Bing Travel Flights - Should I Travel Abroad to Raise Money For Charity?

Can raising money for an eco charity offset the distance I will be travelling to raise the money in the first place?

They are for charity - and they all have responsible travel codes of ethics - and they are working with local people. But was in a bit of a dilemma as to whether I could justify it as an eco holiday or not, i was thinking of taking part in one of those Charity Treks.

They are usually on the other side of the world, but!

The Case For:

They will also need to organise events and people to raise the money in the first place, not only will they work really hard at getting fit for the challenge and learning about the country they are visiting. In that they can achieve great things along the journey, i think that they offer the participant a great deal of benefits.

They can be saving lives or helping to improve them, so rather than being tempted to follow the tourist trail or just sit around a pool! So why not combine this desire to travel with an ethical cause and raise several thousand dollars along the way, they are likely to be the sort of person to want to take a vacation during the year.

Guides to help improve you enjoyment of the trip or the hotel staff who make you feel welcome - they are all benefiting from your arrival, whether they are porters employed to carry your luggage. They also help the local people who are involved in the challenge along the way.

People can be so generous with certain charities and the totals can really add up when there is a large group of travellers taking part. The money raise for good causes is amazing, and of course.

The Case Against:

Some of these challenges say the group can be as many as 120 people. But will there be too many people to be sustainable over a long period of time, you will bring in money, yes. The very thought of dozens of tourists arriving in a small town isn't a very eco trait for a holiday is it?

Mount Kilimanjaro's trail or the route to Everest Base Camp, or the other 'classic' routes - the Great Wall of China. Imagine the trampling those Inca paths get every day! . . . . . . A friend of mine did the Inca Trail with a group of 75 people - not including all the porters.

Eco friendly companies will offer guidelines to help deter and avoid these - but is it fair on the local population to be treated like this while we just 'pass through'. Local children may find the constant trickle of 'wealthy' people a lure to keep them from school and begging is common in many of the more visited sites.

Do we need to be clear on what we are raising money for to make it ethical or not? The whole charity thing, finally.

Shouldn't we raise money for them from our own back yard? Should I be raising it by doing the very thing they are hoping to avoid - mass air travel with massive groups trampling over delicate sites and through endangered habitats, if I am raising money for an eco friendly company like WWF, for example?

I mean flying to the other side of the world to raise money for a company that is spending their donations on trying to reduce carbon emissions couldn't be more ironic.

But then raising money for a medicinal charity like Cancer Research is a very worthy cause - but is damaging the very environment we want to live in for the rest of our lives to raise money to make people live longer in that very environment also a bit of a difficult one?

What about humanitarian charities? Does raising money for children or domestic animals fare any better?

So if you are going to do that anyway - why not raise money along the way? But then - I know riding a horse across the Mongolian plains and staying in gers would be a great eco holiday.

What do you think?