Travel is one of the best ways to open your perspective. Seeing and experiencing new places can be a strong catalyst for making us aware and more conscious, but those experiences can also come at an environmental cost.

With a rise in eco-tourism, it’s tempting to think that sustainable travel is easily achievable, but in some places, exploring and voyaging have a higher impact than the supposed benefits. In fact, many organizations around the world are constantly working to develop stricter regulations that will protect local environments, cultures …

Tags: antarctica , cruises , dubai , eco tourism , eco travel , ecuador , galapagos islands , Mumbai , slums , slums tourism , sustainable tourism , travel

2 Comments |

Link to this post |

|

Bookmark

Imagine being cast away on your very own desert island … a coral cay lush with greenery and bird life and fringed with white sand. Day after day you would swim in the clear blue ocean and spot giant green turtles, manta rays and rainbow-hued fish and coral.

This was the reality of my recent holiday on Wilson Island on the southern tip of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. It genuinely was a desert island – all the water had to be brought in by boat – but …

Tags: camping , eco travel , glamping , green travel , tourism , Wilson Island

15 Comments |

Link to this post |

|

Bookmark

We’ve all been there at one point or another, whether our travels have taken us far away for weeks or across town for a night. I’m referring to the moment when we open our luggage to find something gooey has spilled out from the contents of our toiletry or cosmetics bag.

It doesn’t matter how tight I twist or close or tie, the random leak is inevitable. The only sure solution, other than not packing anything at all, is a water-resistant bag. And even better if it’s a recycled bag.

The …

Tags: bag , cosmetics , eco travel , luggage , organic , recycled

Add Comment |

Link to this post |

|

Bookmark

A tourism paradox plagues beautiful Costa Rica, the must-see destination for every family I know. Its highly visited parks, like Manuel Antonio, depend on visitors to keep the bulldozers and loggers out, yet the growing crowds pose an obvious threat to the protected birds, iguanas and sloths, not to mention the monkeys in the trees people aren’t suppose to feed.

As a result, this original capitol of eco-tourism is taking steps to reduce the impact, capping the number of daily visitors to Manuel at 600 during the week and 800 …

Tags: animal preservation , conservation , Costa Rica , eco travel , tourism , zip-lines

2 Comments |

Link to this post |

|

Bookmark

Recently I was fortunate enough to marvel at some of the world’s most remote and beautiful places and look rare, wild creatures in the eye. All without so much as a carbon toeprint.

I was traveling virtually, of course. I went to see the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition at the Natural History Museum in South Kensington, London, about half an hour on the Tube (London’s public subway system) from my home.

The exhibition is on at this location until April 26. After that point it travels around the …

Tags: eco travel , photography , virtual travel , wildlife , Wildlife Photographer of the Year

1 Comment |

Link to this post |

|

Bookmark