Osaka, July 2024
Latitudes & Attitudes
Let’s address the elephant in the room (and no, I’m not talking about the one you rode in Thailand): Travel often feels like a giant game of taking.
We take photos faster than a paparazzo, collect cultural snippets like vanishing mirages, and occupy local spaces at the risk of overstaying our welcome. It’s a privilege your friends and family have made abundantly clear with their passive-aggressive “must be nice” comments on your photo dumps.
But before you spiral into guilt or go on a consumer spree for recycled cotton T-shirts, consider this: What if the best way to honour your good fortune is to simply maximize the opportunity?
Beyond Platitudes
First, let’s ditch the notion of leaving a “positive footprint” – a concept as obnoxious as its cousin, the personal carbon footprint.
(You know, that term BP conjured up in a PR campaign to shift the blame from corporations to consumers. Lo and behold, it came in handy years later for a certain oopsie in the Gulf of Mexico. Think about that next time you tick the “offset CO2” box at airline checkout).
Nihilism and virtue-signaling aside, true travel is about engaging with the world in a way that enriches both you and the places you visit.
The real magic happens in the unscripted moments: an impromptu English lesson with local schoolchildren, or genuinely supporting a small business (and no, that “authentic” souvenir made in China doesn’t count). Nothing says “cultural sensitivity” quite like haggling over a knock-off Patagonia fanny pack in a Vietnamese market. Not my proudest moment. These are the interactions that actually stick – not the tourist traps, but the unscripted moments.
Engage meaningfully, learn genuinely. You might even leave a place slightly better than you found it – or at least no worse.
Remember, the world is best seen through your own eyes, not through an Instagram filter. In a world where attention spans are shrinking (you probably can’t remember what you watched on Netflix last night) put down the camera. The best version of any place exists in the five seconds before you reach for your phone.
The best souvenir isn’t something you can pack in your suitcase – it’s the broadened perspective and heart full of genuine experience. Now that’s baggage worth keeping.
Parting Thoughts
Travel is a two-way street, much like that narrow alley in Hanoi where you nearly got flattened by a scooter. Instead of wallowing in guilt or performing righteousness, consider this stolen nugget of wisdom:
Places can pass through you as much as you pass through them.
This is the second installment of Moral Compass. Check out issue #3 below: ⬇️
Who would have thought putting time and effort into writing your thoughts would yield this wonderful reflection with a pinch of criticism? ✍🏼 My past self has gone from "must be nice" to "confirmation bias at its best". And yes, it is nice indeed.