It’s seven in the evening, early July, and I’m sitting on a jetty on the edge of a lake in eastern Finland, dressed only in a towel around my waist. Occasionally an agreeable waft of birch wood smoke drifts over my head from the sauna, located at the top of a short flight of wooden steps. The lake is settling into a glassy mirror, but the sun is still high in the warm northern sky.
Call it what you will – green, eco, responsible or sustainable travel – we want to know that everything we’re doing, where we’re staying and what we’re eating is not having a detrimental impact on the beautiful places we’re visiting. We also want to know that our time spent in the destination will contribute directly to the local economy and benefit its communities.
I’m looking out of my window in Helsinki just after Christmas at a fabulous frost-bound fantasy. The boughs of the birch tree in our yard are drooping under heavy snow and a knee-deep carpet of white extends to the street. An enormous hare, its fur turned seasonally pale, is nibbling at the seeds I’ve scattered for the birds.
In the heart of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula lies Marquette County, a hidden gem where the splendour of dense forests, tranquil lakes, and quaint historic towns converge. This idyllic destination has long beckoned travellers with its promise of adventure and cultural richness. However, as its popularity as a tourist hotspot grows, so does the need for sustainable and respectful tourism practices.
Let’s not start talking about Marquette, Michigan’s robust, innovative farm-to-table scene without first establishing a shared lexicon—we need to pin down words like tenacity, grit, and maybe even gumption. This is the language that captures what it’s like to stare down a growing season strangled by epic winters, the supply chain challenges of living three hours off the nearest interstate, and still have the farmer’s audacity to say…
Twice a year in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, in the small, bustling, lake-side city of Marquette, the early morning sun peeks over the horizon only to be perfectly framed at the centre of downtown’s decommissioned ore dock, that almost gothic monolith of steel and concrete whose throat, for a few brief minutes each November, catches fire.
By Sarah Baxter Sitting outside their 19th-century farmhouse, Pia Åkesson and Jesper Persson shared a plate of fresh-baked cinnamon buns and their take on the world. “Sustainability is just our lifestyle,” they explained without fuss or fanfare. “We do it in a quiet way. But we wanted to show there are different ways of living. […]
By Sarah Baxter The first rays of sunshine peeped over the eastern horizon, sneaking between the trees and through the cabin’s antique windowpanes. I was cosy inside, but couldn’t resist the call of the honeyed light. I slipped out from under the duvet and moss-green sheepskins, and pulled on my swimmers. I grabbed a robe, […]
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Contingent Works, Broadway Buildings,
Elmfield Road, Bromley, BR1 1LW
Acting as retail agent for ATOL holder
