Travel & The World…
Before you assume that I made a typing error while writing the title of this blog; let me clarify, I didn’t.
After spending days racking my brain over a perfect topic for my first blog on Medium, I realized the blog should be an introduction to me. My quest for finding the right topic got a tad more complicated when I decided to not write a typical introductory blog. We all love making our simple lives complicated, don’t we?
I have always been a dreamer for as long as I remember, My therapist says it is my way of escaping reality and I don’t see how that is a bad thing. Anyways, as long as my memory serves, I have always dreamt of travelling the world. As every 90s child, with the internet being in its budding stage, I too had no access to the world. I had no idea about the serene beaches, mighty mountains, breathtaking Auroras, enchanting cities and yet I always wondered what the rest of the world would look like.
Growing up, I could see the possibility of that childhood dream slowly becoming a reality. No matter how painfully slow the dream-to-reality crawl has been, I have always had confidence in myself of making it come true one day.
In 2014, I started working for a travel company which broadened my perspective on travel and intensified my hunger for seeing the world. I remember sitting through one of my training sessions and the instructor showed us the supremely beautiful Great Barrier Reef of Australia. Everyone in the room was mesmerized by its beauty, the faint sound of gossip had now died as if that beauty had cast a spell on us. I was still under her spell when I quickly made myself a silent promise that one day I’ll dive into the ocean and witness her beauty with my own eyes.
My daydreaming escapades now consisted of my very frequent visits to The Great Barrier Reef. It didn’t matter if I was working, commuting, eating, hanging out with friends, I would take every chance of slipping into my dreamland where I would free dive deep into the ocean, the salty water leaving a burning sensation in my eyes but I did not care because I was looking at the beauty breathing right in front of me.
My travel dreams soon got a reality check when after a couple of years I read multiple articles and news about The Great Barrier Reef dying. I was heartbroken and my first instinct was to visit the Reef before its existence fades away but then, unfortunately, I am still not privileged to make such plans in a haste. I knew it would take me decades to save up enough to afford a trip to the other side of the world.
I was hurt, I wanted something to convince myself that there was nothing I could do and with that began my search for answers. After hours of research, I was introduced to the concept of Climate Change. I was angry at everyone for taking my dream away from me. I could not wrap my mind around the fact that such a level of ignorance could exist. How could someone not want their future generations to witness the beautiful world they have seen and lived in. We all know now how serious Climate Change is because now we are witnessing its effects in every corner of the world. Now, it’s not just The Great Barrier Reef that is crawling towards its slow death but also the whole world with the possibility of cities submerging into the ocean, mountains becoming more and more unstable each day, the air becoming difficult to breathe, and so much more. It scares me; knowing that there is a fair possibility that my dream of seeing the world may never come true, knowing that there is a chance that we’ll meet our end before we meet our dream cities.
This harsh reality is so scary that it makes us wonder if this can be prevented. Well, if the experts say there is a fragment of hope, I’ll take it. Travel is one of the contributors to causing an imbalance in the world’s ecosystem because of unsustainable ways and means of travel that are still used widely by us. Look at the Aircraft CO2 emissions data and you will be baffled at how much we are destroying our beautiful blue planet.
I am not here to tutor you about sustainable ways of travel, climate change and its impact on the world, a possible mass extinction, or the imbalance in the ecosystem. I am here to urge you to be more aware of your actions and act consciously. I am here to tell you that I will share the stories of my travels (and other things I am passionate about) along with details of the little efforts I will make to reduce my contribution toward the possible destruction of the planet I so dearly love. I hope my stories will encourage you to become more aware of the impact you leave behind because every effort counts.
