At home in the world

Gabriela Taylor has visited 57 countries. She’s toured most of the states in America. She’s traveled hundreds of thousands of miles in her 74 years on Earth.

She’s far from settling down in her Kauai home. Cuban, she says, is on her agenda. And after that, well, there are more hidden villages to explore, and more importantly, more people to meet.

And that’s the key. That’s what drives Gabriela Taylor to be a globetrotter, something she’s done since her days at the University of California, Berkeley.

“I’m fascinated with the creativity of human beings,” she said. 

From music to food to dance to architecture, there is tremendous variation in the world, and Taylor wants to absorb it all. 

 “It’s just unbelievable when you get out there and you learn about these cultures. You learn how people think differently than we do,” she said.

Which is a good thing.

“I travel because I feel I’m making friends in the world, and it’s a small part of making peace,” she added.

Thursday, Taylor will screen her latest adventure movie, “Wild Indonesia: For Survival or For Sale?” She hiked, swam and boated through the jungles of Borneo, Komodo and Sumatra to experience endangered orangutans, dragons and elephants as well as a disappearing rainforest. 

A second movie, narrated by Morgan Freeman, “Born to Be Wild,” is about an orangutan sanctuary in Borneo as well to an elephant preserve in Kenya where these animals are rescued, rehabilitated and returned to the wild.

The free program, about an hour and 15 minutes for both films, is 7 to 9:30 p.m. at the Kapaa Library.

Taylor hopes for a large turnout and believes it’s important that people, if they have the chance, see as much of the world as they can. She travels with her camcorder, Nikon camera and laptop to record what she experiences.

“Come see this because the cultures are disappearing. It’s timely right now because of the climate change. There’s a lot of destruction in the world. If you really want to go see indigenous cultures, you should go within the next five years. Any place. They’re all disappearing. It’s the old people who are holding the cultures, the young people don’t want to follow them.”

Fit for adventure

Taylor, who has climbed active volcanoes, traversed rivers and scaled mountains, stays fit because traveling demands it. Someone hobbling along and out of breath won’t do well in some of the places she’s been.

The college professor of health sciences learned years ago that to support her traveling habit, she needed to stay healthy. She gets eight hours of aerobic exercise a week, vigorous dancing two or more times a week, bikes on Ke Ala Hele Makalae and swims daily in the ocean. Taylor also works out with weights at the gym three times a week, stretches and practices Qi Gong daily. She takes vitamins and notes she hasn’t had a cold for more than 20 years.

Her motto is, “keep moving.”

“When I’m traveling, I keep up  aerobic exercise and stretch, but my exercise program is modified for the time and place,” she wrote in an email. “I always drink lots of water and when traveling in developing countries,  but make sure it’s boiled, filtered or bottled. I eat a balanced diet of whatever food is available while traveling, but try to avoid warmed up rather than freshly cooked and be careful of eating raw vegetables.”

“The important thing for me is to have fun while traveling, enjoy the culture, be spontaneous  and step out of my comfort zone,” she wrote. “It’s a  time to leave the past behind and be open to meet people and  learn new things. And remember, the journey is just as important as the destination. 

How it began

She recalls that her passion for adventure began when a friend told her about a trip on a freighter to Europe — for $150. Then, money was in short supply, so traveling on a budget was appealing.

 “He said his budget was a dollar a day, so I believed him. I went on this incredible journey, where I stayed in Morocco a month and traveled all around Europe for several months,” she said. “That’s what got me going on the traveling thing. That was the impetus.”

 Taylor went on to graduate, marry and spend time with the Peace Corps in Brazil. She settled on Kauai more than four decades ago and penned a book, “Geckos & Other Guests: Tales of a Kaua’i Bed & Breakfast.” In her home, there’s a map, covered with dots, on the wall. Each dot represents a place she’s visited, including Africa three times and many trips to Asia.

“I’ve gone to just about every place I ever wanted to. I don’t go to cold places anymore. I can’t stand cold weather after living in the tropics,” she said, smiling.

Asia remains a favorite “because the people are really friendly and it’s really easy to travel there. It’s a gentle place,” she said. For ease of travel, interesting food, people, sights, Indonesia is right up there, she added. India is probably the hardest place to travel because it’s so crowded, and there are people always trying to sell you something. If it’s wild animals you want to see, then she recommends Africa — but don’t delay.

 “Zimbabwe, last year, there were hardly any animals left in the park, because people were so poor they were eating the animals besides taking the ivory,” she said. “People who can’t stand poverty I wouldn’t recommend going to certain places because you’re going to see a lot of sadness.”

 Taylor prefers to travel alone — “It’s easy to get in conversation with others. I’m accessible. —  and tries to stay where the locals live, rather than hotels.

“For me, the most important thing is connecting with the local people. That is the key to traveling,” she said.

And people of other countries, contrary to popular opinion, like Americans, she said. Perhaps not the government, but they like Americans.

“People are friendly in the world. I can’t even remember any bad experiences I’ve had in all these years I’ve been traveling,” Taylor said. 

 “It’s all good. It’s just an amazingly friendly world.”