A win for sustainable travel

This is a sneaky short post to make an announcement, if you'll forgive me for blowing my own conch shell. I won an award at the annual Australian Society of Travel Writers awards night in Bangkok last weekend, for Best Responsible Travel Story of 2018. Yay!

I (heart) Jordan

My winning story is about the extraordinary, other-worldly Feynan Ecolodge in Jordan. I stayed for just one night - the first night of a six-day trek I did last year - but was so bowled over by the place, by its solid sustainable and ethical credentials, I managed to rave for 700 words about it. Here's the story link.

But this post isn't just about me. It's also about the rise of sustainable thinking in travel since the ASTW first introduced this award more than a decade ago.

Award sponsor Intrepid Travel, which has been carbon-neutral since 2010 and last week became a certified B Corp (by putting purpose before profit, see link for more info), is one operator committed to making the world a better place through travel.

Tread lightly, travel barefoot

Another is World Expeditions, which runs forums on responsible travel and put together its own free Thoughtful Traveller guidebook. I mentioned others reducing single-use plastics in a story I wrote for Escape recently, 8 tips for plastic-free travel.

It's also heartening to see more of my fellow travel writers sidestepping the gloss to cover travel experiences that raise awareness and make a difference; my mate Chris Retschlag is one of them - see her recent post about human trafficking in Nepal.

With more than 8 billion of us travelling overseas each year now, travelling thoughtfully is more important than ever. How about you - got any tips for making travel more sustainable?

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Big thanks to Intrepid for sponsoring this award again, to Fairfax Traveller for publishing my story, and to Experience Jordan and the Adventure Travel Trade Association for hosting me in incredible, wonderful Jordan.