Raff is extremely proud to have joined one of his environmental idols, Andy Ridley – Founder of Earth Hour and founding CEO of Citizens of the Great Barrier Reef – and Bikini Bottom’s most famous resident, SpongeBob SquarePants, as an official ambassador for Junior Citizens of the Reef.  This ocean conservation program for kids has been created by Nickelodeon Australia and not-for-profit organisation Citizens of the Great Barrier Reef to help kids help our oceans.

Taking his role very seriously indeed, Raff has been out there doing his bit, loud and proud, to get other kids involved. He’s been promoting Junior Citizens of the Reef in writing in the awesome Holidays With Kids, Australia’s highest circulating (and very best) travel mag.

He’s even been spruiking the cause on live TV during a panel interview with the fabulous folks from Studio 10.

But he’s not stopping there.  He wants to shout it out right here on his own space too, so he caught up with Andy to chat about sustainability, the Reef and how your kids can do their bit for the ocean as a @Nickelodeon Junior Citizen of the Reef.

Over to Andy and Raff…

Your passion for sustainability is admirable, what inspired you to stop worrying about it and start doing something about it.
Worrying takes a lot of energy, generally doesn’t help and is not much fun. The challenge is trying to work out what to do about the things that worry you. I have found that even when you start with small steps, just making the decision to do something opens up a different way of thinking about the things that worry you.  Often the answers will evolve over time – so don’t wait for the perfect answer.
I never thought about it like that. There really is no need to wait to take positive action.

You have successfully created two incredible environmental organisations, Earth Hour and the Citizens of the Great Barrier Reef, which is so amazing. How do you balance your time between the two programs?
I ran Earth Hour for 8 years, it was an amazing experience – but I handed over the reins in 2014, now I celebrate it every year with my kids just like so many other people. Citizens of the Great Barrier Reefs project is my new venture and just like Earth Hour, we are building an amazing network of very motivated, talented people and organisations like yourself and Nickelodeon, to build a 21st century conservation organisation to help the Reef and (we hope) in the future many more reefs around the world. The key to making these projects work is getting the right people and organisations to be on the journey with you and sharing the challenges and opportunities that come with doing stuff that hasn’t been done before.
I’m so excited to be part of this Andy!

Do you think the organisations you have created have made people more environmentally conscious and aware? 
I am amazed by how many people across the planet have been inspired and motivated by Earth Hour, but it is really important to point out the organisations were created not by an individual but by a multitude of people and organisations. Citizens is still very new, but I think we are already seeing the potential of the ‘Reef community’ and what we can achieve both on the Reef but also hopefully beyond.
I think we can make a huge difference to the Reef and beyond, and I plan on doing my bit… as loudly as possible.

You first had the inspiration to start Earth Hour from an idea from an idea you wrote on the back of a drink coaster. It is now the world’s largest environmental action, spanning 7,000 cities in over 164 countries, and reaching more than 2.8 billion people globally. Do you believe world changing ideas can be found anywhere and put in play by anyone?  
There are lots of great ideas out there but to get them up and running you need to be persistent and get motivated people to help you. So, it’s all about not giving up and building the right team.
Great advice!

I first fell in love with the ocean on a visit to the Great Barrier Reef when I was five. But it was in Asia where I snorkelled through pollution and rubbish filled waters that I realised that the oceans needed our help and become a bit obsessed. Was their one moment that made you realise you needed to do something? 
Yes Indeed. I dived on the Reef for the first time back in 2002 whilst on unpaid leave from my job in London. It had been a dream of mine to dive on the GBR since I was a kid, I never went back to my job in London and instead got a role working for WWF in Australia who were working on a massive campaign to protect the Reef.
That’s so cool. I love how you’ve always followed your passion. Imagine if more people did…

Citizens of the Great Barrier Reef was inspired by a public conversation held between Sir David Attenborough and Barack Obama. They are some pretty inspirational people. Besides them, who would you say are your environmental heroes and role models? 
My wife Tam is probably my biggest inspiration, she is a zoologist and specialises in Elephant conservation. Broader than this the individuals that inspire me the most are often not the famous names, but much more the extremely motivated and fantastic people who make things happen on the ground, they are the people that made Earth hour happen and are now behind the Citizens project.
I love that you’re inspired by the everyday people who make things happen! And I love that your wife is all about elephant conservation because that’s another passion of mine.

Your new environmental initiative, Junior Citizens of the Reef, in conjunction with Nickelodeon, is educational, entertaining and generally awesome. Can you tell us about it?
This is right up there as one our favourite projects thus far, we have SpongeBob as our first kids’ ambassador, we have linked this with some of the most amazing underwater footage on the planet and are getting super passionate kids to help the Reef and the planet – it’s easy to get involved and we are going to get bigger and better every year!
I’m absolutely doing my best to make sure EVERYBODY knows about it and have loads of kids join in.

So, Andy how can kids like me become part of Junior Citizens of the Reef?
It’s super easy, kids can head to Nickelodeon Australia and pledge to become a Junior Citizen of the Reef and learn how they can help SpongeBob, through a few simple every day actions, keep our reef safe and healthy.  
That’s right it takes just a moment but could change our future forever.

Did you ever imagine in your wildest dreams you’d be partnering with SpongeBob SquarePants on a project? 
This is quite beyond my wildest dreams. We have a lot of amazing ambassadors including Swimming Australia, however SpongeBob is completely unique in the fact that he is a global icon that resonates with all generations including most importantly kids.
It is kind of cool!

Do you plan to create more environmental websites and activities targeted specifically towards kids? 
Absolutely! We are working on an in-school ocean conservation program with Nickelodeon, a marine biology experience for kids, and one of most exciting and ambitious projects yet, the development of the Great Reef Census, a project that will see the world’s largest ever census completed of the Great Barrier Reef. In fact, Nickelodeon is helping us to co-create a kids pilot Great Barrier Reef activity to test ways we can get kids actively involved in this larger project when it rolls out at the end of 2020.
That all sounds so awesome. I love that Nickelodeon shares our passion for protecting the environment and the ocean and are doing so much to promote sustainability to kids.

What are your top tips for kids to live more sustainably?
Join up as a Junior Citizen of the Reef and let SpongeBob become your guide!
Of course!

Thanks so much for you time Andy! Here’s to following our passion to make things that matter happen.

The post Raff chats with Andy Ridley about Junior Citizens of the Reef appeared first on boyeatsworld.

It is not often that a 10-year old gets to wax philosophic for an hour with one of his idols. But that’s exactly what happened when Raffles caught up with entrepreneur and philanthropist Bruce Poon Tip, founder of award-winning small group adventure travel company G Adventures.

Raffles first learned about Bruce back in 2016 when he competed in, and won, the State Final of the NSW Education Department’s Multicultural Perspective Public Speaking Competition. Some of the thanks for that must go to Bruce (unbeknownst to him) as it was through Raffles watching his TED talks, which he stumbled across while researching what great public speakers do right, he learned that passion was the key.

Not only did a then 8-year old Raffles pick up an expert tip or two on how to hold a crowd, he was intrigued by Bruce’s thoughts on sustainability and tourism. Enough so that by the time he spotted a copy of Bruce’s second book ‘Do Big Small Things’ on my desk and nicked it, my big small thing was a raving fan.

Now with Bruce in town to discuss the launch of G Adventures industry-first guidelines for child welfare, he and Raffles chat all things responsible travel. Over to them…

Hi Bruce, first I’ve got to say I think you are epic. Not just because you are so successful but because you became successful by helping the planet and the people in it. That’s the kind of person I want to be when I grow up. Now, I believe you started your first business when you were only 12. I’m 10, and I’m really inspired by that. Got any tips for a wannabe junior entrepreneur?
I think you’re doing pretty well from what I can tell. You know I was actually 11 when I started my first business, so you’ve got one more year. Seriously though, my tip is to do what you love. Because if you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.
Awesome advice.

