Go Green: Eco Travel 101

It is peaceful on Nonsuch Island, a 14-acre nature preserve at the eastern entrance to Bermuda’s Castle Harbor. Migratory songbirds flit through canopy trees, their calls disturbed only by the distant and distinctly incongruous whine from a motorcycle track on the mainland. With its Bermuda palmetto, olivewood and cedar forests, scuttling Sally Lightfoot crabs and nesting Bermuda petrel seabirds just offshore, the island represents a rare opportunity to experience Bermuda as its first visitors saw it.

New England’s coastal towns are some of America’s oldest, and few have a more storied or colorful past than Mystic, Connecticut in the southeastern part of the state. Wedged roughly half way between Boston and New York City, Mystic Harbor is filled with sailboats and surrounded by gently rolling hills and quaint, historic buildings.

Canoeing in Canada’s Barrenlands.

Bill Adams’ tractor goes putt, putt, putt. It’s a 1957 John Deere, the last of the two-cylinder models, and just one of the many venerable pieces of agricultural equipment around the Adams Farm in southern Vermont, which has been under one family’s ownership since 1865. Adams’ tractor has been used for maple sugaring, for sheep […]

Imagine a South Pacific paradise, steeped in the 18th century history of Captain James Cook and William Bligh of Mutiny on the Bounty fame. You can almost smell fragrant frangipani blossoms, taste sweet papayas and feel cool breezes. Now add to that vision: blue starfish, a sparrow-size-bird threatened by extinction and a tree-climbing senior citizen.

Finding Respite–and a Real Meal–While on Vacation For a growing number of travelers, the Sweet Onion Inn is a sweet site indeed. The white-shingled structure nestles along Route 100 in Hancock, Vermont, a rustic spot between unbroken expanses of Green Mountain forest and winding White River. The front walk of the inn rustles with fallen […]

November 28-29, 1999. Our delegation of journalists, winners of the annual Population Institute reporting awards, arrives in New Delhi in the middle of the night and drives through nearly deserted streets to our hotel. The 4 a.m. calm is deceptive: at first light, the streets fill with belching diesel taxis and two-stroke motorcycle-based rickshaws, colorfully […]

The Mayan expression Quauhtitlan, meaning "between the trees," gave the name to what is now Guatemala. With more than 30 legally declared protected areas, and 40 more proposed, Guatemala boasts some of the richest biodiversity in the world: 19 ecosystems, over 300 microclimates, 400 species of birds, a myriad of snakes, wild cats, and monkeys, and thousands of species of tropical trees and plants–many of which are threatened by illegal burning and harvesting.

In just two decades, Freiburg, Germany, a sleepy 12th century village, has transformed into a progressive 21st century city that’s being called the world’s first eco-municipality.

Adventure Travel vs. Ecotourism: Can the Road Less Traveled Get Trampled Too Often?

In America’s First Environmentally-Smart Hotel To what some may consider a rather stagnant hotel industry, the newly opened Sheraton Rittenhouse Square is a breath of fresh air…literally. Every 34 minutes, guests of this Philadelphia establishment are bathed in an atmosphere that’s been completely filtered of such air pollutants as mold, pollen and bacteria. The hotel’s […]

Even the most remote trails in Nepal are littered with bright orange Kodak film boxes and granola bar wrappers. So what’s a solitdue-loving ecotourist to do? the best bet these days is to buy a ticket to Australia, where the population density is among the lowest in the world and the Outback offers thousands of square miles of untrampeled wilderness.

Environmentalists, thankfully, aren’t couch potatoes, and eco-travel is becoming more and more popular every year. This new column will explore not only travel destinations but trends in environmental travel and operating standards that this fledging industry is attempting to meet.

Traveling can be a challenge for those trying to lead an eco-friendly life. From room deodorizers and potpourri to non-organic breakfasts and sheets that reek of bleach, the typical overnight stay can seem so toxic you’d almost rather stay home. But no more. Over the past decade, there’s been a welcome rise in eco-friendly bed-and-breakfasts.

When the first European travelers saw Hawaii, they thought they’d found paradise. But the 50th state, Hawaii is no longer so Edenic. Waikiki Beach has become a high-rise hell, and Honolulu, on the main island of Oahu, is America’s 11th largest urban center (though it remains the only U.S. city with a rainforest).

The late spring and early fall "off season" are lovely times to visit Cape Cod, whether you stay at a large hotel, a bed and breakfast, or one of the many (but pricey) rental properties.