Buckle up, road trip season is upon us. Now more than ever, there are more Americans choosing domestic vacations, traveling by car and visiting places within the US that they’ve yet to explore. A road trip is the quintessential journey through the “lower 48” and beyond. I’ve drove tens of thousands of miles over the years, in Canada, Greece, Cuba, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Morocco, Oman and along the east and west coast of the US. Here are a few vital tips and tricks for road trip planning, the sustainable way.  1. Packed & Prepared Make sure you are prepared before you hit the road. Planning for a road trip can still…

As environmental concerns become more dire, travelers are trying to do more to lessen their environmental impact while on vacation. While there are good intentions, often travelers are missing the mark. Learn about four major eco-travel errors that visitors make and ways to avoid common mistakes.  Eco Friendly Transport  Choosing the way you get around can be the first of a string of planning errors. It can also be one of the easiest ways that you can make up for previous bad behaviors.  Obviously, flying is the major culprit when it comes to poor travel choices. Flights can be the major player when you’re calculating your total carbon footprint for…

You wiggle your toes deeper into the sand, the granules slowly trickle on top of your feet. The midday sun heats the top layer of sand and as your hallux digs deeper, stopping when you find the sticky cool sediment you’re looking for. The tide pushes a wave of cool salty water over the growing mound, hardening the sand around your feet. You squirm beneath the weight of the wet sand, cracking until it eventually crumbles and you start the process all over again. Even imagining something so simple can bring a feeling of pure relaxation. It’s one of the reasons we seek out beach vacations. The calmness you feel…

What is Sustainable Travel? We have all heard the buzz words, but what does it mean to travel more responsibly and what are the benefits of sustainable tourism? These are all important questions we should be asking when planning a vacation. Whether it’s to the beach, your own hometown, a neighboring state or a country a plane ride away, visiting responsibly should continually be a part of the travel conversation. Sustainable travel essentially means that when we are visiting places we are keeping the environment, the local people & their customs a priority. Whether it is reducing your carbon footprint or acknowledging local customs, sustainable travel is a way to…

This Week in Ethical Travel: Cultural Appropriation vs Cultural Appreciation Traveling to new places gives us a chance to learn about cultures and traditions. It may be one of the top reasons we travel, it’s the chance to experience something different. When we’re in a country that has customs outside of our own, assimilation is often the first instinct to try and “fit in”. It can be for a variety of reasons, to show respect while visiting or to avoid standing out in a crowd. In doing so, cultural appropriation vs cultural appreciation can be a way for us to decide how to best immerse ourselves without being offensive. It…

The best way to be more environmentally conscious when traveling is learning how to reduce your carbon footprint. While a majority of us will have most of our carbon emissions through day to day choices we make at home, travel has become a major cause of carbon. And for Americans, the United States is one of the leaders in emissions through travel. Originally it was predicted that tourism had about a 3% impact on overall global emissions, but after research it was revealed that number is closer to 8%. While that percentage may not sound large, we were nearly 3 times off when trying to predict the impact travel has…

Things I Don’t Forget When Returning from Long Term Travel Travel frequently distributes lessons that you’ll only learn while on the road. Long term travel is a privilege that exponentially increases those chances of valuable life lessons. While there are so many things I’ve found out about myself and others through travel, I think it is the way you use those AFTER you return is the most important. Too often we hear people talk about long term travel as transformative. It’s all too commonly suggested that travel is the best way to find yourself and learn. I’ve been guilty of this myself. I’ve been known to talk about how travel…