How and what made you decide to start a travel business?
It was my passion. Back in 1990 I decided I wanted to start a business. I’d already started three businesses before I turned 16 when I was still in school. But after school when I decided I was going to start a business my two passions were travel and music. I was either going to start a record label or something in travel.
I am really into travel and music too. I play guitar.
So, what’s your favourite band?
Too many to choose. I like rock music though. I break if someone plays pop music.
I was really passionate about the human side of travel and the ability to change people’s lives through travel, so I chose it.
I think that would be my choice too. Unless Green Day is looking for a guitarist. In that case…

So, I heard that on your first ever tour the tour group got arrested? That’s not a great start but it is kind of funny. How did that happen?
You’ve really done your research, I haven’t been asked this question in a very long time. Good work! On our first tour to Belize we promised a canoe trip on the itinerary but when we got there we realised they didn’t know what canoes were. We’d sold the trip saying we had them, so I had to buy canoes and drive them down to fulfil our promises. Unfortunately, when the group were going down the river in Belize, people were freaking out because they had never seen a canoe and it wasn’t a legal registered floatation device in Belize. And they arrested all of us for having these illegal floatation devices. So, it wasn’t like everyone was in big trouble, but we did all technically get arrested and the canoes got confiscated. Not a good start.
Did they ever rebook?
You know what one of the people on that tour is one of our most travelled persons and she recently took trip number 38 with us.
That’s a win.

G Adventures is all about Sustainable travel. Can you tell me some of the ways that your company helps the communities you visit?
There are different ways we help. The first is by creating a dialogue with the communities before we arrive. That makes us unique because most tour operators send tours to a destination without consulting the local people. We create a dialogue and we find out how we can work with them in partnership. We also support social enterprise businesses and give micro loans to people to help serve our companies. We create paid jobs and wealth distribution through our travels. As we become successful in a destination the community around us becomes successful and that’s really important for how we gauge the success of our business.

Your company has just announced Global Good Practice Guidelines to protect children, and to educate the travel industry and travellers on how to responsibly interact with children, which I think is awesome. Can you tell me a bit about this and some of the simple steps kids like me can make to help other kids?
Yeah. The child welfare guidelines are very important for tour operators to follow. There’s more of a demand now to visit more remote places and more fragile cultures where people have never been before, so you have to have a set of guidelines to make sure the wellbeing of the children is looked after. Very simply, the guidelines are really asking people to act like they would at home. When people travel to other countries they act as though they have certain rights. They want certain services and amenities when really, they should just respect the local traditions and cultures of that country. It covers basic things like not giving children candy or taking pictures without permission. I mean, if you saw a cute kid in a grocery store here in Sydney you wouldn’t take a picture of them without asking, so why do it in another country. It is about showing respect and making sure we set up a safe place for children as tourism pushes into undiscovered territories.
I read that you’d worked on this with ChildSafe and a range of contributors including the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). That’s awesome.

My mum has been teaching us to travel responsibly since we could talk. How important do you think it is to teach kids to be responsible and sustainable travellers from an early age? What are the best ways parents can do this?
Well I think a big part is teaching our kids to live sustainably at home. We’re teaching them to respect and recycle, to eat organically and healthy. People seem to suspend their beliefs when they travel because they’re paying for a luxury holiday, but my question is why separate those beliefs when we go on holiday. What parents can do is teach their kids to be really respectful at home and take those same values when they go on vacation. It’s not a lot to ask.
That’s great advice.

I love that your company has specific family tours, so kids can enjoy more adventurous holidays too. You have kids. Do you get them to road test your family tours before you open them up to the public?
I do. It is funny you should mention that, we just did a trip to one of our local living programmes in Italy two weeks ago. And earlier this year we went camping in Namibia on a truck call The Lando that we created for touring. It’s got device chargers in every seat, water purification machines and Wi-Fi. The company has been using it for a while, but we’d never had kids on it. So, I took my kids camping for a couple of days and we tested it out and they gave it the thumbs up so now I know we can start a family programme there.
They must be the happiest lab rats in the world.

Can you tell me what the differences are between your family tours and regular tours and what kind of things do you put in place to make them memorable for kids?
The thing about family tours is bringing like-minded parents together. They want to create that community with kids while they’re travelling. It also gives parents a chance to enjoy their holiday too while the kids play and connect because when you’re travelling alone with kids, it can be hard. You may not know it Raff. But you’re hard work.
Oh, I know it!
But what we really want is for kids to learn about respecting other cultures and learning how other people live to give them a greater appreciation of where you come from and of other cultures. That’s the best gift you can ever give a kid. That cultural exchange is so beautiful and so valuable and precious. It gives you a secret weapon when you come back home. Because you have something other kids may not. Along with a greater appreciation for where you sit in the world, travel gives you the confidence to be a great student and a great kid.

Of all the destinations G Adventures visits, which do you think is the best for families?
Oh boy. I think Thailand is a great location because kids love the combination of kicking back on beaches and more active attractions. On my side of the world, Costa Rica and Peru both offer beautiful coastlines but also have great activities so get the balance right for kids.
Thailand is great. Peru is on my list

You do tours in Australia right? Do you work with Indigenous people?
Very much so. That was one of the reasons we wanted to come to Australia, which was the first developed country where we ran tours. Indigenous community development was very important to us and so we created a whole bunch of different experiences for our tour up the East Coast of Australia. When we came here and started doing research up the coast there were lots of Indigenous shows and entertainment, but we wanted to do what we do everywhere else in the world and create experiences. So, we started dialogues with Indigenous communities. We didn’t want to invade their privacy, we wanted to see what their  needs were, what they were interested in and what their comfort level is in working with tourists. Right now, we are in discussion with some Indigenous leaders to build social enterprise projects in The Torres Straight Islands and Northern QLD.
That’s so cool that you’re are investing in programmes for Indigenous people.

How do you think family travel is changing and evolving? I mean my mum says that most Aussie family holidays used to be all about visiting the Gold Coast or Fiji and they’re great, but these days kids are going to more exotic places like Chile and Morocco. What do you see in the future for family travel?
I think families are travelling younger and that they’ll choose holidays that are more defined by interests and whether that’s animals or action and sports, there will be more choices for families in the future.

I love that G Adventures take animal welfare seriously and has banned unethical animal attractions from its tours. What spurred the decision to stop things like elephant riding?
Elephant riding was the first thing to pop up on our radar. When we started questioning it and did the research about the training that was involved we realised it didn’t match our values, and once we opened that door just a crack we realised there was lots of stuff we needed to look more closely at. We talked to Jane Goodall and The Jane Goodall Society and asked for help in creating animal welfare guidelines. We evaluated all our tour hotels and activities and removed everything that didn’t fit within the guideline, like snorkelling in the Galapagos and dolphin encounters in the Caribbean. We have more than 20,000 departures a year, so it was a difficult job in the beginning, but it was the right thing to do.
That’s so great. I’m very anti elephant riding and tiger selfies, and I once swam with wild turtles off a beach in New Caledonia and some people started touching and holding them for photos. I was angry.
Animals don’t have a voice. So, when you see people act like this it’s a good opportunity for you, at the age of ten, to use yours. Not to start a fight or to embarrass people, but to say I don’t think it’s the right thing to do.

Through your work you’ve met some amazing people like Sir Richard Branson and The Dalai Lama, who are two of my biggest heroes. That’s so cool. Do you have a hero or someone you look up to as a role model?
I have many, But the Dalai Lama is a big one. He is a leader in every way, promoting the idea of infinite happiness and wellbeing. Kindness and happiness are the two greatest things that you could have a mentor on.
Your first book Looptail has a forward by the Dalai Lama, right?
Yeah. You know I’m not a Buddhist though people think I am. But I believe in his philosophy of happiness. He says, “Our only purpose in life is to achieve happiness”.  That is a beautiful statement. And when your happiness is about creating happiness for others it makes the world a more beautiful place. He inspires me to be a better person. Nelson Mandela was another great leader and the reason he inspired me is because he was a man of principal and I believe you have to be principled, if you want to be successful. These are the values that I look up to.
I think they’re both amazing and that you’re just like them. That’s why you inspire me.

