When the topic ‘eco travel’ is mentioned, we often think about the sun, beach, less traffic, no crowd sort of location. Eco travel is preferred by those who like things simple, no hassle and out of the beaten path options. I have various tastes when it comes to traveling for a vacation. Since we always travel with our young child, I prefer to go to someplace that is child friendly. A city holiday is nice but it won’t be much of an eco travel. Slow travel, as the term suggests, means the pace will be slow… no rush as you take time to absorb the local culture. Personally, I think any kind of vacation can be eco in nature if you make choices that are good for the environment. Whether it be Branson vacations or city holidays in Asia, they can be meaningful as you get close to nature.

What are your thoughts about eco travel? A slow and easy one that allows you to get in touch with your heart and nature or one that brings you closer to the great outdoors?

As far as boutique hotels are concerned, it’s not just about being a little bit quirky; hanging modern art on the walls, sticking some designer chairs in the rooms or making all the fittings stainless steel. It’s about a design theme that runs through the hotel from start to finish and affects everything from the cushions on the sofas to the dessert menu in the restaurant.

Where does the inspiration for this individuality and personality come from? For some hoteliers, it comes from the location. It’s unsurprising that boutique beach hotels are clean and simple, bringing the colours and textures of the coast into the building and using architectural design to allow guests to feel at one with the sea; large windows, folding doors and seawater pools for example, even for those ski vacations.

In contrast, small hotels that are based in cities often reflect either the present-day energy or the historic past of their location. Through the use of rich colours or minimal materials, antique furniture, period art and a variety of textiles, designers can create a hotel that truly reflects its location.

Organic gardening practices actually have been around and utilized by people since certain ancient tribes gave up hunting and gathering and settled down to grow their own crops and to maintain their own domesticated animals. In their most basic form, organic gardening practices consists of the use of naturally occuring materials (organic materials) in the care and treatment of a garden patch — vegetable or floral. No man made chemicals or any type are utilized in true organic gardening regimens. This supports the philosophy of eco living in a large way. Even for your living spaces, you can turn to organic products or homemade cleaning options. Instead of using chemical sprays on your Kettlebells and exercise equipment, mix a solution of white distilled vinegar and water instead.

When it comes to providing nutrients for an organic gardening, two resources normally are used: compost and manure. Likewise, when it comes to cleaning the house or the issue of pest control, natural steps are taken to tackleoffensive bugs and insects. In this regard, benign insects that do not damage plants but who prey upon bugs that harm foilage are placed in a garden to handle the infestation problem or situation.

Eco travel is still new to many. For those who are adventurous, camping and trekking are great ways to travel responsibly. Slow travel is another popular option for people to get to know the locals in the country they are visiting. Taking your time and not rushing around. If possible, stay in a bed and breakfast establishment and not the big chain hotels. Eco travel can take you places, from beaches to urban cities, as long as you keep in mind eco principles like using the right transport and embracing your green living principles. That doesn’t mean you can discard your cheap insurance – you still need to ensure that you are well covered, especially in certain remote destinations.

For me, eco travel is a fairly new thing and I am still finding out how to make it possible when doing so as a family. It will require efforts and certain responsible steps to take. But it will be a refreshing experience for both the traveler and the environment.

Perhaps the hoteliers who score big in eco travel are those who provide boutique accommodations or bed and breakfast stays. Normally you get to meet more locals compared to busy and large hotel establishments. If time is in your favor, choose local public transport and enjoy the destination in a slow and timely pace. I do hope that I can get an eco friendly bag or eco Samsonite luggage to accompany me in my next eco travel expedition.

Green travel is still pretty new in a sense. It basically calls for picking green accommodations, transport, eco tours and green dining options. Green can be expensive and time consuming so I personally think that it is not for everyone. But surely there are reason to convince us that green travel is good for the environment and for our future generation, here are a few others on why we should choose green travel (if we can):

1) You get to meet and connect with the locals. Catching public transport, walking, trekking, biking is a great way to know and see more!

2) You experience the extraordinary. Opposed to traditional travel, you will get the off the beaten track experience that leaves you memories that last! Just choose the right places!

3) It keeps you healthy! By moving around more by foot, your heart is happy and so is your waist line. Plus, we tend to eat more local produce, less chemical foods which means less ‘overeating’ too!

Sure enough, you love traveling. But isn’t it even nicer if your travel experience is fair, responsible and eco friendly? This would mean traveling with the environment in mind, respecting nature and Mother Earth, people and culture, doing things that will benefit the local community.

To being your eco friendly travel, pick travel itineraries that offer you the chance to explore a country in a fresh and new way. You can start by choosing greener transport options and staying in unusual places. Find out the lesser-known festivalsso that you can have an unique perspective on a country. There is a good range of eco friendly hotels to suit all travellers and most budgets. Located in some of the most beautiful and unusual corners of the world, these hotels are unique, filled with character and they all practice responsible tourism.

What I really appreciate about today’s technology is the ability to conduct searches of any kind within a short time. Whether you are searching for Brazil vacation packages, eco friendly hotels, family friendly accommodation or best hotel deals of any kind, the sophisticated search engine provides you all the travel resources you need. To go one step further, you can even search for the lowest priced hotels within seconds by using the following hotel comparison search tool. At this stage, I haven’t seen any travel search engine that highlights eco travel or eco friendly hotels but knowing the techies, they will soon come up with a travel search tool for eco travelers out there!

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