How to soft sell an economy vacation to South America to your Essay

How to soft sell an economy vacation to South America to your family – a discussion about whether or not the Amazon is virtual; and “touch and go” on virtually every other issue, as well.

So, you’re on a family vacation budget and want to take the kids on an unforgettable trip, which will also make sense for you, with the cents you have to saved to spend?

Do a quick Google search for cheap family destination and you will find South America around the top of the list every time, with at least one country.

This is what could happen when you ask your kids how a trip to the Amazon sounds to them:

 Your kids are, by now, flipping the virtual pages looking for more Mars-bound destinations, and are already bored at the suggestion, because they’ve had enough of shopping. They didn’t hear the important grammatical determiner ”the” before Amazon – and thought you meant “Amazon” and not “The Amazon”.

Then you have to explain to them that Amazon is not only, in fact, a giant online American super store but also a gigantic terrestrial rainforest. Furthermore, the forest came first and not the super shop – if you really want to get into which came first “the chicken or the egg/ the virtual or the real” discussions.

“Ok, South America – What’s there to see and do?”

“The Amazon – a real rainforest, not a virtual shopping jungle.”

Puns, jokes and virtual allusions aside- this is why letting your kids know that The Amazon Basin, and South America in general , preceded the world’s favourite online shopping spot; and that Mr Bezos chose that clever word “Amazon” because it was the greatest marketing allusion on the planet – shop from A to Z. It also comes up first in a business directory – because it starts with A.

Looking for a clever marketer ? Mr Bezos selected one of the best –   with a smart little arrow underneath moving your attention span from A to Z, you are completely convinced that life can only move forward with Amazon.

The rest of the scary marketing verbal illusion is this – when you now hear the word Amazon, which do you think of first – the forest or the store – or at least both, and not just the forest?

This is just the kind of bizarre, empty associations the virtual world has made in your offsprings’ one-of-a-kind minds, capable of understanding stellar super novas, yet focussed incessantly on an empty spiralling black hole called “what’s new on the virtual page”.

Do they even know or care about this:

Without the Amazon basin the tragic virtual world which has bound the human mind into mindless spells and trances, would have no point anyway, because without these giant organic lungs, the world wouldn’t even be. If the Amazon ceases to breathe, so do we.

Ok- time to disambiguate about the Amazon, and go looking for real jaguars (again not the “co-named car ) and other really fun stuff ; like so many beautiful and versatile frogs that even double up as poisonous darts, so that, while leaving them in a sustainable eco-healthy state, you can still harvest their essential weaponry, for the next “buffet alla rainforest” (according to the rainforest indians.)

Some more facts:

 There are three large rainforests in the world today. The Amazon, the Congo basin and Indonesia They ( together with other minor “rainman” players ) cover less than 3% of the earth’s surface, but are critical to global survival. They are more plant and animal life rich than any other terrestrial ecosystems. This is why they are so critical to global survival. Many aspects of consumer life and survival we take for granted come from rainforest areas. The Amazon forest is the most important because it covers a larger area than both of the other two combined.

 How big is it exactly – just to get a point of reference? 6.9 million (not thousand) square kms – more or less the size of 48 USA states side by side. It covers 40 % of the entire South American continental area .

 50% of all terrestrial biodiversity is found in rainforests – 30 % of these in the Amazon itself. Their potential value to the human community is priceless – ie: price tag as yet unknown, or maybe even incalculable.

The eyes of the world’s researchers and policymakers are constantly focussed on the Amazon as an irreplaceable ecosystem, and key to the planet’s survival.

However, the Amazon basin itself is so rich that it is not just made up of rainforest areas but a complex and colourful mosaic of many types of ecosystems and types of forests and vegetation areas – seasonal forests, flooded forests etc.

The striking,  exact biodiversity numbers are these:

It hosts the largest (in terms of drainage) and one of the most spectacular rivers in the world. It comprises of 1100 tributaries, 17 longer than 1000 miles.

Worth a better education in orientation and future survival than “Is there a future without Disneyland and other comic notions about how life should be, and is probably not?” In my opinion,  without a doubt.

  “ Fine, when do we go?”

Kids are great in that respect. Once they have a good reason to engage in something new, even if previously bored about the general idea, they become exuberantly enthusiastic.

 This points to another reason for taking them to South America – a little known, or explored, fact in the West, though essentially an intriguing reality in the East, both in its mystical and medicinal dimensions, is the third eye (the eye of inspiration, said to be located in the middle of the forehead), which is where the pineal gland (the inspiration gland) is located inside the human brain. The even rarer medical and mystical “really is” connection is the fact that the nerve which runs from this gland through the spinal bone structure connects at the base of the spine in an area known as the holy bone ( sacrum) – that is the pelvic area.

  Have you noticed something about people who feel ill in some way – they often feel stiff in the pelvic area – can’t move very well. It’s an important well-being gauge- which is why doctors always say, if you’re feeling ill – exercise, exercise, exercise, if you can -loosen this area, and somehow the endorphins (the famous “stay happy and inspired” chemicals) begin to flow again, more naturally.

 Have you noticed this about children – they are very supple in this area- they move, jump, climb trees, and do gymnastic feats that Olympic gymnasts would envy.

Flexibility of movement is linked to great inspiration and creative powers. Adults lose this a lot over time- compared to children.

This is exactly where your children are being cheated.

They have been tragically gamed into believing that hanging around computers and smartphones will make them smarter – or which had mysteriously been renamed as i-intelligent, i-wisdom, and other i-things ( to, in some way, restart the whole idea of what intelligence really is, in a more virtual paradigm) Not really true – raw knowledge alone does not make you smarter, if you don’t engage and interact with all the aspects and intelligence mechanisms which are part of you as a living being ( whether you believe you are created , or not)

 You could throw this in on the soft sell Amazing Economy Amazon Trip – “Did you know that almost every great design idea was inspired by nature?”

 If becoming a great engineer – even designing the next rocket to the outer stars – the best working model is nature itself – because that’s essentially how life has always worked.

Paint a great picture- what is the greatest original source of inspiration?- nature.

Nature is not only the greatest source of inspiration, but the mother of all inventions

For your kids who aspire to becoming great in “anything”- great healers for example:

 The Amazon is the original source not only of great shamanic healers with a complex understanding of medicinal plants, but the home of not only countless sources of medicinal healing already used all over the world, but countless yet to be discovered.

 The Amazon basin could, without exaggeration, be called the key to future human well-being and good health.

 Your children are still young enough to open their third eye very wide and look at life as it really is-and end up with a gulp of fresh air in their lungs which expresses this in their future destiny “really , this is life “in the real” -amazing!”

Part Two – “Why the “Amazing” Amazon” here: