Emily Ainsworth – 2008 RGS/BBC Journey of Lifetime winner – The Romance of Reality: An Exploration of Mexico from the Inside Out, Travelling with a Family Circus

In 2008, Emily Ainsworth, a 22-year-old Oxford graduate in English, ran away to the circus in Mexico. “No tigers here, because Humberto’s niece got eaten by one of them, but they do have an elephant which plays the harmonica. She’s decided that she doesn’t like me. She picked me up with her trunk, just like they do in cartoons, but instead of putting me on her head, she threw me in the mud and tried to stamp on me. I was very unimpressed. But I think she’s behaving badly because her tamer ran away the other night…” As Emily and the circus hopped from city to city, working through the night to pitch on the scrubby hinterlands, she learnt more about the role of transformation in the circus and the people who worked there. Characters included the female circus performer who danced her way through the evening shows, and then worked for her mothers’ quesadilla stall until the early hours, to fund her degree in international relations. For five generations audiences have paid their pesos to watch performers under the patched canvas of the Circo Padilla family’s tent. Emily was lucky enough to see what went on when the curtain fell and the lights went off.

See more details via http://www.rgs.org

Tracey Murray – From Bauhaus to Bastei, Travels in the former East Germany

Globetrotter’s very own Committee member Tracey Murray took us on a trip around the former Eastern Germany to visit a number of World Heritages sites and parks. Tracey described how easy it was to use buses, trains & cycles to view the many sites and showed us some excellent photos. I think we got to hear more interesting aspects about that region than we expected – Tracey obviously enjoyed the architecture, the surprisingly stunning national park scenery and even managed to sneak in references to local breweries & public houses. The audience were also impressed that Tracey put together this excellent talk at very short notice, as one of the booked speakers had to pull out at very short notice !

Details of the forth coming meetings at the London branch, September to December 2009, can be found at https://globetrotters.co.uk/meetings/lon10it.html

The London branch meetings are held at The Church of Scotland, Crown Court, behind the Fortune Theatre in Covent Garden at 2.30pm the first Saturday of each month, unless there is a UK public holiday that weekend. There is no London meeting in August, but we start afresh in September. For more information, contact the Globetrotters Info line on +44 (0) 20 8674 6229, or visit the web site: www.globetrotters.co.uk.

For information on Ontario meetings, please contact Svatka Hermanek: shermanek@schulich.yorku.ca or Bruce Weber: tel. 416-203-0911 or Paul Webb: tel. 416-694-8259.

The Ontario branch meetings are held on the third Friday of January, March, May, September and November. Usually at the Woodsworth Co-op, Penthouse, 133, Wilton Street in downtown Toronto at 8.00 p.m.

Picture courtesy of Derek Clark : Perfect Pitch

Hi Ant

I’ve been receiving the newsletters for awhile now and thoroughly enjoy them.

I’m no globetrotter myself. I went to Switzerland three times in the early ’60’s and have been to Paris twice in the late ’90’s. I don’t like flying and find that I have no great desire to visit foreign parts although I have a vague plan to travel the Roman roads of Europe when my wife retires in four years time.

I am, however, very interested in the history of England and Wales and I travel about cycle camping. I am no great shakes as a photographer – I use my compact camera as a diary – but here is a photo from last year that won me a prize in the Perfect Pitch section of the Camping and caravan Club competition.

I hope that is of interest

cheers

Derek Clark

August 2009

Hello,

I am contacting you regarding CarolineÂ’s Rainbow Foundation new website, we are re launching the site after six years in operation. We are registered UK charity working to raise awareness of the importance of safe travel to young people, whether they are going aboard for independent travel, gap years, organised tours or simply visiting a different country.

We established Caroline’s Rainbow Foundation after the tragic death of Caroline Stuttle in 2002 in Bundaberg Australia whilst travelling on her gap year. Aimed at young travellers, CRF works with the education sector, The Foreign Office and other organisations, trusts and charities to provide easy accessible and helpful information about safe travel. In particular the charity provides information about personal safety abroad and encourages young people to recognise and prioritise lifeÂ’s values where ever they maybe in the world.

We are looking to give specific travel/personal safety information to a country or city in our Global Guide; other new features include podcasts and travel stories with safety tips, our “Time of Your Life” DVD and recorded presentations we give in schools and colleges to promote travel safety awareness and the importance of following your dreams.

