Looking after our planet is something that is on everyone's mind. Next vacation I go on, I'm going to look into how I can reduce my footprint while traveling. I was reading an article on MSN today about how I could keep the environment in mind, and its amazing the things I didn't think about, like picking a hotel. When it comes to traveling green I always thought that how I travelled affected the environment, I never thought about how where I stayed could have an affect as well.  If you want to read the article, the link is here.

One thing I've been very interested in recently is volunteering while on vacation. I think its a great way to help people from different parts of the country, plus its a great way to interact with the locals. I have a friend who went to Spain for a summer to teach English, he said it was the best vacation he's been on, he talked about the children he met, and how sad he was to leave. The whole trip had such an impact on him, that once he's finished university he plans on moving there. I found some really great articles on tripatlas about how I could volunteer while on vacation, I've listed them below.

10 Amazing Volunteer Travel Opportunities and Projects in Africa

Go Beyond Tourism: Volunteer or Work Abroad in Europe

Alternative Honeymoon Holiday Ideas: Volunteer Honeymoons!