HOW CAN I BE A MORE ETHICAL TRAVELER?

At its best, travel connects us—across walls literal and metaphorical. That’s what Mark Twain meant when he wrote that travel is “fatal to prejudice.” But what would Twain make of us now, 1.4 billion travelers and counting, boarding millions of pollution-spewing flights per year, with some corners of the world so overtrodden they can’t bear the weight? What does conscientious travel look like today? We enlisted experts to address some of the most vexing quandaries we face. In many cases, the answers are not clear-cut.

1. What makes a good voluntourism program?

With volunteering, skills-matching is really important. I