Green Holidays

So, lets get straight back to it………

6) Keep It Clean:
You can easily buy multi-purpose eco friendly detergents for washing clothes and dishes - and yourself AND without polluting local waterways.  However, differing materials can have very different requirements.

Certain materials are much easier to keep clean or to remove odors from - so make sure you talk to your outdoor specialists to find the best options for your adventure and needs!  Also, make sure you talk to the locals where you are staying as they know all the conditions and - as we found out in Costa Rica - $1 wellington boots were 10 times better than $100 walking boots!

7) And Yourself:
Depending on the conditions where you are staying - and the temperature of local rivers and lakes - you can invest in a smart solar shower.  You just fill up the bag, hoist up onto a post and allow to warm in the sun.  Then simply let out the water when you are ready!

Make sure that you are sensitive to the area though and try to use the smallest amount of toiletries necessary and/or use bio-degradable shower gels and shampoos!  And don’t forget that what you are washing off can also cause damage - so limit the perfumes and hair products too!

Dinner Time:
Depending on the length of your stay away, you may need to cook food.  Obviously the more ready-to-eat food you can carry in the better so you don’t use any excess resources in the open, but when you do need heat - then a portable stove is the best.

You can use it anywhere without the worry of setting fire to brush or nearby vegetation - and you don’t need to collect up natural resources to burn.  Even dead wood and fallen branches are part of the eco-system and many animals depend on them, so take your own fuel!

9) Waterproof Power:
Make sure that you take water-proof matches with you so that when you need light or a flame you are almost 100% guaranteed of it!

Normal matches or even your lighter can stop working if it gets wet or broken - and of course the gas in your lighter won’t last for ever.  Whereas these matches are coated in wax that you scratch off to light.  So as long as you don’t lose them……

10) Extra Lighting:
If you need extra light around the camp overnight or while you are eating or relaxing, then why not take solar-powered lamps with you.

Lightweight versions or these are available in many stores and you would just leave them in the sun while there was daylight, and switch them on after dusk.  No need to worry about wasting candles, watching a fire or pumping your dynamo torch through the evening!

Just sit back and relax!

Obviously, once you get in the habit of these things - you might find that you can save energy back home by doing exactly the same thing - although you’ll have a lovely comfy bed to end up in!

How would you cope without cold drinks and your cell phone in the jungle?

There are times when we will be travelling to places where there isn’t any electricity and depending on how long you will be without this ubiquitous power, there are things you can do to keep things a little bit ‘normal’.

So whether you are camping for 1 night or roughing it for 2 weeks, here are some great tips to help make everything seem better!

1) Cold Drinks:
Now after trekking through mountains or even spending the night out in the open - nothing is more pleasing than a cold, fresh drink - but where will you find on in the jungle or in a remote village?

There could be one in your own bag - a thermos flask.  Normally thought of as something to keep coffee warm - these delightful caddies can also keep things ice cold!

We recently brought a small thermos that keeps things ice cold for up to 24 hours - thats long enough for a fresh morning drink wherever you wake up - and it really works.  Nothing tastes better than cold water when you are parched!

2) Facial Hair
Take a wet shave razor rather than an electric one where ever you travel.  Not only will you save electricity wherever you go - but when the power isn’t quite up to scratch you need not fear.

Alternatively, give up with the whole shaving thing and grow a beard!  Not only will you save the effort of carrying around all the associated toiletries and things - you could better spend that time seeing the sights rather than hunched over in front of tiny mirror and bowl of cold water!

3) Dabble With Dynamo’s
There are loads of products now that are dynamo driven rather than battery powered - making your journey lighter and more eco friendly.

Just a few pumps of the handle and my little dynamo torch will always shine - no worrying about it running out of power when there are noises in the bushes!

And a few winds of my neat little dynamo radio and I can listen to the local news and weather or just some relaxing local music when I am all alone!

4) Let The Sun Shine:
It isn’t only the power of your hands that can generate free power - the sun can too.  Even if the weather isn’t hot the sun can still work for you.

