How to Travel Sustainable – Glamping is the Hit

At this time, it is essential to travel sustainably, decreasing our carbon footprint, and doing everything to support the environment. How to travel sustainable, well glamping is a kind of possibility to spend beautifully relaxed holidays.

Normally, my husband and I rent a house or apartment using Airbnb. We love this and have had great experiences in Praha, Czechia, and Denmark. Because of my food allergies, I prefer to have my own kitchen to cook my special healthy meals. I eat anyway very much raw vegetables, seeds, and nuts.

Glamping is a great idea and, even for people like me, a great experience. I can still cook and eat my healthy meals, yes, even bake my own bread.

What is Sustainable Traveling?

My idea of sustainable traveling is to avoid flying and driving the car. We love to travel by car, because of the independence, but still, we can avoid taking the car with us. Sustainable traveling emerged into Nature, like camping, taking the train, and using the metro. Camping is something I love, but I can’t move my husband to come with me. So I tried to find something we both love to do.  I was very good at booking great places via Airbnb, but because of Corona, we couldn’t go the last year, a reason we were looking for another possibility close to our town.

However, about three hours driving from us, in Koenigswinter near Bonn, Germany, we have had a holiday apartment already for years that we have rented very often. But the owner, a beautiful woman, 81 years old, decided to stop and take her granddaughter in—such a blessing for her, but such a pity for us. For seventeen years, I had lived in this area before I had moved to Dublin in Ireland.

I still have friends, and it is a beautiful area with beautiful nature and temperatures to enjoy. We have to find something else, and I am unfortunate because the holiday apartment has been in the area I have loved the most. We could walk to the vineyards and the river. It was so beautiful! And we got to know our host, having a special bond with her. It is over, but there will be more opportunities to have a beautiful time in Bonn.

Sustainable traveling is about sparing the planet and the environment and walking, cycling, and using trains. My husband and I love to hike. It is healthy and relaxing. Actually, we are planning to hike in Portugal and Scotland.

Now is a difficult time because of the different Corona rules in the different countries of Europe. This year we didn’t travel at all, only in the Netherlands, because we have been insecure about the rules. The Netherlands has let go of the restrictions, but other countries are quite dictatorial, like Germany. This makes it difficult! I couldn’t even visit my mother and my youngest brother.

If we have the possibility, we will spend a week’s holiday in October. We had a rainy, cold summer, and we would love to see some sun before the winter comes. Just renting a flat or house, maybe in Czechia, or France, enjoying the walks and sunny days. Awesome! 🙂

What is Glamping?

There is a site, a beautiful site about glamping, where I found this possibility of traveling. I will provide you with the link!

I don’t get any commission!

Glamping is actually what the name already says, between glamour and camping. Camping is in Nature and absolutely minimalistic, sleeping in a tent on hard ground, cooking on a little stove using Bhutan gas. You have maybe a washing facility together with other people where you can shower and wash your clothing. I actually love this!:)

Glamping is a kind of hut or tent where you have real beds, a kitchen, and a bathroom, as well as a living room with television if you desire, everything in one room. It is luxury, glamour while being in nature. I think it is a great possibility to be in nature, surrounded by mountains, forest, or sea, and have all kinds of luxury you need. My husband loves that! This kind of spending holiday is still sustainable.

I am a nature child, and spending much time in nature between all the animals and bees is the most relaxing and peaceful time I can experience; listening to the sounds of the frogs and bumblebees, birds is giving me peace. My husband loves the cities more, following history, visiting ancient buildings and places, churches, castles. In contrast, I love to visit the botanical garden and walking in the mountains, forest, lake, and sea. Meditating in Nature is absolutely energizing.

So we have always had to find a way to accommodate both of us, and it worked out fine, very often more for my husband than me. 🙂

Glamping is something for me too because I am sleeping in nature, living in nature, and if we want to visit a place, we can travel to the city, for example. Depending on your budget, you can rent a hut or a tent more simple or more luxurious. Some countries are more expensive than others. I would certainly compare glamping facilities with Airbnb or hostels because they could even be more affordable than glamping in some countries and places. However, there are enough sustainable possibilities. Of course, it depends on where you are; sometimes, you need to observe snakes or spiders. I love to walk barefoot, and in some countries, you have to be aware of poisoned animals, reptiles.

