By bidding on a life changing trip!
We’re excited to be participating in SEE Turtles Sustainable Travel Auction! Bid on one of 8 incredible experiences around the world and the proceeds will help support sea turtle conservation efforts around the world.
Check out our trip and all of the others and place your bids here:
Sustainable and authentic change is rarely quick and easy. It is achieved through many small and often difficult steps. AEI aims to improve the lives of animals around the world and support the local communities of our partner organizations while empowering people to travel in an ethical and meaningful way. But truly, AEI's real goal is to not be needed. We want to live in a world where the conservation of species isn't just a consideration of people and countries, it's a top priority. We want animal welfare laws to be so strict and wide-reaching that no animals - wild or domestic, are exploited by people. But we realise we are not going to get there next year, or the year after. Real change takes time.
This means we celebrate the small accomplishments and get comfortable living in transitions, not in binary change. If we don't celebrate small achievements, we will never get to those big wins!
Our dog rescue and animal welfare partner in Nepal works with the local government to address the overpopulation and health needs of community dogs. The government solution had been to reduce their numbers through culling, which involved leaving poisoned food out, killing owned, domestic and feral dogs, and other animals indiscriminately. Instead, our partner now provides vaccinations and mass sterilization campaigns that have successfully controlled the dog population and improved their health. What do we want? No dogs to be hurt ever again, of course. However, we celebrate the small victory of having some communities in Nepal safe from culls, and the lives of many dogs saved. This small step - a community agreeing to follow evidence based scientific methods for canine population control, will hopefully lead us to a complete ban on culls and poisoning.
In Thailand, elephants are still exploited - a lot, by tourists. Elephants are wild animals, they have never been domesticated so for many reasons having them around humans is incredibly cruel. It is unforgivable that they are "broken" in crush cages as young elephants, that they literally break their backs when tourists ride them, and that male elephants' legs often become badly infected and sore when they are chained to keep tourists safe for pictures. What needs to happen eventually? All elephants should have no contact with humans and be completely left alone to live in large protected areas to keep them out of trouble and to keep humans from bothering them and getting hurt. But currently, this is not a possibility. While many protected areas exist in Thailand, there are many elephants who cannot be brought immediately to a wild area because they need veterinary care, psychological help and protection from poachers. This means there are still centres, our partners included, that offer elephants sanctuary and care. Volunteers are able to interact with some elephants in this way, helping to provide the elephants with environmental enrichment and supplemental food. Centres used to say that elephants could be ridden but the small victory was having no chains. Then all ethical centres banned people riding on elephants. Some centres allowed swimming with the elephants but after studies showed the harm and potential danger to both elephants and people, ethical centres also banned this practice. A small step towards elephants living in freedom, but a deeply important one. We celebrate that our partner in Thailand is taking steps towards the ultimate goal for these elephants - a life free and safe without human contact. Until then we will know how deeply privileged we are to have any consensual interaction with an elephant, especially one who is at a sanctuary to heal from a viscous and cruel chapter of their life.
Wherever the lives of people and wild animals intersect, problems are created that inevitably impact wildlife in a negative way. Wild spaces are being lost, polluted, divided and controlled by humans. It seems no place on earth is safe. Our partner in South Africa studies and protects sharks and marine habitats. When we visited this placement, Nora was able to take part in their study to determine if cage diving (when divers obverse the sharks from the safety of cages) opened sharks up to dangers because they recognized boats as helpful things that gave them chum. So far the study is finding that the sharks recognize boats with cages to be feeding boats and avoid other boats. It is probably true that highly intelligent whales can see hunting boats are different from recreational boats. But marine life still must contend with hazards such as boat propellers, fishing gear and trash. For example, in British Columbia, a Humpback whale was just hit by a ferry. It should not be the responsibility of wild animals to recognize human dangers and avoid them. The first step to helping these animals is have a less fragmented natural world for them. More spaces that aren't broken up by roads, mining, logging and development. More marine protected areas where massive ship traffic and fishing isn't allowed. It isn't about getting rid of all roads, it's not about getting orcas to sink all yachts (or maybe it is haha) - it's about seeing how we can share Earth. What small steps can we take now that can lead to a much different and a much better future.
