What does a meaningful adventure look like in 2023? Slow travel, community stays, low-carbon adventures, fundraising initiatives, citizen science programs—there are plenty of ways to have an impact on your holiday this year. We’ve rounded up some of our favorites below.
The results are in. Surveys show that 71 percent of travelers want to travel more sustainably, and climate change is pushing 55 percent of us to make better choices when it comes to our trips.
There’s a definite shift in consumer demand: We want our travel to be less damaging to the environment, more equitable, and safer and better for local communities. We want it to have a positive impact—or at least not make things actively worse.
Unfortunately, this can be difficult, especially in the age of corporate greenwashing. Data from Google shows that 37 percent of us still don’t know how to make our adventures more sustainable. So how do you travel with impact in 2023? Here are six ideas to get started.
Like your adventures on two wheels? The Intrepid Foundation is teaming up with World Bicycle Relief for the Intrepid Buffalo Bicycle Ride, a global fundraising initiative taking place on Sunday April 2, 2023. All you have to do is ride further than you’ve ever gone before, and get friends and family to sponsor your efforts.
Every dollar raised goes to World Bicycle Relief, an organization supporting rural, low-income communities through life-changing bicycles. They do some amazing work, particularly in Africa and Southeast Asia. You can read our interview with World Bicycle Relief’s co-founder FK Day.
If you aren’t able to join the ride, consider purchasing a Buffalo Bicycle for a student, health worker, or small business owner, and empower them to break the cycle of poverty.
Intrepid’s famous women’s expeditions are back for 2023. Not only are these a great way for women to experience group travel, but they also support local female guides and businesses all over the world. You can venture inside an Iranian beauty salon, hike the Inca Trail with an all-female crew, meet artisans in the desert village of Chandelao Garh, and make couscous with local women in Marrakech. If you’ve got another destination in mind, and a group of female friends ready to go, Intrepid is also offering custom-made women’s itineraries.
Heard of ByWay? They’re a B-Corp specializing in sustainable, flight-free, slow travel. Aviation produces about 2.4 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, if aviation was a country, it would rank sixth in the world for GHG emissions—so there’s never been a better time to catch a train.
ByWay has plenty of plane-free itineraries ready to go, all planned by sustainability experts. They even offer vegan holidays. Alternatively, swap international travel for something domestic this year. It’s usually cheaper, easier and better for the environment.
You’ve heard of overtourism, but with the fallout from COVID-19, there are plenty of destinations still struggling with the opposite: Undertourism. That is, a worrying lack of travelers and associated revenue. Consider spending your hard-earned travel money away from the obvious destinations this year, where it will do more good for local communities. Expeditions in places like Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bhutan and Northern Cyprus are good places to start. Try swapping Mykonos for Naxos, or the Swiss Alps for Kyrgyzstan’s Tien Shan Mountains.
Various tour operators are now offering everyday travelers the chance to collect data and make observations that can directly contribute to global environmental science.
Responsible Travel has included citizen science on several of their itineraries. You can track whale movements in Antarctica, collect environmental DNA in the Amazon, and contribute to the conservation of Christmas Island, among other options. EarthWatch also organizes some great volunteer expeditions all over the world. But make sure to do your research: Not all citizen science programs are created equally.
The so-called ‘Airbnb effect’ is well-documented by now. Basically, the Airbnb business model has been so successful, so disruptive, and so relentlessly unregulated, that it’s contributing to a shortage of long-term housing in destinations all over the world.
This, along with other issues like high cleaning fees and safety concerns, is leading many travelers to return to good, old-fashioned hotels and hostels. Airbnb’s share price is about half of what it was in February 2021 (down to USD$118 as of March 16, 2023) as many travelers choose to ditch home-sharing for something more beneficial, like community stays and small group tours.
***
Adventure.com strives to be a low-emissions publication, and we are working to reduce our carbon emissions where possible. Emissions generated by the movements of our staff and contributors are carbon offset through our parent company, Intrepid. You can visit our sustainability page and read our Contributor Impact Guidelines for more information. While we take our commitment to people and planet seriously, we acknowledge that we still have plenty of work to do, and we welcome all feedback and suggestions from our readers. You can contact us anytime at hello@adventure.com. Please allow up to one week for a response.
James Shackell is a freelance journalist with words in The Huffington Post, Red Bull, Canadian Traveler and Smith Journal. One day, he'll be bumped to business class, and you'll never hear the end of it.