You’ve obviously travelled a lot, do you have hot tips for any must visit destinations I should be ticking off?
If you’re talking about hot new destinations, Colombia in South America is such an amazing place. It has a beautiful coast, an amazing jungle, plus phenomenal music and food. The Stans in Central Asia are interesting too.  Countries like Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan are opening up for the first time. It used to be hard to get a visa to go, but the governments have relaxed the rules. They’re pretty cool, if you go soon you’ll get to see it before tourists get there.
I’m sold. Mum, I hope you’re taking notes here.

Is there some place that is still on your bucket list?
Yes. I’ve never been to Russia because I want to do the Trans-Siberian all the way from Beijing through Northern China, Mongolia and Siberia to Moscow, but it takes a long time and right now I’m a pretty busy guy and don’t have the time to take a month or two off to do the full trip. But I will.
I’ll come with you!

Thanks for speaking to me Bruce, I really appreciate your time. You’re legit as awesome as I thought you would be and that makes me a happy traveller!

The post Raffles chats with Entrepreneur & Philanthropist Bruce Poon Tip of G Adventures appeared first on boyeatsworld.

Like a lot of people, Raffles love animals. But unlike a lot of people he thinks twice about attractions that involve them, because we’ve seen some pretty hideous stuff calling itself animal tourism on our travels. Especially when it comes to his beloved elephants.

He was just seven when he announced that even if he couldn’t save all the animals, he would do everything in his power to help save at least one. And true to his word he has been speaking out against animal exploitation in the tourism industry, very loudly, ever since. 

Needless to say, Raffles jumped at the opportunity to meet the awesome Ben Pearson of World Animal Protection Australia to chat about what kids like him can to do stop animal cruelty. Over to them…

Thanks for meeting with me, Ben. I’m really passionate about animals and a frequent traveller. And that’s kind of my problem because on my travels I’ve seen some pretty hideous stuff calling itself animal tourism.  In the movie Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Newt Scamander said, “We are surrounded by millions of the most vicious creatures on the planet. Humans”, What needs to be done to make people see that we are the biggest threat to our wildlife and planet?
I think we need to change perceptions about what animals really are. Too many people see animals as things to eat or just there for our amusement. We need to make people realise that animals are sentient beings. For example, chickens enjoy nesting and being in social groups. When they’re in kept farms where they are not allowed to do that, it is distressing to them.
Elephants are the same. It’s not only cruel to hit or stab it with a bull hook, which wildlife entertainment venues do, it’s just as cruel to stop them socialising with other animals because elephants like doing that. We need to get real that all these animals have feelings and emotions and we should be clear with ourselves that they are as unhappy as we would be when we’re treated badly.
Exactly, I think we should try and put ourselves in an animal’s shoes … or should I say its hooves, paws or claws.

Elephant family – Image courtesy World Animal Protection

What kind of things does World Animal Protection do to help stop animal cruelty?
It’s a very comprehensive program of work across four main areas. We work with animals in communities helping domestic animals and ensuring that people are treating them well. We work with animals that are caught up in natural disasters.

Image courtesy World Animal Protection

We look after animals in the wild. Particularly animals that are caught up in captive entertainment venues, like dolphinariums or venues that keep elephants’ captive so they can be ridden by tourists. We look after animals living in the wild, protecting them from things like discarded fishing gear, which is a huge problem for ocean animals.  We also help to look after animals on farms to improve living conditions for them.
So, you’re trying to make sure all animals have a life that is worth living. That’s a great ambition.

I travel a fair bit and I’m pretty horrified that people still think taking a selfie with a tiger or riding an elephant is cool. Because from where the animal is sitting I’d say it’s anything but. But I keep hearing, especially from kids, that they think it is ok because the “animal seemed happy”.  Because what says happy more than a load of humans on your back and being jabbed in the butt with a giant hook, right? What are some of the worst and most exploitive animal attractions that you find people still seem to think are ok?
I think you’ve hit the nail on the head. Elephant riding is absolutely at the top of the list. To be fair to most people, a lot of the problem with animal entertainment is that a lot of the cruelty is behind the scenes. They see a few elephants and they look happy and they’re eating a bit of straw and there are some trainers standing near them. What they didn’t see was that those elephants have been taken from their mothers at a very young age, put through a very cruel training process, mistreated, and are, frankly, quite traumatised.
But having said that, I’m with you. If you want to jump on the back of an elephant, you have to ask yourself if the elephant is enjoying this, and it is pretty hard to imagine it is. It comes back to what we were saying before … put yourself in the elephant’s place … would you be enjoying it if a whole bunch of people were riding you around a park for their entertainment?Tiger selfies are another huge problem, particularly in Thailand. We are really worried about this because in a lot of cases the animals are bred purely for that purpose. They are taken from their mothers at very young age and spend all day on a chain with tourists coming along while a trainer prods them to make them show their teeth. So, the poor tiger is having a dreadful day, every day.
If you stopped for a selfie in the wild, the tiger would eat you on toast. And elephants are definitely best seen when they’re free to be elephants,  in the wild.  I get that people make mistakes, we’ve made mistakes too, but we’re aware and are always trying to do better.

Image courtesy World Animal Protection

What about marine parks?
Dolphinariums are a problem. In the wild a Bottlenose dolphins can swim 100 kilometres in a day and do 200-300-metre deep dives. So, can you imagine what it is like for them to spend their lives in a chlorinated pool? Again, they can live for 40 or 50 years, so if a dolphin is born in captivity it can spend half a century in a tiny little pool that is nothing like the natural environment it has evolved to enjoy, which is extremely cruel.
That is before taking into account the stress they suffer from all the noise they have to deal with, as they rely on echo locations and have extremely sensitive hearing, and people getting in the pool to be dragged around by a dorsal fin. Dolphins do not want to do that. They don’t want to be around humans at all, they want to be out in the wild in big complex family groups swimming and enjoying their lives. When we talk about cruelty to animals, you might think of an animal being beaten or something like that, but it’s just as cruel to prevent an animal from doing whatever it would normally do in its natural environment.
In the context of the ocean versus a pool it’s just so obviously wrong. It is inhumane to deny them the right to be themselves and do what they were designed to do just for our entertainment.

So, what can be done about stopping these attractions?
That is a great question, because now we can get to the solution. First of all, we need to be educating people that they shouldn’t go to these type of places. World Animal Protection has what we call our “Common Sense Guide”. If you go to a venue and it offers the opportunity to ride, hug it or have a selfie or jump in a pool with a wild animal, leave because that is a venue treating animals cruelly.
These are wild animals that belong in the wild. They are not animals that have evolved to interact with humans. They’re not animals that accept having a human on their back or a human sitting next to them prodding it with a stick. It is obviously wrong. People need to stop going to these venues and they need to start telling their family to stop going to these venues.
Yeah, me and mum have a three point checklist. If the animal is performing, if its cruelly confined or if you can play with or touch it, then it gets a no from us. 

Riding elephants is NEVER appropriate – Image courtesy World Animal Protection

What else can be done?
The other thing is that we need travel agents and the travel industry to get on board as well. They have started doing some good, some have stopped selling tickets and promoting these places on their websites. But they need to go further and help us educate the public, so we’d like to see them post information and warnings on their webpages to help people avoid contributing to animal cruelty. Being proactive and clever is how to be part of the solution.
Yeah. Animals don’t have a choice. But we do. And if we don’t stand up and say stop, we’re part of the problem. And I want to be part of the solution.

Wild, free and happy elephants in Minnereya National Park, Sri Lanka

So, what about a kid like me? We don’t have a lot of power but what little things can kids do to help stop animal exploitation?
Great question! Kids like you are an important part of the solution and I’ll tell you why. We find in a lot of cases with these kind of venues that they are being promoted to families. But if kids like you talked to your mates about what you know, and then say they go to Bali or Thailand and their parents suggest riding an elephant, but the kid says, “no. I am not going to do that because its cruel”, because someone like you has educated them. That would be amazing. If your family is anything like mine, the kids have pretty big veto power on what does and doesn’t happen on holidays.
Yeah, often when families go to these things it is because the kid suggested it. I reckon it would be awesome if instead kids could educate their parents on why it’s bad.

