I just completed a 1.5-year-long trip with my wife and 10-year-old daughter. We flew east from California and just kept going until we came back to it across the Pacific Ocean. It was a mix of flying and overland/sea travel. I understand the debacle of wanting to experience this world but realizing that every form of transport generates pollution, and that it seems like too many places are glutted with tourists and their waste. At the same time, I also understand that most people on this planet are in difficult economic times, and that if we act wisely and carefully wherever we go, we are supporting people who deserve help. Merely by searching out that little locally-owned guest house and eating in a hole-in-the-wall restaurant. I also deeply considered the benefits of showing my daughter places most people know nothing about, at a young age, and the positive impact that will surely have on her adult worldview. I know it will, because that is what my parents did for me so many years ago. And if more people in the US (and elsewhere) had a more expanded worldview, our current global problems would be addressed with much more wisdom and shared understanding.
So, in the end, I felt that in the balance of positives and negatives, I was doing more good than not by traveling in the way we did. It was a lot of work, but I was much happier doing that than sitting in the US dealing with normal life.
I just completed a 1.5-year-long trip with my wife and 10-year-old daughter. We flew east from California and just kept going until we came back to it across the Pacific Ocean. It was a mix of flying and overland/sea travel. I understand the debacle of wanting to experience this world but realizing that every form of transport generates pollution, and that it seems like too many places are glutted with tourists and their waste. At the same time, I also understand that most people on this planet are in difficult economic times, and that if we act wisely and carefully wherever we go, we are supporting people who deserve help. Merely by searching out that little locally-owned guest house and eating in a hole-in-the-wall restaurant. I also deeply considered the benefits of showing my daughter places most people know nothing about, at a young age, and the positive impact that will surely have on her adult worldview. I know it will, because that is what my parents did for me so many years ago. And if more people in the US (and elsewhere) had a more expanded worldview, our current global problems would be addressed with much more wisdom and shared understanding.
So, in the end, I felt that in the balance of positives and negatives, I was doing more good than not by traveling in the way we did. It was a lot of work, but I was much happier doing that than sitting in the US dealing with normal life.