Our trip to Antarctica was bittersweet. We were experiencing the most epic adventure of a lifetime – exploring the most isolated and remote continent on earth, though acutely aware that no trip in the future would ever compare.
I’ve grappled for the past few weeks with how to put the experience into words. Because even though the continent pulls rave reviews, the experience is still undersold. One of the rare destinations which actually exceeds and surpasses the hype.
And I’ll admit, I was apprehensive of traveling to Antarctica. Extraordinarily excited, sure, but I’ve traveled enough to know that you can ruin a destination by building it up in your mind. And the pedestal I’d built for Antarctica was exceptionally high. But we needn’t have been scared. Because the reality of Antarctica didn’t crush the dream – it blew it out of the water.
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You often hear people talk about the benefits of tourism for local communities. The main argument in favor of mass tourism is that it creates more jobs for locals and more opportunities to promote their culture. But is that all there is to it?
In reality, we witness large hotel chains spreading into developing countries, and cookie-cutter holiday resorts, not to mention foreign-owned food chains offering uniform food all over the globe. The world is becoming increasingly globalized and culture is being diluted and lost.
The situation is hardly black-and-white, though. For a local community to truly enjoy the benefits of tourism, we have to become more responsible as travelers.
As travelers with an eye and heart for adventure, we believe that sustainable tourism can and should be mutually beneficial, so have put together the following tips on how you can make a positive impact on local communities every time you travel. While still having the time of your life.
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With a projected 1.7 billion international tourists arriving on foreign shores by 2025, up from 1.1 billion in 2014, it’s unsurprising that tourism is currently exploding in growth, and one of the most economically resilient industries worldwide.
There reasons for this are numerous. Budget airlines have contributed to the proliferation of travel by dropping fares substantially. For example, in Europe, Ryanair and Easy Jet make travelling between select destinations more affordable to everyone. The internet has also played a part; it’s now easier than ever to organize and book a trip in its entirety. Plus, because blog hosting has become so accessible, many people are also travelling full-time and making money from documenting their adventures, or while working remotely.
It’s not all beaches and sunshine, however. What a lot of travellers may not be aware of is that every trip we take takes its toll on the environment; in the UK alone, air travel accounts for 6.3% of the country’s CO2 emissions. That’s just one example in an exhaustive list of factors that are directly affecting the environment via travel. However, as a traveller, there are steps you can take to minimize your environmental footprint and travel sustainably.
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Many of us dream of going on safari at least once in our lives. To see the exotic landscape and get up close and personal with beautiful and majestic animals really is the experience of a lifetime.
South Africa is a great destination to choose for all of this, and if you want to make the most of it, these tips will help you to maximise the magic.
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These beach camping destinations around Australia are gorgeous, and they’re some of my favourites. Here’s where to go to sleep (and wake up!) this summer by the sea.
Whitehaven Beach, Queensland: You’ll find a gorgeous array of beach camping sites in the Whitsundays, but one of the standouts is Whitehaven.
Pristine white sands and glistening blue waters await, with the campsite and toilets nestled in the bush just metres back from the beach. It’s only small (with seven sites), so book early to grab a spot.
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As tropical getaways go, you can’t beat a vacation to Hawaii. As a dream destination with a universal appeal, it’s easy to see why the islands have become synonymous with paradise.
From sugary white beaches to Technicolor coral reefs, and a diverse range of hiking trails and volcanoes for the adventurous soul, Hawaii truly has something for everyone. Though with hundreds of miles of coastline, the islands boast some of the most stunning beaches on the planet, and this is a reason to plan a visit alone.
So to help you in your planning, we’ve compiled a list of the best beaches in Hawaii, and also put the information into a free guide on Pearlshare that you can download for offline use onto your phone.
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The age of the socially conscious traveler is officially here – a recent movement towards responsible travel has seen travelers become more conscious of their environmental and social footprint when heading abroad. People are now realizing the importance of traveling with awareness and thought.
With the idea of being conscious of our impact on both nature and culture, here are 10 easy steps for being a socially conscious traveler in Iceland.
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Kangaroo Island is less than one hour ferry ride from the mainland of South Australia, yet here you’ll feel a million miles away.
The Galapagos Islands of Australia, this is one of the world’s greatest nature based destinations, and with more than one third of the land preserved in conservation parks, the island acts a sanctuary where native Australian animals roam free.
People travel from all over the world to see sea lions basking on unspoiled white beaches, koalas dozing in lofty eucalyptus trees, and bottle-nosed dolphins and fur seals jumping from the sea. Though more than 260 bird species also call Kangaroo Island home, and it is here where you have the unique opportunity to get up close and personal with Australia’s most impressive birds of prey.
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My 6am alarm hadn’t yet sounded, though I woke quite abruptly. I could have sworn I was woken by the intense sound of a lion roar. Though that was surely a ridiculous concept. I wasn’t in Africa – I was in a luxury four poster canopy bed in Australia’s national capitol. It must have been a vivid dream.
Though as I began to doze off again I suddenly had the feeling we were being watched. And as I pulled back the curtains I was stunned by what I saw. We were in fact being watched. There was a Giraffe peering in from outside our room.
If you’ve ever dreamed of an intimate experience with African animals, Australia has the lodge for you. While there are a number of zoos that offer overnight sleepovers, Jamala Wildlife Lodge takes the concept to a completely different level.
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Gold Coast Australia, or Surfers Paradise, is bigger, brighter, and more epic than you could possibly imagine. An iconic Australian coastal destination famous for sun, sand and surf, this is where travelers head for a truly good time.
