We all know that travel can have a significant impact on the world we live in. We also know that a world without travel would not be a particularly nice place to live in. Travel helps bridge cultural gaps, helps educate us about other ways of doing things, supports empowering local communities providing alternative forms of income, and most importantly helps us make the most out of our lives.
Therefore, we always strive to limit our impact on the environment and do our best to ensure that the amazing world around us stays amazing for future generations.
How do we limit our impact on the environment and have a positive impact on local communities?
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Limit the number of flights we take
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Central Asia is a large area. The 5 Stans combined are larger than Europe, and taking flights seems like the easy way to see as much of the region as quickly as possible. Although we still sometimes need to fly between particular destinations, because in reality we don’t all have unlimited amounts of time, we always endeavour to take ground transport as much as possible.
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Walking when possible
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While city bus tours are the norm in most of the world, we try to get out of the bus and get around on foot when we can. Not only is this the more environmentally friendly option, but it also means we can walk off some of the hearty great food we’ve been eating and have more interactions with locals.
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Choosing our accommodation based on impact
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When travelling around Central Asia, we try to stay with locals, at homestays, in yurts and other low impact options when we can.
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Using public transport
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It’s natural to jump on tour buses to get to each destination, but luckily Central Asia is blessed with some great public transport, including the fast trains in Uzbekistan. When it fits in with our itineraries, we like to use public transport – it can also be a great experience in itself!
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Eat locally
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This is actually the easiest for all of us. There really aren’t many international options in much of Central Asia, but we always make sure to eat as much local produce as possible in order to reduce the transport involved.
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Reduce waste
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This is probably one of the hardest things to do in Central Asia, well known for their love of plastic bags and use of plastic bottles (even for beer!). We always try to avoid unnecessary waste by encouraging reusable bags when shopping, bringing water bottles etc and we always encourage our guests to do the same.
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Support local business
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We always endeavour to support locally owned and operated businesses, especially those who are working to empower local communities.
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