5 Conscious Tips for Travelers

Traveling is one of life’s greatest pleasures.
Learning from other cultures, tasting new cuisines, embracing novel concepts and coming home with wider eyes is a wonderful experience.

We have nomadic genes, and it’s difficult to shake them off—even in the face of a looming climate catastrophe. Yet sometimes curious travelers are good, they can alter the local economic landscape, bring fresh opportunities and strengthen conservation efforts.

So here are five tips for choosing your next trip. And remember:

be a traveler not a tourist.

1. Go local

   • The mainstream belief is that to have an exotic experience you must travel far and wide. Yet the lockdowns have shown us how little we know of our own backyard.
   • Traveling by train can be productive and entertaining. Read, work or watch a movie whilst enjoying the beautiful landscape.
   • Check out what is happening in terms of conservation near you. Many rewilding safaris, permaculture courses and eco-tourist spots are popping up everywhere.

2. Plan a trip that supports the local community

   • There are certain well known destinations that have been utterly ruined by massive foreign development.
   • Where you stay and how you spend your money can have an impact on the future of the town.
   • Support small hotels and operations run by locals, make sure your trip supports the community instead of a big corp.

3. Join a conservation-focused tour

   • The most enriching type of traveling, make it super memorable by joining scientists, NGOs, explorers or just volunteer on your next journey.
   • Here a list of our top 10 conservation-focused operators!

4. Stay conscious when abroad

   • Go to the local market or buy from nearby farms
   • Indulge in fish / meat if you’ve met the fishermen / farmer or trust the restaurant!
   • Ask about the trash collection, minimize your impact by packing strategically and always carrying your own water bottle.
   • Respect local customs and traditions.

5. Slow travel is cool

   • Western society has normalized frenetic lifestyles, jetting off somewhere new every week.
   • Yet this type of travel can utterly drain you. Choose to combine traveling instead. eg. Need to go somewhere for work? Stay the weekend and explore. Make it worth your energy
     Can you work from remote? Go full nomad: van life or hostel life are super in vogue right now—make traveling a lifestyle.

*In case you were wondering the most UNsustainable type travel you can do is to go on a cruise ship.