I know I’d love to view tigers in the wild.
I know India is a mind-bending destination that’s been transforming travelers for centuries.
But knowing whether my tourism dollars should, or should not, go to supporting tiger tracking in India… not so much.
That’s why I rely on organizations like National Geographic, Sustainable Travel, and the Adventure Travel Trade Association, to help inform my travel choices.
So ever since Wildland Adventures’ Tigers and Travels trip to India was recognized by National Geographic Traveler magazine as a 2011 Tour of a Lifetime, I’ve been itching to go.
On this 19-day tour, guests search for tigers in the famed Bandhavgarh and Kanha National Parks, explore ancient forts and castles, and are immersed in the contemporary cultural fabric of modern India.
Based from sustainable jungle lodges and restored manor homes and palaces, travelers learn about the current state of tigers in India and how tourism-supported programs such as Wildlands’ 10,000 Tigers initiative are working to bring these big cats back from the brink of extinction by empowering communities to protect their habitat and end illegal poaching.
The best part? By participating on this trip you help save tigers, in part by supporting the local communities around the parks so they benefit from ecotourism.
I’m sold. You?
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".
Family Eco-Vacation Trailblazer Greenloons Identifies Top 10 Emerging Destinations for Green and Sustainable Travel
Planning a planet-friendly vacation isn’t always easy for those who love to travel to exotic and inspirational places, but wish to do so in an environmentally and culturally responsible manner.
Enter eco-conscious, Irene Lane, founder of Greenloons, a business dedicated to helping travelers source the green vacation of their dreams.
“Traveling sustainably in new destinations, says Lane, “helps raise living standards and can create environmental reverence by emphasizing conservation education and advocating sustainable activities that lessen degradation.”
To help get you off the sometimes beaten green path, here are Lane’s suggestions for the Top 10 Emerging Destinations for Green and Sustainable Travel:
1. Jordan’s eco-lodges combine local heritage and educational experiences while exploring a mix of modernity, ancient wonders and nature. Think horse or camel safaris, Bedouins, the endangered Arabia oryx, Petra, the Dead Sea and trekking through Dana Nature Reserve. Jordan Family Adventure
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".
HOWL WITH THE WOLVES IN YELLOWSTONE THIS WINTER
Yellowstone National Park Lodges has announced its line-up of Winter Getaway and Adventure packages for the 2011/2012 season.
The park’s winter season begins Dec. 18, 2011 with the opening of the Old Faithful Snow Lodge. The Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel opens Dec. 20, 2011. The lodges provide the only wintertime accommodations within the park. Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel will close for the season March 5, 2012, and Old Faithful Snow Lodge will close March 4, 2012.
Each package includes Xanterra’s “Snow Card” good for 10 percent off meals, in-park transportation, tours, ski shop services and select retail items. Rates quoted here are per person, double occupancy, plus tax and utility fee.
Adventure Package
“Trail of the Wolf” provides travelers with an opportunity to explore the park’s interior with a guide and learn about its abundant natural features in places such as the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone as well as to observe wildlife in the Northern Range of the park. The package includes guided snowmobiling in the interior of the park and wildlife watching by van in the park’s Northern Range. Also included are three nights of lodging split between the two lodges, round-trip guided snowmobile tour between Old Faithful and Mammoth, “Wake up to Wildlife” tour of the Lamar Valley, two breakfasts per person, welcome gift, one-hour hot tub rental, unlimited ice skating and skates and Snow Card. Rates start at $439 per person
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".
Take your nomadic yearnings to the next level with Projects Abroad’s volunteer Nomad Projects in Morocco and Mongolia.
Been There, Done That? Think again.
Whether you’re an adventurous student, career breaker, retiree, or traveler seeking more meaningful experiences, these two cultural projects take you well beyond the ordinary.
Sign up for Project Abroad’s Nomadic Life placement and you’ll join a group of Mongolian Steppe or Moroccan Sahara nomads and experience an ancient way of life virtually inaccessible to outsiders.
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".
Retirement used to mean slowing down. These days, it seems to mean just the opposite. Healthy, active retirees are redefining the term by filling their golden years with excitement and adventure. For the truly adventurous, adventure travel company, Myths and Mountains, offers a motorcycle tour down Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh Trail.
Over two weeks, the tour takes riders from Hanoi to Saigon on 125 cc motorcycles. The trail cuts through historic and tribal areas, and through landmarks of the American Vietnam war like the birthplace of Ho Chi Minh himself.
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".
Day of the Dead is one of the most important and impressive festivals in Mexico. Yet many of the most authentic ceremonies remain inaccessible to outsiders.
Travel beyond the guidebooks with small-group, cultural tour company, Traditions Mexico, and experience unparalleled access to Day of the Dead ceremonies deep in the Oaxaca Outback and among the Maya of Chiapas with the following two 3-day tours.
1. The Return of the Souls. Day of the Dead in Outback Oaxaca. October 31 - November 2, 2011.
Oaxaca © Eric Mindling
Beautiful, moving and fascinating and in the midst of the most lovely time of year, Day of the Dead in Oaxaca is not to be missed. This unique trip takes the celebration even one step further, transporting travelers far beyond the crowds and carnival atmosphere that have become the festival norm around Oaxaca city and into a remote village seemingly lost in time in outback Oaxaca.
Slow down, walk the earthen streets, smell the river scented air, and meet bakers, wood cutters and tamale makers, and truly immerse yourself in a small town’s preparations for the return of the souls of their loved ones. Join them in the candle-lit pre-dawn quiet of the cemetery for this one of a kind ceremony.
Ellen Barone is an American writer and wanderer. She co-founded and publishes the group travel blog YourLifeIsATrip.com and is currently at work on her first book "I Could Live Here".