When the travel ban lifts.

If you're like me, you love to travel and see the world. Learning from different cultures is one of the finest and most enriching experiences I have enjoyed.

But if we have learned anything in the past few months, travelling the world is not only a wonderful personal experience, but it's also a privilege and a responsibility, something which we have cannot just take for granted as a right. And as the pandemic has shown, it doesn't take much for we as humans to spread our worst mistakes to every corner of the globe.

Even before the pandemic, the world was screaming out that tourism was pushing many societies and communities to the limit. Places like Paris, New York, Venice, Rome and London to name just a few were being overrun by hordes of tourists who were not always behaving in the most environmentally friendly and sustainable ways.

And these are just some of the spots in the developed world. There were many stories about the terrible impacts tourists were having in much more delicate, vulnerable and once unspoiled areas. Travelling is great and the positive economic impacts for communities are tremendous. But it could be argued that mass global travel and tourism were becoming a net negative for many communities and the environment. Let's be honest, jet fumes aren't exactly being all that kind to the environment. Neither are cruise ship emissions.

When the world gets back to "the new normal", international travel and the way we do it has to be something that we think hard about. There are no easy answers, but it is an area of our lives that we have to think harder about. Maybe even spend a few dollars on the carbon offsets option when you buy your ticket. It's a good start!

There are so many little things we can do when we travel to make a difference to the environment. Give yourself more time and take public transport to the airport and from your destination airport to your accommodation. Don't throw your litter on the ground when you're walking the streets of New York or London or Beijing just because they're already littered. Make a difference! 

Decline the offer of a plastic bag at the liquor store or the take-out shop. As a good global citizen, why not set yourself a goal to make one small difference every day when you travel - put some litter in a bin, reuse your water bottle, say no to the offer of a plastic bag when you buy supplies. 

Taking your own small, portable sets of spoons, forks, knives, strawers and even chop sticks are a great idea too. And try to take them in sustainable bamboo so you're making even more of a difference.

We all need to have a lot more respect for the world after this terrible pandemic. It was a lack of respect for each other that led to this mess in the first place. So let's start doing the right things when we travel - prepare to be sustainable, set a goal to leave the place you visit in better shape than before you got there and if you can, maybe try to spread a good word about the environment (without being preachy!!!).

We can still travel and see the world, but maybe it's time to do so with more respect and love for the planet and the people who live in these wonderful places..

Healthy Planet, Healthy Me.