142. Conscious Travel and Tourism

In this episode of Progressive Pockets, let's explore the topic of conscious travel, focusing on how to respect local cultures while prioritizing environmental sustainability. 

Discover practical tips for engaging with communities, understanding local customs, and avoiding cultural faux pas.

We'll also discuss sustainable travel practices, such as supporting local economies, reducing waste, and choosing eco-friendly accommodations. 

Whether you're a low-key traveler or prefer luxury, this episode will inspire you to make thoughtful choices that leave a positive impact on both the places you visit and the planet. 

Links from today’s episode:

Sustainable tourism worldwide - statistics & facts | Jan 2024

https://www.statista.com/topics/1916/green-tourism/ 

ICYMI another episode you might enjoy:

Episode#73 It's wedding season! How to go green (recorded before the 2024 rebranding of this show)

Connect With Genet “GG” Gimja:

Website https://www.progressivepockets.com

Twitter https://twitter.com/prgrssvpckts 

Work With Me:

Email progressivepockets@gmail.com for brand partnerships, business inquiries, and speaking engagements.

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Transcript

Welcome to Progressive Pockets! I go by GG, that’s short for Genet Gimja. This is a show about rethinking some of the ways we use our wallets and if there’s a chance to better shape the world we want. That can include how we donate, how we invest, how we bank, we’ve also talked about sustainable shopping on this show. We’ve talked about boycotts, our consumer power.

Today let’s talk about conscious travel and tourism. You’ve seen the headlines, here’s why this topic matters.

Machu Picchu, Peru

The number of visitors went from less than 400,000 a year to over 1.4 million, leading to littering, erosion of pathways, and damage to the ancient ruins. 

Great Barrier Reef, Australia

Rising sea temperatures, pollution, and damage from tourism activities like diving and snorkeling have led to widespread coral bleaching and a decline in the reef's health

Hawaii

Popular spots like Hanauma Bay, Shark's Cove, and Laniakea (turtle beach) have seen damage to native flora and fauna, overcrowding, and littering. The erosion of hiking trails and beach pollution are also issues caused by unsustainable tourism to the area.

You can probably think of more examples of where tourism can go wrong and we can inadvertently leave a place worse than when we found it. You might have been thinking about Venice and the canals and bridges or maybe you were thinking about Barcelona where anti-tourism protests by the locals made the news.

In those places, governments have stepped in, for example in Barcelona the government started regulating short term rentals and they banned Segway tours. The Peruvian government has limited daily visitors to Machu Picchu and requires tourists to be accompanied by guides to preserve the site.

This is exactly what governments are for and it’s great to see them stepping up to find a way to balance the benefits of tourism with sustainability concerns.

And in a way, that’s exactly what I want to explore on this episode, but on a personal level. I started researching this episode wondering some things that we can do on our own, what’s within our power.

And it turns out that most of us are on the same page.

Over 80 percent of global travelers said that sustainable tourism was important to them and that they were willing to adopt sustainable travel incentives, something that has led to the ecotourism industry achieving a global market size of 172.4 billion U.S. dollars.

So, let’s talk about it. Let’s talk about conscious travel or you might call it sustainable travel or the old school names eco-travel and eco-tourism.

This style of travel involves making conscious choices that benefit the environment and local communities while enjoying travel experiences. 

The first place to start is with the most obvious and that is:

Sustainable Accommodation

• Choose Eco-Lodges. We can book accommodations that prioritize sustainability. These places utilize renewable energy, manage water resources efficiently, and implement waste reduction strategies. There’s enough demand for these types of accommodations to the point that you can find sustainable hotels at all price points, you can find sustainable luxury hotels, you can find sustainable hostels.

The second place we should probably go is to Responsible Transportation

• Opt for Low-Impact Travel: We can use public transportation, bicycles, or walking to minimize our carbon footprint. And you know what, I feel like I get a better experience when I take mass transit or just actually take a nice long walk across a city. I feel like I get a better sense of the place, I have to ask for help and interact with strangers which gives me a sense of the culture. It allows me to try speaking the local language which is a sign of respect for the locals and another way to get a deeper understanding of a place. I really feel like buses and trains and sidewalks can be great equalizers. I’m thinking about Dubai for example. I think if you zoomed around from one place to the next in Ubers or taxis you would have a completely different understanding of Dubai than if you take the metro where you’re going. If mass transit isn’t an option, we can also consider electric or hybrid rental vehicles. And of course we can be strategic about minimizing how often we fly since air travel significantly contributes to carbon emissions.

