Conscious travel, as I find myself in an airport, is now an increasing reality and topic that needs more discussion down to the finer details. It is also necessary, not only due to the enormous environmental impacts but also the risks now associated with travel in a post-COVID 19 (or more realistically a current-COVID 19) world.
It’s scary; it’s okay to admit that. But it’s also right to be conscious, aware and knowledgable of travel in all its forms.
(Also, believe me when I say that I am still learning and am actively trying to consciously cut my travel time despite having family elsewhere in the world, so this is something I know a little about.)
“The world is changed by your example, not by your opinion.”
– Paulo Coelho
Travel is slowly becoming a part of everyday life again (in Europe – I can’t speak for other countries) however, this brings a whole host of new challenges with it. And for that a whole host of attitudes which can create significant conflict among people of different views.
For example, I imagine that the viewpoint of successful businessman who travels regularly to attend valuable conferences and meetings regarding financial statistics has a juxtaposing viewpoint to a remote village fisherman living in the Philippines who has never travelled outside of a few miles from his home.
Hence the need for awareness of cause and effect.
The businessman, with his substantial income, modest job and airline benefits does not realise the impact he has on the fisherman who has likely endured more than a lifetime’s worth of earthquakes, hurricanes and tsunami’s as a result of the businessman’s air travel. This attitude contributes to the greenhouse gases already impacting our atmosphere, warming ocean temperatures and directly resulting in increased storm activity and destructive natural disasters.
Now that may seem a lot to process from one person’s involvement in one mode of transport but this is the truth of the situation, and since the two individuals aren’t known to each other, the positive feedback loop continues.
Every action counts when you travel and nearly every mode of transport produces some form of pollution, be it CO2 related or particulate related: both are severely damaging to environmental and human health.
So what can we do?
I propose the concept of universal awareness, AKA ‘Conscious Travel’.
Check, next time you use transport, the impacts you might be having on the environment or others (at the time of COVID 19). Are you wearing a mask? – if not I have a separate blog post about that.
Are you aware of how polluting your mode of transport is?
Flying produces twice the warming effect of CO2 alone, which significantly damages and warms the atmosphere, leading to more threatening secondary impacts such as Ocean Acidification, Forest Fires and smog build up in urban areas.
So how can we implement ‘Conscious Travel’? Well…
It’s all about awareness and understanding of the impacts you, as a human, have. Realise that you may have a desire to see the world but this can only be done sustainably and with minimum environmental impact. By understanding this you can consciously question your need and/or desire to travel more by think about necessity vs. want.
Do you need to travel to Spain this year or could you just as easily go to the coast somewhere nearby? Do you need to visit family in far away places as often as possible or would regular Skype calls suffice?
It is fast becoming the reality that we need to really THINK about our travel needs and drastically cut them down to reduce carbon footprints and thus far the impacts of our interaction with others during a pandemic. Furthermore it is our duty to call out others not doing the same, such as large TNC’s and other international corporations that profit from travel related industries or logistics.
Less travel = more beautiful places stay beautiful for longer and less danger to human health and wellbeing.
And since we are at the centre of a climate emergency and a pandemic (wow, 2020 really has given us the best year yet) it is more important now, more than ever, to consciously travel.
Learn to find happiness in the place you’re in, or find somewhere nearby to get away.
It shouldn’t take crossing an ocean for you to clear your head.
For Wanderers and Wonderers 