Good clean fair travel

How to enjoy travels without much money and without impacting too much on the planet? We have Slow Food. Here is a Slow Travel concept.

No! I am not going to rant about these motor boats queuing at the petrol station in the morning and wasting it doing loops in the water; Nor am I going to name and shame people who fly for a 5-day discounted trip to a paradise international resort built on native land destroying coral… No.

Travelling and holidaying can use resources parsimoniously and be a meaningful experience, not just another consumption trap. One of the keys is to travel less far and less often but longer, and in combinaison with another purpose. Could be studying, volunteering,  working or running competitions…

Simple things

I enjoy no-travel-holidays, just staying home to make up for when I go to France. Enjoy my friends. Enjoy good books and rest. These walks I did not have time to walk yet. Catch up on sewing and repairs. Try new things, start the sourdough, patisseries, decorating the staircase, sun salutations, family games… I enjoy simple things.

Not far

We love to drive to the sea with our tent and enjoy the beach and bonfire. We treasure tramping in the wilderness on a DOC track or walk – see also ideas on the interactive website NZ walks Info. Check the weather forecast on Metservice AND Metvuw.

Further…

When we do travel overseas, we have our tents or we  stay at locals accomodations, it’s cheaper and you know your money is going to feed the kids. It also provides a more genuine experience.

Ethical and environmental tourism

If you want to plan your travels, then think about the environmental and ethical impact of your choice. There are many travel agencies that really support communities and enhance biodiversity. Find some on Ethical Traveler, Tourism Concern,  or check if they are members of Leave No Trace, the International Ecotourism Society or other…

Carbon Off-setting

There are benefits in carbon off-setting and many companies will take your money to hopefully -check carefully- finance some carbon reduction programs. I personally can’t afford it and prefer keeping my daily carbon footprint as small as I can and avoid yet another monetarization of life.

Volunteering

A great cheap and meaningful way to go places and create friendships is to work in exchange of board in New Zealand and abroad:

•  Willing Worker on Organic Farms network (WWOOF)
•  Workaway
• or Help Exchange

When I will be wiser and free.. ?!

If I was younger and free!…

Welcoming travelers is a way to travel –  proxy travel !

• Olivier and Nadege, traveling by bike, as light as possible, boarding on sailing boats, using a kite to drive long patches and going around the world in 7 years- planned…The nec plus ultra of Slow travel! Follow them on http://www.enrouteavecaile.com/
  

  

• Adeline and Mark, arriving by chance at our place one evening, travelling in tandem http://letandemetlavie.fr/ .

And the librarian in me can’t help mentioning books…

Travel books will take you place, for free and nearly zero-carbon:

• a good fiction set in Africa, India, in a Pacific Island or wherever will probably transport you in another time/space. Sea Wall, by Marguerite Duras and White Tiger, by Aravind Adiga immediately spring to my mind.
• A recount or a logbook that tell of a journey may make you feel that you actually walk next to the author. The first that I think of is Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage, by Alfred Lansing and I was very pleased not to be with them! Another well written travel book with a mission is Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson.
• an adventure story will take you there and beyond, depending how realist it wants to be. I walked and rode and walked for weeks reading The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien!

How do YOU make your travel good, clean and fair?

Please contribute to the slow travel concept by telling your experience in a comment. Thank you!