What the Fuck Is Conscientious Travel?
I feel guilt when I travel.
I live a privileged existence — not as much as some, but far more than most.
I am white. By birth, I have passports from not one wealthy country but two. I have had access to primary and further education. I earn an alright amount of money and have disposable income. I am cis-het or straight — and am rarely mistaken for anything but that. I have been told that I am pretty. I have a man’s name, and not just any man’s name, the most mediocre-khaki-trousers-wearing-takes-shirtless-selfies-in-the-gym-works-in-sales-white-man’s name, Kyle. All qualities that, on the global social hierarchy, puts me firmly in a position of privilege.
When I travel, the world is, for the most part, my oyster.
But when the world is open to you for exploration, with relative limitation, how do you ensure that privilege doesn’t go to your head when travelling? When you’re a guest in other people’s countries, how do you check your own privilege? The answer lies in being a conscientious traveller. But what the fuck does that mean? What does it look like? What does it involve? Why does it sound so wanky?
Being a conscientious traveller doesn’t mean that you simply adopt sustainable, eco-friendly, or ‘green’ practices, such as using reusable water bottles, choosing train travel over flying, or staying in eco-lodges. Although important, these are just parts of a bigger whole. Please feel free to take a moment to laugh at ‘bigger whole’. I did.
Conscientious travel goes deeper. It includes our behaviours, rhetoric, attitudes, how we interact with others, and the impact of our choices before, during, and after we travel. It embodies a way of travelling that promotes respect for the people, culture, belief systems, lifestyle, and nature of the places we explore. The general, foundational idea is that we travel to learn and explore while leaving minimal negative impact or residual problems behind when we leave. Think of it as the Hippocratic Oath of travel: first, do no harm.
As a travel writer and former tour guide, one of the most commonly witnessed touristy behaviours is the expectation, and in some cases the demand, that a travel destination provides the same cultural comforts as home. I am, by nature and nurture, a supremely sarcastic person but I have trained myself to be professional while working. As a result, I often found myself in interactions where fighting my reflexive and natural sarcastic response to tourist behaviour nearly gave me a fucking aneurysm.
Apparently, I have the look and demeanor of someone who has a burning desire to hear people’s complaints about:
the disgraceful state of European air-conditioning
the trip-ruining oversight by local supermarkets to sell creamy peanut butter
the audacity of non-English speaking nations to not speak English
Or, one of my particular favourites, though it is hard to choose…
the sheer, unmitigated gall to drive on, and I quote, ‘…the wrong side of the road. What are they doing?! Don’t they know the rules of the road?!’
I assure you that last one was not said in jest. I know this because I thought it was and laughed, as you do. I then started to be yelled at by a man old enough to be my dad in front of his indignant looking family and a group of 25 other holiday-makers. Fun times.
Over the years, I have taken stock of these incidents, which now take up a worryingly large part of my brain, and rather than stay frustrated, angry, and catty — this last one is a lie — I decided on a more educational approach: a series of blogs, articles, and content that provides information on how to be a better traveller, tourist, world explorer, or whatever you want to call yourself when you go on holiday.
My aim is simple: encourage as many tourists as possible to travel the world but in more sustainable, ethical, and respectful ways. Put simply, to be a conscientious traveller.
Although sustainable and eco-travel are on people’s radars, the 2023 Sustainable Travel Report conducted by Booking.com states that 76% of travellers want to travel more sustainably. However, the actual number of tourists travelling in this manner illustrates that something is stopping them. According to the Global Sustainable Tourism Council 49% of travellers state that this hurdle is the cost — sustainable travel options are just too expensive for the average budget.
If traditional, obvious sustainable and eco-friendly choices aren’t really options, what else is open to those of us who want to travel with their conscious intact?
Luckily, and hopefully this helps things look less grim, quite a lot. It just won’t be in the form of fancy eco-lodges in Bali, expensive green booking platform alternatives, or buying bamboo everything. Conscientious travel can be wonderfully creative and take the form of out-of-the-box ideas that most don’t associate with sustainable travel. So, let’s explore some of the options open to us, regardless of our budgets.
Cultural Immersion
My two favourite ways to gain a better understanding of a new country is through its food and its music. Anyone who regularly reads my work will be aware that I have dedicated a whole project to the second one called Travel by Music – check it out on Spotify. Both help broker a deeper appreciation of cultures that are new to us. Personally, I think it’s difficult to dislike or disrespect a place or its people if you love their food and music — they create strong links between locals and tourists that allow deeper cross-cultural bonding. If food and music aren’t your thing, please know that 1) I am judging you but 2) that it’s ok. There will be some form of local culture that you can appreciate be it sport, fashion, architecture, art, the list is endless. Find what you love and immerse yourself in the local version.
