I ask this question because I hope we can aspire to something higher. Sometimes I wonder: am I writing about sustainability just to feel better about all the flights I take every year? It's a question I've been asking myself and whether I should continue this blog.
Travel has given me some of the most meaningful moments of my life. It has introduced me to people, cultures, food, kindness. It has shown me forests older than countries, oceans so vast and mountains so beautiful, and communities that taught me there's more than one way to live a good life.
I'll also admit that it has also left a pretty big-ass carbon footprint.
I've boarded countless flights since I was a kid. We traveled back and forth from Indiana to Taiwan, and just that trip was 3 plane rides. Now? I have a dream of living in both the Bay Area and Taipei. That means more flights. Does that mean I'm not committed enough? I honestly don't know. Asking this doesn't mean I then get a free pass just because I'm "mindful" about it.
There's a version of sustainability that is down to the perfect perfection. No flights. No waste. Local food, your own garden. Perhaps even self-sustained! But I don't believe sustainability is about becoming a perfect environmentalist. I hope it's about becoming someone who cares enough to make better decisions, over and over again, until it's part of your identity. So no shaming, fear mongering, we have enough of that already in out daily lives.
And yet this blog! Travel is a contradiction in terms of sustainability. At the same time, I see so many businesses, local grassroot organizations, doing amazing work around the world. Perhaps, I just want to share all the deep caring work I see that is going on all over the world, people doing their part for a better future for generations to come.
Travel indeed can increase our carbon footprint, yet it can also deepen our appreciation for the very places we're trying to protect.
None of those experiences would have happened if I had never left home.
So can travel ever be sustainable? hmmm, maybe not in the purest sense of the word.I mean every flight burns fuel. Every hotel uses resources. Every journey will leave some kind of mark. (Although we should try are hardest not to)
But perhaps that's the wrong question. Maybe the better question is: Can travel make us better stewards of this planet?
Can it inspire us to consume less when we return home? To learn that many joys of life isn't with buying more stuff?
Can it make us choose trains when they're available, support local businesses instead of large chains, stay longer instead of flying more often, carry a reusable bottle, repair instead of replace, vote for environmental policies, or donate to organizations protecting the places we've fallen in love with?
Can a trip change not just where we've been, but how we live afterward?
That's the kind of sustainability I'm interested in. At least the one that many are willing to try and work towards. 1 less plastic bag or single-use trash.
There will probably be future trips where I create more trash than I'd like. There will be flights I wish didn't have to take. There will be compromises.
But I hope those moments don't stop me from trying.
Because if only perfect people are allowed to talk about sustainability, then no one will. It's time to build some awareness in all our stuff. Pause a bit before throwing something away. Don't hoard it, but remember that it doesn't just magically disappear. Try to spend an extra day exploring on foot instead of renting a car. To realize that loving a place also means wanting to protect it, just like you would for a loved one.
Maybe that's enough. Or maybe it's just the beginning?
I don't know.
What I do know is that the more I travel, the more I realize the destination isn't what stays with me.
It's the relationship I build with the planet itself, the people who live all it. Hopefully, this place can be a small positive space on the internet
Happy safe and sustainable travels!
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