So, what about places that claim to be orphanages or sanctuaries which are literally just an opportunity to make cash out of animals.  I’m thinking of elephants specifically here because a lot of places tell a story about how they’re helping and protecting the animals but they’re still allowing them to be ridden and loads of stupid stuff that’s not even remotely ethical. How does a person make the right choice?
Yeah. These places are clever. Part of the paradox about these venues is that the people who go are generally people who love animals. That’s why they are there. These places know their market so they use language like conservation and talk about rescuing elephants and protecting them and making sure the species is protected. Or that saved a dolphin that was stuck in a fishing net… but what about the other 20 dolphins that are there? Mostly it’s nonsense.
There’s a couple of things you can do if you’re going overseas and you want to experience wildlife. Firstly, do your research. Take a look at websites like ours land look for advice on the kind of places to go to and the places to avoid, and use our common step sense steps. The other thing you can do is travel with one of the great companies like Intrepid, G Adventures and World Expeditions who don’t contribute to cruelty.
Yes, this video from Intrepid Travel, who don’t allow elephant riding on their trips, shows how elephants are trained. Warning: The video has images that could cause distress but imagine how much more distressed the animals in it are.

What about Zoos? Yay or Nay.
Yay and nay. Zoos in Australia are mostly pretty good and they do a lot of important work. I was at Taronga Zoo in Sydney recently meeting with the staff. They’re an impressive bunch and do a lot of work in conservation and raising awareness of threats to wild life, like plastic pollution. So, they deserve a lot of credit.
Yeah, Taronga Zoo seems pretty good. That’s where I learned about how bad Palm oil is for animal habitats, so we don’t use any products with palm oil now.
Over time we would like to see zoos stop captive breeding animals that are not endangered. I know a lot of people say that if people can’t see the majesty of wild animals in zoos, they’ll be less sympathetic to efforts to protect them. I don’t think that’s true. I think people can create a connection with animals in other ways and the idea that someone has to see an animal up close to actually feel some interest in it can easily be disproven by talking to any kid that loves dinosaurs. They’ve obviously never seen one of them in a zoo.
Good point!

So finally, What are your top tips for being an animal friendly traveller?
Do your research and educate yourself. Ask yourself what you need to look out for in certain countries. Find out where the high animal welfare places are as well as the ones to avoid. Once you arrive remember the rules… if you can ride it, touch it, hold it or take a photo with it, avoid it.
Use common sense, if you go somewhere that has met all the criteria but you can see the animals look like they’re not well fed or are kept in small cages, leave. Don’t support it. Leave a negative review on TripAdvisor, tell your friends not to go there. And talk about it on your social media channels. Be an ambassador for animal welfare.
Always. And I think all kids and parents should visit your website for your animal friendly travel tips. Thank you so much Ben for your time today and for all that you do to help keep animals safe.

The post Raffles chats with Ben Pearson of World Animal Protection appeared first on boyeatsworld.

Though Raffles hasn’t had the pleasure of visiting Hawaii, he did get to enjoy a taste of what it has to offer with Chef Ryan Urig, Executive Chef, Grand Wailea, A Waldorf Astoria Resort, who joined the Hilton Hawai’i team to showcase Hawaiian ingredients and the produce of the islands at the Hilton Sydney.

So, inspired by the freshness and tastiness of the cuisine, Raffles is now pleading with me to take him to Maui for some Hawaiian style feasting. While I don’t think it will require much arm twisting on his part to get me to agree, for the time being my 10-year-old junior journo is getting his foodie fix chatting to Chef Ryan Urig about the flavours of Maui … over to them.

I was lucky enough to taste some of the magic seafood dishes you prepared at the Hilton here in Sydney, and I haven’t stopped thinking about how incredible it was since.

 Thanks for allowing me a taste of your culinary genius, I hope I can come to Maui sometime soon to eat a whole bunch more. But until then, I’d love to ask you some questions about Hawaii and Hawaiian food.

How did you like working with Australian Produce?
I thought it was fantastic going down to the markets in the city to find fresh produce, and to the Sydney Fish Market for all the fresh seafood we used. You have an abundance of options. Wintertime kalettes and finger limes are what you are known for around the word, so we enjoyed cooking with those and the stone fruit in season.

We incorporated them into the menu for the event. I really enjoyed collaborating with the chefs at Hilton Sydney, too. They were fun, and we became good mates.
I’m glad you liked it here. The food you made with our produce was off the charts awesome.

Is it very different to what you work with in Hawaii?
The difference between your oceanside city and the islands in Hawaii are the seasons. You have winter, and we’re lucky to grow stuff year-round. Most countries and places can’t do that. You do have many of the ingredients we have in Hawaii – passion fruit and ulu (breadfruit) and the uni (sea urchin). We saw a lot of similar seafood to our seafood in Hawaii.
Wow, it must be great to have access to such great fresh stuff all year around.

What is a uniquely Hawaiian ingredient or dish that you recommend everyone who visits Maui?’
Hawaiian ahi poke is loved the world over. We saw over 10 poke bowl shops in Sydney on this trip. What is unique in Hawaii right now is how the chefs are using underutilised ingredients. The ulu is something we’re playing around with in our restaurants. Chef Mike Lofaro does an ulu risotto in HumuHumu that is one of the top sellers on the menu. We’re doing a smoked BBQ hummus with taro and ulu chips, and an ulu mac salad at our new restaurant, ‘O’koa Beachside BBQ. Ulu is a famine food and can grow almost anywhere in the world, so it’s abundant and readily available year-round, a true sustainable food.
Ulu is like a breadfruit, right? Sounds yum! 

What made you want to become a chef?
I grew up going to my grandmas for family gatherings, and everyone came over to eat a family meal together. Seeing how the family enjoyed this time together, I started cooking at a young age. Food brought my family together, and they liked to eat what I made and seemed to enjoy my cooking, so I kept working harder at it. Now I work at a big resort hotel and cook for over a million people a year.
Food for a million people! Whoah! That would be almost enough food to fill me up. Almost.

You’re the Executive Chef at Grand Wailea Waldorf Astoria Resort, which looks like a super cool resort. But even with all the cool stuff like slides and pools and beaches the most important thing I want to know is… what’s your favourite dish on the menu?
My favorite food in the hotel right now is the new sushi bar we launched this month. Being in Hawaii we can have the freshest sushi, and we’re having a lot of fun with that.
Good sushi is the best. I ate with a sushi master in Japan once and it was the most incredible meal of my life.

I’m right into mythology and legends and I know the island of Maui was named after Maui, the god who fished the Hawaiian Islands out of the sea and slowed the sun to stretch the days. He also liked playing tricks. If you had to cook for him, what would you make?
Maui obviously loves fish. He has a big magic hook and can hook many beautiful fish. I’ll cook whatever he catches in the ocean. Maui also likes to play with the fiery sun, and I like to play with fire when I cook. That is why we just opened the ‘O’koa Beachside BBQ.  It was inspired by our annual summer event Fire it Up! – The BBQ of the Pacific, and we would love to have you here next year to experience it.
I think Maui would be pretty happy with that. I know I would be. And I’d love to come and experience a proper island style barbecue in Maui. I better start nagging mum to get me there next summer.

What are your favourite places for a snack in Maui when you aren’t cooking?
I take my little boys to get sushi, or we go to the market and barbecue in the backyard.

If someone gave you $1000 to eat one meal in Hawaii where would you go?
I would get family and friends together and head to the beach for the ultimate beach barbecue with the ultimate local ingredients. Our chef friends would collaborate on foods, and everyone would be enjoying the ocean all day until sunset.
Best answer ever. This sounds EPIC! There’s nothing better than fresh seafood by the sea.

If you only had $10 left to eat a meal in Hawaii where would you go?
I would head strait to Ululani Shave Ice in Kihei and get the rainbow shave ice with a vanilla ice cream scoop on the bottom and cream drizzled on top. They have the finest shave ice, and are so big that I can share it with both my sons.
I love shaved ice and ice cream so this sounds right up my alley.

