What is responsible travelling?

My previous entry against spending holidays in luxury summer resorts was, looking at your comments, pretty controversial. I stated there that travelling only to sunbathe by the pool is not actually travelling, because sunbathing in Egypt or Turkey does not make any difference. Many of you asked what would be the "perfect holidays" for me; if not relaxing and doing nothing - so what? 

I don't know how many of you came across the idea of responsible travelling. Responsible travelling is not only about relax and having a good time, but it also takes into consideration the environment and the culture. Travelling by plane or by car is much more polluting than for example travelling by train and public transport. What is more, it is better to take fewer and longer holidays, not only to decrease the amount of greenhouse gases but also to know better local communities and increase benefits for them by eating in local restaurants, buying local products and supporting local institutions and projects. Very important part of responsible travelling is showing respect for other people, their habits, customs and traditions. Before going anywhere, it is good to learn some basic words in language of the country we want to visit and get to know something about culture of these people, for example what is offensive for them and normal for us, but every traveler has to be open for new things and do not consider reading something on the Internet or in a guide as a sufficient source of knowledge about people, because the most crucial part of travelling is to meet people.

If you are interested in responsible travelling, you may visit

http://www.responsibletravel.com/copy/tips-for-responsible-travel and learn more about this idea. If you have some stories about your voyages, you may share them in a comment under this entry.

Responsible travelling

Responsible travelling

Hello dear readers,

yesterday, surfing the internet, I came across an article abort responsible travelling. I hadn`t heard of it before so I read the article with great interest. I have to admit I took to the idea right from the start and would like to share it with you. Responsible travelling means travel that involves respect for local people and environment. This includes for instance ecotourism, as well as trying to understand the needs of the local people. We tend to be very narrow-minded while going places for holidays – we concentrate basically on sightseeing and relaxation. Being a responsible traveller is something more than that – it means also caring about preserving the environment and culture in the area we travel to.

There are many ways one can become a responsible traveller. One of them is for example switching to trains as a means of transport. The article stated that during a plane flight as much CO2 is produced as through a whole year of using a car. I was really baffled by that fact. Honestly, isn`t it terrible how much we pollute the environment just for our own comfort?

Another way is to stay local. Why not choose a destination where there`s a lot to see and experience? If we choose a place that has lots of different attractions to offer it`ll prevent us from hiring a car (and thus polluting the environment by production of CO2) and going see many other places. On the other hand, if we really don`t feel like staying in one place and desperately need to change location, why not hire a hybrid car for that purpose? Or, as I mentioned before, travel by train?

Responsible travelling involves also respect for local culture. That means for example buying local products and visiting local restaurants instead of eating in McDonald`s and buying in supermarkets. Let`s be open to new people, their cultures and style of living!

If you ask me, I love the idea of responsible travelling and will definitely take it into account when planning my next holidays. I hope I managed to encourage you to do the same. For more info, visit http://www.responsibletravel.com/ Please, let me know what you think in comments. See you soon!

Responsible travelling

In the previous entry I’ve been writing about my plans for winter break. Some of you said that you had already started thinking about summer time. Everyone is so excited. Who doesn’t love travelling far away from home, meeting new people and discovering interesting places? Although, in the infinite number of possibilities we can’t forget about the environment. Vacations spent in a beautiful place, being surrounded by nature and caring about it can be the best days of your life!

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Travelling green – what does it mean?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_y55iQSb2k - a short video about responsible travel

Being a responsible traveller may sound like a hard thing to do, but in reality it’s a piece of cake! There are many actions that you can do to save our planet during vacations. Firstly, offset your carbon footprint – producing too much CO₂ is one of the most common harmful thing done to the Earth. When you travel by plane, you can take less luggage – there will be less trouble for you and less fuel used to carry it into the air. But you can reduce your production of carbon dioxide even more! Buy carbon credits – it’s a good way to help in tree planting and ecologic research. Want to be even more “green”? Going by car reduces emission by half, by train – two thirds, and bike is a free transport method without any environmental consequences!

Responsible travelling consist also of saving water and energy – search for eco-friendly hotels, campings, agrotouristic households. It will also save your money. If you want something more extreme - sleeping in tent doesn’t require any electric energy, but good fun and contact with nature is guaranteed. 

