Responsible Tourism: How to Travel and Do Good
"To move, to breathe, to fly, to float, to gain all while you give, to roam the roads of lands remote, to travel is to live." --Hans Christian Andersen
👋🏻 Hello there! Welcome to the weekly WanderWomen newsletter where I share the joy and challenges of solo travel as well as insights and tips to help you embark on your own travel, one adventure at a time. If you are not yet a subscriber, here’s what you missed:
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Fun Fact: Volunteer tourism is becoming more popular. As many as 1.6 million people volunteer abroad every year (and growing), and teaching, manual labor, and mentoring youth are the most common volunteer activities.
Traveling for a Cause
A month before my first trip to Africa, I received an email from the local travel agency that arranged my trek to Kilimanjaro. Among the items on the list of things to pack is a small request. They wanted to know if I was willing to pack some clothes to donate to their local communities.
I donate clothes all the time (I have a one item in, one item out rule for my closet), so I did not have much to donate. But I loved the idea so much that I posted a note at work soliciting clothing donation.
Within a week, the donation box was full. Turned out my colleagues loved the idea too and were more than willing to help out.
That was my first experience on how one can travel and do good at the same time. Since then, I’ve looked for ways to do good while I travel - from eating and shopping at mom and pop restaurants and shops to support the local economy, to bringing school supplies to local children, to spending money with organizations that give back to their community or environment.
In this week’s newsletter, I want to share a few tips on how you too can good on your solo adventures. I also included information on a few organizations that help arrange logistics around doing good while traveling, in case you find it easier to use or join something that is already pre-planned.
Do Good While You Travel
Accommodations. While hotels and Airbnb are popular choices for booking accommodations, consider homestay instead for a more authentic experience. By choosing a homestay over a hotel, you will experience the everyday lives of the locals up close. You will also often get to taste home-cooked meals and get local tips on hidden gems that you won’t want to miss. Best of all, your booking fee goes directly to your host family instead lining the pocket of a big corporation.
Tour Guides. Whenever possible, hire local tour guides. If you are staying with a host via homestay, you can often ask them for recommendations during or even before your trip so that you can plan ahead. I’ve also found names of local guides through review sites such as Trip Advisor. Alternatively, look for organizations that offer free walking tours. These walking tours are free because they are tip-based. They are often staffed by local actors, artists, historians and even students who are extremely knowledgeable about what you will see and experience on your tours. The best part? The tip you give them at the end of the tour help them pay for rent and groceries!
Shopping. Whether you decide to visit a big city in Europe or a small town in Asia or South America, it is easy to find a local market to buy souvenirs, keepsakes, and even fresh fruits and other food. By shopping at a local market, your money goes directly to help boost the local economy. Also, bring your own reusable bag to cut down on plastic and paper waste. This is especially true while traveling in Asia and South America.
Organizations Doing Good
Pack for a Purpose is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to positively impact communities around the world by assisting travelers who want to make meaningful contributions to the destinations they visit. They make it easy to make your travel meaningful by collecting your donation items at your destination and delivering them to the projects that they support. The best part is, they support organizations and projects in many parts of the world. So wherever your wandering lust takes you, you’ll still be able to donate.
If you are more interested in donating your time, you may want to consider joining International Volunteer HQ. They are a certified B Corp, which means they are a business that meets high standards of verified performance, accountability, and transparency on their charter to provide volunteering experience. From one-day experience to weeks long engagement, they organize everything for you: meals, accommodations, and even airport pickup. While I have not volunteered through them, I have heard good things about them. Or if you want to organize one yourself, Volunteer Forever is full of travel volunteer information and how-to guides.
For those who want to go on life-changing challenges (cycling, trekking, sledding) while raising funds for your favorite charity, you should check out Global Adventure Challenges. What I like about them is they take responsible tourism very seriously. From preserving landscapes to aiding the local economy where they operate, they try to minimize the disruptions caused by the challenges they plan.
What We Learned Today
Traveling is a gift that gives back in many ways. Traveling consciously in a way that benefits the people and places of the destination you visit is one way to make your trip more meaningful. From mindful spending to donations to partnering with charitable travel groups facilitating ethical experiences, the choice to do good while traveling has never been easier.
Until next time,
Ceres