road in the central Yucatán; the crusty old codgers in
Buffalo Bills jerseys in the Adirondacks last summer
who came running to push me and my family to
safety when they heard me spinning my wheels after
having backed the car into a gully. I never learned any
of these people’s names, but I will never forget their
faces, or the warm feeling they gave me about the
places I was visiting.
In the world of travel, and in the world in general,
we have all been talking and thinking so much these
last few years about the question of sustainability.
Too much of the conversation, I think, has been
focused on subjects like plastic straws (though, to
be clear, we fully support the phaseout of those!),
and not enough on human ecology, on the ways that
people helping and supporting other people can lead
to a greener future. Here’s how Gregory Miller, the
executive director at the Center for Responsible
Travel, put it to me: “You cannot look at sustain-
ability without looking at the continuum of natural,
cultural, and spiritual elements in a place. Whether
it’s Tokyo, the Galápagos, Yosemite, or Venice,
humans are the stakeholders that are going to be the
determining factor in protecting the place. If they’re
not sustained, the place won’t be sustained.” This
is why he believes, as I do, that the recent trend of
“flight-shaming” is so misguided. Tourism is a crit-
ical revenue source for nearly every country in the
world; without it, many nations would shift from
experience economies to extractive economies and
agricultural practices that are inherently unsus-
tainable. The cost-benefit analysis that leads to
flight-shaming is one that leaves human beings out
of the equation.
As we go forward here at Condé Nast Traveler in
exploring the future of travel—the places that move
us, the hotels that make us swoon, the experienc-
es that never leave us—we want to remember that
travel is fundamentally about human beings, which is
why this issue is full of stories about the ways travel-
ers are touched by the people they meet. That human
element is one we want to explore more fully in our
magazine, on our website, in our videos and pod-
casts, on social media, and at live events. Our central
proposition: that travel is a force for good on planet
Earth, both for travelers and for those whose lives
are touched by travel. If you feel this way too, please
join us on this journey. –jesse ashlock, editor, u.s.You Heard It
Here First
the lion’s
share
In an effort to
conserve the
declining lion
population across
Africa, top safari
operators Singita,
andBeyond,
Ultimate Safaris,
and Wilderness
have joined the
nonprofit Lion
Recovery Fund
to form the Lions-
cape Coalition.
The goal is to
double the num-
ber of these cats
by 2050 in traveler-
heavy eastern
and Southern
Africa, as well as
in the west, where
wildlife faces
the same threats
but there is less
tourism to fund
conservation.flight plan
Australian indus-
trial designer
David Caon is
leading the charge
to bring wellness
to air travel
with his work for
Qantas, including
a new first-class
lounge at Singa-
pore’s Changi
Airport that he
designed with
Akin Atelier. “In
the golden age of
flying,” he says,
“luxury was about
indulging the cus-
tomer—bottomless
Champagne, silver
service. Now it’s
got to be intelli-
gent. The passen-
ger should expect
to complete the
journey and be
fresh because of
the science behind
the product and
the service.”
–betsy
blumenthalThe future of Tokyo destinations
like Chidorigafuchi Moat is tied up
with the fate of the city’s citizens22 CONDÉ NAST TRAVELER APRIL 2020
word of mouth^ ➤^ in the air