The New Tourist: Waking Up To The Power And Perils Of Travel

What does it truly mean to be a responsible traveller in an age of over-tourism, climate anxiety, and Instagram-driven wanderlust? In The New Tourist, journalist Paige McClanahan confronts the uncomfortable truths lurking beneath the surface of modern travel, challenging readers to reckon with the real-world consequences of their globe-trotting ambitions. Drawing on rigorous reporting from destinations around the world, McClanahan chronicles the tension between the transformative promise of travel and the very real damage it can inflict on local communities, ecosystems, and cultures. McClanahan writes with the precision of an investigative journalist and the passion of a true believer in travel's potential for good, arguing that a more conscious, ethical approach to tourism is not only possible but urgently necessary. The New Tourist presents a compelling call to action, weaving together personal narrative, economic analysis, and cultural critique to illustrate how individual choices ripple outward into the world. For anyone who has ever booked a flight and wondered whether they should have, this is the book that will reframe the very question of why — and how — we travel.