Responsible travel tips involves a bit more than you may think – respect when traveling is important and the few tips by Linn from the Brainy Backpackers blog covers a few things to keep in mind.

You can check out plenty more Tuesday Travel TipsTuesday Travel Tips to learn more ways to improve your travel.

 

Responsible Travel Tips – Respect is so important when traveling

With tourism numbers increasing every year, it becomes more and more important to travel consciously. That’s why I want to give you some essential responsible travel tips so that you don’t have to regret anything after your holiday.

As I see it, responsible travel can be divided into 3 main areas that are all connected to one another: respecting the locals, respecting wildlife, and respecting the environment.

In this post I will go a little bit more into each one of these subjects.

 

Respecting the locals when traveling

It is important to keep in mind that as a traveler you are a visitor. Respecting local language and customs goes a long way.

By buying food, drinks, and souvenirs from locally owned businesses you contribute to growing the local economy.

Also, when you look for accommodation, you should choose locally run businesses that support a sustainable life for the locals.

There are a few things you might want to be aware of so you make sure you do the right thing. In many cities suffering from overtourism, AirBnB is contributing to higher prices and lack of places to rent for the locals.

This makes the locals move out from the cities as they can’t afford or find a place to live in their own city. It’s quite contradictory as it often is locals renting out through AirBnB and you would think it’s positive to leave your money there.

Other places, though, AirBnB can have a positive effect on the local community and economy. It is hard to know unless you do some research before your trip.

Another important way to respect the locals is to read up on local customs and culture, as well as making sure you dress respectfully according to the local norms.

And finally, be curious and talk to the locals. Show interest in their customs and history. You never know where it will lead you, but I know for sure that all my best travel experiences have started by talking to the locals.

You might be invited to a dinner with their family, taken to a local party, or shown a secret natural gem only the locals know about.

 

Respecting wildlife when traveling

Animal tourism is a big problem all across the globe. Now, I have just talked about the importance of supporting local run businesses and make sure your money stays locally.

But is this a good thing if you are paying locals to run an unethical animal tourism business? Definitely not.

Whenever you attend animal attractions, make sure they are ethical towards the animals. I recommend staying away from zoos, aquariums, and animal rides all together. Further, it is a good rule of thumb to avoid any form of petting, holding, or taking selfies with wildlife.

You don’t always know the stress the animal is under when held by strangers. Sometimes they might have been suffering terrible abuse before they can be tame enough for you to hold.

If you are looking into animal rides, you should do your research promptly. Not only on whether the animals are treated well and get their need covered, but also if the animal is actually apt to ride.

An example are donkeys, which should not carry more than 50 kilos including harness. This goes for a large, strong animal. I think we can agree that no grown-up tourists should ever take a donkey ride.

Ben talks about why you should stay away from elephant rides in his excellent article about Phajaan, also known as “The crush”.

 

Respecting the environment when traveling 

I don’t think there is any need to say that respecting the environment is extremely important. Even so, it is a major problem across tourist destinations all over the world.

It is more important than ever to leave as small footprints as possible when you travel. If you do your small part, you can make a big difference.

Minor actions like taking your own shampoo and soap from home (preferably eco-friendly and cruelty-free) instead of using the ones in hotels, saying no to plastic straws, or traveling with your own reusable water bottle are things that go a long way.

Also, in addition to not throwing any rubbish out in nature, you could pick up a couple of pieces you find along the way and throw them in the nearest rubbish bin.

There are other ways to respect the environment too. By staying on the marked trails and don’t walk across fences, you contribute to protecting the fauna and natural eco-system.

Further, I recommend you stay at hotels that run as sustainable as possible. By doing a bit of research before your trip, you can look up accommodation that is highly eco-friendly. Not all alternatives need to be super-expensive. There are even eco-friendly budget hostels.

 

Conclusion on responsible travel tips – how to show respect when you’re traveling

Altogether, respecting the locals, wildlife and environment are all connected. One will suffer once the others suffer. That’s why it is important to be conscious of your actions altogether.

But be nice to yourself as well! If you find out you did a mistake or you see you would have done something different, don’t punish yourself or think you are a bad person.

We all make mistakes, and it’s all about learning. Instead, you can tell your friends and family about what you would do differently and maybe you contribute to someone else avoiding doing the same mistake.

I hope the tips above have given you an idea how to start to be a more responsible traveler.

If you have any other tips travelers can take learning of, I would love to know in the comments!

 

About Brainy Backpackers Blog

Linn Haglund is originally from Norway. She has a degree in Tourism and Communication and a passionate love for travel and the outdoors.

After traveling full-time a few years and living in 5 different countries, she moved to Spain for the third time in 2014. Her experiences traveling and living abroad have made her more and more conscious about the negatives tourism can bring if it’s not done responsibly.

To help other travelers to travel more responsibly so that they don’t have to regret their actions after their trip, Linn founded the travel blog Brainy Backpackers.

You can follow the journey of Brainy Backpackers on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.

 

 

Thanks for reading!

Happy and safe travels!