Responsible Travel

The term ‘Responsible Travel’ doesn’t always mean taking home your litter, being polite to the locals or not buying goods made from endangered animals skins.

‘Responsible Travel’ also means ‘Should I be there in the first place!’

Let’s look at some examples shall we.

WAR ZONES

There are travel operators now offering trips to Afghanistan and Iraq.  When we take our clients into remote and distant lands our risk assessments are huge and we don’t even have to take into account fear of kidnapping, explosive devices, gunshot wounds, etc.

Here is a short snippet from the British Foreign Office website on both Iraq and Afghanistan -

No part of Afghanistan should be considered immune from violence and the potential exists throughout the country for hostile acts. Visitors travelling to Afghanistan do so at their own risk and without protection from HMG.

Although there has been a decrease in the level of violence throughout Iraq the situation remains highly dangerous with a continuing high threat of terrorism throughout the country. This includes violence and kidnapping targeting foreign nationals.

THE WEATHER

After the above section, one titled ‘the weather’ might sound tame…. but ignore the local weather at your peril.

• extreme cold – hypothermia and frostbite
• snow – avalanches and blizzards
• extreme heat – dehydration, heat stroke and sun burn
• rain – flash floods
• winds – hurricanes/typhoons

All the above can happen on their own or in devastating combinations.

Even in today’s rapidly changing climate weather patterns are still fairly predictable and risk assessments can be made accordingly.

DISEASE

Unfortunately, most places people want to go exploring are also home to a lot of dangerous germs, bacteria and diseases.  Luckily for us though most of these conditions are known and can be vaccinated against or at least preventative measures taken.

However, it is up to the individual to know the risks and take the necessary steps towards protection.  No one will drag you to a clinic for the injections, force anti-malaria pills down your neck or set up a mosquito net at night!

But no matter how successful medical science is at keeping you safe there are simply places, during outbreaks, you don’t go to.  If the World Health Organisation says “Please do not jump of a motorway bridge” people would listen, so why not when they say don’t go to an area due to a cholera outbreak, for example?

A quick summary

It is a free world, you can go anywhere at any time and do what you want! But what about the people who are sent into a situation to try to save you when you are injured by a gunshot/avalanche/cholera – where would they prefer to be right then? What about the cost of saving you, couldn’t that be better spent?

Adventure is risky enough without ignorance being added to the equation! So please remember – Responsible Travel.

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