This is not my... Focus
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Holiday... |
So Ollie and Lara have left me and gone off on their holidays.
The promise of postcards, gifts and doing work while they are away has done little to quash my total and utter jealousy!
To compensate, though, I have been spending quite a lot of time looking through the travel section on here, idly dreaming of distant shores and exciting adventures. A pursuit especially pleasurable as it is so darned cold outside. In fact, I am having trouble writing this as my hand is so frozen. What is worse - I can hardly even pick my wine glass up!
Anyhow, regardless of the ethics of Ollie and La leaving me all alone to brave the long winter evenings, some people have more general concerns about the ethics of travel.
There is an argument to say that we shouldn't travel at all. Problems such as the carbon produced from flights, deforestation from building and destruction of communities mean that it is far from a perfect industry.
But, if we are lucky enough to be able to afford it, not to travel seems a missed opportunity.
There is so much that we can learn from lives, cultures and beliefs that are not our own. So much beauty to see. So much delicious food to be eaten!
What is more, tourism often brings benefits to an area.
Many poorer areas of the globe are also areas of outstanding beauty. If managed properly, travel to these areas can be a great source of revenue for the local population. Often natural sites are preserved because they are popular destinations and, with technological improvements leading to pressure on traditional industries, some communities are now sustained by tourism.
And now there is a way we can have the best of both worlds.
'Responsible' or 'sustainable' travel is becoming more prolific. You can see from the number of companies in our Travel section and the amount of trips that they offer that there is now a good choice of eco or ethical holidays.
We are now able to help the communities we travel to and have an even more amazing experience by doing so. When I spoke to Tom at Travel Roots he explained that regardless of any alturistic reason ethical holidays are often just much more fun!
Anyhow - have a look at what there is out there and have a go at losing yourself in the dream too. Though, if you are luckier than me and can actually take a holiday - remember to offset that carbon!
No excuses. Apparently BA let you do it as you book and if not there are loads of companies such as CO2 Balance that will calculate and offset carbon for you. It's not actually that expensive for the peace of mind - have a look and see for yourself.
We should keep an eye out too for Virgin. They are investing in ethanol fuel to make their flights 100% greener. Fantastic. There is hope still that we will be able to keep up all our favourite pursuits!
I'll drink to that.
Just as soon as I can pick that glass up....
What to Wear
Food, Glorious food
