The Global Basecamps Blog

A Halloween Story: Halloween Lands in the Arctic

Halloween is an inherently American holiday, like Valentine’s Day or Thanksgiving. During the last few decades, however, it has slowly emerged as a holiday celebrated around the globe, but like most imported ideas, it has gone through adaptations and transformations to fit cultures and customs. A case in point is Finland, a Northern European nation, a country with a good record of sustainability and high level of environmental consciousness and where Halloween has been modified to fit the arctic climate and dominant countercultures.

Biking around urban destinations is popular among travelers mindful of sustainability. Bike rentals are easy to find in most cities, and cruising around central areas and sights hardly requires a marathoner’s physique. The journey about to be undertaken by the 40 or so participants of Tour D’Afrique, however, is far from what most environmentally conscious travelers would have in mind when planning bike tours on their travels. The “Cairo to Cape Race,” organized by an environmentally oriented bike tour organizer, Tour D’Afrique Ltd , is about to kick off early next year. The race covers 7,500 miles, running through 12 countries and encompassing the entire length of the African continent.

If you haven’t already come to terms with it, now is about time: summer’s over. Depending on where you live, you may have already been enjoying fall foliage for weeks, or if you’re living on the northern fringes Europe, you’ve already witnessed the first snow fall. But even in our Southern California headquarters, we have pulled out our winter wetsuits and abandoned board shorts for corduroys (and sandals for knee-high boots).

One of the founding principles of GBC is that capitalism and conservation can go hand in hand, but we know that many corporate social responsibility strategies out there are still somewhat hypocritical, especially if contrasted with the adverse impact a company may have on the environment (think Ronald McDonald foundation vs. the amount of rain forests McDonald’s has cut down). The growing number of corporate responsibility efforts is nonetheless a positive trend, and a simple way for a company to contribute to the planet is by choosing an organization to donate a percentage of their proceeds to (we support these environmental do-gooders).

Since independent travelers are dedicated to staying away from organized tour buses and are generally focused on cost, they will undoubtedly encounter problems with ground transportation in foreign cities. While from an eco standpoint public transportation is always preferable to any form of individual driving, be it taking a cab or renting a car, for the new arrivals it can be confusing and finding route information and timetables for buses and trams can be a challenge, especially in the developing world.