What are some of the best things to do in Maui other than eating? 
I recommend everyone coming to Maui do two things: get in the ocean and spend a day Upcountry. Surfing, diving, or extreme sports like kite surfing in the water are the best here. But a lot of people don’t know about our paniolo (Hawaiian cowboy) history and small towns, and you can experience that Upcountry at about 2500 ft elevation. Hike Makawao Forest near Makawao town, and watch a rodeo or cowboy polo. It is only about 30 minutes from Grand Wailea, but a whole other world. There is so much to do on the island of Maui. I’m sure you’re going to love it when you get here.
Sounds awesome. I want to do all those things, After I eat, of course. 

Thank you, Chef Ryan. You’re super nice for sharing your food and your time with me. I hope I get to see you in Maui sometime soon.

The post Raffles chats with Chef Ryan Urig, Executive Chef, Grand Wailea, Maui appeared first on boyeatsworld.

Novotel hotels are launching a range of new wellness offerings just for kids in time for the Autumn School Holidays. The new programme includes a healthy menu and two in-room kids work out shows starring Play School’s Rachael Coopes and Australian professional surfer Sally Fitzgibbons, designed to keep families healthy and active during their holidays.

So in the lead up to its official launch, Raffles decided to interview Sally Fitzgibbons about the programme, the importance of embracing fitness, surfing and, of course, eating

Over to them…

I’m a big fan of Novotel Hotels, so much so that you might even see me telling people how much I love them in the hotel’s rooms in Asia Pacific on their Welcome TV show.  I really appreciate you taking the time to answer some questions for me about you and Novotel and the new wellness programme you are launching with them.

You’re an ambassador for Novotel, what does that entail?
Good question Raff! Well, first of all it means that I really, really like staying at Novotel hotels just like you. And it also means that now I get to work a lot with the team from Novotel, which is really cool. Because I’m a professional athlete I often work with the hotel managers to see how we can help the guests be healthier.
That’s wicked. The Novotel guys are so awesome to kids.

What do you love most about Novotel?
I love soooooo many things about Novotel hotels! I really like that they are in lots of different locations, which means that when I’m travelling I can often stay at a Novotel. They also have some pretty cool healthy menus for kids and adults which I helped design, so I love that Novotel offers great food options too.
I’ve had some great meals at Novotel and there are so many fun, active things to do.

You’re like one of the best surfers in the entire world. How hard is competitive Surfing? Do you have to train a lot?
I’m not going to lie to you Raff, it is very hard with a lot of things not in your control. I have to train every day and I also travel most of the year to compete. The thing I find is that when you do things that are really hard, you learn a lot and you can achieve things you never thought were possible. Plus, it’s pretty cool getting to play in the waves every day!
That would be pretty cool! And I love anything that makes you realise nothing is impossible. Well except maybe me ever not wanting to travel.

Being a professional surfer sounds like an epic job. You must get to travel a lot! How many countries have you travelled to for surfing?
I can’t count them all. Travelling is the best. I love meeting new people, trying new foods and learning about other cultures. But I also love being home and spending time with my friends and family. Some of my favourite countries are France, Fiji and Portugal.
Meeting new people and eating their food is the actual best! Mum likes to collect recipes so we can keep eating the dishes at home.

Where is your favourite ever place to surf?
First and foremost it would have to be my hometown Beach, Seven Mile Beach in Gerroa. But overseas, I would have to say my favourite surf break is Fiji’s Cloudbreak. Such a challenging wave that tests you mentally and physically, I feel there will always be something to learn every time I paddle out.
That sounds cool. I love watching you surf on YouTube.

What’s your favourite post surf meal?
It depends on the time of day but you can’t go past a steamed veggie salad and some boiled eggs or Amazonia Acai or Pitaya smoothie bowls. You need to make healthy normal so that you are not thinking about is this healthy.
Sounds super healthy.

It is pretty hard to stay focused on being healthy and fit when travelling because there are so many distractions and soooo much food. What do you do to stay healthy?
That is right! It can be really difficult. One of the main things I do is make sure I always have options. In my bag you will always find a bottle of water, fruit and some healthy snacks like Blue Dinosaur bars and nuts. This means that I can snack and won’t be hungry no matter where I am.
We make sure we always have plenty of water (in a reusable bottle) too.

Novotel are launching a cool new range of wellness activities and treats for kids. I love eating so can you tell me all about the new healthy kid’s menu you helped design?
Yes I can – another great question! Basically, I worked with Novotel to create some healthy menus for adults a few years ago I thought why should the kids miss out!?

So, I spoke to some of the Novotel chefs to find out what kind of things kids love to order when they stay at Novotel. I found out that things like spaghetti bolognaise were the most popular. Then we looked at how these meals could be more healthy, for example by adding hidden veggies. The menus are epic because you can draw all over them and they have special thumbs up icons so that kids know which are the most healthy items on the menu. You can eat those ones every day!
I love my veggies but that’s a great idea for kids who don’t, I know loads of those.

What’s your favourite healthy holiday snack from the menu?
Personally, I love the grilled fish with salad and vegetables! It’s so yummy for dinner and really fills me up. If I have room after that I love the berries and yoghurt for dessert.
Sounds like my kind of meal.

There’s also some new in interactive in-room programs to help keep kids active as well as relaxed. Could you tell me about those?
These are so cool! You will see me and Rachael Coopes from Play School in these programs on the tele in your Novotel room. There are two programs. The Wonderful World of Shapes is really energetic and fun – a great way to get the day started. The other program is called Baby Bunny Won’t go to Bed. It’s also really fun but this one is about relaxing, learning some new yoga moves and getting ready to go to bed. They were so fun to make and I hope you like them. You can preview the in-room programs here.
Awesome.

What other things does the new programme offer for kids?
Novotel hotels are well known for their family friendly focus which already includes free accommodation and breakfast for children under 16, 50 per cent off a second room for families, late check-out on Sundays, welcome gifts for kids, movie partnerships and kids corner play areas.*
Novotel really does rock!

Last question. Any secret tips for a kid who wants to learn to surf and get fit and healthy?
Let’s not keep them a secret! My tip is to never stop learning and being active. That is how you can keep your mind and body fit and healthy. That could include making sure you pay attention as much as you can at school, asking your mum and dad to take you to a park that you’ve never been to before or using your imagination to think up a new game with your brothers and sisters. And if it’s surfing you really want to learn, then have a chat to your mum and dad about how you might be able to get started with a lesson at a surf school!
Right! Thanks for answering my questions. I’m off to hit the waves. After I check with mum, of course.

*Family friendly offerings differ across Novotel hotels across Australia. Subject to availability and conditions apply.

This is not a sponsored post, Raffle sis just a big fan of Novotel and Sally 

The post Raffles chats with Pro Surfer and Novotel Ambassador, Sally Fitzgibbons appeared first on boyeatsworld.

To suggest Raff is a bookworm is somewhat of an understatement; seriously, the kid devours books with the same enthusiasm he devotes to devouring food and traipsing around the globe. And this love of words fills me with delight.

Though he’s as happy reading a biography, travel guide or a cookbook as he is reading a novel, no book or books have earned his devotion quite the way the Harry Potter series has, and no author his admiration the way J.K. Rowling, who he idolises, has.  So much so he’s twisted our arms into taking him all the way to Edinburgh next month to see where his literary idol created Harry’s magical world.

The Harry Potter series fuelled Raff’s love of reading, his wild imagination, and his own desire to write. We introduced him to the first book at the age of eight, and he’d completed the entire series in around six months, cheekily sneaking off to the school library to read the final two books, as I had nixed them, worried that he was a bit young for the more mature adventures of Harry.

Now, at the ripe old age of nine, he decided it was time to reread the entire series, which he knocked over in a fortnight. But this time each book led to fabulous family discussions on a few of my favourite pet topics; tolerance, inclusion and equality, and how the books were so much more than just another good versus evil tale.

But still, I worried that some of the themes might be going over his little head.

That is until he spent a weekend writing a speech for this year’s NSW public schools Multicultural Perspectives Public Speaking Competition. I’m incredibly proud to say he was the Year 3-4 State Champion of this competition last year, not because he won, but because he chose to use it as a platform to share what he had learned from our travels to fight for the fair treatment of refugees and to speak out against unethical animal tourism. The trophy, well, that was just a bonus.

