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.
Money
A Guide.
Tips on how to save and spend reasonably if you lead a nomadic lifestyle.
MONEY
Different travellers don’t have the same travelling goals. Some can last with a tight budget and have a great time exploring hidden gems, while other believe they need to feel more financially stable to explore the world according to their likings. Whether you are a luxurious traveller, or you plan trips on a small budget, we thought of some things that might be helpful when you’re thinking money before you put a travel plan together.
BUDGETING
Money is not always the first thing that comes to mind when you are looking through new places to explore and get inspired by bloggers, neat-looking bohemian travelling publications and travel experts with exploration lust. This is the boring part; we’re not going to lie. But, as travelling is a big responsibility, it needs to be approached accordingly.
An important part of each adventure is planning it financially. Everybody has different needs so you must tailor your expectations by being honest with yourself. Travellers, who are seeking the high-end lifestyle can afford much bigger budget, but for the backpacker a few pesos saved a day make a difference between experiencing one more adventure or missing out on it.
Figuring out a sensible budget depends on things you can’t part with and things we all need to take care of such as accommodation, food, border costs, activates, etc. If you are honest with yourself, you will be able to roughly calculate what amount of money per day you will need to be able to get by. Some people set a budget of £15 - £30 a day, others can afford to spend just that extra bit more. Whatever your number is, try to stick to it and be disciplined about your decisions when on the road.
It is not as complicated as it sounds. There are quite a few free budgeting apps out there you can use to calculate your expenses. Some of them have free-to-use features, which will help you stay on track with your spending goal. Make sure to back up your data as it is very useful to refer to records from previous month and calculate how much and on what you spend the most. This will help you navigate your finances. Eventually, it will all come naturally to you and analysing the daily or monthly outcome of the numbers will transform into an easy task.
The best part of budgeting is that apart from being able to see a lot of the world, you will also learn to pay attention to what are the more meaningful ways to invest your money in order to experience the best adventures out there.
STAYING INDEFINITELY
It is sometimes the case that we travel and stumble across a tiny village, a quirky town or a charming location, which seems to be far away from the rest of the civilisation. Travellers do tend to fall in love with places of such kind and transform their plans by deciding to make a stop for an indefinite amount of time.
It is understandable why you could be drawn to the beauty of such placed. Different cultures are often incredibly interesting and have a lot to teach foreigners. There is nothing wrong with wanting to stay somewhere for longer than initially planned and make that transition from a passenger to a want-be local. However, this comes with a certain set of responsibilities.
You need to plan your stay carefully. At first, the living expenses in a certain destination can seem quite affordable for travellers, who were born and raised in countries with stable and well-developed economy. If you stay there for longer though, things do change. You need to adapt to the lifestyle, and this often makes thing more expensive in the long run. If you adapt the locals’ lifestyle, you also adapt their difficulties, social situation, political rules and regulation of the country and costs of living.
Most countries have different regulations regarding longer stays and expanding your travel visas. Some document regulations are quite tight and must not be treated with an ease. Usually the government or other extensions of it the institutions that can approve your visa for staying longer and even working in the territory of their country, but this is not always the case. It is important to become familiar with the regulations if you desire to settle down for a while.
The good thing about becoming a long-term resident is that you get the chance to explore the place from an entirely different perspective. After you’ve dealt with all the documentation, we suggest you use your time wisely, get familiar with the local culture, participate in any traditional rituals, maybe even begin to learn the language. A little effort goes a long way and is often appreciated by locals.
BETTER EXPERIENCES
When you are limited by time or are planning a month-long trip, it is tempting to want to cover as much destinations as you possibly can. We personally think that even if you are pressured by time, it is better to consider the advantages of the SLOW travel.
There is just so much to see, so many places to be at. Sometimes the time is simply not enough. We are huge believers in travelling with a purpose, in taking the time to learn things about the places you visit and the people, who live there. You can only do this if you take your time and take it all in.
Here are some simple things you can focus on if you wish to make the most out of a place with a ‘modest’ budgeting plan.
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An accommodation with a kitchen
Wandering around the streets of a town you visit for the first time can turn out to be the best way to find a cheap place to sleep at. Try to hire places, which already have kitchen available to use. It is always so helpful and so much cheaper to eat in and cook your own meals. It can be rather enjoying and provides you with some time to think about all the great things you saw during the day. When you do eat out, try to pick the local restaurants. This way you will be supporting local businesses as well as eating quality food for less money.
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Plan your own trip
Organised trips sound all great and fun. They promise to cover everything deserving your attention and some of them do that, but they are also quite expensive in specific area. If you can and will enjoy it, try to plan your own route, it is easy to get inspired by other people you follow or read about, who visit destinations you want to see. This is also a good excuse to explore at your own pace and take your time where you want to stay longer at.
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Local transport
Getting around is not always the fun part of the trip but it makes good memories. That one time you might end up on a chicken ride, and the next you might have purchased a ticket for a second-class buss. Choosing this option might not always safe you time, but it will make a difference when it comes to counting your expenses.
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Walk a lot
If you are headed anywhere that you can reach on foot, get there on foot. Walking is a great way to see the towns and villages from a new perspective and if you are only there for a couple of days, it can feel as if every day there is something new to see even if you are passing by the same streets and narrow alleys.
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Know your budget
Tracking your budget doesn’t have to be something complicated to follow. Once you figure out how much you need to spend on what, it becomes a bit easier to control your spending and even plan ahead. Do the small thing to help yourself out such as doing your own laundry and making sure that you do yourself everything that can be done on your own. From planning your trips wisely to being there in a low season, the details add up and help you experience parts of the world on a tight budget.
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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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