Feel Good Guru

If angels were to come to earth solely to experience the pleasure of the palate, they’d alight creek-side at Inn of the Seventh Ray, and over the next few hours of terrestrial time, would appreciate fully what it’s like for humans to delight in the bodily senses of food and wine of the highest possible caliber.

It’s been called “L.A.’s most romantic restaurant” for good reason. During the day, the light filters through the Topanga Canyon forest and dances shadows in the courtyard while the sun’s purest offerings are nibbled in reverence. (more…)

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As of this week, I no longer have to live with the shame of never having visited New York City. Embarrassing as it is, in all my travels, NYC has just never been number 1 on the list. But then the perfect storm happened: Book Expo America, having a website that reviews books that make the world a better place, and having a brand new book of my own to pitch. I imagined that late May would be the sweetest time to see the city that never sleeps - and I was right. And I actually managed to get some sleep, despite having booked a cheapo apartment on Craigslist which, of course, turned out to be not quite as advertised (lesson learned), but had one thing going for it - silence - and if you’ve been to the clangorous city, you know that quiet is difficult to come by. So I count my blessings. And I give you my whirlwind best of the best of four days in NYC outside of the Javits Center, where I spent the better part of three days. (more…)

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I love playing tourist in my own town. Every once in awhile on a Sunday, I pretend I’m on vacation with a couple of good friends, throw on the running shoes and go on an urban walkabout. Toronto’s one of the great walking cities. It also happens to be a global leader in urban greening. With 4.7 million residents from every country you can think of, it’s one of the most ethnically diverse metropolises on the planet. In the course of an afternoon wander in Toronto, you can truly span the globe, from Italian street festivals to dim sum in Chinatown, to Indian religious celebrations, to Portuguese Fado by the lakeshore. It’s a vibrant world-class city worthy of a long, leisurely stroll. Savor it. It’s growing at an almost frightening pace. (more…)

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All over North America, people are getting hip to the pleasures and benefits of shopping at their local farmers’ markets. Not only do you shrink your carbon footprint buying local, the food is way fresher, tastier and healthier. By foraging at the markets, you eat in season, the way nature intended, while supporting your local economy and encouraging small farmers not only to stay in business, but to find exciting new ways to serve their growing clientele.

A stroll through the vibrant Santa Monica Wednesday Farmers’ Market can be a rich sensory experience. Wherever you find yourself in the world, seek out the local markets to immerse yourself in the sights, sounds, smells, secrets and the culture of the land… (more…)

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I’m throwin’ down some wild rice and wild mushrooms on a flame, dancing, clapping, lapping the warm Malibuian currents lofting three California condors, majestic, soaring, uniting the sacred, healing, finding our lost souls up here at Great Spirits Ranch, where every curve of mother earth contains divinity and water and free-flowing fruit fermenting in agave; where the air has an aura, a shimmer, vibrations of a billion butterflies bubbling drunk on life in a hilly magical place; or is it my vision or is it you or is it you and me and the nurturing nature of great spirits in synergy, all those who have come before and set themselves free from the great rock once adorned with wings… (more…)

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Wildlife, natural hot springs and a signpost forest await the Alaska Highway adventurer

The retired gentleman filling up his monster RV with expensive low-grade gas at the tiny station in Toad River tipped his hat against the rain and looked me over from underneath the brim. “You having fun?” he asked skeptically.

When I replied that yes, in fact I was having a blast, he scoffed in disbelief, shook his head and walked away. I snickered into my hot chocolate and took another sip. (more…)

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With the excitement of the Olympics still fresh on hearts and minds across the planet, along with the spectacular images of snow-capped peaks, lush urban parks, sparkling ocean and a cosmopolitan urban core, Vancouver is the place everyone wants to be right now.

Named the world’s most “livable” city by The Economist, Vancouver is also working hard at being one of the greenest and most sustainable with a detailed roadmap for getting there by 2020.

A leader in green building design, planning and technology, Vancouver is actively implementing ways to improve the quality of life of its citizens while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. (more…)

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Shivering in your knickers? Cavilling the chill? Pleading for heat? When the weather outside is frightful, I can think of nothing more delightful than being wrapped like a burrito in blankets, kneaded like a soft loaf of cinnamon bread dough and warmed to the bone with hot stones strategically placed on chakras to move my chi and fill me with glee.

So when I met my mom in Ottawa to celebrate her 7 decades on planet Earth, we escaped the first flurries of winter in the womb of wellness upstairs at Holtz Spa, across the street from the Chateau Laurier. (more…)

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I’ve been here before, in another lifetime, down the Turquoise Trail on a silver steed, and been altered - that’s what the Southwest sees to when you drop in on a whimsy - mid-course correction, gear-changing, shape-shifting. It’s why we go on journeys, isn’t it? To re-vision?

A long drive to escape the 13 million souls of L.A., past a billion cacti and the four corners of Winslow Arizona, a pause to stand listening to the Eagles, probably all bald by now, and a gift from Harold - a drawing on a receipt of mountains and trees and clouds… He’s been on this land all his life (perhaps on this corner) and drunk many a fermented plant in a Winslow roadhouse trying to loosen his load… (more…)

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Surprised to see the medieval city of Kathmandu on the “Green Cities” list? Me too, but Richard Register, author of Ecocities and president of Ecocity Builders in Oakland, California, believes that Kathmandu and its green-receptive population is well on its way to becoming what he calls a “full-out ecocity.”