In trying to be more conscious travelers we can also think about how to Respect Local Cultures

• We can Engage with Local Communities: Learn about the customs and traditions of the places we visit. We can support local businesses by dining at family-owned restaurants and purchasing handmade goods, which helps sustain the local economy.
• I am a big fan of respecting local dress codes. As an American I’m pretty free to wear what I want the other 365 days of the year, so I am more than happy to dress a little more conservatively if that’s the local custom in a place that I’m visiting. 
• Ask Before Taking Photos: Always seek permission before taking photos of people, especially children. Respect their privacy and avoid sharing images that could be seen as exploitative.
• We can also Avoid Glamorizing Poverty: What I mean is that we can be mindful of how we portray local communities, particularly those in impoverished areas. Avoid taking or sharing photos that could be seen as glamorizing poverty. We can avoid the tired old tropes of how poor people are happier than rich people.
• Look I’m an American, I have spent the majority of my life in America, so this one comes from the many faux pas I have committed and seen committed in other countries or even in different parts of the US. So while we’re still on this topic of respecting local cultures, I also want to just add one more which is to be Mindful of Behavior. What I mean is to Observe and Adapt: Take a step back and observe how locals behave in public spaces. This helps us to understand what is considered polite and respectful behavior. It can be really surprising to find out that things we take for granted are so rude in other countries. I’ll give you a low stakes example, in some countries, believe it or not you don’t touch the produce with your bare hands at the grocery store. That is considered disgusting, like picking up food from someone’s plate and fondling it. In those countries you put on a glove before you pick up an apple and put it in your shopping cart. See what I mean? Taking a second and just falling back to observe just for a minute can provide a lot of valuable information about how to respect local culture.

Let’s keep going, a few more ideas for being a conscious traveler especially when it comes to environmental sustainability.

Wildlife Conservation might also be something to consider

• We can join tours focused on wildlife observation and conservation, such as bird watching or sea turtle conservation projects depending on where you’re going and if you’re into animals and outdoor activities. Definitely you’ll want to always maintain a respectful distance from wildlife and follow guidelines to protect their habitats.

And if you going to venture outdoors, follow the Leave No Trace Principles

• Stick to Marked Trails: When hiking or exploring natural areas, always stay on designated paths to prevent soil erosion and damage to flora. It seems like the hardcore outdoors folks tend to follow these practices but I usually see the tourists who are more casual hikers or beach goers who tend to violate those principles and leave the environment worse after they leave.

Which leads me to the next thing we can do which is to Support local Conservation Efforts

• Especially when you choose an eco-tourist destination or hotel, some of those places offer opportunities for travelers to get involved by donating to local conservation groups.

Even if you’re more of an indoorsy person like me and tend to vacation in cities, we can still think about minimizing our waste by

• Reduce Single-Use Plastics: Bring reusable items like water bottles, utensils, and shopping bags to decrease plastic waste. I have started taking reusable grocery bags with me in my suitcase when I travel and wow, I had no idea how handy that would be. Whether I was picking up groceries or buying souvenirs or checking out the local farmers market or doing a beach day, I can’t overstate how helpful it is to carry a lightweight reusable tote bag of some sort when you travel. And in some places, I went to Kigali last year for example, plastic bags aren’t even allowed in the country, so you’ll really find yourself enjoying using your own bags.

I was surprised at how many ideas came up in my research for this episode. I’d love to hear what new ideas you’re going to try.

To recap, here are the ideas we covered today:

• Choose eco-hotels or accommodations with a sustainability focus
• Choose low-impact travel like trains and buses when we can
• Respect Local Cultures
• Follow Leave No Trace Principles
• Donate to local conservation groups.
• Reducing single-use plastics by packing our own shopping bags or water bottles.

If you have more time today, here’s another episode to check out, episode 73 about sustainable weddings.

I am going to link some sustainable accommodations that look really amazing in the newsletter. If you’re not already signed up for the newsletter, why not? It comes out about once a month, no spam, no filler.

If you’re looking for an easy way to help the show, send this episode to someone! Send it to your favorite travel buddy. Send it to your outdoorsy friend. Send it to your indoorsy friend like me. Send it to your luxury traveler like I want to be LOL.

Let’s end with a quote…

“By acting compassionately, by helping to restore justice and to encourage peace, we acknowledge that we are all part of one another.” Ram Dass

Let’s talk again soon!