We’ve said goodbye to 2020. (It had a few bright moments, but on the whole, I’m sure most of you will agree it’s a good thing to see it gone.) Travel in 2021 isn’t going to miraculously return to normal (case in point: today I should have been flying to Sydney, but the Western Australian state border is closed again to several states, including New South Wales, so I am staying here). But it is time, at least, to start looking towards how we can travel in the future and what I think is most important, after this tumultuous pandemic year, is to think about how we can travel more thoughtfully.
Being a thoughtful traveller can look like a lot of different things. It can be:
- binge-watching a Netflix series set in your destination so you get to know more about a place and what makes it tick
- travelling more slowly – spending a longer time in fewer destinations
- keeping a travel journal so that you can remember your trip and reflect on what you’re getting out of it
- taking reusable water bottles and water filters so you don’t contribute to those piles of plastic bottles
- practising a few words – or even better, more – of the language before you arrive
- finding ways to meet the locals – taking a small tour with an interesting local guide, staying in a homestay, getting to know people with common interests online and arranging to meet up
- noticing how a trip changes you and making the most of that – does it make you more confident, or teach you something important about yourself?
- reading novels set where you’re headed before you go (and while you’re there), and looking up local authors
- choosing public transport over a rental car, or a train trip over a flight, both because it helps the environment and because you’ll probably get to experience life more like a local
- committing to going beyond your comfort zone – or at least stretching it a bit – when you travel
And so many more! During 2021, I’m going to be talking about thoughtful travel every day, with #ThoughtfulTravelDaily content popping up all over the place. It’ll be in places like:
- the Thoughtful Travellers Facebook group
- my Instagram account
- on LinkedIn
- the NotABallerina.com Facebook page
- and even right here on this blog
and if you want to make sure you see it all once a week, then I’ll be summarising it all every Thursday in the Thoughtful Travel Thursday newsletter – if you’re not already subscribed, you can sign up here.
After thinking SO much about thoughtful travel over the past five years – and more than ever during the pandemic craziness of 2020 – I really want to talk about it heaps during 2021, so I hope you’ll join in with me!
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