With its narrow streets, small squares and growing population, the city is becoming increasingly hostile to the car - a reality Register believes could be the catalyst for the paradigm shift necessary to eliminate the city’s congestion and pollution problems. Yes, Kathmandu, famous for its centuries-old architecture, rich history, fascinating culture and stunning views of the Himalayas is taking the stage - if tentatively - as an emerging green city. (more…)

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This densely populated island city-state in Southeast Asia was early to the table on environmental policy and has since become an inspiration for other cities (and countries) trying to achieve the difficult goal of sustainable development.

Singapore’s Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources was established in 1972 aiming to achieve environmental sustainability for the long term. In effect since the ’70s, Singapore’s anti-congestion charges have served as a model for cities like London. Proposals for radical new policies include having cars fitted with satellite tracking meters and charging drivers a per-mile fee to slash congestion. Meanwhile, the mass-rail transit is extremely clean, affordable and efficient. (more…)

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Wherever I go in the world, I like to check out the local market. It’s at the markets where you find the heart of the people, the land and the food.

While island hopping on Canada’s west coast, I lucked into the famous funky Saturday market on Salt Spring Island. If you ever get a chance to visit this little gem of a place, don’t pass it up. It’s a totally groovy hippie traveler kinda place where sheep roam free, celebrities hide away in their yachts and the locals take you in like a long lost friend.

One guy I met came for lunch 18 years ago and never went home. He says it happens quite often… Check the vid below to see why… (more…)

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Not only do the numerous hot springs running beneath the world’s northernmost capital provide its denizens with a place to soak and relax, but these geothermal springs also provide almost all of Reykjavik’s heat and water.

Located on what geologists call a “hotspot” with a high concentration of volcanoes, Iceland gets 70 percent of its energy from renewable resources like springs and waterfalls.

In direct contrast to its name, which means “Smokey Bay,” Reykjavik is now known as the world’s least-polluted capital. (more…)

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Anyone who’s ever visited free-spirited, liberal and tolerant Amsterdam knows that it can feel like a trip to the cottage.

Cars, trucks and buses are conspicuously absent. In Amsterdam the bicycle rules.

The Dutch learn to bike as soon as they learn to walk, and continue cycling well into old age. A staggering 37% of Amsterdam residents commute by bicycle alongside canals and over 2,500 kilometers of bike paths. About $40 million a year is spent for cycling infrastructure, some of it allocated to new parking garages for thousands of bicycles. (more…)

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With more trees than people and about 8,000 hectares of parks, ravines, valley lands, woodlots and waterfront natural areas, it’s no wonder Toronto residents have long been passionate environmentalists.

Mayor David Miller, who has been first to implement many radical green policies, credits the citizens for this success. “Torontonians get it,” he says. “Our green bins program (for composting) has had 90% participation from the beginning. If you make things effective, practical, simple and realistic, people want to participate.”

(more…)

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Chicago Mayor Richard Daley is ambitious, powerful, competitive, and, lucky for Chicagoans, green. He wants Chicago to be known as the greenest city in America, and seems unstoppable when it comes to planting trees (half a million since 1989) to beautify the city and provide much needed oxygen and shade; and he’s on a roll with greening city rooftops (two and a half million square feet) to conserve energy, filter rainwater and bring summertime temps down.

Peter Nicholson, Executive Director of Foresight Design Initiative in Chicago says the mayor is the city’s biggest cheerleader for all things green. “He leads by example,” Peter says, “and he’s able to motivate and inspire people to evolve better by taking intentional action - and he rides a bike.” (more…)

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Of all “green cities” on my research list, Portland is the reigning green media darling for the past several years. Number 1 on SustainLane’s 2006, 2007 and 2008 US City Rankings for sustainability, The City of Roses comes out smelling like them, scoring good to great in almost every category analyzed by the study.

“We talked to a lot of people in the street,” says Warren Karlenzig, author of the study. “Portlanders really identify with having a high quality of life. Everyone you talk to has a definition of what sustainability means. You don’t find that in other cities.” (more…)

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Perhaps the world’s most advanced practitioner of green city design, architect and former mayor of Curitiba, Jaime Lerner, transformed his city in southern Brazil over three decades into what is now hailed by many as “the greenest city in the world.”

With the population exploding and pollution on the rise, Lerner began in the early 1970’s by redesigning Curitiba for people rather than for cars. He built beautiful parks and dug lakes to ease flooding. He risked everything by closing the main street off to traffic, turning it into a pedestrian-only plaza; overnight, shopkeepers who had fought him saw that the greenery and walkways would encourage more leisurely gathering – and more shopping. (more…)

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What, exactly, is a “green city”? Is the term not an oxymoron? If a green city is an ideal whose time has come, why, then, does it still feel so impossibly Utopian?

My definition of a green city is “a self-sufficient high-density urban area that functions in harmony with nature, where every resource used is renewable, no thing is wasted, zero emissions are released into the atmosphere; and humans and animals are treated with utmost respect.” Nope - no such thing - yet. (more…)

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Had I not been staying, several years ago, in a 17th century French “magnanerie” or silk production workshop, now a gorgeous Provencal vacation home, I may never have been awakened to the dark secrets of sericulture and the plight of the industrious little silkworm…

“For centuries, the walls in here were covered in mulberry leaves,” said our charming host, Bernard Cay-Maubuisson, indicating the thick stone walls of his rustic and cozy living room. I imagine a lush interior garden with climbing vines and ripened berries hanging just so over the frames of his beautifully restored antique art. “And tens of thousands of silkworms munched on the mulberry leaves,” he added with a smile. My thoughts of an indoor Eden are replaced with visions of slimy larvae slithering over the furniture.  (more…)

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