Photo by wakxyYoung, independent-minded travelers tend to see the tour bus as a rolling retirement home, shepherding flocks of Bermuda-shorted pensioners from tourist trap to tourist trap while spoon-feeding them a watered-down version of the local culture. But what if you have to take the tour bus?TOUR BUSES CAN SEEM about as adventurous and educational as watching a week’s worth of infomercials.

A deep, reverberating “Hiiii” is released from the collective lungs of the All Blacks, New Zealand’s national rugby team.THE HAKA DANCE IS more than a show of nationalism or team support; it’s a call to respect and a show of reverence for past and present players, the opposing team, the supporters, the game and New Zealand.

All you need to know about keeping your crib in order.ALISON HAYNES KNOWS a thing or two about keeping house, having just released Clean Sweep: The Ultimate Guide To Decluttering, Detoxing and Destressing Your Home. The guide serves as a comprehensive how-to for any homeowner, including many ‘recipes’ for homespun cleaners and beauty aids.

Cathy Dean talks with performance artists about their craft.I WAS LOST, DRIVING around Santiago attempting to find the freeway. While stopped at a red light, I looked up from the map to see a twenty-something guy standing in the crosswalk chucking knives into the air and catching them.Forgetting about the map, I grabbed my camera and took a photo.

Why are we so obsessed with how homeless people spend the money we give them?I RECENTLY READ How Panhandlers Use Free Credit Cards in The Star, and while I imagine that the writer, Jim Rankin, has his heart in the right place, I can’t help but bristle at the idea that the question is being asked and is so important to those that might drop a few quarters into the palm of a citizen sitting on the sidewalk, begging for change.

A conversation from Sundarbans National Park.“I HAVE NO INCOME,” he says.He displays no emotion. He could have been telling me the time of day.Ananth Bhyaa is our guide in the Sundarbans. The mangrove trees and the rivers that empty into the sea on the border between India and Bangladesh make this place the largest delta and estuarine forest in the world, and the largest tiger reserve in India — it’s famous as a home of the man-eating Bengal tiger.