Are we striving for perfection? Absolutely. But we know that won't come overnight, it will be a result of countless small and wide ranging changes. And they will be celebrated because each one brings us closer to the world we dream can exist - a world where humans and animals live in freedom and without cruelty.
Want to know more about volunteering with us during an expedition? Well look no further! This blog post from Lauren, who came with us in 2019 is all about the amazing things you will experience and the beautiful people you will meet.
As always, if you have any questions, email us! We are here to make sure you are safe, comfortable and confident while volunteering!
Want to have an amazing animal experience.. internationally? Of course you do! On this short but sweet podcast Nora speaks more about accessibility, justice and of course animals in travel. Give it a listen and tell us what you think!
Is there a travel story you tell again and again? For Nora that is her story about being in Kenya with her mom and encountering a cape buffalo a little too closely.. want to hear the full story? Check out The Thoughtful Travel Podcast and get your blood pumping!
https://www.notaballerina.com/2023/04/things-going-wrong-travels-episode-291-thoughtful-travel-podcast.html
Nora and her mom in Kenya.
Dispatches from the start of the Covid-19 Pandemic.
I am getting more and more hopeful for humanity in some ways. Seeing yoga instructors doing free courses online, meditation apps being given away for free and gym teachers going on Instagram once a day to help parents home school their kids... love and empathy are all around us. Things are hard right now but I am heartened by how many people have decided to use their skills and passions to remind us we are together and together we are much stronger.
Conversely, I'm so sad when I see people not taking this seriously, partying on beaches and not standing an appropriate distance away. It's so easy to be good, to keep yourself and therefore your community and family members safe. All you need to do is wash your hands and stand apart. For animal people this is easy, the distance is a llama or a leatherback sea turtle. Imagine you are being followed by a llama or a leatherback and don’t let anyone come between your animal friend. For the macabre and those who need to hear the awful truth to remember how real this is: the distance of your sick family member is how far you should be standing from others.
Some people have decided to use this time to learn a new skill, start new projects or finish those projects that have collected dust for too long. But I do also want to remind people that rest is important. You are not on holiday, these are not normal circumstances and we don’t have a defined timeline. This isn’t a contest on who can be the most productive with this time. This is a time to not compare your life on social media- as we know comparison is the very thief of joy. This is a time to learn from yourself, what do you need to be healthy: mentally, physically and spiritually. Do you need to sleep more because the idea of a virus passing through all the countries of the world is hard to fathom and makes you very sad? Then sleep, rest, be good to yourself. Do you need to run or do push-ups or do HIIT guided by someone on YouTube because the idea of being in isolation for months gives you nervous energy that you need to get out of your body? Then sweat it out and breathe it out. Do you feel like you need to eat more comfort foods like chocolate, salad, pop tarts, Kraft Dinner or anything in between because your body is asking for comfort in a time of mass uncertainty and fire hoses of information? Then nourish your body and remember there should be no guilt in pleasure, let the soft animal of your body love what it loves ( Mary Oliver). Do you feel like you need to Zoom with friends more or you have zoomed so much this weekend that another video conference hangout makes you feel overdrawn? Listen to what you need in the right now and make choices for you now. This is a marathon, not a sprint and every single day will be different.
What you need today may be different than what you needed yesterday and tomorrow—that is okay.
But, do remember this is the same with everyone around you, we are all going through this devastating time of grief and anxiety so while you are being kind to yourself, be kind to others. We will get annoyed with our housemates talking too loudly on the phone. We will glare at our partners when they leave their towels on the floor, even after we asked them not to. We will be angry that our kids thought unsupervised science experiences in the kitchen were a great idea. We will be overwhelmed and overdrawn at times and we will snap. That is okay because we are humans and humans are complex emotional creatures and we can say we are sorry. And just as we can apologize, we can accept apologies.
I know in these times I will cry and I will laugh and I will experience everything in between. I will be as gentle as myself as possible and I hope you are as gentle with yourself, too.
When it is safe we will volunteer again, we will go out in great numbers and show how committed we are to these animals we love so much. We will help those community leaders that are still on the ground right now helping horses, dolphins, monkeys, pangolins, dogs, elephants, sea turtles and more. Until then, my dear friends, be kind and be safe and do remember that we are all in this together.
