Tread Lightly — Eco Travel
with your kids!
|by Anne Michelsen
Eco travel? With kids?
You bet.
For many people the term “ecotourism” brings
to mind exotic (and expensive) adventures
in far-off places. Many people do enjoy adventure traveling with kids. But if the idea of
changing diapers atop a pitching whitewater
raft or hiking for miles through the steaming jungle with your toddler in a sling doesn’t
make you want to book a flight this minute,
don’t despair. There are sustainable travel
options to please every family – regardless of
your interests and the ages of your kids.
What is eco travel?
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You might be wondering if the term “eco
travel” is perhaps an oxymoron. It is true that
everything we do has an impact on the environment. It can be diffi cult to plan a trip without increasing our environmental footprint.
However, keep in mind that ‘impact’ can be
positive as well as negative. A well-planned
trip can bring positive benefits to the com-
munities you visit. In fact, tourism provides
a much-needed economic incentive for many
communities around the world to protect
their natural and cultural heritage.
Traveling with your kids is also a wonderful way to expose them to different cultures
and allow them to experience first-hand the
wonders of the natural world. This can help
them develop tolerance, confidence, and
an open-hearted love of and interest in the
world – critical attitudes to foster if our society is ever to learn to live in harmony with
the earth. “Eco travel is full of what educators call teachable moments or, more definitively, unplanned opportunities to explain a
concept that has unintentionally captured a
child’s interest,” says Irene Lane, president of
the eco-travel agency Greenloons. “Whether
it is touring the rainforests of the Amazon,
observing blue footed boobies throughout the
Galapagos Islands or understanding the water
issues that surround the Okavango Delta in
Botswana, eco travel is a vacation experience
that provides boundless opportunities to teach
younger generations about the fragility of ecosystems and the significance of heritage.”