Chargers are available in all sorts of sizes and for all manner of electrical goods.  So whether you are taking your cell or your laptop - as long as you have the right attachments - you can charge them up while you laze about by a beach or you can even do it while walking with backpack mounted panels!

5) And For What’s Left:
There may well still be a few things that cannot be adapted for lower power inputs or don’t have compatible adaptors - so they still need batteries.  But that is just fine.

There are plenty of solar powered battery chargers out there, so buy the best strength rechargable batteries and get going!  (NB: Not all batteries are the same I recently found out and some are so feeble that you barely get any use out of them before they need charging again - so ask a retailer before buying).

Join me for more green holiday tips in Part 2 in a few days……

Can wearing a bikini top be the rudest thing ever?

If you are visiting a local island in the Maldives - then yes, very much so!  It is almost like spitting in the locals faces if you want to relate it to our ideals.  I mean the thought of women baring their shoulders in the Maldivian culture is very offensive and can make local women very uncomfortable.

It also creates a boundary between the people who actually live there and the tourists who want to visit these islands.

And it isn’t just these Indian Ocean islands that have something that seems to normal to us to be so offensive to local communities.

Why Act Like The Local People?
Well, if you relate it to something in western culture it always makes a lot more sense - for example most people in the US would be offended if tourists began to walk into peoples front yards and having lunch, or pushing to the front of shopping queues in the UK.

However, some Americans are happy to wander around a church taking pictures and eating ice creams, or British parents allowing their children to climb all over city monuments or scream and run around in local stores or museums.

I am only using these 2 as examples, but there are plenty of other things that travellers don’t think twice about - yet are so rude in the eyes of others.

I mean some people are even this rude when visiting places in their own country!  However, when trying to experience another culture, you need to at least research the basics and try to blend in with the community you plan to visit.

Even the basics can bridge the gap between you and the people you are hoping to communicate with during your stay.

Culture differences are always important, but even more so when language is already a barrier, and different religions or beliefs can only make things worse and the difference even greater.

It doesn’t take a minute to learn a few polite phrases and some of the most important ‘don’ts’ of the location you plan to visit - so please take the time to do so and make your visit better for the people you are visiting as well as yourself and your family!

What great weather we have been having - and the kids are raring to get outside for some adventures….

…..and so are the grown-ups!

Here we have some more offerings for your green adventures this month:

Amy @ The Q Family start us of again with a story of some great locations they have found closer to home with: 5 Family Favorite Outdoor Adventures Around Atlanta.

Ed Biado comes up next with some great tips for anyone planning their next trip with his notes on The green traveler

Saving money on your next road trip - or just around town is covered by Tyler, who explains his new concept of using the car! Take a peak at Save $550 a Year by Hypermiling and see what you think yourself!

Next we have the thoughtful Marjorie Morgan who takes time to explain about wildlife skills and how to manage without all the mod cons we get so used to at home. Even in your local woods - you should really know the basics, so read Wilderness and Urban Survival Skills for a taster.

Gregory E. Rouse has written a short article on a particular location, but his blog is certainly one to read more about as it covers all sorts of outdoor adventures including this one about Beehive Lake.

Along a similar note, Henry Carlson takes us into one part of his personal journey in Finding Freedom: Monteverde Waterfall along his way.

Almost last, we have Pete giving us some tips for a great local day out in the warmer weather with Cool Things To Do On Hot Days, and then we have Matt Shaulis giving us some further ‘tent’ tips for all those who love the outdoors! Take a peak at his rather thorough Lightweight Northwest Territory Tents or 4 Season Kelty Tents? article if that is what you fancy!

Take care out there!

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Hello, and thanks for joining us again here at Green Holidays And Adventures Blog Carnival.

We have some very different articles for your this month, including on the road tips for cutting down your impact, to a school competition and on to a delightful eco resort in the south-west of England!

