We have been asked many times how to travel more sustainably. The answer is that you do not need to be a perfect traveller — five details are enough.
First, eat locally: every meal you eat is a direct vote for the local economy. Second, slow down: staying three nights in one place has a carbon footprint roughly forty per cent lower than three nights in three places. Third, stay within walking distance: more than half the experiences on a trip should happen within a thirty-minute walk. Fourth, reuse: bring your own bottle, cutlery and cloth bag, and a seven-day trip saves dozens of disposables. Fifth, swap buying something for learning something: a piece of cloth you dyed yourself outlives a souvenir.
None of these require giving anything up; they only change a default setting.
We never put slogans in our itineraries, but every route is designed around these five things by default — accommodation within walking distance, meals arranged at local restaurants.
We would not suggest sacrificing the pleasure of a trip in the name of being greener; that resolve lasts only a few days. The changes that genuinely work are the ones you keep making after you get home.