At the time of writing, the world has been turned completely upside-down by the Covid-19 pandemic, and international travel has all but ground to a halt. Strange time to start a travel blog I hear you say. Well yes, I tend to agree. Nevertheless, all this time in lockdown has given me the time to finally get around to creating something I’ve had in the back of my mind for a long time now, that previously just seemed like a bit of a pipe dream as I juggled various work and social commitments. Ultimately, the purpose of this blog is to provide people with a form of escapism, whether you use it to plan future travels for when this is all over (which I like to believe will be the case one day), to reminisce on travels past or to discover the world through literature (see our book reviews here).
One thing that has been made clear by this strange situation we find ourselves in today is just how many people’s livelihoods around the world depend on the travel and tourism industry, whether they be pilots for large airlines or small local business owners selling trinkets on the beach. Travel, when done well, serves as an effective global redistribution of wealth, enabling people all over the world to make a living while contributing to the happiness and enjoyment of others.
There is of course the environmental factor, and one small glimmer of hope I can glean from Covid-19 is that it may force us to rethink how we travel. But that’s not to say we should stop completely. While we certainly need to find a way of reducing emissions (perhaps favouring rail over air travel, or going on fewer, but longer and more meaningful holidays rather than numerous short weekend breaks) there are also many ways in which travel and tourism are beneficial to the world around us.
Tourism can be a form of protection for our natural world, as when an area of land attracts tourists, it is in a government’s financial interest to preserve its natural beauty (unfortunately, in many parts of the developing world, governments do not have the luxury of letting land lie unused if it is not creating a source of income). It is no coincidence that instances of poaching and deforestation have increased during Covid-19, as the loss of income from tourism drives people to seek other ways of making money. Many organisations dedicated to protecting endangered wildlife also depend on revenue from tourism.
And so, yes this is a strange time to start a travel blog. And it may be a long time before we can start travelling again. But that does not mean that we should not dream of travelling again one day. So even if this blog serves purely as a form of escapism for you while you wait out lockdown, that’s good enough reason for me.
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