With so much to see and do, this guide is your ultimate resource to the Gold Coast’s best beaches. These are some of the best in Australia.
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There’s nothing I hate more than having to hand-wash while traveling. The skin on my knuckles gets rubbed raw, my nails get bent out of shape, and it’s usually done in the dirty sink of a shared hostel bathroom. Or a questionable looking lake. Though hand-washing is a necessarily evil when on a long trip/trek where you have to pack light and can only travel with a couple of pairs of clothes. And hundreds of travelers put up with it. Not any more.
In 2010, one Aussie traveler came up with a brilliant idea. A concept which would allow travelers to do their laundry on the road for free, and be able to wash clothes while traveling without having to use a dirty sink.
Weighing less than an apple, the Scrubba Wash Bag is a pocket-size device that allows you to wash your clothes and travel clean, light and free. Designed for travelers, trekkers and campers, the secret to its ingenuity is the hundreds of resilient nobules that act like a flexible washboard, a fusion of old and new technology, that allows you to wash your clothes in minutes. Though unlike a traditional washboard, you can easily slip it into your backpack.
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Iceland is a country full of natural wonders, and it is difficult to remain unmoved by the amazing diversity of it’s landscape. Though contrary to popular belief, Iceland is not an island which is covered completely in ice.
Iceland is a stunning playground with everything from majestic glaciers, cracked lava fields, gushing geysers, vibrant green fjords and geothermal lagoons. Also, due to its location between two tectonic plates that are spreading apart in the mid-Atlantic range, the country has a high concentration of active volcanoes; one of the highest in the world.
In fact, Iceland has 30 active volcano systems, 13 of which have erupted since Vikings settled here in the 9th century AD. While the country tends to see an eruption on average every 5 years, most recently have proved to be harmless, seeing thousands of tourists hiking, biking or driving closer to the craters to witness nature put on a spectacular show.
The following is an Iceland guide to the country’s top 10 volcanoes for your European Bucketlist.
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People often take their drinking water for granted. In most western countries we don’t think twice before grabbing a glass and sticking it underneath a tap. But when you’re traveling the tap water may not be safe to drink.
You need drinking water no matter where you go, but with travellers diarrhea, giardia, hepatitis A, typhoid and cholera among the illnesses that can be transmitted with bad water, it pays to know which parts of the world guarantee clean, safe tap water, and where you should be sourcing bottled water instead.
The water you need to be most concerned about is water that might contain microorganisms that will make you sick, and in less developed countries, you are more apt to run into water that contains a variety of microorganisms you want to avoid. But according to the CDC (United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), you may be drinking bottled water more often than you think.
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It’s a popular meme, “come to Australia, you might accidentally get killed“, and while granted, we do have more deadly snakes than any other country in the world, and over 2,000 species of spider, it’s not exactly like we have wild lions, tigers, elephants, grizzly bears or hippopotamus roaming around!
True, Australia is probably the only place on earth you’ll ever see a python swallow a salt water crocodile whole. And we do have a snail that can fire a poison dart. Though realistically, you’re more likely to be eaten by a domestic cat than by a shark, and bees pose more of a threat throughout Australia than our spiders do…even though it’s the spiders who seem to incite more fear among visitors to our very foreign shores.
Despite the bewildering variety of frightening animals found in Australia, no-one should be put off visiting for fear of encountering them. With a little common sense, no one visiting Oz should be unduly worried about the wildlife; quite the opposite, it’s a great reason to visit.
The following is a field guide to the most deadly Australian creatures. Keep in mind that you’re more likely to be killed by a horse, but it can’t hurt to be clued up about Australia’s most poisonous fauna.
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As we began our trek through the wilderness of Denali National Park we knew we were not alone. Fresh footprints marked our trail, and the chew marks on the wooden sign which noted our location at Sable Pass were quite obviously the jaw imprints of a grizzly.
Though far from being afraid, we had actually come for the bears, attempting to track them by their prints and scat which led from right outside our camp deep into the backcountry throughout the park.
These are our top tips on being bear aware, and our favorite photos from our recent trip to Alaska.
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Whether you’re hiking through the Arizona desert, trekking through the Amazon, or perhaps exploring the tropics of Northern Queensland where pythons have been known to swallow Australian crocodiles whole, chances are you may come into contact with a snake at some point during your trip. And, after having stepped on a venomous cottonmouth in Florida, watched as a boa wrapped itself around our camera tripod recently in Joshua Tree (see featured image above!), and aggravated a deadly rattlesnake in Arizona, trust us, we would definitely know!
As a global traveler it’s important to be prepared – the following are essential tips and tricks you should be aware of re snakebite for emergency situations while hiking abroad. Would you believe, all photos are our own!
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It all began on November 25, 1990 – the date that Elephant Seals began using the beaches at Piedras Blancas.
What started off as less than 50 seals in a small cove has evolved into a colony which now stretches all the way to beaches that run along the Pacific Coast Highway, and it truly is an unbelievable spectacle to see.
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Many of us are doing everything we can to reduce our carbon footprint at home. We’re making an effort to recycle, catching public transport where possible, and reducing the amount of electricity we use. Now that global warming is at such a critical point, we’ve realized that we should be doing everything we possibly can to reverse it.
But what about when we travel? Do any of us think about what impact we might be having while we’re skipping and jumping between countries?
I know it’s not pleasant to think that we might be damaging the environment by exploring new places, but unfortunately travel leaves a carbon footprint too.
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We were hiking through the Arizona desert when we heard the unmistakable rattle of a highly venomous snake. A warning that we were too close for either party’s comfort.
Though while many would have turned on their heel immediately, the photo opportunity was worth risking our lives for.
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