The Sustainable Travel Handbook

by Lonely Planet

This practical and inspiring guide, the latest in our popular Handbook series, motivates travellers to take a responsible approach to the impact of travelling. Whether you’re looking to reduce your carbon emissions, enjoy more a responsible wildlife-watching experience, harness culinary tourism for good or enjoy an eco-friendly city break, this guide has got you covered.
Packed with easily-digestible advice compiled by a sustainable travel expert, eco-conscious travellers will be introduced to a wide variety of destinations offering culture, wildlife, luxury, adventure, wellness and much more, as well as subjects such as the development of electric transport, how to reduce your plastic waste and the best ways to visit explore sacred indigenous culture respectfully. 
With top five and top ten lists discussing the best places to hike, volunteer, scuba dive and snorkel responsibly, as well as where to enjoy sustainable safaris, family trips and the best ways to give back when you travel, no stone is left unturned in this 168-page guide to ethical tourism. Destinations discussed include relatively off-the-map regions of the world, including Guyana, Palau and Siargao in the Philippines, as well as more well-known places, such as Costa Rica, Uruguay and Jordan.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction

160 pages, Paperback

Published November 17, 2020

About the author

OUR STORY
A beat-up old car, a few dollars in the pocket and a sense of adventure. In 1972 that’s all Tony and Maureen Wheeler needed for the trip of a lifetime – across Europe and Asia overland to Australia. It took several months, and at the end – broke but inspired – they sat at their kitchen table writing and stapling together their first travel guide, Across Asia on the Cheap. Within a week they’d sold 1500 copies and Lonely Planet was born. One hundred million guidebooks later, Lonely Planet is the world’s leading travel guide publisher with content to almost every destination on the planet.

Reviews

[Glen Farrelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a long-time traveller, I have tried to be socially ethical and environmentally responsible, but I know I haven't always done the best thing. I therefore found some of the information in this book very helpful. Admittedly, unless one is new to the ideas of responsible travel there aren't that many new tips in this book (or that could be easily found elsewhere online for free). However, there are some useful considerations and reminders that would be of benefit to almost all tourists. I wish there was more depth on this topic and less on destination inspiration or hotel recommendations.

Finally, I was also put off by the tone of this book that seems to believe that all travellers have a high degree of economic privilege (or ability to get freebies as travel writers can). A lot of their tips are really only viable for the rich and near-rich. That doesn't mean even budget travellers can't make better decisions socially and environmentally - but I wish this book (and travel writers generally) would offer insight on how those on a tight budget can do their part.

[Susan Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a quick, easy-to-read book about traveling while prioritizing environmental issues. It's a lot like reading a collection of magazine or newspaper articles that you might clip to read before planning a trip. Certainly there are some helpful pointers in here, but really almost nothing I haven't heard before (since I read a lot of travel magazine/newspaper/online articles!). I got this mainly to have all the good advice I want to remember in one place.

[Shai S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok I skimmed the end but it still counts. I thought it was pretty comprehensive. I liked how they covered greenwashing and talking about the power of feedback.

[Morgane Vander Linden · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a good effort at compiling a bunch of practical information about how to tackle sustainable travel as a tourist. It explains what sustainable travel actually is, as well as responsible travel, ecotourism and other related terms. A lot of different aspects are covered: accommodation, tours, wildlife watching, dealing with locals... The author tells you the good practices, what to look for and some extra tips like specific apps. The second part of the book takes a closer look at a selected list of destinations that are making a significant effort at being sustainable.

The book is written in the typical swift Lonely Planet style and has a nice and inviting lay-out. It gives a little bit of information about a lot of different aspects, but not much context or extra information is given. For every topic that is brought up, it only barely scratches the surface. This makes it a book that is good enough to start exploring sustainable travel, but for more in-depth understanding you better turn to different, more specialized sources instead.

I would say fair enough, it is good to have a book like this that makes it accessible to start getting interested in the topic.
But what I found a bit disappointing, is that the book seems to have been put together a bit hastily. As if there was a really tight deadline in order to get this book published before the end of the pandemic or something like that. It sadly shows in an unjustifiably high amount of typos, unfinished sentences at the end of a page and an inconsequence here and there.

There is an elaborate chapter at the beginning about plane travel (carbon offsetting, packing lightly etc), but I was disappointed that the book didn't explore less polluting alternatives to plane travel. That would have been a nice addition.

All in all, I would still recommend this book to anyone who is curious about sustainable travel and wants to get acquainted with it.

[Savanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

If anyone asks me what my 5 year plan is... its this.

[Deborah Grant-Dudley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not a handbook as such - you can’t flick to the relevant chapter when you need to make a decision and have the best answer presented to you. It’s more a point of reference for devising a personal sustainable travel strategy. There is a lot of useful information in this book and it raises a many issues to give some thought to.

There are a number of case studies on sustainable travel destinations. The majority of the destinations were too far away for me to visit, but they highlight topics for further research you can do on destinations closer to wherever you are.

The main takeaway for me is that it’s essential to develop a more sustainable mindset to be able to navigate different situations in an ethical way. I think anyone who travels would get something useful from this book, whatever stage they’re at in their sustainability journey.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m thankful for a book like this as I’m always dreaming for more travel in my life but not wanting to contribute to poor stewardship of the earth and poor treatment of fellow humans. Not sure how practical this book will really be but it gave me a lot of good websites, certification efforts and destination suggestions for future travel research that I would have been hard pressed to just “Google” my way into.

[Catherine MacLean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very practical with lots to think about and inspire. Of course, it will likely date quickly but I am looking forward to hopefully being able to visit the places mentioned and use the suggested hotel, restaurants and tour companies provided.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting ideas, but also a lot that will most likely become outdated soon.

[Ashton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy read with practical examples and places to visit. Probably will subtly affect the way I travel more than I currently realize.

[Jeri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned about my carbon footprint and how you can offset that.