Is it Possible to Travel Responsibly on a Budget?

The idea of ethical and responsible travel is growing as we begin to question the need to travel for recreation at all. The global pandemic put a swift halt to many seasonal holiday plans and forced people to rethink the wisdom of travelling abroad. But travelling overseas and broadening our horizons will always be appealing to some extent; the question is whether we can integrate the need to travel with responsible attitudes that contribute to local communities with a minimal impact on the planet. 

Spend Locally 

The most effective way to be a responsible traveller on a budget is to make wise choices about how you spend your money. Many places don’t receive the tourism boost they should get due to leakage. 

Leakage refers to money spent outside the local economy for products and services used within it. If you want to send a parcel to Ireland, for instance, you can choose between using a brand name courier service or the local post. The local post is probably more ethical but either way you will ensure your parcel reaches Ireland safely. 

Consider that when you visit a new place you need to choose how to spend your money carefully. Buying products and services from local traders often adds benefits to the community and causes a ripple effect that enhances the standard of living in that area. 

Sleep Wisely  

A near enemy of ethical and sustainable travel are bug brand chain hotels such as the Martin or Hilton. These hotels use massive amounts of electricity and water. They might hire local workers but your money will leave the area in the form of leakage. 

Smaller hostels and local hotels might seem like a better option but they have their own set of issues. In an attempt to soak up the tourist dollars, many places provide everything in house. You have a bed, a restaurant, a travel agent, and a shop. 

If you really want to benefit the local economy with your ethical tourism, choose a variety of local places to shop, eat, drink, and sleep. This will ensure that your presence in the area is in full support of the local economy and prevent leakage from brand name services. 

Move Sustainably 

The way you move around the local community also has an impact on the community and the environment. As with sustainable travel practices at home, it’s better for everyone if more public transport is used instead of private vehicles. 

Understandably, this may not be inviting in some instances when a hire car would be more convenient. However, you need to know your ethical priorities and find the positive in public transport. Happily, they are not hard to find, especially in foreign places. 

If you want to travel responsibly and ethically, the private car option should be at the bottom of the list. Explore public transport, tour operators, and car share options before enquiring about a hire vehicle. You not only save money and prevent leakage, you reduce your carbon footprint. 

Travel Ethically 

Whether you are a luxury traveller or a budget backpacker there are ways and means to travel ethically and responsibly. Keep in mind that travelling is a privilege and is probably unnecessary, then think of ways to contribute to communities and the planet and you move around. 

One of the most wasteful and harmful practices is travelling on long haul flights. It’s estimated that a single long haul flight uses the same carbon output as a vegan diet does over two years. Look for alternatives to flying such as train and boat travel. 

If you have no option but to get on a long haul flight, or you simply decide to travel by air, look at ways you can mitigate the environmental impact by offsetting your carbon emissions. You might do this by contributing to tree planting charity or switching to a vegan diet. 

Choose Carefully 

In terms of environmental impact travel by its nature is not a particularly ethical practice in the world at present. Even ethical travellers will contribute additional carbon to the atmosphere and potentially pour money into the wrong hands. That said, there are good reasons to travel. 

Communities around the world are supported by tourism, they need the tourist money to support their families education, health, and life standards. That’s why it’s so important to make the right choice for spending when travelling overseas. However, your destination is also a factor. 

Choose your destination carefully, and consider the type of holiday you are embarking on. To make ethical choices when travelling consider the living standards of the places you visit and how you can best contribute. You might find that volunteer holiday is a more worthwhile option than simply sightseeing. 

Pack Sensibly

Climate change is here and it’s real, despite what some people say in dark corners of newsrooms and internet echo chambers. The impact of the warming of the planet is visible through more extreme weather like flooding, tornadoes, and forest fires. The big threat is runaway climate change. 

Runaway climate change is what happened on the planet Venus many years ago. Venus, the planet in our solar system second closest to the sun experienced an inexplicable rise in temperature that created a greenhouse effect. Until the balance was tipped Venus was a happy earth like planet that now roats at almost 500⁰C. 

This could happen to earth as well but have some agency over our influence on the climate. By packing fewer items when travelling you reduce the carbon emissions on flights and other vehicles. It might seem negligible, but it’s not. It’s also worth cultivating a carbon-conscious attitude.

Plan Ahead 

One excellent way to reduce your impact as an ethical traveller is to plan ahead. When you don’t plan ahead you invariably use more carbon, spend in the wrong places and support the wrong people. Basically bad planning results in situations that encourage attitudes of convenience and desperate situations that lead to leakage and unforeseen carbon emissions. To be a more ethical and responsible traveller try to plan your excursions down to the finest details. 

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