“We have been residing in this area for decades, and all of a sudden the government told us to vacate,” Rafiz Ali told Reuters journalist Rina Chandran last September. Ali was a community leader in one of three of illegal settler villages in the buffer zone of India’s Kaziranga National Park. In 2016, in an […]
Exhausted Camel The camels looked happy enough. It wasn’t until closer inspection that I began to notice things. The wooden splint pierced through the nose with ropes attached to either side to control the camel. The various sores and scratches across the camel’s body. During my recent travels around Rajasthan, India, one of the highlights […]
It’s time for vacation. You might be dreaming of secluded beaches, or bustling cities, or mountainsides lush with foliage. No matter what, you’re skipping town and you’re excited. Of course, there’s a lot of planning to be done before you can hit the road. This is especially true if you’re an eco-conscious traveler who wants […]
More than 15 years ago, Josh Grisdale was exploring Tokyo when he encountered a problem that few of us actively consider. After maneuvering his electric wheelchair off the train, he discovered there was no elevator. The subway staff were quick to help, and carried Grisdale down four flights of stairs. “[To the staff], I was […]
Palawan’s Popularity Problem: An Interview with Photographer Duncan Murrell This past fall (autumn for those outside North America), I was lured to Palawan, a culturally and ecologically rich archipelago in the Philippines made up of nearly 2,000 islands. Seeing the name pop up repeatedly on “world’s best islands” and “world’s best beaches” lists in recent […]
While traveling, we try to be as efficient and eco-friendly as possible. But what about when we return home? We’ve come up with simple ways you can practice sustainable travel at home as well as abroad. While going through the motions of daily life, prioritize sustainability by supporting your local community and its natural resources. […]
You’ve just taken a vacation that you’ll never forget, so it only makes sense to mark the occasion with a souvenir that will remind you of your getaway forever. The only problem? You’re an eco-conscious traveler and shopper, so you want it to be both special and sustainable. It might seem an impossible task, but […]
As ethical travelers, we’re always looking to give back to the people and places we visit. The classic problem with international charity efforts is that they can fail to create local buy-in, and particularly fail to achieve a sense of local ownership of the new project. We’ve all heard about the unintended consequences of do-gooder […]
It goes without saying that technology has revolutionized the travel industry. A light tap or two on your phone can lead you to the right accommodation or the perfect travel partner. So why couldn’t technology serve as a vehicle for travelers to explore the world more responsibly? In many ways, it has. Numerous apps and […]
