Fly and stay sustainable. Be energy efficient and travel responsibly. I live my life on planes. I love traveling. I sort of…confession…love airports! I know it’s not brilliant but how else do I move. There’s too much to see and too much to do and lots of it requires air travel as a starting point. But I wanted to be smart about the way I travel. I take trains when I am on the ground, use public transportation wherever I can. I carry a water bottle around with me and avoid the plastic as much as possible. I walk a lot. I know it’s better to walk a city or bike it if not too risky and I do that as much as I can. I want our organization to embrace responsible travel. Sightseeing’s are important, as are guides but on busses with 45 people, it’s always better to split up and walk, get wet when it rains and bike wherever you can. And no greenwashing. Pretending to be responsible but not.
We Invest in small companies, go Global and use local people on the ground. This year more than 25% of our travelers will travel to non-European destinations. And once we arrive, we go small and invest in the local scene. Going Global, thinking bigger than our comfort zone has to be married with giving back. Discovery of new places must leave an imprint. Not a carbon footprint reduction monitor. An impression and an investment that dances hand in hand with our global mission. To change lives, teach cultural understanding by looking beyond and into the unknown…