FrugalMonkey Discount Travel News

Tag: green travel

  • Three Philosophies for Budget Minded Travelers

    Many of the posts on this site focus on frugal travel tips or ways to save money at certain destinations.

    The aim of this post is a bit different: to help frugal travelers identify certain a philosophy/philosophies can guide their overall travel habits (including trip planning, trip enjoyment, and trip sharing). Many portions of these three philosophies also pertain to living a frugal life in general. Enjoy! Slow Travel The slow travel movement is in man ways similar to the slow food movement in that it focuses on environmental responsibility, sustainability, education, knowledge and enjoyment. Slow travel is about taking the opportunity (and the time) to connect to places, people and cultures.  One of the major elements of slow travel is the idea of embracing a “less is more” philosophy. Considering all of the incredible advances in transportation and technology over the past few decades, seeing and doing everything you want on a trip is now easier than ever. However, when you force yourself to stick to a tight schedule you miss the things that you never knew you wanted to experience until you’re in the middle of experiencing them. Moreover, it’s easy to opt for the “best” (translation: most expensive) tourist options out there. Slow travel is about recognizing the beauty in simple interactions and experiences. In addition, it’s about really connecting to the place you’re visiting while respecting local customs. Pay as You Go Travel [caption id="attachment_5117" align="alignright" width="224" caption="Low impact travel (also called sustainable travel or eco travel) is all about taking into consideration how your travel habits impact the environment, ecosystems or the cultures you come into contact with."]lost gardens of Heligan photo[/caption] Whereas slow travel shapes the way we see and experience things while on vacation, pay as you go travel deals with financing travel. When you adopt a pay as you go lifestyle, you make the commitment to stick to certain spending habits (both when you’re on vacation and when you’re not). The major principles of pay as you go travel include saving up enough cash to pay for your entire vacation without having to use a credit card, always paying with cash (or traveler’s checks), never carrying a credit card balance, and (my favorite) borrowing things. That’s right, instead of running out to buy a new travel backpack or suitcase, borrow one from friends or family. It’s amazing how much money the simple act of borrowing can save. Of course, be prepared to return the favor when your friends need to borrow something from you. Low Impact Travel Low impact travel (also called sustainable travel or eco travel) is all about taking into consideration how your travel habits impact the environment, ecosystems or the cultures you come into contact with. Here are some suggestions for reducing your negative impact on the places you travel to and saving money in the process. Limit air travel. Let’s face it… air travel is expensive. It’s also detrimental to the environment. Think creatively and choose vacations that don’t require air travel (instead, go by train, bus, or bike). If air travel is the only way to reach your destination, consider limiting your air travel to once every other year. Embrace public transportation. Instead of renting a car (also not the best option for the environment or your pocketbook), research what types of trains, metros or bus systems are available at your destination and plan to use those. Keep it local. So many of us are itching to jet off to exotic locals that we forget about the beauty of our own backyards. Think creatively about travel opportunities close to where you live. Go camping, rent a place or do a house swap with someone in a nearby city. You’ll be pleasantly surprised by how much money you save on transportation costs.

  • Eco Tours in Kenya

    Take an eco tour in Kenya this fall and nail yourself a truly unique and exciting vacation. Kenya has one of the riches bio diverse regions in the world when it comes to African wildlife and ecotourism has recently become a big focus there. Kenyans understand the value of their country’s natural resources and wildlife and have begun increasingly adding protected land to their many wildlife parks and natural areas. If you want to see the world, and travel responsibly using green ideals, do some research and check out eco tours in Kenya. It’s a great way to enjoy green travel!


  • Most Environmentally Friendly Cities

    We love travel lists. Best Places to Visit, Best Cities for Camping, Best Waterfall Hikes, things of that nature. So we thought we would point out a favorite list of our own: the Most Eco-friendly Cities list! On this FrugalMonkey page you will find the United State’s top environmentally friendly cities. If you’re simply interested in ecotourism, or perhaps planning on relocating to a new city, this is a great resource. For travelers, take a look at which cities have gone green, and if there are any on the list you would like to visit. Let us know-have you been to these cities? How green to they seem?


    Be sure to check out our section on green travel too! You might learn something.

  • Green Travel Ideas

    Are you on the ecotourism band wagon? Do you want to find out how you can travel green, and the types of vacations you can take in order to really contribute to the ecotourism effort? If you answered ‘yes’ to any of the above questions, then take some time to peruse FrugalMonkey’s new ecotourism section on green travel. Here you will find all the latest and greatest green travel ideas and locations. Find out about eco tours, travel to Costa Rica, visit Africa and see incredible wildlife, and learn about the world’s top eco-friendly lodges.

    So you want to do your part and travel green? Find out how.


  • Ecotourism

    Interested in learning more about going green? Want to learn about ecotourism ideals, vacations, and hot spots around the world? Then check out our new section on ecotourism.

