Our Travel Choices
Amid the excitement of the world of travel opening up again, it’s now important that we all make the right choices when it comes to booking and stepping out on our next adventure. We suggest we all look upstream and try to heal the disconnection between us and nature first and foremost. If more of us had a deep relationship with nature, we’d make more informed and conscious decisions in all aspects of their lives. We can all approach travel the same way, with a sacredness and a commitment to honoring the gift that is travel and be ever so mindful of how it is designed, delivered, and engaged.
Travelling more responsibly and sustainably is about choice. Your choice as a traveller and our choice as a small adventure travel company.
There’s no hiding that carbon emissions produced by travel, particularly with flying, have a detrimental impact on the environment. However, as responsible travel can really be a force for good, making considered choices about where and how we travel opens up a whole world of positives for the people and places we visit.
There are endless reasons as to why we travel – the joy & understanding it brings with meeting people of different cultures, opportunity of exploring diverse landscapes, the ability of stepping outside of our comfort zones & learning more about ourselves, being amid nature in all its glory, spending quality time with family and friends, the chance to meet like-minded people or simply rejuvenating, getting away and pursuing the moments that make you go, WOW!
But giving careful consideration about where and how we travel can help make us all more conscious and responsible travellers, reduce our carbon footprint and support conservation, regeneration and communities along the way.
It will always be a work-in-progress and we all still have a long way to go, but these small considerations will help make a big difference…
1. Lesser visited destinations
Bucketlist destinations are obviously popular for good reason but with outstanding archaeological sites, iconic mountain peaks and stunning natural wonders, come throngs of tourists. Unfortunately, some of these places are buckling under the weight of them. Consider a country or region that doesn’t see as many visitors, like Colombia or Georgia. You’re far more likely to get under the skin of a destination when you break away from the crowd and open yourself up to something completely different.
2. Countries making strides in sustainable tourism
Choosing a destination that is earning its stripes in sustainable tourism is a great way to support regeneration, conservation and local communities. We make a conscious effort to create new itineraries in countries which are forging ahead with sustainable travel such as Iceland and Costa Rica. On each trips landing web-page scroll down and check out the ‘Sustainable and Responsible Travel’ info.
3. Adventures closer to home
Amazing adventure can still be found closer to home! Why not consider shorter-haul trips to reduce those air-miles. It doesn’t mean you can’t still feel a world away, get your dose of the truly exotic and immerse yourself in a different culture. Morocco, with its colourful and diverse landscapes, fascinating culture and delicious food, makes for an amazing not-too-far-flung adventure. Or even closer still, why not consider exploring somewhere you haven’t ventured too in Scotland, England or Wales. The UK is host to many incredible landscapes.
4. Make a train trip part of your journey
To help get the wheels in motion, we’re dedicated in creating incredible adventures that are right on track to be run responsibly and sustainably where-ever possible. As part of this work, we’re expanding our itineraries to offer train travel options therefore a greener way to travel and the chance to view some of the world’s most breathtaking scenery along the way. If the reduced carbon emissions, convenience, price, meeting locals and comfort of train travel still doesn’t have you sold, perhaps the charm will. There’s just something very quaint, old-school, and, frankly, romantic about riding the rails, no matter where you’re coming from or travelling to.
5. Travel off-season
We’ve recently set up ‘low season’ trips on our website so you have the option of travelling off-season to avoid the crowds and support tourism year round.
Travelling in the off-season is beneficial for everyone. You’ll save money, avoid the crowds AND you’ll be supporting communities and providing an income to local families year round. The majority of our low season adventures have been carefully curated and are exclusive to Adventurous Ewe. We’re particularly proud of our Kings Trail Arctic Snowshoe Expedition and really looking forward to heading back out there in Winter 2023.
6. Get off the beaten track in more popular destinations
The bucket-list adventures are bucket-list as they’re renowned classics due to their famed landscape features or cultural importance! However, you can get off-the-beaten-track pretty much anywhere in the world and you’ll get to discover a side to commercialised destinations you might not have known even existed. It also spreads your tourist money a bit further afield. Nepal is a perfect destination to do this and travelling with us takes the guess-work out of where to go and what to do.
Take a look at our exclusive and carefully crafted itineraries of Annapurna Explorer Trek and Nepal Hike, Bike & Raft Adventure.
7. Lace up your hiking boots or jump on a bike for lower-impact travel
A trekking or cycling adventure offers the chance to really immerse yourself in the natural beauty of the world’s hidden wild frontiers and meet people along the way you may not otherwise meet. That’s the golden gem of all our trips. People that are likely to be just as excited at the prospect of meeting you, as you are them! Taking a country by foot or by bike is not only good for you, but is also perhaps the greenest way to travel. Fresh air, exercise, all while discovering a new place, immersing yourself in the local way of life and being planet-friendly? Our trekking and cycling trips are perfect for this kind of low-impact travel.
OUR COMMITMENT
On behalf of every person that travels with us, we make a donation to leading climate change charity, Cool Earth. This non-profit organisation works alongside rainforest communities to halt deforestation and its impact on climate change. We’re a big fan of Cool Earth as they focus on putting local people back in control, giving them the resources they need to keep their forest intact. It’s an approach that research proves to be the most effective way of keeping rainforest standing. It’s also an approach that is transforming the lives of some of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable communities.
Reducing single-use plastic
Since teaming up with Water-to-Go in 2019, Adventurous Ewe Leaders and travellers have saved thousands of throw away plastic bottles by choosing to use refillable, filtered water bottles. As part of our commitment to helping the planet, when you join us for an overseas adventure, you’ll receive a free Adventurous Ewe Water-to-Go bottle. This is our way of saying thank-ewe and also helping eliminate the consumption of single use plastics in developing countries. To date we have given away 250 Water-to-Go bottles to our travellers, local Leaders and crew. On average, that’s a saving of 3000 single use plastic water bottles from being left to waste. Ie.
A trip average of 6 days in duration and a minimum of 2 bottles of water purchased each day totals 3000 bottles. This is a minimum amount as Jim & Sue plus many of our regular travellers have used their Water-to-Go bottles on consecutive trips worldwide.
Responsible travel tips
We believe that if we all make small changes to our travel habits we can all have a really positive impact – from considering where to visit, eliminating the use of single-use plastic and packing lighter; to respecting local culture and spending your money at grass roots level within communities you visit. Even if you implement a handful of these suggestions you will make a difference.
Adventurous Ewe’s Sustainable Travel Project – Travelife Certification
We’re always striving to improve our operations and recognise the urgent need of functioning sustainably whilst helping project nature and people across the planet. In order to develop our personal skill sets and therefore, the sustainable operation of Adventurous Ewe, we went through a meticulous application process to be part of the SUSTOUR support programme in order to obtain the Travelife Partner award. And we’re delighted to report that we were successful. This means that we will work with expert guidance and support of SUSTOUR to integrate sustainability principles and performance within Adventurous Ewe and our supply chains. We’re super excited as we continue to make positive steps as a signatory and launch partner of the Glasgow Declaration on climate Action in Tourism and our Climate Emergency Plan.
Adventurous Ewe
So when the time is right for you to plan your adventure, whether it’s as a solo traveller or with a small group of pals, take the time to make your travel choices count. And feel free to get in touch with Jim or Sue at Adventurous Ewe. Where else can you speak directly with the owners of the company, whom have created the trips, whom both share a huge passion for the planet, it’s people and your experience and whom you’ll probably meet at some point on your journey.
