Environmental Defense fund has some good tips. 5 greener summer vacation ideas.
Their post came across my Facebook feed with the link above. “Hot take: sometimes vacations are stressful. Between budgeting, the mini panic attack over whether you remembered to pack your toothbrush, potential plane delays, traffic, etc.…it can be a lot. But with these tips you’ll have one less thing to worry about.”
I appreciate that they are sharing tips such as forgoing flight; downloading a birdwatching app; adventuring by bicycle or other human power; opting for a staycation.
My favorite eco-friendly vacation tip is to stay home. Staycation! Deepen our understanding of our own bioregion; take adventure excursions in our own backyard.
A while back, I posted about a company that offers virtual tours of a marketplace in some beautiful country or countries. Participants get to hear about the history of the area while purchasing traditional handcrafted clothing and other articles. And with the Internet being what it is today, I’m pretty sure any of us could connect with someone located in any country we’re interested in, and pay them to be our virtual tour guide. There are a couple of countries where I’d like to do this, including Slovakia and Kazakhstan.
Other vacation tips: spend it on education, by taking a course or attending a virtual conference. Take a permaculture design course; many are available online, and then you can start implementing hands-on right away in your own community.
Or, how about some consciousness training; mindfulness retreat. Lots of those types of courses are available online too, or there may be instructors in your local area as well.
Anti-racism courses are good too. Decolonizing our minds and dismantling colonizer culture is an important part of restoring ecosystem health and addressing structural inequities.
Dismantling our own inner prisons is an exhilarating adventure! And it benefits all beings.