{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"121. Sam\u00a0McManus; Adventure Travel When the World Closes, Costa Rica, Green Northern Spain and the Unexpected Pull of Home \u00a0","description":" Just as the world was closing Sam McManus from YellowWood Adventures took a daunting gamble and hopped on a plane to Costa Rica. We talk about how the pandemic can change travel (even for the better), tourism being potentially a means for good, eco-tourism and re-forestation, surfing, small pueblos in the green hills of Northern Spain, his wonderful travelogue about his explorations - Wax and Gold Journeys in Ethiopia & Other Roads Less Travelled - and feeling the pull of friends, family and home.    On this episode we cover:    Second only returning guest   His wonderful travelogue - Wax and Gold Journeys in Ethiopia & Other Roads Less Travelled   Ethiopia and the inspiration to go there   Tribal country and the civil war in Ethiopia   Sending money to his business partner to escape the conflict   The terrible plight of his business partner in Ethiopia    The famine in Ethiopia being caused by the regimes   Ethiopia being surprisingly verdant    Camping out in the remote Tigray region    Making his business about remote regions    Touring Oman, Lebanon, Mongolia    The pandemic putting a stop to the tours    Booking a one way flight to Costa Rica on the eve of the UK lockdown   Adventures during a global pandemic   Sleepless nights in hostels whilst people were fleeing the country   Studying and surfing Costa Rica for a year   Planting trees and ecotourism in South America   The positive financial impact of tourism    Compared to the negative impact of over tourism    Barcelona going from over-tourism to empty    Carbon compensation and biodiversity   Partnering with a food giving charity in Lebanon   Partnering with an animal protection charity in northern Spain   Climate change speeding up    The opportuning to reset travel after the pandemic    Feeling a huge shift in investors starting to care    Al Gore \u2013 the sustainability revolution will happen with \u2018the speed of the digital revolution\u2019    Lisa contrasting Sam\u2019s lockdown in Costa Rica to hers at home in the cold with no school!   Spending his lockdown in a tropical paradise    Making lasting friendships in difficult circumstances abroad    Driving down to the Picos de Europa in Northern Spain    National Geographic asking for an article on Beirut    Writing an 80000 word travel anthology   Achieving life goals,   Living and being locked down in rural northern Spain   Falling back in love with the UK   Home and friends again   Listening to classic music in the car and getting stick for it    ","author_name":"The Big Travel Podcast","author_url":"http:\/\/www.thebigtravelpodcast.com","html":"