Now, as the Frugal Traveler columnist for The New York Times, I spend a lot of time thinking, in the Frommer tradition, about ways to stretch my budget while having experiences worth travelling for.
I run my choices in trips, restaurants and lodgings through what I think of as a fast-food filter. What passes the test must be relatively affordable but substantive – meaning recreational, educational, challenging or joyful – and not a chain I can find anywhere (sorry, McDonald’s).
When I read his obituary in The New York Times, it struck me that not only was Frommer an evangelist for the intellectual, cultural and worldview-widening benefits of travel, but he was also an early supporter of sustainable travel before it got that name.
He championed staying in small inns, eating in mom-and-pop restaurants, taking public transportation and talking to locals – practices that benefit your buying power while supporting communities, easing your carbon footprint and enriching your introduction to the destination.
Today, the travel industry can feel dominated by high-end providers of luxury trips, lodges and hotels. Many of them are making vital investments in environmental and social sustainability, and I encourage travellers with means to seek them out when they feel compelled to wander from the Frommer way.
But no matter what our budgets are, as we reckon with global warming, we must reconsider how we travel when we travel. We can go slower and more thoughtfully, use human-powered means like walking or biking and take subways instead of Uber. Where possible, we can choose trains over planes.
We can ease overtourism by spreading out from crowded tourist centres and into neighbourhoods or regions where we can support locally owned businesses, including restaurants, lodgings and attractions that would appreciate our patronage.
“Not only should one seek out the new and undiscovered,” Frommer said in an interview with Frommers.com in 2007, “but it’s increasingly important to travel during off-season periods, when the Florences and the Venices of the world aren’t inundated with visitors.”
Whether we have $100 or $1,000 a day to spend, we can be conscious consumers dedicated to making travel a force for good if we follow the path blazed by Arthur Frommer. NYTIMES
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