Handy tips:
So, beginning with Myscha Theriault covers some of the ways your choice of toiletries and accessories on the road can really lessen your impact and save you time and money to - so enjoy Going Green on the Road for these tips.

Then a rather analytical Brian Maxwell covers some great points for all you people out there who don’t know where to get started with the whole ‘eco friendly’ lifestyle.  Take a moment to read his pensive article on The Green Movement’s impact on Environmental Problems and go from there.

Local Trips:
Joshua offers up a selection of ideas on how to keep to kids entertained and close to nature at the same time - and all close to home!  Read his Tips for Learning during Summertime to get started.

And if you already have some great ideas for getting those kids out and about and enjoying themselves, then take a look at 00FF00’s article - which is a competition. Basically, you enter your ideas on how to Get Kids Outdoors and you could win a part of the £500 of prizes and an eco friendly computer for your chosen UK school.

Other Hols:
Cherie Ve Ard offers up a perfect example of how people can live on less and offer reason why a lot of people don’t!  Check out Excuses #5: Environmental Impact for a peek at how they do it.

Erika however, just offers a great idea on really getting into the heart of the earth on a low impact green holiday beneath the ground!  Here’s Going Caving in Mexico.

And finally Tamara gives us a short interview with the owners of an eco resort in the UK’s West Country - a very picturesque region where I often take vacations myself.  So read Eco-speak with Trevenna’s Jonathan Rowe to learn more about it.

Thanks again for your time and thanks to all those who offered their articles.

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What is Ecotourism, and what does it mean today?
There are many interpretations of the word ‘ecotourism’ - even the spelling changes to eco-tourism or eco tourism! However, many consumers have a different impression of the word to the companies that are selling it.

For example, many companies seem to think that any holiday outdoors that may involve animals or wild areas is ecotourism.

Whereas consumers are hoping for something a bit more impactful and meaningful. And this includes real ethics, focus on the local communities and ‘treading lightly’ on the earth.

Below are a selection of areas that ecotourism should be focussed on and be able to prove!

Adding Value:
Ecotourism should be an efficient way to add economic value to threatened natural areas, endangered habitats and cultural sites.

As I have mentioned in previous articles - if you want something to be saved - you have to support it. By visiting areas that contain the animals or plants or people that you ‘love’ you are adding to their perceived value by that country and the community.

If you sit at home and talk about how ‘bad it is’ that Orangutans are being made homeless, dolphins in Mekong being poisoned or migrating birds being shot - you aren’t doing anything to save them!

Change your shopping habits to avoid illegally produced or badly managed palm oil and soya; join the WWF to support international projects; or travel to the Mediterranean and help volunteer projects to protect the birds yourself.

Offering Alternatives:
It should be seen as a way to provide simple job opportunities as well as alternative financial benefits for the local people. This way they don’t need to destroy their own natural environment to make a living!

For example offering alternative forms or agriculture - such as bee-keeping, or offering more fuel efficient stoves so families need to cut less wood to cook their food. It could also lead to more successful local businesses that helps make for a more stable lifestyle for all involved

Alternative Tourism:
Ecotourism allows for travel and holidays to take a different turn. It inspires a new kind of tourism that actually helps to improve natural conservation and cultural preservation with a much lower impact on the environment than ‘normal’ tourism.

This of course can make it more enjoyable for all those involved as it is more down-to-earth. The traveller gets to see the natural world as it should be, the tour operators get to make sure that the places we go to see are still there in 5 years time, the local inhabitants get to feel involved in their own future and communities, and of course the wildlife gets to carry on being wild!

Fasted Growing Travel Sector?
Ecotourism really is one of the fastest growing areas of tourism at the moment.

People want these types of holidays now - they want to support these environments, these people and these animals. They want to stop destroying every place they go, and they want to see travel companies doing their bit to change the face of world travel too.

Have you played your part? Got your friends and families to do the same?

Trees are being chopped down just to get you ready to take a vacation!

