Natural Footsteps: Ethical Travel

As we return to global travel, what’s the best way to do so? Join nature and travel writer Anthony Ham and writer, literary tour guide leader and avid traveller Bri Lee in conversation about the challenges and opportunities of ethical travel.

Tourism can make or break a community, between out-pricing locals from their homes to immense environmental impacts ruining the very beauty that brings us there. While 'ethical alternatives' like ecotourism and voluntourism – the act of volunteering overseas for a charity-led program – aren’t new, they've risen in popularity in recent years. But how do we know if they aren’t merely creating new problems?

Anthony Ham has spent more than two decades travelling to the Earth’s most untouched corners, considering questions of how to explore the world without harming it. His latest book, The Man Who Loved Pink Dolphins, tells the complex story of Christopher Clark, an environmentalist who worked with the Waimiri-Atoari people of the Amazon to protect their land. He’ll chat to Bri Lee, author, journalist and host of small learning-driven travel tours about how to best approach ethical travel, and what pitfalls to avoid.

This event is part of Vivid Ideas' Human Nature series. Challenge the 'natural' ways of thinking, and explore the emerging new normals across sex, relationships, body politics, travel and more.