I am , again, participating in the Indie Challenge hosted by Bootsnall. Just like last year, I’d be posting an article a day, based on the question / challenge of that day.

>>you can join the challenge by clicking here

Nov 16
EcoTourism & Responsible Travel

You’ve probably heard a lot lately about traveling responsible, conservation, and the fake ‘eco’ options (like the Tiger Temple in Thailand which finally got shut down for abusing the Tigers, but toted itself as ‘responsible’). It’s important to ‘leave only footprints’ (or none at all) when you travel, but how can you tell what is actually responsible tourism?
QUESTION:
Do you try to travel responsibly? How do you define ecotourism and how important is it to you? (Be honest.) What are some ways you can travel responsibly and how you can tell if a company/tour is actually eco-friendly or not?
Have you ever been on an eco-trip? If you have photos, show us!

We love to hike. As a student I used to go hiking with an organized group almost every Saturday. EcoTourism, being responsible and leaving only footprints behind were the RULES. You were not even allowed to be a part if you couldn’t follow them.

Years later, I still practice the same ethics when I hike, albeit I don’t do the groups thing anymore. A walk in the woods is always fun, but remember to not to lose anything but footsteps behind.

Aside from the occasional Zoo visit – sorry, but I like them – we haven’t been on any tour which involved animals or visited any other “establishment”. We have not done any farm stays or eco-friendly stays either. They are just not within our travel desires right now. Sure, I enjoy a stay in a quiet place but I get bored as hell after two days so I need to be somewhere close to places I can visit or things I can do.

At one point in the future, I’d want to find one of those places in Italy where you can pick the olives, make olive oil and learn how to cook traditional food. And I believe most of those places are eco-friendly.