By this I mean all the bureaucracy and paperwork required to get you going in the first place - and most of it can be avoided completely or significantly reduced if you plan ahead and think about your requirements.

Don’t Forget You Passport:
Obviously this is an important document anyway, but it’s amazing how many people lose them or allow them to get stolen when travelling. What a complete waste of resources and time - let alone a complete risk to your identity.

To replace your passport involves a large form to be completed and posted off. Someone has to process this for you, usually involving more paperwork and lots of security checks that probably use energy on ’super computers’.

The passport needs to be created and glued, laminated and security marked (rendering it un-recyclable), then it needs to be posted out to you with all sorts of information sheets and nonsense.

Other Personal Documents:
This is the same as above really. If you are careless enough to lose that 30 pages travel insurance booklet - you need to get another one from your insurers - and these cost money and use resources.

Add to this your driving license, vaccination records, medical notes, hotel reservation documents and a whole load of other important pieces of paperwork that will need replacing if you mislay them.  Of course many of these will be ‘free’ to you so we don’t think twice about doing them - even relying on them as a back-up if we are ‘too busy’.  But they cost elsewhere.

I bet you wouldn’t be so careless if these bits of paper were all US dollars! But in effect they are - as the more documents and information packs that companies need to keep giving out - the more they will eventually charge for their replacements. Your money.

Planning The Trip Itself:
Imagine how much paper is involved in you deciding on your vacation in the first place. Some people go into the agents and pick up 3 or 4 thick travel brochures to take home. Do you return them after you have browsed for your resort? No, I bet you don’t.

Most travel companies are there to make money not save the environment. If they need to make more brochures to get your money - then that’s what they will do (but they might add a bit on to the price of their vacations to pay for them).

You can’t leave the agencies to do this for you. Can you imagine if a travel agent for company A said you could only browse their brochures but you couldn’t take them home - whereas company B gave you loads of bright shiny pictures to take away. Who are you more likely to do business with?

Same goes for the tickets - you can get them online now, so you just print of one sheet of paper and you are ready. No little folder with glued or stapled documents to faff around with.

And checking in by machine or in advance is perfect. The less staff that the airlines or ferry companies need to check your paperwork - the less pollution they have created getting to the airport or ferry terminal in the first place. The roads are then clearer around the departure terminal and your taxi can drop you at the door without you sitting in traffic!

We are all so used to things being done a certain way - and so quickly - that we sometimes need to take a second look and see what the downsides of our ‘I want it now’ lives.

Planning is the key to green travel.

When you are traveling around the place, either locally or nationally - do you ever think about what a difference your tiny car can make on the environment you are travelling through?

I don’t mean anything about the carbon emissions you chug out your exhaust or the energy needed to produce your car in the first place or the natural resources that are being plundered for fuel and spare parts - I mean the fact that you are where you are when you are.

How Can 1 Little Car Make A Difference?
Well, quite a lot if you are in the wrong place at the wrong time really.  And the wrong time may not be so obvious to yourself - only the person behind you!

How many times have you been cursing the traffic in front of you for the hold up?  But how many of those times have you actually needed to be in that traffic in the first place?

I’ve done it myself - stuck in heavy traffic on the way to just browse an out-of-town book store!  I went at a quiet time - but failed to return home before the rush hour - and have become a terrible part of it!

I’m not saying that people who don’t work should never drive in the rush hour - but we should all bear it in mind when we do drive.  And this is especially so when you are on vacation and driving in and about unknown towns and country lanes.

The Lunch Time Rush:
Have you ever had just a few minutes to grab your lunch in town or at a services only to find the person in front of your has all the time in the world and is sorting through coupons in their purse for a pathetically tiny discount off their shopping?  Or the other person who decides that stopping in the doorway of a store to re-organise their shopping bags is absolutely fine - but basically is just in everyone’s way!

That’s what your are if you are on the roads during the rush hour.  You are wasting everyone else’s time - as well as your own - sitting there jamming up the roads.