The new layout for our site means that it is a great foundation for the expansion of travel safety information, the Global Guide will only grow, all our information has been gathered by researchers that have travelled to the places and experienced the culture and local customs. If you would like to contribute to the site in the way of personal and travel safety information please contact us.

Kind regards

Richard Stuttle

Founder

PO BOX 216

YORK

YO42 4WZ

Email: richard@carolinesrainbowfoundation.org

Website: www.carolinesrainbowfoundation.org

Registered Charity No 1095766

Uk Company Registration No: 4525003

Several things in the May 2009 Globetrotters E Mail Newsletter (besides what countries I liked, disliked etc Ha!) interested me. I would be interested in hearing other Globetrotters likes, dislikes etc..

Finding out from Jennifer Barclays visit to Tilos (Greek Island) and her telling that years ago Elephants, when water was shallow, came over from Africa to this island. They became smaller to adapt and they became just one half of a metre tall (I would like to know their diet). As I had just read Culture Shock, Saudi Arabia by Harvey Tripp and Peter North (which was excellent) it interested me that you get to hear of it in England and can see the TV series.

I am doing a lot of travel reading but not much travelling.

Thanks for remembering me. Mac

The Cook Islands chapter from Moon Handbooks South Pacific is now online at http://cookislands.southpacific.org/

I updated the information during a visit to Rarotonga after the 2004 edition was published, so whatÂ’s on the web is more up to date than whatÂ’s in the printed book. The 125 pages of my Cook Islands Travel Guide contain 15 detailed island maps and town plans, plus dozens of photos and line drawings. Many of the pictures are from my most recent trip while others appeared in previous editions of my guidebook.

The material has been specially adapted for the internet and I removed guidebook-style details such as telephone and fax numbers which can be easily checked online. The accommodations listings are grouped according to price with six pages devoted to Rarotonga and four for Aitutaki, organized geographically.

There are clear maps of Aitutaki Atoll, Aitutaki Island, Arutanga, Atiu, Avarua, Mangaia, Manihiki, Manuae, Mauke, Mitiaro, Penrhyn, Pukapuka, Rarotonga, Suwarrrow, and the Cook Islands.

Navigation is easy with top and side menus, plus a full site map. Many of the maps are clickable to more detailed maps and the highlight pages are linked directly to specific references. A search box is also provided.

These features make the site as easy or easier to use than a printed book. This is the seventh of the 15 chapters from Moon Handbooks South Pacific to go online, after the Samoas, Niue, Pitcairn, Tokelau, and Wallis and Futuna.

contact@southpacific.org

Vancouver – CANADA: Save the date for the 6^th annual around-the-world travel adventure competition that crowns The World’s Greatest Travelers. The world’s only open international travel adventure competition known as The Global Scavenger Hunt™ that circles the global over three-weeks, is set to begin April 9^th, 2010, is now accepting applications for the 25 Team limited open competition slots.

What: The Global Scavenger Hunt is the annual around-the-world travel adventure competition that takes Teams on A Blind Date With The World™ while performing culturally-oriented scavenges in off the beaten path destinations.

When: April 2010, over three-weeks between April 9^th and May 1^st. Teams will travel from the West Coast to the East Coast-–the long way!

Who: Limited to 25 Teams of two. Entry fee include all international airfare, First Class hotels, 40% of meals and special event gear. Travelers will be interviewed for suitability! Single travelers are welcome to apply. Travelers from 45 nations have previously applied for this truly international travel competition.

Prizes: The World’s Greatest Travelers™ trophy and crown. Winners are invited back to defend their title for FREE.

Where: A circumnavigation of the globe that touches down in at least 10 countries; that may include: Peru, Brazil, Japan, China, Cambodia, India, Jordan, Morocco, Kenya, Portugal, Greece and Italy. (These are only potential 2010 countries as The Global Scavenger Hunt is truly A Blind Date With The World™ for all its participants because travelers won’t know where they are going to until at least 3-hours prior to each departure.

Why: Bragging rights, trophy and Teams will be traveling 1 million kilometer to help raise the $1 million goal for ongoing charity micro-loans and elementary schools building programs in developing nations like: Kenya, Sri Lanka, Niger, Bolivia, Sierra Leone and Ecuador, among others.

How: For additional information visit GlobalScavengerHunt.com to apply, or call GreatEscape Adventures at 1.310.281.7809.

Press Contact: Pamela Finmark –310.281.7809 or mediarelations@GlobalScavengerHunt.com