect to personality and the psyche, but it is possible, however remotely, that these claims are not 100% accurate. I …
Why Ecotourism Matters In 2010, tourism as an industry supported more than 14 million jobs, and generated 1.8 trillion dollars in economic impact. That’s enough money to buy everyone in the United States 1,000 boxes of girl-scout cookies. With tourism being such an enormous part of the world economy and globalization making travel more tangible and appealing, it seems clear …