Do You Like Pilgrimage?

A fantastic and healthy way to travel is a pilgrimage where you walk a good distance to an ancient or religious place, like Santiago De Compostella, a cathedral where people in the middle ages have made their pilgrimage to the gave of one of the disciples of Jesus, Jacobus. It is in the North of Spain, close to the Portuguese border, and the capital Porto, located on the side of the Atlantique. It must be smashing to see the view coming towards this place—an amazing and breathtaking experience I have read. I haven’t done it yet, but it is on my bucket list.

There are many pilgrimages in Europe, very famous is Lourdes in France. It is up to you to plan your holidays and start the walk wherever you would love to begin. You need time if you start, for example, in the Netherlands pilgrimaging to Spain, I believe you need months. And you need to be in excellent condition because you take your sleeping bag, water, proviant, and clothing with you. But I am sure that this will be a great challenge and experience.  Along the pilgrimage, there are many hostels, and if the weather is fine possibilities to sleep in nature. In the West European countries, you might not be allowed to sleep outside, but  I would do it; nobody knows if you sleep outside. What a great experience! Wow! I can already feel it!.

I think this is a great way to travel sustainably. If you can’t walk anymore, take the train. Using the train is a fantastic way of sustainable traveling, and it doesn’t cost so much. Of course, the car is more convenient because you can take much of your household with you while traveling whereby using the train and walking, you need to plan very tight what you will take with you. It is you who carry the stuff. 🙂

How to Travel Sustainable?

There are so many ways of saving the planet, the environment while still having the best time you ever had spending your holidays. Camping is one possibility to spend much time in nature, but a great way is glamping for people who love it more luxurious.

Taking the train and traveling to far countries is also plannable like the Trans-Siberian Railway starts in Moscow and stops in Wladiwostock or Bejing, China. The only negative point is that you might have to fly back and will use the plane. Flying is not sustainable.

However, I am already happy if people are spending semi-sustainable holidays. Flying for ten or fourteen days is something we need to avoid in the future if we want the planet to recover. If someone is flying to a far country to live there, that is different because only a few people are doing this worldwide. But common holiday seasons where so many people fly or drive for some days or weeks to a distant country should be avoided if we try to live sustainably. This mass tourism is destroying the environment very much, polluting the air, the soil, and the water.

Of course, I understand that many people worldwide live from the income tourism generates, and we don’t want to renounce our holidays. But there is no point in renouncing our very needed resting time. It is to think of doing something more sustainable that is improving the environment. I know that many young people travel to places where they help the farmers to harvest their produce while staying with them for little money, free sleeping and eating included. They travel to Spain or Italy, but also Greece. I think it is great to help the farmers while having holidays.

However, I still prefer to be alone with my husband when we spend our holidays. Renting an Airbnb apartment, taking the train, and walking miles are very relaxing for me. Glamping is the next on our bucket list, for sure.  🙂

Final Thought

Glamping is a great possibility to travel sustainably and to be very close to nature. You have everything you might need, a comfortable bed, a kitchen, bathroom, and still, you are surrounded by nature. How beautiful is this idea? Taking the train or making a pilgrimage to awesome places is very much sustainable. You decrease your carbon footprint very much, and the environment will thank you. There are so many possibilities of traveling without burdening the planet if we all think about them. It is our all responsibility to help the planet to recover. When my memories go back to my youth, I can see that I have been closer to nature and spent my holidays camping or visiting friends. Later, I started to fly or using the car. However, facing climate change, disappearing animals and plants, more tropical storms, we need to stop, rethink and return.

I would love to hear about your experiences. Have you already done glamping? Do you have other tips on how to travel sustainably? I would love to hear from you! What do you think?

All the Best,

Sylvia