Brandon: May 2010 Archives

A green honeymoon doesn't necessarily mean you'll have to walk to your destination, hunt your own food, sleep in a tent, and drink from local streams. What it does mean is taking into consideration how far you travel and the philosophy and reputation of the places you choose to spend your time and money during your honeymoon. Here are some suggestions on what to consider if you would like to keep your honeymoon environmentally friendly.

1) What is important to you? 
Wherever you travel it is possible to experience culture, beautiful sights, and wildlife with varying degrees of impact. Ask your travel agent and use hotel green rating companies to help guide your decision on where to stay.

2) Is community service a part of your life?
If so, consider volunteering in the local community. After all, 7 straight days at a pool can get boring.

3) Is luxury and style important?
If so, you can still be sustainable. For example, at the Hoopoe Yurt Hotel in Andalucia, Spain, guests can stay in handmade boutique yurts (all with eco-friendly private bathrooms). The entire camp runs on solar power, including the pool and the electric sockets in the yurts for charging cellphones and laptops.

4) Stay close to home.
If you are trying to minimize your carbon footprint, the easiest way is to stay local. Flying half way across the world for 5 days just doesn't make sense otherwise.

5) Register for carbon offsets.
Help reduce your impact (especially if you fly half way across the world) by registering and/or purchasing carbon offsets specifically for your honeymoon. A great place to do this is Native Energy's Travel Offset Calculator Tool.

Congratulations to Matt and Bindy of New York City as the winners of the Traveler's Joy and Jungle Bay Honeymoon giveaway.  Matt and Bindy are currently planning a honeymoon later this year to Fiji, Australia, and New Zealand but will use this giveaway for their first anniversary or second honeymoon in 2011!

If you haven't considered Dominica (not to be confused with the Dominican Republic) and Jungle Bay for your honeymoon or romantic getaway, I encourage you to learn more about this amazing destination.  Shannon and I have explored over 20 Caribbean destinations but consider Dominica to be the Caribbean's best kept secret. It is a lush rainforest island that is becoming known to romantic adventure seekers and those who wish to escape the typical sun and sand destination crowd.

Learn more about our trip to the island of Dominica and Jungle Bay here.