My holidays as a child were naturally greener holidays, as they were always in the UK and usually to Cornwall and it wasn’t until my late teens that I had my first holiday abroad; but whether travelling at home or in another country, I have always been interested in what makes each destination unique – the people, the atmosphere and most importantly – the food! Waking up at 3 am to set off before the sun rose, sitting in the back of my mum’s blue mini, half asleep and listening to jazz and bossa nova tapes with my younger sister; it could only mean one thing – we were going on holiday! It was only to Cornwall, but it took so long to get there it could have been another country altogether. I remember buying Parma Violets and eating fresh crab and Cornish pasties. My mum and sister made themselves ill, after eating too many (not so) fresh cockles at the harbour. And, it wouldn’t be a holiday in Cornwall without a traditional cream tea. They were, and still are, legendary! This was a time when you could buy clotted cream from the Post Office – it came in a huge metal tray, the thick yellow crust on top, nothing like today’s poor imitation.
Years later and my first trip abroad was to Menorca and I remember tasting fresh, locally caught fish cooked ‘a la plancha’ – several types of fish and seafood grilled and presented on a wooden board served, quite simply, with lemon. More recently in Iceland I enjoyed cod, traditional lamb soup and Skyr yoghurt. Due to the climate many vegetables in Iceland are grown in greenhouses that harness geothermal heat, producing crops that would not naturally survive the cold. In Norway we also enjoyed the fresh fish and, more interestingly, reindeer. We also tried King Crab which is abundant in the Barents Sea after being introduced in the 60’s by the Russians. Every year we travel to Greece, but my love of Greek food is well documented!
But it’s not only the food that makes a place unique. Capturing the essence of a holiday by taking photos is one way I like to remember my holidays and also bringing home a locally made souvenir, something that represents the place I have travelled to, whether that’s a bottle of Ouzo from Greece. A hand made scarf or a jumper knitted from Icelandic wool. And I refuse to allow my children to buy plastic toys made in China when we have holidayed in Spain! A lovely reminder of a holiday we had in Crete was finding a notebook that my grown up children used to collect receipts from restaurants, dried flowers and hand written observations about their holiday when they were 8 and 10 years old! I hope my children remember the holidays they have had and what it was about them that they enjoyed, because too many destinations have lost their unique charm due to tourism at its worst.
We all, as travellers, have a responsibility to protect destinations and to reduce the negative impact of our travel on those destinations. To find out more about travelling responsibly visit Make Holidays Greener it’s not all about eco trips and camping, there are plenty of simple things we can do to help protect our environment!
