CONVERSATION
CONVERSATION
CONVERSATION
HUMAN TRACES:
ETHIOPIA
HUMAN TRACES:
ETHIOPIA
THE BALANCE OF FACTS
THE BALANCE OF FACTS
THE BALANCE OF FACTS
THE BALANCE OF FACTS
DESTINATIONS
DESTINATIONS
The Dreamtime, or the Dreaming, portrays the Aboriginal beliefs in spiritual existence. According to the tribes that first settled down in the continent, the Dreaming's roots date all the way back to the very begging of the creation of the world. The meaning and ideology of the term is generally not so well-understood by non-indigenous people as it is referred to as part of the culture of one of the early nations, which differs from modern perceptions.
The Spirits were the creators of everything. They made the land and the seas, the rocks and the plants, the sky and the earth. They were the higher power and the Australian Aborigines spent their lifetimes honoring this power, which guided their path and shaped their way of thinking. Not only creators of everything, which could be seen as well as felt, the Spirits also gave the Aborigines the Dreaming.
The time when everything started existing according to the initial Australians, was called the Dreaming. This is the foundation of the continent's culture. The origin of the Dreaming goes way back - 65 000 years back in time to be exact. The Ancestors of the nation shaped the land, forming some parts of it as sacred. The Aborigines were very careful and overprotective of those places, strongly believing in their significance.
The Australian Aborigines are known to have believed that the world didn't have any shape and was therefore empty. Darkness dominated, and life was simply asleep, but this changed when the creation began happening. After the Dreaming and the influence of the Spirits, objects began taking shapes and came to be. They created the four elements: water, earth, air and fire, as well as all the planets, the Sun and the Moon. The Dreaming therefore is a continuous process, which never ended. It is a small cosmos on its own, unifying the past, present and the future into one.
The Australian Aborigines' home riches so many vivid areas of the continent, including Fraser Island, Tasmania, Palm Island, Groote Eylandt and Mornington Island. The Aborigines had very strong believes in relation to the powers of the land, claiming that they never owned it - it rather owned them. The only reason they were able to call it their home is because they were looking after it and the land was taking care of the people in return.
Equally important to the Dreaming was the tribes' understandings of the disappearance of the Spirits. There came a time, when the creators of everything vanished from sight. Some of them were thought to have started living in sacred places, which is why the Aborigines perceived their homeland to be so sacred. The ancestors of today's Australians used to believe that the creators started living in rocks, in water holes and some went up to the sky to guide the people from above and keep them safe. Others transformed completely, taking the forms of the rain, the lightnings and the thunderstorms so they could be part of peoples' life.
Among the hundred's different Aboriginal languages, there isn't a word to describe 'time', because to them this simply doesn't exist. Dreaming and Dreamtime are used to replace it and summarize the ideologies of the Aborigines about everything they knew, everything they could see, feel and experience. This is why the Dreaming has such a vivid, and overwhelming meaning and has survived the obstacles of time. For the past couple thousand years, the Dreaming has built a rich cultural heritage that can identify a whole nation.
Read more about the Land, its connection to people and the way it has been perceived from different generations in the very first print issue of ORIGIN. The Land Issue covers varied topics, most of which remain related to cultural aspects of the land and its importance.
A lot of people travel to explore places and learn about them which is the message that ORIGIN wants to spread. With traveling, however, comes certain responsibilities that we should all be aware of. Elephants riding has become a popular way to explore locations by land. People have been doing this as part of their trips, mostly to places such as Thailand, Nepal, Cambodia and other parts of Asia. It is a common thing to see in certain places in Africa as well. We investigated the activity to explain why it is wrong and riding elephants should be banned everywhere.
Our first print issue studies culture and traveling represented through the land. We explored various location around the globe and learned what makes the land so valuable, which nations cherish it and how it helps us establish an identity. Traveling is important to us but traveling responsibly and making an impact is what we feel proud to stand behind. This is why riding elephants as a way of amusement should be reconsidered.
