from the Editor

COVID 19 HAS DISRUPTED PLANS.

It has disrupted lives. Nobody in the world has remained untouched by it. Amid this pandemic and the consequent pause on travel, which is now slowly fading away, a realisation has dawned on most of us. While the fast life suited our ambitions, it didn’t get along with nature’s ways. And the lockdown was a rude, but necessary, shock to make us rethink, recalibrate, and rejig our lives, including the ways in which we travel.

It’s now more important than ever to be mindful of all your travel decisions. Conscious travel is the need of the hour—support local communities, choose eco-friendly destinations, and seek sustainable stays. Our 14th Anniversary Special is dedicated to green travel and the imperativeness to understand the words of author Daniel Goleman, “Green is a process, not a status. We need to think of ‘green’ as a verb, not an adjective.”

To help you take the road less travelled, we have compiled 50 unique green trips you can take around the world (p. 70), extracted expert tips on how to be a responsible traveller on various terrains (p. 17), and spoke to pioneers like Jose Dominic (p. 34), Anita Lal (p. 36), and Yakuza Solo (p. 39). Sustainability lessons also take the shape of first-hand travel accounts of Copenhagen’s enviable green tourism initiatives (p. 104), the conservation of the Ethiopian wolf in Bale Mountains (p. 66), the responsibly sourced local food of Swedish Lapland (p. 62), the conservancies of Kenya

(p. 112), and trips closer home to Mandu (p. 59) and Tadoba (p. 54). A beautiful photo essay promises to make you look more closely at tide pools on your next beach holiday (p. 46).

Our cover star and a powerhouse of talent, Taapsee Pannu, who is known to speak her mind with power and grace, gets into a candid chat with our A-List member and author Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi (p. 40). As she reminisces about her Europe trip, Pannu shares this piece of advice: “Please set aside a certain amount of what you earn for your travelling. Travel is mandatory for personal growth.”

As the wheels of the world start to move again, there’s no better time to enjoy the power of travel. And the real power lies with us as we give back to nature, local communities, and the destination itself, while earning memories and lessons for a lifetime.

Travel responsibly.