With a couple of other speaking projects in progress,  Raff made the decision that beyond delivering the necessary speech in class this year, he would step down from competing in the competition. Instead he has chosen to offer his services as a speech mentor to give, he says, another boy or girl from his school “the opportunity to shine” (and to get out of practising methinks). And because of this, I didn’t expect him to put a great deal of effort into it.

Once again, I am guilty of seriously underestimating my boy. He spent an entire weekend busily scribbling ideas on bits of paper, reading, researching, looking up quotes, writing, reworking and editing his speech on the subject of how “kids can make a difference”.

And then he read it to me. And once again, this beautiful, compassionate, amazing kid of mine blew me away with his comprehension of complex subjects, his empathy for people, and his passion for equality.

But I was just as stunned at how Harry Potter is helping me grow great humans.

Though I am supportive of his decision not to compete, I was sad that no one outside of his class would hear the magical words he so painstakingly prepared. So I asked him if he was happy for me to share them here.

He acquiesced and has recorded them for you all to hear (see video below) … but only on condition that, should you not already own it, you run out and get your kids a copy of Harry Potter immediately, so they too can benefit from its wonderful message of inclusivity and tolerance.

The post Kids can make a difference: How Harry Potter is helping me grow great humans appeared first on boyeatsworld.

It is somewhat of an understatement to suggest that primary school raconteur, world traveller, bon vivant, gastronome and bona fide television addict, Raffles, is hooked on Netflix. In fact, it would be fair to say the kid can binge watch with the best of them.

And you know, I’m totally down with that, because not only is Netflix streaming incredible kid-friendly series, documentaries and movies that are educating and inspiring him about new cultures, history, languages and food traditions, they’re producing quality original series that are all about instilling self-esteem, confidence and the importance of team work in our kids.

The fact that I can also download many of the shows, for free, to the kids’ iPads so they can watch them offline during our frequent long haul flights, completely eradicating the usual chorus of “are we there yets” and saving our travel sanity, is a not insubstantial bonus.

When I told Raffles he was going to chat with Andy Yeatman, Director of Global Kids Content for Netflix, and the guy behind some of his all time favourite shows, he was more than a bit excited.

Here, Raffles and the lovely Andy wax philosophic about watching Netflix on the road, TV snacks and Raffles’ new dream career…

Hey Andy, we travel so much and I love how we can take Netflix with us wherever we go. How many countries is it available in now?
Netflix is available globally in over 190 countries! It’s truly incredible that when we launch a new show or film, it immediately is available to more than 93 million members around the world. We also recently added the ability to download, so you can take many of your favorite movies and series with you while traveling places where you might not have Wi-Fi.
We always download Netflix to our iPads to watch when we’re flying. We’re off to the Great Barrier Reef this week and we’ve just downloaded a Netflix original called Sahara to watch on the plane.

The shows seem a little different wherever we go – is there a reason for that?
We try and make sure the user experience and available content is suited for what people want to watch in any given country, which means ensuring some shows and movies are available in Australia for example that might not be there in the United States.
That makes sense.

You’re the guy I have to thank for all the awesome shows I watch on Netflix, right? Can you tell me what exactly your job involves?
I head up a kids’ content team of about 12 people and our job is basically to choose what content we run for kids all over the world, so whether it is TV Shows and Movies that were aired on other channels that are just really popular and kids really like, like Star Wars Clone Wars or Pokémon, or it’s us actually making our own shows like Trollhunters, Buddy Thunderstruck, Julie’s Greenroom and Legend Quest.
Awesome. Sounds like a pretty fun job.
It is a fun job. We’ve just been watching cartoons for the last hour.
And they pay you? Epic. That’s my new dream job.

I love with Netflix that you can watch a whole series all at once. Like Mr Peabody & Sherman, Kulipari and TrollHunters, they were all so good my little sister and I watched them in a couple of days. What new series for kids do you recommend we should watch next?
So glad you and your sister are enjoying our programming so much! I agree, it’s hard to stop Trollhunters once you start. If you haven’t seen it yet, I would suggest checking out A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Adventures of Puss in Boots or Legend Quest next. They’re all different genres, but I think they’re all very entertaining.
I’m going to check out Legend Quest right after we talk. It’s about Mexican mythology, , right? The sugar skull characters look cool.

My mum and dad love that there are so many shows that have an educational aspect, and my sister and I love that they are fun. We often talk about what we’ve watched with them afterwards. Is that something Netflix does on purpose to keep parents and kids happy?
Absolutely. We strive to create shows for kids that are enriching while also being entertaining. We want you to watch a show like Julie’s Greenroom and be inspired to learn more about the arts, or check out Project MC2 and want to learn more about HTML and technology. We also like making shows that are pure hilarious entertainment, like Buddy Thunderstruck, which just launched in March 2017.

Mum and I also love watching all the great original Netflix food shows together. The ones like Chef’s Table and Cooked, which was especially awesome. Do you plan on more food shows on Netflix? How about one for kids? I’ll host it for you!
You’re not alone. Cooking shows are one of the most popular genres for kids and
families to watch on Netflix. We will definitely be adding more great ones, including some that star kids.
Great, when do I start? Just kidding!

What’s your favourite Netflix Show, Andy?
I love all of them like I love all of my children but I have to say that Trolhunters is my personal favourite.
Mine too!

The most important question of all, since you ARE the expert. What’s your favourite TV Snack?
I like to have food that’s a little healthy, like fruit. Maybe strawberries and grapes, because if I’m snacking on something like M&M’S, I get so engrossed watching the show that I’ll eat them all, so I try to keep it healthier. I have three daughters. Riley’s 9, Anna’s 7 and Molly’s 3 and I asked them their favourites. Anna said pizza, Molly said ice cream and Riley said she’ll eat anything while she’s watching TV. What’s your favourite TV Snack, Raff?
I like that when we binge watch Netflix shows, mum gets creative and comes up with cool dishes to go with what we’re watching, like her Troll Market Rocky Road and Yoda Soda. She’s promised something special for my sister and I to eat while we watch Legend Quest.
I need to up my game. That’s creative.

Thanks for your time Andy.

Disclosure: As a member of the Netflix #StreamTeam we received a year’s subscription to Netflix, and while I will be posting regular updates about the service, and the tasty treats we scoff while we’re watching it, all opinions expressed will be our own.

The post Raffles chats with Andy Yeatman, Director of Global Kids Content for Netflix appeared first on boyeatsworld.

Raffles has been privileged to interview some exciting people. But I don’t even know where to begin in introducing the incredible force of nature that is Pauline Nguyen. One of Australia’s most successful entrepreneurs, Pauline’s accomplishments are even more inspirational considering her less than fortunate beginnings.

Pauline Nguyen and her family escaped Vietnam in 1977 via boat and were forced to spend a year in a Thai refugee camp, before eventually settling in Cabramatta in Sydney’s outer west. Her unique life experiences all contributed to a personal store of strength, courage, wisdom and positivity that have seen her become not only become successful in business, but as a sought-after life coach, mentor, and inspirational and transformational speaker.

Along with her brother, Luke, and partner, Mark Jensen, Pauline is the owner and co-founder of Red Lantern, one of the world’s most highly acclaimed Vietnamese restaurants. She has also authored numerous bestsellers, including the incredible award-winning Secrets of The Red Lantern, has won over audiences and critics in theatre performances, and is an ambassador for WorldVentures’ DreamTrips, a global Travel Membership Company offering curated holiday experiences that share her own vision of living with meaningful purpose.

While balancing all of this with a ninja-like dexterity that leaves me in awe, and a calm that is contagious, Pauline Nguyen is raising two delightful children who are destined to shine as bright as their amazing mother.

Despite juggling more balls than most people could count, she still found time to sit down with Raffles to chat about growing up as a refugee in Australia, the importance of a positive attitude, and travelling with DreamTrips.

And in that magical way she does, left him inspired, invigorated and ready to take on the world.

Over to this dynamic duo… 

Thanks for your time today, Pauline. I’d love for you to answer some questions for me on growing up as a refugee, having a positive attitude and travelling with DreamTrips.