Watch Nora talk with the Gap Year Association of Canada all about consent in travel. Consent in the local community hosts, consent in the animals we volunteer with and consent in our own bodies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5P9f5-sLTDI&ab_channel=CanadianGapYearAssociation
While you can always travel solo with AEI we wanted to highlight two group trips, one with AEI and one not officially with us. We don't normally highlight trips that aren't run with our official partners but we can't think of a more important project right now.
Project Red Shed is looking for volunteers in June to help rebuild and better the infrastructure at a domestic animal rescue at the boarder of Hungary and Ukraine. This shelter was already poorly funded, under-resourced and overcrowded BEFORE the war. It is now unable to cope with the amount of Ukrainian animals it has been asked to take in and Red Shed is looking to help them. If you are good at building, carpentry and getting your hands dirty, this is a project for you. Again, you won't be travelling with AEI but we believe in this project so much, we wanted to help anyone who could volunteer, learn about this opportunity. For more details please visit: https://projectredshed.com/
If you want to volunteer *with* AEI in 2022, you should come to Nepal with us to volunteer with dogs, cats and cows!
This will be our 4th Expedition and this time we are going to the roof top of the world. Come with us to Nepal for 10 full days of volunteering with dogs, visiting UNESCO World Heritage Sites, hiking through terraced fields and taking part in activities that don't just help animals- they help the local population, too.
For all accomodation, meals, in-country transportation, access and administration to all UNESCO sites, fully guided day trek, full volunteer fees and donations to the centres, the trip will be $2495 Canadian.
Doesn't sound like your thing? Remember that you can sign up to travel independently throughout the year. Most of our programs are offered year round, so you can plan an adventure that works best for you. We help with your airport pick up, pre-departure training, accommodation is always included and remember we have visited all the placements first to make sure we know they are safe, ethical and authentic.
Are you thinking about a Gap Year- from school, from work, from life??
Well, this just in: LinkedIn now has a section so you can register your Gap Year. If you took a gap in your education or professional life and want to explain it- you can. If you don’t want to- that is okay, too. If you want to show off that you travelled, took part in volunteering, learned in the experiential classroom that is life or something else- you can do that!
Thinking now about gap years and perhaps the ethics behind them? Don’t panic! We do that for you! Here is us in conversation with Jazz from the Canadian Gap Year Association talking about all things ethics, consent and gappy! Canadian Gap Year Association x Animal Experience International.
Let us know what you think and if you want to talk more about your Gap Year!
Consent somehow is the gold standard, not the baseline of interactions in every day life and while the world is (thankfully) changing, we want to make sure that travel is changing, too. We are working hard to make Consent Based Tourism not aspirational but the standard of all travel interactions.
With Consent Based Tourism, all parties in each interaction are giving a 'full body yes'. They want the interaction to happen, or they don't and they are free to leave and feel safe doing so.
The three main parties are the local community members, the animals in the area and the traveller.
In order for a community and it's members to consent they have to not just accept the traveller, they have to welcome and invite the traveller. In a time of a pandemic there are some communities who legally are allowing visitors but their members may feel unsafe, uncomfortable or like they have been coerced into having international visitors. Consent Based Tourism makes sure it's not about the entitlement of the traveller but the safety and comfort of the hosts.
The second individual that we must consider are the animals. Animals must consent to any interactions so there can't be chains, tethers or leashes on wild animals. This means no intimidation or violence as a tool of behavior control or modification. If an animal is in an enclosure (perhaps at a sanctuary) the animal can interact with the traveller if it wants but it can leave the interaction and has space to hide and be comfortable. Animals have the right to privacy and comfort and Consent Based Tourism makes sure they get it.
The last individual to think about in Consent Based Tourism is the traveller. Does the traveller want to be part of the interaction or can they leave without feeling like there is coercion? If they want to travel somewhere and are feeling a 'full body yes' they will enjoy it more, be more willing to take part in immersive experiences and even consider things like volunteering and public service along with their engagement.
Consent Based Tourism may be a new idea but we hope we hope it grows and becomes an ‘obvious’ idea. Something that goes without saying because without consent how can tourism be a force for good?
B Corps are certified by the non profit B Lab to meet rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. We have been a B Corp since 2013 and since then we have always been in the top 10% of quantifiable benefit to the environment and the communities we operate in.
