Sustainable travel: How to be a better traveller

Los Angeles is one of the most expensive cities in the United States, whether you live here or are visiting. In fact, based on tourism taxes, Los Angeles is the third most expensive city for tourists to visit in the world.

The term “safari,” which comes from the Swahili for “journey,” is now used to describe ecotourism experiences beyond those in Africa. When English speakers adopted the term, it originally referred to bush hunting trips; as those waned in popularity over the 20th century, “safari” became less associated with hunting, and more associated with what professionals today refer to as photographic safaris. We now see the term “safari” apply to ecotourism experiences like tiger safari in the jungles of Ranthambore, India; puma safari in Chile’s Torres del Paine National Park; polar bear safari in sub-arctic Canada. And while I haven’t yet heard any Massachusetts locals explicitly use the term yet, I would like to proclaim here and now: a shark safari in the waters off Cape Cod—which is estimated to have the highest density of white sharks in the world—should now be counted on that list.

​Radiating vitality from its natty north to its stylish southern heel, there are plenty of reasons Italy attracts a remarkable range of traveller types. Given its fabulous food, sun-soaked coastline, picture-perfect panoramas, and all those extraordinary ancient sites, it’s no wonder Italy sparks a desire to return. There’s simply too much to see — and fall in love with — during a single trip, and planning a stay in Italy can be overwhelming.

A video of an American Airlines pilot dressing down his passengers has gone viral after his speech was posted on Instagram last week.

With its dense tapestry of cultures and landscapes, India feels like dozens of countries rolled into one, but a single visa will cover you for travel across more than three million square kilometers of territory, taking in everything from steamy jungles to the high passes of the Himalayas.

I meet Donald Macauley, the 37-year-old founder of Sierra Leone's first surf school, along a sunny swath of silky yellow sand at Bureh Beach, a surfing destination on the Western Peninsula where he’s been catching waves for more than 20 years. Macauley learned how to surf from a British soldier; before he had access to a proper board, he and other local teens would ride wooden surfboards shaped from busted fishing boats. In 2012, he launched Bureh Beach Surf Club—whose slogan, “Di waves dem go mak u feel fine,” says it all—and today he leads a handful of instructors, mentors street kids, and rallies behind some of Sierra Leone’s most promising young talents. Among them, I meet 25-year-old Kadiatu “KK” Kamara, the country’s preeminent female surfer. “My dream is to teach more girls in Sierra Leone how to surf,” says Kamara, who herself learned at Bureh Beach eight years ago and hopes to someday open her own school. When girls sign up for lessons, she refuses their money. “It’s my responsibility,” she says solemnly. “I want to motivate them not to be afraid of the water.”

India serves up travel on a massive scale. The journey from northern Ladakh to the tip of Tamil Nadu covers 3214km (2000 miles), and it’s a 2933km (1822-mile) trip from the western edge of Gujarat to the eastern border of Manipur in the Northeast States.

Every year, retired cruise ships are sold to ship-breaking yards in Turkey and India where thousands of workers painstakingly dismantle the massive vessels and sell their parts for scrap. 

It happened at an indoor wall for the sport of “bouldering”. I was standing watching some athletic young men conquer a tricky route that was beyond my abilities, half-listening to their banter, when I suddenly understood what they were discussing. A proposal to climb outdoors. They had never done it. They dreamed of it, but were uncertain how to go about it.

Summer 2023 is turning out to be one of the wildest for tourists on record. 

Looking for little ways to be a more sustainable traveler in 2018? You might want to take a look at your go-to hotel’s bathroom soap.

Traveling to Europe is often as easy as simply booking a plane ticket but starting next year, a fee and a visa will be required to visit.