You came to Australia as a refugee, which must have been so, so hard. You were quite little then, do you remember what that time was like?
I remember coming to Australia. I was only three and a half, going on four, but my father wanted me to go to school straight away so he told everyone I was five. I was a tiny little girl who couldn’t speak English and I remember my very first day and will never ever forget it. The teacher wrote what I knew was the alphabet but I didn’t know how to say it. I was mute. I couldn’t speak the language and she was pointing to what I knew was the letter A, but I couldn’t say it in English. Eventually the teachers called my father and said clearly your daughter isn’t five. I had to repeat kindergarten.
That must have been scary and confusing.

You have worked really, really hard and achieved so much for yourself and for our country, like so many refugees have. Are you very upset with the way our Government’s is treating refugees now?
It is an issue that I know polarises people. I’m not only upset with the way the Government treats refugees, but also at the way the homeless and some of the indigenous people are treated. I think there is unfairness everywhere. It is not just a refugee issue. There is a humanity issue that needs to be addressed. We need to treat each other like humans and be kind.

I think we do need to be much kinder and help people. What do you think we should do to help refugees?
I used to do quite a lot of work for the Asylum Seeker Centre in Surry Hills. You know, we can give out money but there are so many of them who are just lonely. They have come to a new country. They’re missing their family – relatives, children and parents. The most immediate form of assistance and help is to go and hang out with some of them.

I created a program a few years ago called Friend and Kindred Day and it was leading up to Human Rights Day. And I gave the gift of contribution to my team as well. Leading up to the day, asylum seekers would come to Red Lantern and teach my team member how to cook particular dishes that reminded them of home. It became a bit of an event. There was over a hundred asylum seekers, refugees and volunteers and the team cooked all the dishes that reminded them of home and it was a beautiful community day. It was amazing.

What about me? How could a kid like me help out?
Give people the gift of time. The easiest way is to go with an adult and approach the Asylum Seeker Centre and just ask. Obviously as a child there are other considerations but you can read and share stories. Just be. Together. Share energy and share space. They would love it and there are particular social days when are you can just come and listen to their stories.
I would really love to do this and will see if mum can help me.

You grew up in Cabramatta, which is one of my favourite places in Sydney. I love visiting the house temples there and all the food. Where do you like to eat when you’re in Cabramatta?
At the temples! When I go back to Cabramatta I either eat at my friends’ houses or go back for Lunar New Year where I spend a lot of time worshipping and eating at the temples.
I like eating everywhere but there’s a place called Pho Tau Bay I love because the bowls of soup are so big you can swim in them.

Your restaurant, Red Lantern, is one of my favourite restaurants ever.
Thanks mate.
The restaurant has won a ton of awards, what’s the secret?
The secret to Red Lantern’s success is always having dreams that far exceed our capacity to achieve them. When we first opened it was just a Vietnamese Restaurant and Luke had these dreams of being a television personality. Mark wanted to be a chef who was passionate about sustainability and the ethics of what we eat. And I wanted to be a writer and a speaker. Those are big, big dreams that were far exceeding our then capacity to achieve them. But when you decide to do something, your mind is already poised to do it so it calls on you to do the things that match your desires. So along with the basics – making sure that the food, the wine and the service is world class and amazing every time – we are always reinventing ourselves.
That’s smart.

I’m a huge fan of your brother Luke, and especially love his shows about Vietnam. Do you go back to Vietnam very often?
Yes, I do actually. I’m an international speaker and the last three times I’ve visited I was invited back to speak on stage. While I’m there I visit Luke and his family and visit my friends. I love going back.
I’ve been there once but I don’t remember it well, it was a while ago. All I really remember is having my cheeks pinched a lot.
You would have your cheeks pinched a lot. You’re a very, very handsome young man.

What’s your favourite Vietnamese dish to eat?
My favourite Vietnamese dish to eat is called Bún bò Huế. It’s a spicy beef noodle soup with silken vermicelli noodles … the nice, thick ones. It’s infused with lots of lemongrass and Vietnamese mint, so there’s a bombardment of aroma and chili heat and intense flavours.
Yum. Sounds exactly like what I would like.

Can you tell me about your travels with WorldVentures’ DreamTrips?
Sure, I love DreamTrips. It’s a private holiday club and we helped launch it in Australia in June 2014. I’ve been on five DreamTrips now and I absolutely love it. We get to travel the world VIP and pay a fraction of the cost. I get to go with my friends and take my children to see the world. It is so affordable and the curated experiences are always mixed and diverse. I love being part of it.

What about the DreamTrips local program?
I’m really passionate about it. The DreamTrips local program launched late last year and Red Lantern was the very first restaurant to be a part of it. There are about 25 (participating) restaurants now in Sydney and more in Melbourne and Perth. If you dine with us as part of the club, you get free champagne (at least mum does), free dessert, are treated like a VIP and then, at the end of your meal when you get your bill, you scan your QR Code on the app and get 20% off the bill paid as DreamTrip points towards your next holiday. So you can eat your way to your next holiday.
Sounds epic.

DreamTrips includes voluntours. How do you ensure these are ethical?
There is huge social proof. We treat non-biodegradable waste and shove it in plastic bottles and use them as bricks to build bottle schools. I think they have built about 70 bottle schools now. As well as schools, we’re also fixing basketball courts and doing up youth centres.

Oprah Winfrey has written about our schools and our voluntours and you know, if it is good enough for Oprah…

Can kids join the voluntours?
Absolutely. I can’t wait to take my children.
I’ll come too … when we travel we like to do more than just see the attractions – we like to help the community.
Good on you.

Do you think it’s important to give back to communities when you travel?
Not only when you travel. Just give back in general. You know I think our biggest purpose on this earth is to evolve and to grow and to find what our true gift is and then to give that gift to other people. At the end of our days we’ll all turn to dust but the question is how many people did you help along the way?

My mum loves your motto ‘live life deliberately and not by default’. Can you explain to me what you mean by this.
As a coach and a mentor I get to assist so many people from all walks of life. So many of them have walked the path that their parents, their friends, their culture and their society have laid out for them and just done what everyone has told them to do. And a lot of them are deeply unhappy because it is not what they want to do, its what everyone else has told them to do. To live life deliberately and not by default is to be in constant search of who you really are, what you really love, what you really want to do, what brings you joy, fulfils you and makes your heart sing. I think as humans it’s our responsibility to find out what that is and go live it, rather than living by default the life someone has passed down to us.
That’s what my mum teaches me. She wants me to be whatever makes me happy, unless that’s being a serial killer or a Trump supporter.

When I grow up I want to be an entrepreneur and speaker like you, or a food and travel show host like your brother, or both. What’s your best advice to becoming successful?
There are so many parts to becoming successful. I think it has a different meaning for everyone. Success for someone might mean living peacefully. For another person it might mean going on lots of holidays. For someone else it might mean lots of money. It depends what it means for you. But I think as an entrepreneur one of the biggest pieces of advice I can give is to really ask the questions to find out who you are and understand yourself and have that sense of self awareness because if you can understand yourself, you can understand other people. And also make sure the people you hang around with and surround yourself with are beautiful, kind, positive people who are always smarter than you.

Because it will rub off right?
Yeah. And you can learn from them. If you are the smartest person in the room, it’s time to get a new room. All my mentors and coaches and teachers are all way smarter than me. And it forces me to rise up to their level. Punch above your own weight!

Thank you so much for your time, Pauline.
Thank you so much Raff, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

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Raffles has interviewed his fair share of chefs, stars and CEO’s, but his interview with fellow 8-year old, Kalyra Makepeace, of yTravelBlog might just be one of his favourites so far.

yTravelBlog is one the world’s most popular travel blogs, thanks to the dedication, passion and accessible nature of its creators, Caz & Craig Makepeace. Sharing their extensive knowledge as they travel Australia, and the world, with their daughters Kalyra and Savannah, has made their blog an essential resource for families who love to travel.

Raffles became a fan when he followed the Makepeace’s 18-month adventure around Australia. He felt a particular connection with Kalyra, a surfing, snake-handling, sunny child who, like him, appears not to be afraid to try anything.

