Has green travel as conceptualized today become narrow minded, shallow and embarrassingly self-congratulatory?
Photo by murti utami
Over the last year, we have seen an incredible upsurge in ability to purchase anything and everything “green.”
The travel industry is not immune to the green phenomenon. Travelers are now urged to take photographs instead of souvenirs, to eat local, and of course, to offset the environmental impact of their cross-continental trip with carbon credits.
Every year, tourists flock to Southeast Asia, in hopes of netting the tropical ocean dream.
Khaosan Road, Bangkok??s backpacker coconut cream pie, proves that not only can you sleep for three dollars a night, but you can also be anyone you want in Paradise.
For some, this means picking up dreadlocks while exiting Watson??s pharmacy, and wearing more tie-dye than would fit in the back of a VW van.
After nearly a year of vagabonding, I returned home for a couple of months to resupply, remind my apathetic cats that I still exist, and to sort through a precariously leaning stack of mail.
When I began to share my world adventures with friends and cubicle dwelling ex-coworkers, I either received blank stares of bewilderment or cold, hard looks of envy.
Like most things, a life of travel has been romanticized into something that unwitting people dream about whenever the going gets rough at home.
Tags: The, Ugly, Truths, Budget, Travel