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sustainable-travel

Resolutions for responsible travel

SmarterTravel

There's a 95 percent chance Senior Editor Christine Sarkis is thinking about travel right now. Follow her on Instagram @postcartography and Twitter @ChristineSarkis.

Christine Sarkis is an SATW-award-winning journalist and executive editor at SmarterTravel. Her stories have also appeared on USA Today, Conde Nast Traveler, Huffington Post, and Business Insider. Her advice has been featured in dozens of print and online publications including The New York Times, Conde Nast Traveler, and People magazine. She has also shared travel tips on television and radio shows including Good Morning America, Marketplace, and Here & Now. Her work has been published in the anthologies Spain from a Backpack and The Best Women's Travel Writing 2008. She is currently working on a travel memoir.

The Handy Item I Always Pack: The Trtl Pillow. It's easy to pack and comfortable, and makes it so I can actually sleep on flights.

Ultimate Bucket List Experience: Seeing the Aurora Borealis from the comfort of somewhere warm, like a glass igloo or hot spring.

Travel Motto: Curiosity is an amazing compass.

Aisle, Window, or Middle Seat: Aisle all the way.

Email Christine Sarkis at editor@smartertravel.com.

See recent posts by Christine Sarkis

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In the spirit of New Year’s resolutions, I just read a list of tips for responsible travel. That’s eco- and culturally responsible travel, not forgot-my-passport and left-my-suitcase-in-a-taxi responsible.

Suggestions include ways to cut down on flights and to make the flights you do take more efficient (it’s good to know that cutting out as many stopovers as possible not only makes for a more pleasant journey but reduces emissions). Tips go beyond just transportation though, to ideas such as hiring local guides and eating local foods over imported items.

In the last year, I’ve had the chance to visit more places with local guides, and I’m a total convert now. Trained and certified guides seem to know just about everything about a place, not only what’s right in front of you at any given moment but history, culture, geography, flora and fauna, and seemingly everything else. At least in my experience, guides are full of anecdotes that illustrate various facets of local life, and also know the good places to get local food.

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