THE GEO-CHALLENGE: NATURE AS TRAINING SPACE FOR THE REAL WORLD

When will we come to the day that we find ourselves hiking up the mountainside and low and behold - we stumble upon a buried treasure, hidden for us by a team of geo-trekkers?

GeoTrekking is good preparation for the future nomad, especially if you live in a disaster-prone area:

(http://www.adventureassoc.com/team/geotrek.html)
"GeoTrek is an adventure, based on the sport geo-caching, that blends nature and technology. Courses are set in rural or urban setting and secret caches are hidden in parks or peculiar city spots. Your team will experience the novelty of learning to use GPS devices and the excitement of locating caches.
In computer terms a cache is information usually stored in memory to make it faster to retrieve, but the term is also used in hiking or camping as a hiding place for concealing and preserving provisions. Our caches contain clues to the next cache or instructions for team challenges.
Teams of 3-4 are given maps or charts, then taught to use GPS (global positioning system) units to determine the approximate location of a secret cache, within 6-20 feet, then fan out for a search. It takes deductive reasoning to determine exactly where the cache may be.
Once found, the team uses the unit to navigate from their current location to another location...translating the "as-the-crow-flies" directions into a real path using sidewalks, streets or trails as necessary.
GeoTrek can include long hikes, or a series of short walks to get to the caches depending on your group’s objectives. It may be a timed event as well if your team appreciates more competition. Other options include bicycles, kayaks or boats, public transportation, snow shoes or cross-country skis."

Real-World Testimonials:

The Adventure Associates program helped me to better understand myself and my teammates. The activities exposed us to different scenarios forcing us to work as a team and consequently helped us to realize the merits of collaboration.
~ Oracle

Adventure Associates did an excellent job in laying the ground work for the team's two-day program. The discussions and the activities they facilitated helped our team to work together more effectively; with greater levels of openness and trust.
~ Hewlett Packard

Thank you for a fun and rewarding Pursuit. Our entire staff from all over the world enjoyed it immensely. You can bet we’ll call you again when we’re ready for more team training.
~The Gap

In our everyday operations we constantly interact with different types of personalities. Thanks to our work with Adventure Associates, we understand these differences and know they react to certain situations… that’s very helpful in improving communication skills.
~ The North Face

Thank you for providing such a wonderful teambuilding experience for our entire group. We appreciate all the time and attention that you gave to our event in order for us to achieve our goals. It was a pleasure working with you and your associates.
~ Visa USA Inc.

The Adventure Associates staff were a very positive influence. They made people feel comfortable, especially when setting their own goals. Encouraging without pushing, they allowed people to learn at their own pace, from their own choices.~ Charles Schwab, Inc.

The Adventure Associates staff is beyond professional. They presented the appropriate activities for the group and facilitated a flawless discussion after the program was over.~ American Express

(http://www.adventureassoc.com/team/geotrek.html)

THE GEO-CHALLENGE: ALL THE WORLD IS A MALL

Nature shapes culture and in turn, culture inevitably alters nature. When will we arrive at the day that we find ourselves hiking up the idyllic mountainside and, expecting to finally reach the serenity of an open field or babbling brook (that we have only seen in some unearthed Gates/Corbis image collection) and then low and behold - do our eyes deceive us? No. Erected in front of us is a brand new earth-camoflage structure, an earthy-topia none other than the Body Shop. And it finally all makes sense, we are all visiting nature so we can recreate some idea of nature IN BUSINESS FORM. We all need to invent our own way to sell our sense of nature and natural beauty, no matter how unnatural (whatever that is) it may be. Nature makes you feel good. Unfortunately, we have put nature by the wayside. Instead of being outside enjoying nature, you can find us in the mall buying products that may express our love of and for nature, and may show our sense of social responsibility for the earth.

Dedicated Mallers may let you in on a hidden secret: the whole world has become a mall. No longer is the mall an economically segregated safe place to send our kids after school. Now, it is everything, from the bush in your backyard, to what is left of the polar icecaps, and it is the Body Shop hidden within the bushy hills of Muir Woods, California. If you like nature, you LOVE the mall of nature. Come shop with us! Places like the Mall of America have turned the mall's interior into a representation of the outside world, jungles and all.

Like Myspace, the mall is not only a place to network socially, but a place to live in. Now, mobile commerce creates a world-wide datastructure built on the premise of consuming. The mall is everywhere. The human’s place in space is marked by consumption - the locations of spending habits are tracked and sold back to the seven-firm oligopolies, For Their Information (FTI) in an endless cycle of consumption. Space’s main function and pervasive form is now Information Space. Mall is the very essence of how culture will define itself. A picture is assembled that confirms a continuity between the home and the market-place, between various levels of artifice and nature and between divergent and often distinct geographic locations.

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