Sensing in Kalyra a kindred spirit, Raffles asked if he could interview her about her travelling life and her next adventure as she and her family get set to jet off on another epic journey around America. And what better way to connect with a junior digital nomad than via the magic of the Internet?

So it’s on to Skype and over to our intrepid eight-year olds, Raffles and Kalyra…

My mum and I are big fans of your family’s website, YTravelBlog, which I think is epic. I love seeing all the places you go and the things you do together. I especially liked following your big trip around Australia. It looked really, really awesome. Where were your favourite places on the trip?
Broome because you get to ride camels and swim at the beach and it’s always warm. Melbourne because I loved having high tea at a fancy hotel and riding on a bike through the city streets. Darwin because it has pretty sunsets and a really cool free waterslide park where I had my 7^th birthday.
I’ve never been to Broome but camel rides ARE totally awesome. I rode one on Bondi Beach and in Muscat in Oman.

How do you do your schoolwork when you travel?
My Mum and I usually only do my schoolwork for an hour or so. My school sends the lessons and Mum helps teach it to me. Then we can go out and explore. Sometimes it can get a little complicated, but we eventually get it done.
Awesome. I always learn the best things exploring.  

Do you miss hanging out with other kids at regular school?
Not really. I usually make new friends so quickly. And I’d rather keep on making new friends while were traveling than go to a school and make friends.

I make lots of new friends on my travels but I don’t like saying goodbye. Do you find it hard to leave the new friends you make behind when you’re travelling?
Most of the time, yes. It is really sad having to leave my friends. But I get over it.
I think there are always new friends waiting to be made.

How do you stay in touch with them?
By doing skype, face time or phone.

You’re learning to surf, which is something I really, really, want to do. Is it very hard?
Well, it’s not that hard really. You get used to it after a while and I practise a lot. I love it. It’s so much fun and I think you should give it a go.
I’m definitely going to start this summer.

Your little sister is about the same age as my little sister. Mine is loads of fun to travel with, and we mostly get along, but sometimes we get on each other’s nerves because we want to do different things. Then we argue, which kind of makes my mum and dad go a bit crazy. How do you manage to not argue with your little sister when you’re travelling together for such a long time?
We are actually are kind of like that. But then we just get too distracted with fun traveling, so we eventually stop.
Yeah, us too. I guess we’re pretty lucky to have our little sisters to keep us company on our travels. Mine is so funny. She cracks me up. 

What is the weirdest thing that’s you’ve had to do on your travels?
Visiting the MONA Museum in Hobart was pretty weird. Especially the room that had a poo machine that copies the human digestive system. It sure was stinky, my mum nearly vomited.
What? I can’t believe there’s a place in Tassie with a poo machine. Does it actually make poo?
No, it just stunk.
That’s epic. I have to see it!

I have my own bucket list of places I most want to go like Cambodia and Iceland. Where in the world would you most like to go to?
I’d really like to go to Africa, China and Indonesia.
My mum just went to Africa without me. No fair! But China and Indonesia are really cool. You will love them.

When we’re planning our trips my sister and I help mum and make loads of suggestions so we get to do the things we want to do. How involved do you get in planning your family trips?
My sister and I like to help plan where we are going to go next, and help choose an RV.

You’re heading off to America with your family soon. What are you looking forward to the most?
Going to see New York and going to Disney World.

What are you most looking forward to in New York?
The Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty and shopping.
It would be the food for me. The China Town there looks awesome.

What’s the absolute best thing about travelling with your family?
I get to see lots of new places, learning new things and have lots of fun along the way.
I agree, plus I really like hanging out with my family more.

I see you sometimes on your mum’s Snapchat, you’re pretty funny. Do you like making Snapchat stories?
I do like it.
I do too. So much that mum had to change her password so I can’t get into her phone.

Thanks for being so cool and answering my questions, Kalyra. Next time you’re in Sydney I’d love to show you around some of my favourite places… to eat and explore.

You can follow the fearless Kalyra and her intrepid family on their travel adventures at http://www.ytravelblog.com and via social media on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and the kids’ favourite social channel,  Snapchat.

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Migrationology’s Mark Wiens is a Thailand-based street food addict with a passion for eating and travel that rivals only the walking stomach that is Raffles. With a legion of fans following his cultural travel adventures on his fabulous blog and tens of millions of views on his extremely popular YouTube channel, Mark is one the internet’s most prolific and successful travel food bloggers… and a genuinely lovely guy.

After bonding over a belly full of street eats at Phuket Old Town’s Walking Street Night Market, he’s also Raffles’ street food superhero and new buddy. Here they’re talking about their mutual favourite topic, travelling to eat! Over to the boys… 

It was really fun to meet you in Phuket and to explore the Old Town Walking Market with someone who likes to eat ALMOST as much as I do! 

My mum is a travel writer and a great cook. I’d have to say she is the main reason I love food and travel so much. How have your family influenced the way you travel and eat?
Just like you, my parents and my extended family, have had a huge impact on the reason I love food and travel so much. For travel, I grew up with my parents living in a couple of different countries including France and DR Congo, and so that’s why I still enjoy traveling to this day. And for food, I don’t know of anything my family enjoys doing more than eating!
Mine either.

You live in Thailand, what made you decide to move there from America?
After finishing university I had no idea what I wanted to do, so I found a cheap plane ticket to Bangkok. From there I traveled around Asia for about 6 months and then ran out of money. I then returned to Bangkok to meet a friend and I ended up getting a job teaching English. Then I met my wife, and I’ve been based in Thailand ever since. 

Do you have a favourite city in Thailand for food? 
Thailand has a huge diversity of food, from the north to the south. And because I love all the food from across Thailand so much, Bangkok is the city where you can get food from any part of the country.
I need to get mum to take me to Bangkok then. 

What country in Asia, outside of Thailand, is your favourite food destination?
That’s a very tough question, but I think I will choose India, because I love spicy food that’s full of flavors. And India is one of the most exciting countries in the world for food lovers.
I love Indian food so much, the spicier the better.

You love street food, like me. What is your top advice for safe eating at street vendors. 
Try to eat at street food stalls that are busy with customers and serve fresh cooked food. Also, take a look at the stall and see how it looks. Sometimes the hygiene at a street food stall just doesn’t look good, and you should listen to what your instincts tell you.
Great advice. That’s what we do. 

You can find some pretty whacky stuff in street markets. What is the weirdest thing you’ve ever eaten?
I typically love to try anything I’ve never tried before, so I’ll try just about anything from tarantulas to raw pig’s blood soup. There’s a dish in northern Thailand called “loo,” which is made of raw pig’s blood and you eat it with raw slices of kidney.
OK, you win. I’ll try most things but pig’s blood soup sounds pretty full on even for me.

You have like a gazillion subscribers on your Migrationology YouTube channel, which I love. What made you decide to start your own show?
I started off blogging and taking photos, but I didn’t think that captured the atmosphere and action of eating street food. So I started just making simple videos about street food to capture the food, ambiance, and emotion of eating.
Cool, we have a YouTube Channel too and I’m launching my own travel and food series on it very soon. Stay tuned!

If someone gave you $500 to eat one meal where would you go?
Japan. You could easily spend that money on a meal in Japan, and you know the quality would be worth it.
Take me with you!

If you only had $5 to eat a meal where would you go?
Indonesia. For less than $5 you can eat a huge meal of rice and a variety of incredibly delicious curries.
Another one for my bucket list.

Speaking of which, I have a bucket list of all the places I really, really want to travel to eat. Right now my top 5 includes eating my way through a fromagerie in Paris, scoffing dumplings on the Great Wall of China, gobbling ceviche in Mexico during Dia Des Los Muertos, gorging on bunny chow in South Africa and taking down a deep fried tarantula in Cambodia… Do you have a place on your food bucket list that you want to go to more than anywhere else?
I have so many, but at the top of my list right now is going to Chengdu (Sichuan Province of China) to eat the spicy, and mouth numbing (from Sichuan peppercorns) cuisine!
Sounds really exciting and yummy, can’t wait to read all about it. Thanks for the chat Mark and hope to see you again soon.

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