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Travel isn’t just about where you go—it’s about how you go. In a time when overtourism, environmental strain, and cultural clashes are on the rise, choosing to travel mindfully matters more than ever. Learn how small changes in your travel habits can create a positive impact on the places and people you visit.
You can also read more about Mindful Travel: Tips for Respecting Cultures and Communities here:
👉 https://abusonadustyroad.com/mindful-travel-tips-for-respecting-cultures-and-communities/
#MindfulTravel #ResponsibleTourism #CulturalRespect #TravelTips #SustainableTravel #EthicalTravel #ConsciousTraveler #ABusOnADustyRoad
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0:01
[Music]
0:07
hi this is Anita from the Dusty Roads
0:09
podcast today we're going to talk a
0:11
little bit about mindful travel and what
0:13
it means to be able to respect other
0:15
cultures and communities we've been
0:17
talking about this a lot lately because
0:19
I feel like this is sort of an important
0:21
subject that you see a lot of people
0:23
that travel around the world and they
0:25
don't really understand or try to
0:26
respect other cultures or other people
0:30
you know what does it mean to respect or
0:32
have responsible travel well respectful
0:34
travel means treating people and
0:36
cultures and environments with dignity
0:39
and consideration you're not just
0:41
passing through you're engaging with
0:43
places that others call home i think
0:45
this is really important that when
0:47
you're traveling you might just see
0:49
yourself as just you know you're just
0:50
passing through you're going to stay
0:52
here for a week or 10 days or or a month
0:55
or whatever it is but that you're you're
0:58
really engaging with places and people
1:00
that this is their home this is where
1:03
they live responsible travel means that
1:06
you're mindful of the consequences of
1:08
your actions you know especially around
1:12
sustainability cultural integrity and
1:15
economic fairness it's not about being
1:18
perfect it's about being aware and
1:20
intentional and I think this is really
1:22
important that like when you're
1:23
traveling around places that you really
1:26
need to understand that there's people
1:28
that live here that when you leave this
1:30
place we leave wherever you're traveling
1:32
we hope that you'll strive to leave it
1:34
in a better place or situation than when
1:37
you came why does this matter well first
1:40
of all it's cultural sensitivity in that
1:42
you know irresponsible travel can erode
1:44
traditions and offend local customs
1:47
environmental impact if you you know
1:49
start throwing garbage around or pollute
1:52
someplace you could leave a huge you
1:54
know detrimental impact to the
1:56
environment there so travel smart and
1:59
help to reduce harm community well-being
2:02
that not all tourism dollars benefit
2:04
locals you know ethical choices support
2:07
those who need it most and personal
2:09
growth respectful travel leads to
2:12
meaningful experiences so here's nine
2:15
ways or nine ideas to you travel with
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more mindfulness more respect and
2:20
responsibility first of all do your
2:22
homework before you go i think this is
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really important that before you go
2:27
somewhere you really need to do your
2:28
homework you need to understand where
2:30
you're going what what you're going to
2:32
do and and read blogs and listen to
2:35
podcasts and listen to other people that
2:36
have traveled or been before you learn
2:38
about the culture you know read up on
2:41
local customs history taboss and
2:43
etiquette understand the political
2:45
climate understand what's going on in
2:47
the politics and the and and how that
2:50
could affect the behavior of people
2:52
there know the environmental concerns
2:54
understand like are there droughts is
2:56
there water restrictions um is there
2:58
sensitive ecosystems you should be aware
3:00
of be aware of how your presence might
3:03
strain
3:04
resources the other one is spendware
3:07
counts you know decide when you're going
3:09
to spend your tourism dollars spend
3:10
where it counts support local businesses
3:13
i'm a great believer in this we've
3:15
talked about this a lot support local
3:17
businesses go to local restaurants buy
3:19
handmade goods that you know keep money
3:21
in the community rather than
3:23
multinational chains avoid exploitative
3:26
experiences you know think twice about
3:29
doing something that could exploit
3:31
somebody in the process if it looks
3:33
exploitative then you know probably is
3:36
pay fair prices make sure you're paying
3:38
a fair price and you understand what the
3:40
fair price is this doesn't mean that you
3:42
don't bargain this doesn't mean that you
3:44
don't look for a deal but it means that
3:45
you understand what the fair price is
3:47
and understand what a fair price would
3:49
be that's why a lot of times when I
3:51
travel I might ask somebody or say you
3:53
know what would be a fair price for say
3:55
a taxi ride to this destination i
3:58
recently traveled to Thailand and I
3:59
hadn't been there for a while even
4:00
though I'd lived there and I wanted to
4:02
know what would be the you know
4:04
basically a fair price for a taxi from
4:07
the airport to my hotel and I knew what
