This is a collaborative post.
Day by day, the world is becoming more and more eco-conscious, with many people attempting to make big changes to their lifestyles to reduce their environmental impact, and keep the target of 1.5 degrees alive. It’s no surprise that travel is one of the biggest contributors to environmental damage, so it seems only right that we should be taking steps to reduce our carbon footprint. However, we still need to be able to escape from our day-to-day lives from time-to-time, and treat ourselves to a holiday.
So, if we’re looking to reduce our environmental impact, but we’re still keen to getaway from the stresses of everyday life, what are the best kind of eco-friendly travel options available for us to consider?
Here are a few ideas to inspire your next big trip:
Golf play & stay
A golf mini-break can make for great fun, while also enabling you to teach your kids how to play golf, or to just spend quality time with your family, friends or partner. What’s more, as golf getaways have a relatively low environmental impact (assuming you’ll be staycationing somewhere relatively close to home), you’ll be able to holiday more happily in the knowledge that you’ll be reducing your carbon footprint in the process.
Not only are golf courses usually protected environments, but the amount of travel will be minimal if you choose places within the UK that offer play and stay packages, such as Dundonald Links, Ayrshire. Many golf course providers have also committed to their own sustainability missions, so you can be sure that steps have been taken to keep environmental impact to a minimum.
Cabin in the woods
Heading to a cabin in the woods will always be an exciting option for a holiday. If you’ll be travelling with family or friends, no doubt you’ll enjoy exploring the surrounding woodland together, while escaping on a getaway like this can also make for a romantic, tranquil holiday experience with your better half.
Furthermore, holidaying in a remote cabin in the woods will almost always be far more environmentally friendly than other travel options, whether that be jetting off to an exotic destination, or driving a few hours to stay in a luxury resort.
If that’s not enough, you’ll probably also find that most remote holiday providers are committed to using their land for the protection of nature and wildlife. A great example of this is Sukau Rainforest Lodge in Sabah, Borneo, where I stayed on my trip to Malaysia back in 2019. One of National Geographic’s Unique Lodges of the World, this eco resort is ideally located for exploring the diverse wildlife and endangered species of the Kinabatangan River.
Many eco resorts have also developed their own environmentally friendly forms of entertainment for guests to enjoy, from hikes and guided nature walks or wildlife tours, to survival training, zip wires and more.
Camping & glamping
Whether you’ll be camping in Wales or somewhere abroad, are few better ways to connect with nature than by embarking on a camping trip in the country, or elsewhere in the wilderness. Plus, this often makes for a wonderful way to connect more meaningfully with your travel companions, too.
If you’ve never really been sold on the prospect of camping, or perhaps you wouldn’t have the faintest idea of how to pitch a tent (please, tell me it’s not just me!), then you might find glamping to be a great alternative as you get all the natural benefits of camping, along with the home comforts.
That said, you’ll still need to be mindful of behaving in a sustainable manner while camping, taking care to leave the campsite in the same state – or perhaps even in a better condition – to how you found it when you originally arrived.
Wildlife safari
A safari holiday is, without doubt, one of the best possible ways to connect with nature, enabling you to witness some of the world’s most beautiful animals in their natural habitat.
Contrary to popular belief, you don’t actually need to travel to Africa to enjoy a safari holiday. In fact, there are a number of European safari options that could work out to be far cheaper all round, while also being much quicker and easier to get to.
Admittedly, you might not be able to spot certain rare or endangered species in Europe, like the Pygymy elephants and Proboscis monkeys I saw in Borneo, for example. However, you could choose from seeing whales in The Azores, flamingoes in France, lynx in Romania, and wild horses in Germany – just to highlight a few of the experiences you could enjoy while on a European safari holiday. Plus, it’ll probably cost you a fraction of the price, too!
Having read this post, you’ll hopefully now be feeling inspired to book an eco-friendly escape that’ll enable you to minimise your environmental impact, while also having a good time with your loved ones.
Happy holidaying! 🙂
Have you ever been on an eco-friendly holiday? Where did you go, what kind of accommodation did you stay in, and what did you get up to? Let me know by leaving a comment below.
This is a collaborative post.