Monday Night Travel Summer Series: Travel with Purpose

Do you want to make your travels more meaningful? Join Monday Night Travel for our Travel with Purpose series! The MNT team is dedicating three events from our summer session to engaging the ethical dilemmas of modern travel and learning how we can become part of the solutions. With an exciting slate of expert guests, we'll wander into Amsterdam's infamous and historic Red Light District to ponder the problem of overtourism, hop on a Kenyan safari to explore the ethics of exoticism, and bike from Spain to Singapore to learn how we can travel for more than just ourselves. Pack an open mind and an adventurous spirit because we have a stimulating journey ahead of us!

You must register separately for each event below — it's free!

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June 17: Exploring Overtourism in Amsterdam’s Red Light District with Paige McClanahan

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Amsterdam's Red Light District has become synonymous with sex, drugs, and…tourist traps — a poster child for overtourism. Paige McClanahan, a regular New York Times contributor and author of "The New Tourist," takes us for a spin through this infamous neighborhood, peeking behind the scenes of a peep show, chatting with Red Light District locals, and uncovering how tourism evolved in the area. At the end of the tour, Paige shares why thoughtful travelers should keep the Red Light District on their itineraries and how we can all become part of the solution to overtourism.

July 22: Experiencing Kenya on an Ethical Safari with Sarika Bansal

6:00 p.m. PT / 9:00 p.m. ET | REGISTER

Kenya's Maasai Mara National Reserve is a treasure trove of safari fantasies: wildebeests migrating across savannahs, lions prowling plains, and colorful indigenous villages. But behind these African daydreams lurk various ethical realities to unpack. Fortunately, Sarika Bansal, editorial director of Afar Magazine and editor of "Tread Brightly: Notes on Ethical Travel," is here to help. Based in Kenya, Sarika sheds light on how to explore her adopted country in ways that protect wildlife, respect local people, and strengthen communities so we can all tread more brightly.

August 12: Biking Around the World with Andrew Mortensen

6:00 p.m. PT / 9:00 p.m. ET | REGISTER

Andrew Mortensen just biked around the world — from the Pacific Northwest to Patagonia and from Spain to Singapore — and he did it with a purpose: to raise money for suicide prevention. Fresh off his 27,000-mile cycle, Andrew joins Monday Night Travel to share vivid stories from the journey — zipping through verdant French countryside, visiting whirling dervishes in Turkey, and discovering surprising cities in Uzbekistan. Along the way, Andrew gives tips on how bikers of all abilities can incorporate cycling into their trips and offers insights into how we can all travel more purposefully.