Travel provides an exciting opportunity to explore different cultures, taste new cuisines and make long-lasting memories. With rising concerns about climate change, however, it’s important to be mindful of the impact our vacations have on the environment.Travelers are often unaware of the carbon footprint associated with their choices of lodging, activities, transit and more. Throughout a given trip, a combination of big and small decisions can contribute significantly to the total volume of greenhouse gas emissions.AdvertisementWe asked travel and environmental experts to share some common mistakes travelers make that increase their carbon footprints. Read on to learn what they are (along with some advice for offsetting these behaviors).Taking indirect flights“Flying will be the main contributor to the carbon footprint from most vacations,” said Tom Hall, vice president of Lonely Planet. “While in a lot of cases there isn’t an alternative, travelers can look to minimize the number of flights they take, use newer, less polluting aircraft and, once in a destination, use cleaner ground transportation such as trains.”Basically, you want to spend as little time in the air as possible. Flying directly rather than taking connecting flights also means lower emissions, because the rate of fuel usage is higher during takeoff and landing compared to cruising.“One of the biggest mistakes revolves around not considering the length of travel time when securing airfare,” said Brian Mullis, founder of Sustainable Travel International. “Longer, less convenient, indirect flights are often cheaper but have a larger carbon footprint.”AdvertisementOverpacking“A mistake that we often make and aren’t always aware of the consequence is overpacking,” said Paula Espinoza, creative director at Naya Traveler. …
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