Rachael co-owns and operates Cardboard Box Travel Shop, a local travel operator in Namibia. Although I know some people love to cram every spare moment with activity, I often feel tourists come away from Namibia requiring another holiday to recover. There are, however, a few lodges that understand not all guests want to rise with…

The 2009 Geotourism Challenge: Power of Place – Sustaining the Future of Destinations has just turned the penultimate page of its final chapter. After 1368 nominations from 113 countries followed by 611 entries from 81 countries, a panel of expert judges — including a Nobel Peace Prize winner, a co-founder of Lonely Planet and the editor of National Geographic Traveler magazine — selected 10 finalists and now all the votes for the final three are being counted.

I do not believe that anywhere in the world an area with the fame and beauty of Ha Long Bay, Vietnam, is not accompanied by high prices and hidden extra charges, such as an extra US$20 to switch the air-conditioning on or 5,000 Vietnamese dong ‘service charge’ for every drink that has not been purchased aboard a boat.

‘Clean Breaks, 500 New Ways to See the World,’ published in August 2009 by Rough Guides, wastes no time getting down to business. And why should it? In keeping with its title, it makes a clean break from so many things, including some guidebook conventions. After a mere page and a half of introduction, it plunges into a dazzling world of fresh experiences.

Richard Hammond and Jeremy Smith, the joint authors of ‘Clean Breaks,’ share the reasons why they have written this worldwide guide to holidays that are good for local people and the planet.

Clean Breaks, 500 New Ways to See the World (read a review), published in August 2009 by Rough Guides, is a full-colour guide of the authors’ handpicked choices of the world’s best hotels, tours and activities run by people who are passionate about what they do in an environmentally and socially responsible manner.