Shop Local
If, while in a foreign country, you see a chain store that you get at home, by all means go in for a bit of home comfort or familiarity but don’t only shop there. Shopping local gives economic boosts to independent and family-owned businesses that positively and directly affect the communities you’re visiting. Those big chains don’t need your money, that local business does.
Take a risk. Go somewhere you can’t read the labels – we have translation scanners and apps, there really is no excuse these days. Go where ingredients are strange and new. Shop where you don’t know your size in local measurements. Go into that bizarre independent store or to that market stall. I’m not saying it will be comfortable — I have countless stories about making an absolute tit of myself in these situations — but it’s humbling in a way that has benefits for personal growth. Plus, retrospectively, you’ll have some great stories to share when your friends need a laugh.
Volunteer
This one can be rewarding but controversial. I would recommend conducting very thorough research on the organisations you want to volunteer with before making any decisions or signing up. Not all charitable organisations are built the same and some are downright fucking dodgy. I don’t want to put you off, I just want you to be cautious.
Don’t Buy New Stuff for Your Holiday
I can hear the outcry. It’s a holiday right of passage. I need, the same way that I need oxygen, food, and water, that new pair of sandals because they go with the new swimsuit that goes with the new sarong that goes with the new beach bag that goes with the… and on and on the list goes. You don’t need. You want.
And we all know, through experience, that you’re not going to wear those new shorts because now that you’re on holiday you’ve compared yourself with so many others that you’re now too self-conscious to put them on. Because the world is judgmental and fucking sucks. Just pack what you already have and save the money you were going to use on new holiday gear for having fun with on your actual holiday.
Do: Be respectful.
Don’t: Be a Dick.
You are a guest. This is not your home. You don’t call the shots. You don’t make the rules. Follow the cultural instructions given to you by locals, guidebooks, and tourism professionals. No one made you come here. It really isn’t that hard. Just don’t be a dick.
Learn the Cultural, Religious, Linguistic Basics
I’m not saying do a degree in comparative religious studies or spend months on trying to speak a language fluently. You’ll go fucking mad. What I am saying is learn a few phrases — hello, thank you, please, excuse me, that would be an ecumenical matter — the absolute basics, and try to educate yourself on basic faux pas, such as rude gestures, body parts that can’t be shown, words to avoid, etc. If you’re going to visit a place of worship, as many of us do when travelling, follow the stated dress code; you don’t have to agree with it, you just have to do it.
Watch Out for Greenwashing
Has that hotel chain ‘vowed’ to make changes by 2030 or are they actually and currently doing it with documented proof? Is that airline truly offsetting their carbon footprint or have they been accused of greenwashing that misleads customers by the Network of Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) Authorities (Lufthansa Group, KLM, RyanAir, and more) or by local authorities (Qantas, BA, Virgin Atlantic)? Is that multi-national tour company really giving money back to local communities or is it a marketing ploy that encourages you to buy their service resulting in work being taken away from local, independent companies? Just a few questions that I always try to ask myself. The more you research this one, the more horrified you become. Have fun.
Stay a While
Travel slow. Give yourself time to explore a place rather than bouncing around seeing as many places as possible in one trip. Spending quality time in one place allows you to shop local more, economically putting back into the economy by supporting local businesses. It allows you to get comfortable walking around or taking public transport. You make temporary or long-lasting friendships and relationships with locals and travellers. I’ve never regretted giving myself more time to thoroughly explore a place. If you’ve not tried it yet, I warmly encourage you to give a wee go. Once you do, I don’t think you’ll fast-travel ever again.
This is by no means a complete list and it isn’t intended to be. It also isn’t intended to be an instruction manual on how you absolutely must travel in order to be a decent person. It’s meant to provide a starting point and a bit of breathing space — a list of options to those who are getting a bit frustrated trying to exist in that tricky intersection where human decency and global travel meet. It isn’t an easy place to be.
I try my hardest with every trip that I take, personal or professional, to partake in what I call conscientious travel and every single time I fail at least once by my own standard. It has taken years to stop being hard on myself and to admit that there is no such thing as perfect sustainable travel. All we can do is be a bit more aware of the impact our behaviours, attitudes, and choices have on the places we choose to explore, in which we are guests, and be a bit more mindful of how our travel choices affect the people and cultures that call those places home.