It’s always worthwhile to consider why we should travel, and then how to travel responsibly. Very short answer: We should travel because it makes us better people. And then, as better people, we naturally care about the consequences—about the environmental, economic, and cultural effects of our travel choices. Rather than damage the world we discover out there, beyond our everyday lives, we can make it better by even the simplest decisions we make as travelers. We can support conservation and habitat restoration, we can encourage education, we can help fund community development and make improvements in isolated places.
There are even more reasons to travel, of course, including the fact that we just like it. According to this article I read in The Guardian, travel removes the blinders of habit and, in so doing, boosts creativity. Having to make our way intentionally, in an entirely different context, makes us see things differently. Makes us smarter. And it’s not just the lovely sunsets and other fun stuff that stimulates these positive changes. The tedium and challenges of travel, the security checks, the delays and missed connections, are good for us too. Newness, even when we’re not that far from home, shakes loose our habitual associations and makes space for new ones—which benefits us greatly when we get back home.
To get literary about it: T.S. Elliott observed, in his poem Little Gidding, from Four Quartets: “We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.” We’re not talking about world war, here, or loving the known and unknown world back from the edge of destruction. But still. There’s the why.
As for responsible travel—making fuel efficiency count, spending your travel dollars to do good, doing whatever else you can to turn the tide on climate change—all that matters every bit as much, if not more, when you’re traveling close to home.
When you travel locally—which typically means regionally, visiting destinations within a few hours of home—you greatly reduce your carbon footprint, compared to international travel, and all the more so if you take public transportation.
When you travel locally, spending your money with local businesses rather than big boxes and chains, most of your money stays local. In rural areas, this can mean survival not just for restaurant owners and innkeepers but also the people they employ, and for shopkeepers, artists, and artisans.
A farmer sells fresh vegetables to a locally owned restaurant. Then the restaurant prepares meals for customers, and uses that income to buy essentials from the local hardware store. And on it goes. One study says locally owned businesses circulate 52 percent of their revenue through the immediate community, compared to 14 percent for chains, which ship profits off to headquarters, wherever that is. And that’s not counting sales and travel taxes, which support struggling local governments. Spend locally, benefit locals. Local businesses tend to get involved in community affairs, too, and actively support local charities. You can help there too. Voluntourism, anyone?
Californians love California, which explains why 73 percent of domestic travelers are residents. So, let’s keep that going, Californians. Keep visiting and appreciating and supporting this place. Invest those travel dollars wisely, spreading them around generously in the tiny towns and desert backwaters and struggling backwoods towns that need them the most. Thoughtful travel closer to home can only deepen appreciation for our own place in the larger scheme of things.