Let’s talk about the details. Elephants are very caring and extremely intelligent animals. It is a well-known fact that they never forget anything. When kept in captivity instead of spending their life in the wild, elephants die younger. Unlike in other species, this is common for the gentle giants and is often a result for stress.
Many African cultures respect elephants, believing they symbolize strength, loyalty and power. However, power can be a very tender concept. Elephant used as a tourism tool suffer from great pain daily. Elephants can be hurt very severely from the weight of carrying people and a trainer on their backs. The reason for this is the design of their spines. They have sharp protrusions, extending upwards from their spine instead of having round spinal disks. The protrusions and the tissue that serves to protect them can be harmed easily from weight pressure. Once a damage to their spine has been made, there is no going back and sometimes the harm can be irreversible. While this can’t be physically seen, the harm that the chairs can do to the elephants’ skin is. It is often the case that the chairs and the weight on their back can damage the animal’s skin and cause pain to their body. The chair, called Howdah, that gets attached to their backs, rubs on their skin and can cause blisters, which can sometimes get infected.
The training that elephants are required to go through when in captivity sometimes adopts a traditional Thai ‘phajaan’ or ‘crush’ technique. Explaining the technique would compare it to the animals’ spirits constantly and continuously being broken by the means of torture and social isolation. This is done in order to tame them. Elephants are wild animals, this is their nature as they are born in such conditions. Making them safe and obedient around people requires them to go through such training. As horrible as it sounds, in some places young elephants are taken away from their mothers to be abused with nails, bull hooks and bamboo sticks to make them obey rules, given by people. The animals often lack sleep and are starved to become submissive.
Actions from such nature are cruel and harmful as the technique is used to crash the animals’ spirit. Once wild and free, elephants become a source of tourism and entertainment. Nobody, who cared about sustainable tourism should ever ride an elephant.
In a sense, elephants have a human soul. They socialise and feel everything – pain, happiness, grief, sadness etc. They spend their life building families and finding friends. The largest land animals are a gift from nature and it is our responsibility to take special care of them and make sure they live according to their nature. Many animals, who are kept in captivity, are forced to live in isolation and carry heavy loads all day long, which is a wrong way to treat them. Their strength and power shouldn’t be abused but treated gently and celebrated by people. Elephants require minimal care to stay happy and healthy, which comes from giving them freedom to behave naturally and socialise. It is our responsibility to be culturally aware while traveling and make sure to spread awareness about the problem.
You can read the rest of the article as published in the LAND issue.
Insurance
A Guide.
Your step by step guide on how to get the best insurance before your travels.
INSURANCE
Insurance is the first thing you need to consider if you are planning to leave your homeland for a while. It doesn’t really matter how long you will be away, you never know what might happen. While we don’t want to always assume the worst, being prepared and thinking ahead does help a lot and you will find the truth to this if you ever find yourself on your way to the top of a small mountain, in the middle of a jungle or in a tiny distant village where you don’t know anyone and might not even speak the language. Insurance is a must so make sure you set some money aside to be able to afford it. Here are a few things you should consider when thinking about insurance:
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Not having an insurance can be very pricey
You’ve probably already been on various trips when nothing happened. However, accidents are called accidents for a reason – you can’t plan them. If you ever end up in a bad situation and you haven’t purchased an insurance, you and your close ones will have to pay a large sum of money to cover the costs. This is something that can easily be prevented with the advantages of an insurance.
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The price isn’t the main factor
Read into it and make sure to purchase an insurance that fits your plans, not just from financial perspective. The cheaper ones sound better at first but do make sure to do your research and pick the right type of insurance as this will save you a lot of headaches along the way.
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The risk of taking risks
Some policies cover only things like lost baggage and thing that have little to do with your health. Consider your options wisely. If you are on the road, you will want to experience risky activities such as kayaking, rifting, maybe even bungee jumping. Make sure you’ve picked an insurance policy, which covers the risk of being spontaneous while travelling.
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Read the fine print
Make sure to read and understand the content of the policy. Don’t always make assumptions based on the price of the insurance, but also think about what amount of the deductibles it sets to cover. Become familiar with what it actually covers in detail from your health, to your belongings, or does it address just one of the above? Make sure you know what is required for you to action in a case of an injury to prove to your insurance company that you have taken the necessary steps before contacting them. In short – make sure to know your policy’s terms and conditions inside out.
