I just finished recording a live radio session with Drew Olanoff (the creator of Blog.Abroad) in Philly and David Lawerence of the David Lawerence Show in LA.  After Drew told me about the opportunity to speak for an hour on live radio I skipped around the house and did a rather graceless victory dance. Tee hee. Then I proceeded to the local Sunny Surplus to purchase the supplies listed on my Field Guide Handbook checklist. As you can imagine, it was slightly difficult to focus on the explanation the salesman gave on the merits of various hiking socks. Why does a pair of hiking socks cost $16? Apparently they are completely comfortable, wick away all moisture, and are guaranteed not to stink. I’m skeptical but I bought two pairs anyway. Ended up spending $160 tonight.

Perhaps I paid less attention than I should of to prices because I was so excited about speaking on live national radio! Upon arrival home I thoroughly brushed my teeth (seemed like the thing to do for an interview), drank 2 cups of hot chai and then completed sun salutations and other yoga moves interspersed with more skipping around the house. I bet Drew just sat patiently with a magazine, he seemed much more like a pro on the radio.

Despite saying, “ummm” a little much I’m very happy with how the interview progressed. David Lawerence gave me the great suggestion of bringing Old Bay, the classic Baltimore spice, as a gift for the Ticos so that they could try something of my culture. I will definitely bring along a couple gift tins as well as some other Baltimore themed gifts (audience, I am open to ideas). His second piece of advice was to purchase a solar water heater. This idea I am not so hot on (excuse the pun) because I’m just a poor college student. If he is correct that I will be miserable with a cold outdoor shower, I hope that one of my classmates will empathize and let me borrow theirs.

Now I definitely want to check out Will Wheaton’s book and apparently classic blog. I apologize to those more experienced bloggers for my ignorance.

One comment that David Lawerence made that surprised me a little was when he said I was the stereotypical idealist in a pool of sharks (or something to that effect). As far as idealism goes, I believe in having a healthy disregard for the impossible, but I consider wishful thinking a waste of time. Ask anyone in the club I lead at UMBC, Students for Environmental Awareness (SEA), and they will tell you that I am very results oriented. Compared to the hippies of the sixties, I believe that today’s activists are much more data driven. Previous generations of environmentalists had the role of generating awareness. Due to their efforts, most people know about acid rain, global warming, the hole in the ozone layer, endangered species, habitat loss, and deforestation. These are generally accepted problems. My generation’s role is to collect the hard data and formulate plans using the scientific method to determine best management practices for a sustainable world.

Though I would love to travel back in time and see the Costa Rican rainforest at a time before European settlement, I am glad that I am living today. The present is a very exciting time to live because of all of the new tools and technology we have to study and see places as was never before possible. Remote sensing, LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), GPS (Global Positioning System), GIS (Geographic Information Systems), digital cameras, and satellite phones give us so much freedom and power. Who’d a thunk 15 years ago that I would be able to send text, images, and audio to you from remote locations in the rainforest? It makes you wonder where we'll be in another 15 years. Carpe Diem!

~Tammy