4:10
the fair price was when the driver you
4:12
dropped me off and it was a little bit
4:13
under the fair price i gave him a tip of
4:15
what I thought the fair price would be
4:17
and he was very happy and I was happy
4:19
and everyone was happy with it you know
4:20
travel light on the earth you know like
4:22
offset your carbon footprint try to do
4:25
something to help the environment
4:27
minimize waste stick to trails don't
4:29
take souvenirs from nature don't litter
4:32
i mean this is a big one you know litter
4:35
is huge don't just drop things down on
4:37
the ground if you can't find a trash can
4:39
then carry it with you until you can
4:41
find one be a good guest travel's a
4:44
privilege not a right you know ask
4:47
before taking photos if you're going to
4:49
take someone's photo and you're not sure
4:50
ask learn a few local phrases so you can
4:54
be able to talk to somebody say please
4:56
say thank you can go a long way to
4:58
people appreciating you dress
5:00
appropriately research the dress code
5:03
especially at religious or cultural
5:04
sites you know cover shoulders legs and
5:08
you know and hair in some places isn't
5:09
optional it's a sign of respect so
5:12
understand when that is important and
5:13
what cultures that's important for and
5:16
where that would be important watch your
5:18
attitude you know don't expect this to
5:21
be your you know home abroad this is
5:23
really a big one where people they
5:25
travel to a place and they spend the
5:26
whole time comparing well at home it's
5:28
like this at home it's like this at home
5:31
it's like this don't do that it's not
5:33
going to be the same as your home don't
5:34
expect it to be and if you certainly
5:36
didn't travel for it to be the same then
5:40
don't expect it to be the same in fact
5:43
you should be happy that it's different
5:46
and that you should enjoy the
5:47
experiences and enjoy the differences
5:50
that you're seeing don't rescue you know
5:52
volunteering can be great but make sure
5:54
it's helpful not harmful you know a week
5:56
of unskilled labor in orphanage might do
5:58
more harm than good think long-term
6:02
impact not photo ops and this is also
6:05
another big one where I see where people
6:06
come in and they're just like "Oh that
6:08
poor person." and they you know they
6:10
don't understand the culture and maybe
6:11
they they tip wrong or they're helping
6:13
people the wrong way and it's not really
6:15
helping the solution or the problem and
6:17
sometimes when you do that those of us
6:18
that live here have a harder time
6:20
afterwards from the effect which goes to
6:22
the next one don't be a savior you know
6:25
you're not there to fix people you're
6:26
there to learn connect and leave a
6:28
positive footprint mind the rules
6:31
written and unwritten follow local laws
6:33
this seems obvious but follow the local
6:35
laws
6:37
follow social norms understand the
6:39
social norms understand where they come
6:41
from so that you know you know respect
6:44
sacred spaces this is a huge one you
6:46
know if you're in Thailand don't go
6:48
sitting on a Buddha that's happened i
6:50
know people have been thrown in jail for
6:52
that respect sacred spaces when you're
6:56
there in these places don't just use it
6:59
as a photo op you know don't go climbing
7:02
on things you shouldn't be climbing on
7:04
it might you know you may end up not
7:06
only in jail but it also is showing a
7:09
lack of respect travel inclusively
7:11
ethical travel includes advocating for
7:14
equity respect all identities don't
7:17
become someone you're going to like you
7:19
treat people as novelties or backdrops
7:22
instead avoid language or behavior that
7:25
objectifies their simplifies
7:28
culture stay longer go slower i love
7:31
this one choose depth over distance
7:34
learn to really engage and learn about a
7:37
place take local transportation
7:39
experience what it is to be to be local
7:42
to be to be one of the local people take
7:44
a bus if you can take a train if you can
7:47
you know become more like a local person
7:49
this could be a great way to build learn
7:51
about local culture you know leave it
7:53
better than you found it i also love
7:55
that one don't just take give something
7:58
back clean up you know if you see some
8:01
mess you can clean up a bit or don't
8:04
throw trash on a beach or on a trail you
8:07
know make sure you keep your trash with
8:09
you share
8:11
knowledge and reflect what did you learn
8:15
what might you do differently next time
8:17
ethical travel grows with awareness so I
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really love this thought about you know
8:22
traveling ethically traveling mindfully
8:25
traveling with respect i feel like this
8:28
is really an important part of travel
8:29
it's an important part of what we do at
8:31
the uh dusty roads podcast and and our
8:34
blog A Bus on a Dusty Road it's really
8:36
all about living our life as a global
8:38
citizen and we believe that that's
8:40
really important and essential when you
8:42
travel is to live your life as a global
8:45
citizen we hope that you'll join with us
8:47
you'll subscribe that you will join with
8:49
us in living your life as a global
8:51
citizen and that when you travel you
8:53
will do so mindfully with respect and
8:56
with responsibility
9:00
[Music]
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