What Travelers Can Do to Save the Planet

Hope you’re hanging in there! We are living in wild days! But I hope we all come through better, and stronger.

Last week, my newsletter noted that we should all re-imagine a “new better” for the future of travel. I’m trying to live up to the words. And I’m trying to ensure that every conversation I have with you and other clients at least get you thinking about what you can do, and how you can save the planet.

A huge part of what I am doing is when I am planning holidays for you in the future, to ensure that wherever possible, I am partnering with travel supplier colleagues who put sustainability and responsible tourism at the forefront of what they do. So we are all working together towards a common goal.

I was interviewed by AFAR this month as part of their work on the article, ” What Travelers Can Do to Save the Planet”. See AFAR, where I was quoted under the section “Sustaining Local Communities – Experiences” section.

Sheila Gallant-Halloran, a travel advisor with Vision Travel, recommends the National Geographic Journeys and G Adventures trip in Peru. The latter’s Planeterra Foundation invests in local healthcare, conservation, and social enterprises and aims to help communities become self-sufficient. “I visited the Ccaccaccollo Women’s Weaving Co-operative, which has grown from three women in 2005 to over 60 local women,” Gallant-Halloran says. “Children of the original women are now in university, funded by their mom’s earnings.”

I really like the work G does. And I really like the work other partners like Big Five Tours, Lindblad Expeditions, Uniworld, Intrepid, etc and others do. And, I will continue to promote companies and travel partners like these good folks who help make the world better.

This past week, I had a great zoom chat with some clients and Ashish Sanghrajka, President of Big Five Tours. Ashish shared some of his favourite travel spots, touching on Northern Peru, Colombia, and Kenya. And he shared the work that Big Five Tours is up to during CoVid19, helping support areas that may be affected by poaching, now that economic hardships will be felt by areas no longer winning tourism dollars, as well as the work to get masks to remote areas in Colombia. I think I recorded the video inside zoom, so let me know if you’d like to see the video.

Another of my favorite companies is Lindblad Expeditions. I’ll be doing another zoom call with Lindblad this coming Tuesday. We’re going to be talking about “What if You Could Take Only One More Trip.”  Lesa Bain, VP North America of Lindblad Expeditions, will join me to talk about why expedition cruising should factor into your post-pandemic travel plans.  Please sign up here, so I can share the zoom link with you. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/if-you-could-take-only-one-more-trip-w-guest-lesa-bain-lindblad-online-tickets-105090644948

Lindblad is also committed to clients’ peace of mind. As they note https://www.expeditions.com/book-assured/