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How to organise eco-friendly vacations?

Of course you can buy a vacation well-prepared by a travel agency, but organising one on your own is an opportunity to create a trip ideally personalized. Love cycling? Going out for a week only with a backpack and bike sounds like an adventure. Want to relax and spend some time with your family? A lake, forest or a little lovely house in the mountains is waiting for you.

I can propose you a quick, entertaining weekend by the sea – going there by train will reduce emission of CO_2. You can stay in an eco-friendly hotel, such as Aquarius Spa in Kołobrzeg. Long walks on the beach, visiting tourist attractions and developing local sustainability will allow you to rest well and come back full of beans.

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Next week I will write about some other ideas for unforgettable holidays, so stay tuned!

See you,

Lucy

 2015-02-13

Responsible travelling

Hello dear reader’s,

Many of us are eco-friendly on the daily bases. We segregate wastes, we buy fair-trade food,  we usually take paper bags instead of plastic ones. But when we go on holiday, we become completely another people. We start to pollute the environment, exploit local people and their natural resources. But we can’t behave like that. We aren’t the masters of the world! We can change our behavior, we can even help the environment in which we spent our holiday. The way to do it is so called responsible traveling or eco-travelling. Do you know what does it stand for? Responsible traveling is the way of touring in which a tourist ensure that the heritage and environment of nations explored don’t disintegrate under the rapid inflow of new visitors.

www.radiolaurier.com

How to become an eco-traveller? There are many ways to protect the heriteage and environment of the country that you are visiting. The first idea is to lump your vacation time together istead of making numerous trips during a year. When you shift around, you use a loof energy. When you make a one long holiday, you will have wasted for less fuel

Yu can also create the new oxygen sources in the environment. So credits to offset your carbon footprints. When you buy it, you fund the purchase of trees which will create oxygen in the atmosphere and cover your won carbon dioxide emission.

To emit less greenhouse gases, you can change your means of transport for a more “eco” one. So, let’s take a train instead of car or a plane. A train produces one third of the plane’s emissions and one second of the car emissions. You see that if you want to be less harmful for the environment, you should choose a train.

As you see, there are plenty of ways to become a responsible taveller. It is only to your will if you become more eco or you will still exploit places you visit. Don’t be so selfish to ignore such a fantastic idea to solve the greenhouse effect problems. Travel by train, plant trees, save fuel – and you’ll improve the world. Remember, the chances to it are so close to you! 
by Michal Chudecki

Responsible holidays

Almost everyone spend at least some of their holidays out and about. Every journey and the type of  spending your free time may influence the environment, other people, our expenditure. As we go on holidays we can decide about the energy we use and the pollution we produce. If you care about the environments good conditions you probably are into responsible travelling. How can we become respnsible travellers? It is a piece of cake for a person who will remember the few rules and hints which I am going to write about in what follows.  

Firstly, the type of transport used for our journey. By travelling by cars we produce much exhaust gases which are polluting the environment. Also airplanes broadcast much fossil fuel which increases the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. It is more ecological to go by train. If possible you can try hitchhiking or spend your holidays near your home, so you don’t have to travel anywhere far. If your destination is somewhere far away and you are not able to avoid taking a car, you should think about the things you take with yourself- remember to take only the things that you need, so the luggage isn’t too heavy.

Many of us stay at hotels during our holiday. It’s good to remember that the towels we leave on the floor are going to be scoured, so it is good if you use the same one during your stay and afterwards leave it, in order to mitigate the usage of water and cleaning supplies.

What about shopping during our vacation? If we mostly buy food for ourselves to cook our own meals than we should remember to buy the things we need and think about the way it is packed- the boxes with food may be much bigger than the contents. Remember to recycle the packages after draining them. We should also buy food that is easy to make and not very expensive. The consequences of that are that we will come back from our holidays with satisfaction we didn’t pollute the environment and with a thicker wallet.

             

                         

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My proposal of spending the holiday is to go camping with our family or friends. We don’t need to travel far and we can make use of the beauty of nature. Taking our bikes with us will enable us to spend  time in an active way and keep fit at the same time. There are many places where we can legally camp by the lakes and rivers.

