What exactly is sustainable travel? Do you have to be uncomfortable? Is it all about eco lodges and roughing it? Do you have to dig up your own vegetables? The answer is no, well, not unless you want to!  Some people want to be totally sustainable in their travels from slow, eco transport options to simply community stay accommodation and other people may want to be more sustainable but don’t really want to skip on comfort and aren’t quite sure how to go about it. I believe that there are various bands of sustainability and so have come up with three categories of travel that allow for all.

1. Community stays and projects. This is having a total immersion with a community project, living with the locals and contributing to whatever project is on hand. Or, volunteering with an NGO. We have a wonderful selection of these, from feeding the homeless in Delhi to supporting women’s initiatives in national parks or Himalayan regions to supporting rescued sloth bears and elephants. All you need to do is ask.
2. Learning Journeys. These are itineraries that have been put together, not just to show you a bunch of monuments, but ones that work with locals, create a story, which showcase a region, its people, their arts and crafts and in which there it a tangible takeaway from the journey, more than just a bunch of photos in your phone.
3. Travel for the Sustainably Curious: To be honest, this is where I started out, though it was never a journey into sustainability, more a case of wanting a client’s holiday to be the best that it could be. That to me meant slowing things down, giving an extra night in each destination, giving clients the chance to breath and absorb all that they have seen, appreciate the hotel and maybe nip back to that market that they saw earlier. Together with this went adding more local experiences, ones which benefitted the locals and offered more authenticity than just visiting monuments and having a history lesson. Then came adding an off beat stay or two in rural locations, truly where the heart of India lies and where local communities are employed/supported and BINGO! Without even thinking about it you not only have a more relaxing and experiential holiday, but it is also automatically more sustainable, without you even having to think about it. It’s as easy as that, oh, and you can stay in luxury hotels too!

Over the years, I have built strong relationships with regional suppliers in India with whom I share the same values. Together, we prioritize supporting local communities, providing employment opportunities, and preserving local arts, crafts, and culture. These can be worked into a more luxurious itinerary or be the focal point of a tour.

Discover some of our Wildlife Conservation Tours here

Or contact us for a tailor-made sustainable itinerary.