Blog Archives

What Can You Do To Help Overtourism?

Overtourism has become a serious problem in recent years, to the point that many authorities are calling for restrictions on tourism to reduce damage and harm to local ecosystems and populations, but it doesn’t have to be like that. Travel itself is not a bad thing and can have a positive impact if it is done right, so here are the best and easiest ways you can help as an individual traveller by reducing the impact of overtourism on the destinations you love.

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Posted in Responsible Travel

Flight Shaming Is Wrong And Will Not Help The Environment.

Flight shaming has been on the rise in the past few years with growing calls to ground all aircraft and stop flying altogether. As increasing numbers of people become more conscious of their environmental impact on the world the focus has inevitably turned to what is percieved as one of its biggest polluters, flying, and those travellers who fly a lot have come under increasing demands to stop. Envioronmental concerns are a good thing, but flight shaming is illogical and wrong, and is not the way to help the envioronment. In fact flight shaming may do far more harm than good.

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Posted in Responsible Travel

Gap Years, Overtourism, And How Travel Is Ruining The Destinations We Love.

Travel in general is a very positive thing, both for the traveller and for the destinations they visit, but what happens when the sheer level of tourism threatens the very places travellers love? What happens when overtourism becomes a burden to a destination? And what can travellers do to help solve the problem of overtourism?

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Posted in Responsible Travel

Making Positive Tourism Count In Lalibela.

Lalibela is a small town in northern Ethiopia that despite being a significant pilgrimage site for Coptic Christians and a UNESCO world heritage site, has yet to be hit by mass tourism. But as travellers wake up to the beauty of this region and start arriving in larger numbers, the local population are already taking steps to make sure that any future influx of tourism has a balanced, positive impact on the local population.

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Posted in Responsible Travel

Are Camel Safaris Responsible Or Ethical?

Camel treks and safaris are a popular tourist activity around the world, but is camel riding ethical or responsible? Is Camel trekking harmful to the animals and should travellers and backpackers be riding a camel at all on their gap years? It is time to ask if we can’t find a better, more ethical and responsible camel trekking practice, should we stop riding camels altogether?

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Posted in Responsible Travel

The Benefits Of Local Tourism On Your Gap Year.

Local  tourism is more than just the latest buzzword, it is a very real and tangible way of travelling that has a positive impact on not only the wider environment, but also the local people in the destinations we visit. Here are just a few reasons you should stay as local as possible on your travels.

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Posted in Responsible Travel

10 Reasons Independent Sustainable Travel Should Be The New Normal.

Responsible and sustainable tourism is becoming increasingly accepted as the gold standard in travel, and independent travellers are starting to question traditional tourism and demand more responsible practices instead. Here are ten reasons why that momentum should not only continue, but become the new normal.

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Posted in Responsible Travel

Greenwashed Gap Years, How To Spot And Avoid Greenwashing On Your Travels.

With sustainable travel becoming increasingly popular, how do you know if the travel choices you make are truly responsible, or if they are just falling victim to a cynical greenwashed marketing ploy by big business? Here is everything you need to know about making eco friendly travel choices and avoiding greenwashed travel before you set off on your gap year. 

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Posted in Responsible Travel

Tripadvisor Is Finally Stopping Ticket Sales To Irresponsible Wildlife Attractions. But Is It Enough?

Tripadvisor has finally announced that it is to end its practice of selling tickets to cruel and unethical wildlife attractions, but is it too little too late? And is it enough? 

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Posted in Responsible Travel, Travel Talk

A Day With BAWA’s Street Feeding Team In Bali.

The Bali Animal Welfare Association’s street feeding team does some amazing and under appreciated work helping the stray dogs of Bali. Find out what happened when I spent a day with them.

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Posted in Responsible Travel

Hi, I'm Michael! I'm a former nurse turned published author and world travelling professional adventurer! I have spent over twenty years travelling over 100 countries and I want to inspire you to do the same! Want to know more about me? Just click here!

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