Photo 2

See you on holidays!

Emma Catlow

Photos from Google Graphics

RESPONSIBLE TRAVELLING – TRAVEL LIKE A LOCAL!

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Written by Filip Jakyubowski

Hi dear Readers,

I know that it has been a long time since I put on the blog my latest video relation from my last trip to South America. I have visited many marvelous places and met many interesting people. Today, I wanted to conclude an important note connected with my biggest hobby: traveling. Have you ever heard about responsible traveling? I suppose majority of you have no idea what this concept of “eco-travelling” is, but don’t worry I am here to save the planet. Today’s topic may seem to be boring at the first sight, but give me a chance to accustom you with this quite new idea and let’s together change the world. Before introducing main part we should all new what is the definition of responsible traveling. Eco-travelling it is choosing alternatives that best respect and benefit local people and environment. If you are ready, let’s move on to the main part, where I will discuss all the positive aspects and advantages from responsible traveling.. Enjoy!

On of the biggest problems of XXI century’s world is facing nowadays is global warming. We observe ever-accelerating development and increasing birthrate. These factors and and people’s intensive existence ( driving cars, logging, huge industrial plants etc.). Recently planes became no longer luxurious medium of traveling. Plane ticket’s prices felt down. One of the main aims of responsible traveling is to take care of the environment. We should be aware that flying contributes in huge extent to the global warming problem. Relating to resposibletravel.com air travel is the fastest growing source of CO2 emission  Cutting on the amount of pollution emitted from plane flights is vitally important.

Do you really like to visit overcrowded with international mix of tourists, already devoided of culture, but still advertised as biggest attractions, monuments and places? I suppose we travelers are all bored with neutrality and ubiquitous noise. Responsible traveling enables you to get more out of your holiday. You are closer to the local people, their communities and you meet more culture instead of stereotypes created by mass media.

Finally, one of the most incanting facts about responsible traveling is that you are no longer dependant of big groups and guides. While choosing eco-travel you travel in smaller groups that facilitates re-discovering nature.

I hope you enjoyed and will appreciate my time by leaving comments, subscribing to my blog and ‘liking” my Facebook fan page. If you have had any interesting experiences or opinions to share them with me and other blog viewers, it would be great. Keep calm and wait for my next entry! Travel responsible and have fun!   

Responsible travel isn't as black as you painted

Hey guys!

In my previous entries I was writing a lot about travelling per se. Many people are keen on travelling and they go abroad every vacation. But today’s questions is if this action is eco-friendly and good for the environment? Only if they rules of responsible travelling  are obeyed. That’s why I’d like to explain it to you more or less.

http://goo.gl/I0o6y6

Responsible travelling is the way of travelling which helps preserving our environment. It maximizes the benefits of the society and reduces the failures and negative effects. We need to tackle a lot of environmental problems e.g. global warming or soil erosion. This new idea is to countervail the negative externalities of consumption. Some ideas are to travel local - don’t take a plane and choose your destinations wisely, nearby. In order to decrease emission of carbon dioxide is to go on holidays fewer but for longer trips. It may be beneficial also for us We can rest more and be ready for new challenges at work. Planes use less fuel when they’re lighter, hence we should pack the least amount of  clothes and bring only what’s necessary. While on holiday we shouldn’t buy products made of endangered species. Use public transport and respect local cultures. That way we can feel the wonderful atmosphere of the place. Even though a 5* hotel costs arm and a leg, we should NEVER feel like wasting water by taking one-hour showers or opening tap for brushing our teeth. Other advise is to use travel agent certified by Green Seal, because the know how to care of environment. After you come back, donate local communities or even buy credits to offset your carbon dioxide footprint.

In my opinion, it  is a great opportunity to preserve the environment. Our descendants will be able to receive the inheritance from us. Every time I go on vacation, I obey the responsible travelling and I feel much better, when I know that I take part in saving out planet!

If you want to learn more, you should visit:  responsibletravel.com. There are many useful information and advices you can exercise. And what about you personally? Have you ever heard about eco-travel or do you have first-hand experience!? Share with us in the comments below, Stay tuned!

BY: Wojciech Maćkowiak