ethical Travel: unsolvable paradoxes

 

 As a professor of religion, psychology and culture, I study experiences that lie at the intersection of all three. And in my research on travel, I’m struck by its unsolvable paradoxes: Many of us 

- seek to get away, in order to be present; 

- we speed to destinations, in order to slow down; 

- we may care about the environment, but still leave carbon footprints. 

 

Ultimately, many people hope to return transformed. Travel is often viewed as what anthropologists call a “rite of passage”: structured rituals in which individuals separate themselves from their familiar surroundings, undergo change and return rejuvenated or “reborn.”

meaningful travel is best understood not as a three-stage rite but as a six-phase practice, based on core human experiences. These phases can repeat and overlap within the same journey, just as adventures twist and turn.

 

antecipating

leaving

surrendering

meeting (cultural humility)

caring (solidarity)

returning (disorienting experience)

I believe that reflecting on these six phases can invite the kind of mindfulness needed for transformative, ethical travel. And amid a pandemic, the need for thoughtful travel that prioritizes host communities’ well-being is clear.