My Travel Ethos: Travel Consciously

In starting this blog I want to achieve a number of things. I know I'm not going to change the world for everyone but if I can help people on the way, well that's a win for me. 

Firstly, I would rather selfishly like to improve my writing ability.

Secondly, and more importantly, I would love it if this blog was the catalyst for building a community of travel fanatics who have the same ethos and share the same values as me. A place where we can all share tips and advice to make everyone's travel that little nicer, more bespoke, better informed, and ultimately more enjoyable!

Now you know a little bit about me and the community I'd love to build (and you're reading this so I count you a part of), time for my travel ethos: Travel Consciously.

At first this seems probably quite grand, but it's actually very simple. I want to travel to places with as little impact as possible, get to know the locals while I'm there, and then leave having left no impact, or a positive impact, if at all possible.

This probably all sounds very green, and that I'm going to extoll the virtues of hemp, but travelling sustainably and ethically isn't just about carbon emissions. It's about making sure that the decisions you make while travelling reflects your values, doesn't create harm for anyone (or anything) in the area you're travelling to, and ultimately ensures that travel can continue in that location for the long term and for the benefit of locals and fellow-tourists alike.

For a personal example, as a gay man, I wouldn't choose to spend my money in a location that actively persecutes the LGBT+ community. In some cases, where cultural acceptance is general and - while nuanced - far-reaching (think Turkey or Morocco, for example) and a queer community exists, I would continue with caution. In locations with major human rights infringements, a culture of prejudice, or systemic eradication of LGBT+ locals, I would not travel at all; regardless of isolated pockets of cultural acceptance, or a silent, blind eye turned to Western travellers. For that reason a lot of the Middle East and Bali is off the cards for me, and I'm okay with that. That's not to say that I'm here to preach to you about travelling to those locations - that isn't my aim at all! 

However, in my effort to travel consciously, when I am somewhere new I look to support local events, queer spaces, artists, and charities that do help to further the progress of the LGBT+ community in those places as that's important cause to me. You might look to support animal rights, women's equality and literature, indigenous communities, or any important cause in the same way.

I'm also not here to tell you that you can only travel by train from now on. Flying is sometimes inevitable. Travelling consciously means making flights count, travelling overland as much as possible, and consciously choosing to travel out of season, or avoiding being a strain on over-touristed communities. By seeking out different places to stay and doing so off-season, not only can you find this immensely more rewarding, but you may get to know a place and local people better by doing this as well.

So, in short, what I'll try to point out to you are ideas for fulfilling, guilt free travel, without prejudice or preaching, and in doing so try to also use my opportunity to highlight tips to travel more consciously, use the road less trodden, and ultimately find new ways to enjoy travel.