Eco-Friendly Vacationing Gets Easier with AAA TourBook

We recently featured several options for eco-friendly hotels and accommodations; we've also spotlighted a number of green vacation destinations, including the Yelverton Brook Eco-Spa, the Gaia Napa Valley Hotel, breathtaking eco-island Melody Key, Fiji Island Resort, and LEED-certified Hotel Terra.  Next  year, the AAA TourBook will add an eco feature to make it easy to find the best green vacation opportunities when you travel. 

The AAA TourBook is a convenient travel companion - listing resturants, lodging, and attractions for hundreds of popular vacation destinations.  The TourBook guide is included with a AAA membership and features maps, exclusive coupons, and a variety of travel suggestions for trips in the US and the Caribbean, as well as Canada and Mexico.

Members can rest assured that only the best eco hotels and green resorts will be available in the TourBook.  AAA has partnered with local, state, and national organizations promoting sustainable travel and all listings must be certified by one of these groups, in addition to being AAA-approved or Diamond rated.  

Planning Your Green Vacation Online

Both members and nonmembers can  access AAA's travel planning tools on their website.  The hotel search feature will include the eco icon in 2010, along with the user-friendly descriptions, reviews, and photos already there.  On the website, you can compare eco hotels with similar accommodations and even book your stay when you decide on the best lodging for you.

Source: AAA 2010 TourBook Encourages Eco-Tourism

Images: Hotel Terra

WWF Eco Tours

Although the World Wildlife Federation (WWF) is better known for direct work with conservation programs, I learned today that it also offers a variety of very exciting eco-tours! On WWF trips, you can travel with a group of fellow nature and wildlife enthusiasts to one of many destinations in the United States or abroad. The trips are led by expert naturalist guides, assisted by WWF staff and local guides in some places. Tours center around exploring interesting bioregions, or in some cases searching for one specific animal or event. Besides fostering a lifelong appreciation for nature and preservation, these tours are designed with sustainability in mind. For example, smaller ships are used to conserve fuel, materials are printed on recycled paper, and each trip is carbon offset completely. (This doesn't include your airfare to the departure location, but you can learn more about how to deal with that here.) Best of all, part of the fee for each trip goes directly to the fund's other conservation projects. Trips like this require some advance planning, but luckily the selection of destinations available for 2010 looks broad and interesting. Options include tracking Monarch butterflies in Mexico, whale-watching in California, snorkeling in Thailand, an Indian wildlife tour, several African safaris, and much more.

JHill Designs: Real or Imaginary Travel, Preserved in Prints

Jennifer Hill is a young Boston designer who creates fabric, stamps, calendars, and all sorts of print material from a rich imagination about place, history, and beauty. Hill’s print work is done on recycled papers from greenerprinter.com using naturally based inks on recycled paper generated by wind power. What makes JHill Design a beautiful green find is the way Hill’s images re-invent travel nostalgia into sustainable design elements for today. The Around the World Note Cards are reminiscent of posters, wallpapers, and postcards from another era, yet the colors vibrate with a contemporary edge. Hill’s most innovative work is her series “Places I Have Never Been,” an ode to travel that culminates in a gorgeous annual calendar. It’s not too late to buy this year’s version, with June spent looking at Silver in Zacatecas, Mexico
, July consuming tart cherries in Traverse City, Michigan and last but not least December at the Zeppole Festival in Positano, Italy. Although February has come and gone, you can revisit it by ordering the Bridges in Pittsburgh as a frameable print in a variety of sizes. Perfect for the city’s 250th anniversary. The Block Island print (in the calendar and note card) represents an imaginary vacation to Block Island, Rhode Island to see the birds resting on the Atlantic fly away, to eat some homemade scones and to ride a bicycle along the beach. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Alzheimer's Association, the leading voluntary health organization in Alzheimer care, support and research. As Hill describes it, the patterns she creates are influenced by natural settings, local culture, and the events she imagines occurring there. Surround yourself with her work and you feel deposited in the middle of a travel story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jack London, Mark Twain, or Colette. Each print includes tidbits of information about the city and country name, the language, even travel miles. Other historical icons work their way in to the design story: old travel books from the American Geographical Society, hand painted boots from Austin, Texas, and more. These excursions translate into beautiful design elements, potential travelogues, and global awareness. JHill Designs: www.jhilldesigns.com

Yelverton Brook Luxury Eco-Spa Retreat

With a magical combination of nature, romance, and eco-friendly extravagance – the Yelverton Brook Luxury Eco Retreat in Western Australia makes the perfect international getaway for jet-setting couples. Imagine slipping into seclusion with 100 acres of natural bushland at your fingertips and sleeping in beautifully crafted cottages that offer the comforts of home. At night, sink into a private Hydro Therapy Massage Spa, perfect for dreamy stargazing. With honors as "Best Romantic Retreat" and the most awarded environmental hideaway in Western Australia, Yelverton Brook allows couples to ignite or rekindle a passionate connection. Does Your Next Vacation Have an Environmental Policy? The Yelverton Brook Luxury Eco Retreat offers a vacation that keeps the natural environment in mind at every turn, which is backed by their environmental policy. All cottages are outfitted with solar features and sound insulation. All cleaning products are tea tree- and organic-based. The hydro-spas are outfitted with a built-in Ozonator, which decreases chemical use by up to 80%. Locally produced goods and services are given preference at Yelverton Brook. The luxury eco retreat also enforces a recycling program and moonlights as a conservation sanctuary. Awaken Your Senses The Yelverton Brook Luxury Eco Retreat provides unlimited stimulation for all of your senses. Upon your arrival, take in the aroma of complimentary local produce and freshly baked bread. Colorful wildflowers dot the property with more than 50 species of birds that serenade you during your stay. Inside of your two-bedroom mudbrick or one-bedroom stone and timber cottage, you'll enjoy:

• TV/Video
• CD stereo
• Gas stove
• Microwave
• Washing machine
• Reverse cycle air-conditioning
• Gainsborough linen and designer bathrobes
• Wood fire
• Gas barbeque

If you feel like venturing outside of the eco retreat, the Margaret Region provides tourists with golfing; pottery and ceramic galleries; wineries; glass blowing studios; surfing adventures; secluded beaches and coastlines; forest walks; intriguing wildlife; and active pursuits. Traveling sweethearts, I'd have to say this is an amazing opportunity to not only reconnect with your significant other, but also with the great outdoors. For more information on the following 2-day packages for two, click here: Eco Package - $640 Romantic Package - $718 Ultimate - $793 Executive Getaway Break - $893 Photo Credits