It’s not just the commuters or school-run moms that are sitting in that traffic - you are too - and we all know that it is no fun at all!  And if you are on vacation - it is a disaster!

So, Take Your Time:
Before heading out on a non-essential journey check what times you will be on the road and think about the traffic.  Could you take the bus instead?  Could you visit a friend before or after to delay your journey and keep the roads that little bit clearer?  Could you stay in these woods for a few hours more - or enjoy one more drink by the river before heading off.

It’s not just in rush hour that this is an issue.  If you are on the road with 5 other non-essentials on Monday, and there are another 6 on Tuesday, 4 on Wednesday, etc, you are making the road seem busier than it needs to be.  And this can multiply up.

If town roads always seem to get crowded and snarled up almost everyday, the local government or council may think that something needs to be done - and this can only go one of 2 ways:  A massive by-pass or more traffic signals, speed restrictions and road works!  Do you want any of them in your town?  In any town?

If you are using the roads, people are going to build more.  If you are congesting the roads, people are going to make bigger roads, and so on.

You may only be 1 little car - but there are loads of people just like you out there - and added together, they are clogging our roads, making people get home from work later in the evenings and creating an awful lot of pollution.

So, try to do your bit to stop this traffic problem - just pick the right time and avoid the congestion!

Imagine living on a train for nearly 3 weeks - watching the most expansive and amazing landscape pass you by.

That is just what you can do on-board a Trans-Siberian Railway, traveling from St Petersburg in western Russia across one of the most remote places on earth and through to Beijing in far eastern China.

Travelling by train is known to be one of the most environmentally friendly methods of transport - emitting low levels of carbon emissions per passenger than cars and planes - so why not give it a try?

It is also in line with the new thinking that the journey should be part of the holiday itself, rather than something to be endured until you arrive at your destination. And this is certainly one of the best ways to try out this new way of thinking.

Why does it take so long?
Well you are travelling over 10,000 kilometers, through 3 massive countries and 7 different time zones - so unless you want to just sit on the train day and night for about 6 days without getting off or seeing anything along the way - then it’s at least 2 weeks worth of train ride!

Generally, your ticket will allow you to get off and on again at many stops along the way to enjoy the culture or to stay in local hotels or home-stays along the route, and there are several different train companies that follow the route across country.

Many people stop over at Ulaan Baatar to sample nomadic life in the ‘gers’ or ‘yurts’, or to teach English in schools, before completing the journey to China, and Real GAP and STA travel offer these options as part of their packages to Mongolia, as booking the St Petersburg to Beijing route means a change of trains in Mongolia’s capital - Ulaan Baatar. Perfect for those volunteer packages!

Train fares can be as little as £250 single, but as much as £1300 if you go as part of a package - which usually includes travelling with a loose group of people along the route. Great for having a fun time, but maybe a bit limiting - I mean if you are speaking to people in your own language - when will you practice your Russian or Chinese?

Going it alone can often mean that you get more stops and take a little longer on the journey - and are more likely to mix with the locals along the way - making the experience a whole lot more enjoyable!

Responsible Travel offer this route - taking 18 days to explore the areas, and only costing just under £1200 - plus your local payments. Needless to say this trip is one of the most sustainable and ethical versions of the trip - using local services and foods throughout - although you could equal this by travelling independently and researching each destination in advance.

The Return Journey.
However, if you are taking the most eco-friendly route there - how can you match it apart from using the same train to some home? That’s at least a 5 week trek even before you have really dome anything!

If you are planning to travel all the way the the far east - then you may as well make the most of it. Why not set up a much longer tour of the whole region, taking in Japan or south to Vietnam and Indonesia. And if you have ever fancied Australia - why not take the bus and a short boat ride across the the great continent and take a month or so to explore!

I know it all sounds a bit expensive - but many of these tour companies can offer paid positions all the way down and even in Australia and New Zealand. Why not look into some of these when you are planning your great green train ride adventure!