Ethical Travel: A Guide to Responsible Exploration
As more of us explore the world, it’s easy to forget that our presence can have a profound impact—both positive and negative. With the expansion of various modes of fast transportation like planes, the world is evermore connected and tourism is skyrocketing. And while the world is beautiful and there’s many incredible things to experience, tourists should be aware of the negative impacts of their traveling and look to increase the level of ethics that they apply to their traveling standards. Whether it’s environmental, financial, or cultural impact, there’s many ways to ethically visit parts of the world, so long as you are aware of what to look out for. If you’re reading this article you’re already in the first steps of taking a more ethical approach towards travel. In this blog article I will cover some great points that I’ve both experienced while traveling and have read about in Imogen Lepere’s book The Ethical Traveler.
Understanding Ethical Travel
What does ethical travel even mean? For many, it means being aware as a traveler of the negative impacts that the tourism industry has had on an area of the world and working against furthering them. These can be in relation to impacts on the local environment and ecosystem, pricing out locals of their goods and homes, and even being culturally aware of your actions. Respecting the locals, whether it’s the people, animals, or environment, should be at the top of everybody’s priority list.
A key point to note is that your approach to ethical travel will be different depending on the area of the world that you go to. While economic impacts are something that should be taken into account almost everywhere in the world, other things like environmental should have different approaches depending on if you’re in a city versus a more rural area.
Respecting Local Cultures and Communities
Researching the local customs and culture of the region that you’re traveling to is very important once you have a destination in mind. Research how the increase of tourism in the area has both positively and negatively impacted the locals. If there are large, glaring issues that tourists have caused in regards to the local culture, there are normally numerous articles written about them for future visitors to read so they can avoid. One common piece of advice for tourists is to try and opt for more locally-run businesses. Instead of booking an AirBNB or eating at a restaurant that’s very obviously not run by locals can often push locals out of their homes and outprice the area they live in. Buy from locally-owned shops, eat at local restaurants, and stay in local guesthouses so you know that your money is going directly back into the community.
Minimize Your Environmental Footprint
Environment impact is one of the more glaring negatives when people think of over-tourism. From depleting coral reefs to changes in local wildlife behavior, there have unfortunately been too many instances of environments being destroyed by lack of tourism regulations. While unfortunately a lot of changes won’t be made unless the local government steps in, there are some steps that you can take to minimize your environmental footprint. For instance, if possibly, minimize your plastic use by sticking to a reusable water bottle that you can keep filling up. Oftentimes when you continuously purchase disposable water bottles they’re added back into landfills and are never recycled. Reusable bottles are a great option, but if you’re in a place with unsafe water, don’t feel guilty about prioritizing your health first.
In regards to other environmental actions that you can take, it is also good to keep in mind the essence of “leaving no trace”. For instance, if you go hiking it is best not to stray from the beaten path. While this is best for your own personal safety, it is also best for you environment as you’re not further disrupting paths that impact the local wildlife.
Support Ethical Wildlife Tourism
Another large negative of tourism that I unfortunately saw through a lot of Southeast Asia was unethical wildlife tourism. Things such as elephant riding or bathing or taking selfies with wild animals is largely unethical and cruel to the animals. I don’t have to go into much detail here but activities such as those allow for the company to repeatedly drug, beat, starve, and do more to the animals for their entire lives. While the pictures you take with these animals may look cute, the behind-the-scenes of what’s really going on is despicable. The treatment of animals is different depending on the part of the world and you need to do your due diligence by researching the local treatment of animals. Look at various articles and other online resources of what true sanctuaries or other animal habitats are and book with them.
Slow Down and Embrace Sustainable Travel
This next point I’m going to make is one of my favorite but is only accessible to a small number of people, which is to embrace slow travel. Slow travel is when you spend longer amounts of time in places compared to what you or other travels normally would do. Slower travel not only means that you’ll have a better connection with the local area but you’ll also be lightening your carbon footprint as you won’t be taking flights as often.
Ethical Photography and Social Media
The last point regarding ethical travel that I want to make is to make sure that you’re being ethical about photography and social media. You should always ask permission before taking photos of locals, especially if you are planning on posting them to social media. Having someone take photos of you without your permission would make most people uncomfortable, so make sure you’re not doing it to others.
Conclusion
Ethical travel is about making conscious decisions that respect the environment, support local economies, and honor the cultures we visit. Every action, no matter how small, contributes to preserving the beauty of the places we love to explore. By slowing down, doing our research, and making mindful choices, we can ensure that tourism becomes a force for good. The journey towards more ethical travel may seem daunting at first, but with each thoughtful decision, we leave a positive mark on the world and help preserve it for future generations of explorers. Safe and responsible travels!