    Green travel is becoming increasingly important for vacationers.


    Protecting and conserving the places we visit is an important part in preserving the world for our children to enjoy. Take Machu Picchu for example – the wear and tear these ancient ruins experience due to tourism each year is ruining this ancient relic.

    So much mismanagement has occurred in regards to Machu Picchu that the Peruvian government is considering closing the monument all together in order to conserve it for history. This same negative effect of tourism is occurring all over the world!

    Find out more about ecotourism, how you can travel responsibly, as well as information on other locations in the world that are in need of large conservation efforts. It’s all about responsible travel! Check out our section on locations in danger and educate yourself on ecotourism through our new section on FrugalMonkey.

  • Tips For Green Travel

    It seems that everyone is doing their part to travel more responsibly. Visiting new places and being environmentally conscious about how you travel is a new term coined ‘green travel’. It essentially applies to the ideals of ecotourism; a way for people to travel that is safe for the environment. On our tips for traveling green page we outline some easy ways that you can do your part! They include booking green hotels and eco tours and supporting green businesses and efforts in the places that you travel. We also discuss green cruises and ways to travel that will improve your sustainable efforts toward the environment. Learn more about green travel with our tips for traveling green!


  • Learn About Environmentally Friendly Hotels

    These days, it’s all about being green. This is especially true for travelers who are finding environmentally friendly ways to visit new places so their actions won’t hurt or impact the planet. In our new section on green travel we outline some of the hottest topics surrounding sustainable tourism and talk about ways in which travelers can visit new places in an eco-friendly manner. So what about hotels? That has a lot to do with travel, doesn’t it? Of course we included information on accommodations:

    Find out about some of the world’s greenest hotels. Discover which hotels are the most environmentally friendly by implementing standards such as solar power, responsible recycling and sustainable materials. Also in our section on eco-friendly hotels, learn about green homes and other green travel tips.

  • Our New Section on Green Travel

    Traveling green is becoming of more and more concern to environmentally conscious travelers.


    Learning about ecotourism and the ways in which it can help sustain the world’s best travel destinations, like Machu Picchu, is part of a growing trend that helps educate travelers about how tourism can have both a positive and negative effect on remote locations. In our new section on Green Travel, we outline the benefits and disadvantages of ecotourism as we examine the ideals behind green travel. Find out more about ecotourism and sustainable travel with FrugalMonkey’s free online guide. In this section you will learn about:

    – What ecotourism is
    – Advantages and disadvantages of ecotourism
    – Ecotours
    – Volunteer vacations
    – Tips for green travelers

    More and more people are trying to travel using ecotourism ideals and methods. Find out about sustainable tourism and how you can do your part. Learn about the cruise ship industry in addition to our profiles on locations that are in danger, along with those that are at the top of our list for green travel destinations. Learn about eco friendly hotels and accommodations and what type of accreditation is being used to ensure that hotels, hotels and guesthouses are in fact making a minimal impact on the environment.

    By taking an eco tour or seeking out places that are green travel friendly are just a few ways green travel helps the environment. Get more green travel ideas in our new section and learn about: Belize, Alaska or even Africa.Lastly, in our new section find out which hotels around the world rank highest in terms of eco-friendliness and rest easy knowing that your travel needs aren’t coming at a large cost to the environment.

  • How Travel Is Going Green

    When most people think about ‘going green’ they don’t think much about how it relates to travel. What these people don’t know is that traveling and thinking ‘green’ are closely related. The travel industry has been taking larger and larger steps toward educating the backpacker and traveling community about how to be a better and more environmentally safe traveler.


    After all, with people visiting different cultures and environments, travelers are unknowingly contributing to the environments that they visit and should be educated on how to preserve the world wonders that they’ve traveled so far to see.

    Travel is going green in amazing and incredible ways. Just recently Continental Airlines launched its first hour-long test flight using an engine that ran off of alternate fuels. Steps such as these are making the travel industry a leader in how the world deals with environmental issues. The industry is also taking steps toward a greener planet. By building new hotels and hostels that are environmentally friendly, backpackers and visitors can rest easy knowing the places that they are staying, contribute in a positive way to the world around them. Locations all around the world are suffering because tourism in the past was handled irresponsibly. Machu Picchu for example is one of South America’s premier travel destinations that has deteriorated as a direct result of tourism. But with education relating to the environment circling the industry, things are improving.

    Eco-friendly tours are available to tourists and car rental companies and other areas of the travel industry are promoting the ways in which each of them are doing their part. Tourists can decide to stay in green-hotels and choose vacations that interact minimally with the environment. Everyone is doing their part to travel safely and wisely so that Australia’s beaches, Alaska’s waters and all of our favorite travel locations around the world remain as natural as possible. Travel green and help save the planet!