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Know the claim procedures
Read the insurance terms and ask questions about things you don’t understand. It’s not an easy choice to make and you are after all paying a lot of money, so you better do your research to make sure your insurance plan is the right one for you. Understanding how to make claims can be the difference between your claim being accepted or rejected. If it has been rejected, you will be down with a heavy amount of money so make sure you understand how the system works. Also, dig into the different types of insurance companies as there are cheaper and more reliable ones, depending on where you are based. Luckily, there are always people who have been there, done that, so you can always consult friends or fellow travellers to discuss their choices in the matter. An equally important thing to remember is to keep your receipts and records for future referencing.
Get some advice on purchasing a good insurance policy from a trusted company. Also, think about taking the necessary vaccines depending on where you’re travelling to. It is essential to be prepared. This will be money well spent. Even if nothing happens to you, which we hope it won’t, in the unfortunate case of an accident occurring you need to be able to turn to somebody for help. In this way of thinking, it might be useful to remind you to always bring your first aid kit with you and keep it in an easy to reach place in your luggage. You might be able to treat yourself and take care of any wounds with the help of your aid kit supplies, however having an insurance will help you just as much.
RENEW YOUR INSURANCE POLICY
It is a common practice for insurance companies to not allow you to renew your policy while on the road. If you are outside of your home country, it becomes difficult to navigate this problem. Here are a few things you need to know if your insurance comes to an end while you’re still travelling.
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There is always an option – research the names. Often different companies offer a variety of insurances with advantages that others don’t consider. The longest insurance you can purchase if often 18 month long so if you are planning on being away for longer, you will need to get a second insurance at some point down the line. As we mentioned already, most companies won’t renew your policy unless you are physically in your home country, however there are always the exceptions. Research and know your options. Some policies are specifically designed for long-term travellers so take advantage of it if you need it.
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Value and flexibility – the different policies have additions, which others don’t. Pick your insurance wisely and make sure you think about the flexibility of it and the value for what you are getting. There are affordable insurances out there, you just need to find them.
KEEP YOUR DOCUMENTS SAFE
Things happen when you travel. People lose things even in their own homes all the time. When you are on the road, moving constantly, it is easy to forget to take something when you’re leaving your Airbnb room. Sometimes you lose things on the way. Other times people steal things from you.
You can never know what kind of adventure awaits you and unfortunately this applies to scenarios as this one as well. What you can do is stay organised and make sure you have everything you need and go beyond by backing up any important documents you carry with you.
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Have an insurance policy
It is as important as having vaccinations and having your ID on you, so don’t underestimate it.
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Have a copy of your ID and Passport
Always make sure you have backups to those types of document. They are expensive to get and if you think about it are the most important and some of the few existing pieces of information that can prove your identity. Guard them well.
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Copy of your VISA
It is needless to say just how important is a VISA. Making sure you have it on you and have a copy of it, which you hold in a different place is a must.
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Medical details
Keep records of any medications that you might need as at places you will possibly have to prove why you need them and if you are allowed to carry them with you. This includes vaccination records, allergies prescriptions and any additional information that you require.
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Proof of onward travel
Now many countries need this, yet there are some that will ask of you to provide those documents. This can take the form of a plane ticket, a bus ticket and so on. Having them will grant your entrance through the border, while failure to provide them means you will not be able to continue your journey further.
A good idea is to leave a copy of your documents at home in a paper as well as electronic form. This way, if you are ever in a far-away land and need them urgently, you can contact home and using internet you will be able to resolve any problems.
Additional thing you can do is have a USB where you store all your documents digitally so you can have access to them from anywhere in the world without needing internet to open the files.
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NOMADSofORIGIN is an independent annual publication with a focus on sustainable travelling and global cultural values. Each issue features interviews, engaging articles and photo guides, which take our nomadic readers through different destinations and introduce them to local people's perspectives.
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