Holly Tuppen - Sustainable Travel: The essential guide to positive impact adventures

The essential guide to
positive-impact adventures

HOLLY TUPPEN

Can we travel better?

Understanding carbon

Planning a trip

Regenerative travel

Make it count

I fell into sustainable travel off the back of an adventure. My boyfriend and I bought a world map and marked anything that intrigued us. One day we drew a line between them, and the trip suddenly sprung to life; we decided to circumnavigate the world without flying. Before we knew it, ferries turned into sailing expeditions, buses into 3,000-mile cycling adventures and the itinerary filled up with unknown places. The trip has had a lasting impact on everything I think, from love to politics.

On returning to London, I was lucky enough to land some dream jobs: working for no-fly platform Green Traveller, as Editor of Green Hotelier, and as a sustainable travel expert and writer for the likes of The Long Run, the Guardianand the World Travel and Tourism Council. Slow travel morphed into sustainable travel, which soon hit the mainstream.

But the sweet spot didnt last for long. In recent years, a steady tension has developed between the travel that I love and its uglier side. On the one hand, it brings inspiration, creates connections, and has the power to renew people and places. On the other, it pushes locals out, causes environmental damage, and has become an unrelenting commodity.

Ive been enraged by greenwashing, devastated by mounds of plastic, and heartbroken on hearing about lives destroyed by climate change and overtourism. The more Ive learned about the climate crisis, and the deeper Ive plunged into the commercial side the travel, the harder its been to stomach the hypocrisy of travelling sustainably.

Meanwhile, during countless press trips, adventures and interviews, Ive been overwhelmed by the power of sustainable travel. Ive shed tears of awe at how people can spend their lives striving for positive change despite the odds, and tears of wonder at the complexity, beauty and magnitude of humanitys connection to the natural world. In grinding the world to an unimaginable standstill, the COVID-19 crisis has crystallized all that is good and bad about our travel habits.

Rather than battle it, Ive come to accept this lurching between the highs and lows of travel. It keeps me in check and encourages me to challenge. It stops me greedily jumping on a plane at every opportunity, and helps me to embrace doorstep adventures. When I do get on a plane, it drives me to make it count, by supporting the changemakers and telling their story; since tourism was knocked sideways by COVID-19, this is more important than ever.

I hope this book will take you on a similar journey. First, exploring why were talking about sustainability and why we need to act. Next, what that action looks like; how we can all make more informed choices. There are some pointers on how to identify genuine sustainable travel experiences and develop responsible travel intuition to cut through the greenwash. Next comes the inspiration. In Regenerative travel ( ), we pour over examples of how travel can change the world for good whether protecting heritage, supporting communities or saving a species. Finally, there is a whirlwind guide to making travel count in each continent.

Unlike so many travel books, its not all glossy. When it comes to travelling responsibly, theres no quick win, so there are some hefty questions raised throughout. Sustainability is complex, and we need open debate and mindful actions to progress.

But we mustnt be discouraged. As we dive into a new decade the most critical decade weve ever known for the survival of our species the travel industry is teetering on precipice. It can choose the long-term sustainable path, or it can plummet down the self-destructive one.