Alright, I know this might be a bit off-topic from a yoga website. However, as I’m talking a lot about yoga retreats as well, I felt it was quite necessary to write about the times we are living in as well. So, as countries are opening up again, here are some tips on how to travel.
Why Our Travel Habits Have To Change
I think it’s fair to say that this crisis is really affecting us in many ways, and tourism is one of these sectors that has been hit very hard. It got one big hard massive rock in the face and it’s still not really recovered just yet.
And we have to be honest, with how it’s looking at this moment, we are probably not going to be able to travel as we are used to just yet..
And this doesn’t have to be a bad thing at all. We just have to change.
Maybe it’s time for us to take some time to see what we’ve been doing ourselves and our planet with all the traveling that we are doing.
Hold on, I’m not saying that you can’t travel anymore, just re-think it for now.
Support Your Own Economy
As I mentioned before, tourism has been hit hard, but there are many more areas that have been hit hard as well. Maybe your local soap store has been hit hard as well because of it.
Anyway, the economy itself is suffering a lot at the moment and the best thing is: we can do something about it!
I know, when we were in lockdown we couldn’t go to these shops. But slowly they are opening up again and they need you!
So, instead of planning this summer a trip to a foreign country, try to see if there is a place that you hadn’t seen before. Ask you neighbours and friends if they know about a hidden gem near you.
It’s not a shame that you want to travel locally, and it’s good for many things as well.
Traveling By Plane Causes A Lot of Pollution
We all probably know by now that traveling by plane is probably the most polluting way of traveling.
The past couple of months we’ve also seen a lot of messages that due to the lockdown nature is starting to thrive again. CO2 levels are dropping and the air is breathable again!
So, yet again another reason why it might be best to re-think your way of traveling for the next coming months.
You still can go by plane of course, but try to think of ways how you can recompensate the stress that you’ve put on nature. I’ve written an article about planting trees for example!
Different Country, Different Rules
It might already be hard to see what measures your country has taken, so why do you want to risk going to the airport to find out that your destination actually hasn’t opened up again at all?
Numbers are still rising, so it’s still hard to know which countries are taking which measures. And even if you do, they can change in just an instant as well.
Nobody can predict how things are going to develop, so make sure that you really inform yourself well, and maybe it would also be good to get yourself some insurance.
Where Should I Travel To?
Well, I’ve mentioned a bit about this before already. At this moment it’s best to travel as locally as possible.
By traveling locally you’ll not just be making sure that you support the economy around you. You won’t have to book your trip months in advance, giving you the time to make sure you’ll be able to go on a trip after all.
Because I’m working in tourism I see it very often at the moment. People are booking, re-booking, and cancelling all the time. Just because there is no certainty at the moment where you’ll be able to travel to.
A couple of months ago Europe was the epicentre of the pandemic, now it’s the USA. Next month it could be another country or continent.
And not just that, but diplomatically it’s also really hard to predict what will happen. The US for example has declared that it won’t allow Europeans to travel to the US. The same happened within Europe, not allowing any Americans.
If you’d like to take the risk, you can book your trip, but it might be better at the moment to just get in your car and drive a couple of hours to a nice rental house or small B&B in the countryside.
Alright, that last one really is just my preferable way of travel. But I think it’s fair to say that we’ll have to really think hard about what the possibilities are and what way we’d like to travel.
