As we finally are transitioning out of winter into longer, warmer days, the heat of Spring Break has dawned on a lot of people over the last few weeks. More so than any other time of year, people feel compelled to travel, explore, go somewhere exotic during this week off. Spring Break is often seen as an opportunity to go somewhere exotic, somewhere more natural than the environments we're accustomed to living in on daily basis. If we search out nature and try to make it a point to "experience" something more natural while we have a week off of work, are we really accomplishing our goal, or are we simply gawking at places we're glad we don't actually live, potentially contributing to their destruction in the process? Maybe when people take off for the far flung corners of the world to some exotic, natural destinations, it defeats the purpose of nature entirely and jeopardizes its existence.
The natural beauty of places like The Maldives, The Everglades, or the islands of Fiji usually don't include resorts and travel organizations, but these are often what actually draws eager travelers to these destinations, not the innate natural experience. We're constantly bombarded with messages to "get out there," and experience something new; the fact that a list describing the best places to see before they disappear exists should be a testament to the fact that we hold natural, scenic places in high regard. But it's unlikely to think most travelers to these destinations would make such excursions without the luxury of resorts and hotels to tame these wild, natural places and make them livable. Does this count as tampering with nature? Unfortunately, the answer is more of a resounding yes than we'd like it to be. The fact that this list, of ways to "green your travel," exists should be a testament to the ecological hazards posed by travel, and how making pilgrimages to gape at these locations might serve to destroy them in the long-term. This potential for destruction, combined with the zoo tactics that a lot of hotels and resorts employ (look all you want but don't touch, just enjoy the ruggedness of nature from a deck chair) begs the question, is traveling as worth it as we think?
Obviously there is an incredible amount of room for interpretation to answer this question, and travel is by no means the same experience for everyone, but it seems rare to consider the environmental implications people can have just by visiting a different environment. Maybe the common attitude towards traveling needs a slight adjustment to realign itself with the world's increasing emphasis on environmental consciousness and sustainability. This doesn't mean that instead of taking vacations people should just go completely Walden and immerse themselves in natural wilderness (as entertaining as it might be for that to become a travel fad), but it should ask for a certain sense of increased awareness. If the motivation to travel far and see nature is just simply to see nature, people might want to consider staying home and resorting to Google Images; it's possible that simply the act of going somewhere exotic could do more harm than good for the existence of that place. It's becoming more and more important to adopt a new attitude towards traveling; either make a concerted effort to take a vacation from normal living and emphasize sustainability while your off the regular work schedule, or realize that is is in fact your vacation where you're free to indulge yourself, but do so responsibly, understanding the importance of ecological consciousness. If plane travel alone can account for almost 5% of global climate change, it's clear that the effects of traveling are more than meets the eye. If we're going to allow ourselves to continue to make destinations out of naturally beautiful places, then we'll need to realize the dangers we pose to these places, and how to ensure the enjoyment we get from them isn't causing their destruction in the process.
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