Our new travel style is changing post COVID-19

by Sandra Ryken

Only a year ago, Paul and I would go out of our way to avoid the hordes of tourists in the Old Town of Dubrovnik, and dodge the day trippers from up to four cruise ships in the otherwise charming Bay of Kotor.

There was a term for what we experienced: OVERTOURISM. A term minted to put into words the sad reality tourism had become in many popular destinations.

These days, overtourism is a thing of the past. COVID-19 has killed it - at least for now. The pandemic has also taught us a thing or two: That what we took for granted - travel, our health or simply catching up with family and friends - can vanish overnight. That resilient communities matter more than global trade. That nature has suffered from our collective human activity. But also, that nature can recover quickly if we remove our activity from the equation. The pandemic has forced us to stop and listen.

Travel may be subdued for some time. And we may get to know every nook and cranny of our own backyards before we venture overseas again. But ultimately, travel will return. And the number of people seeking out adventure and awe around the world will magnify. My hope is that we (humans) don't just return to our old (bad) habits. Travel is an incredible privilege, and with that privilege comes responsibility.

So, how have Paul and I honoured our responsibility pre-COVID? And what changes are we making as we (slowly) resume our travels?

Paul and I are immensely grateful for the travel-centric, nomadic lifestyle we have created for ourselves. But we are also very aware what a privilege it is. As travellers, we are ambassadors of our countries. How we spend our funds can either help a destination thrive or contribute to its demise.

We write about sustainable travel on our website and other publications. And we live what we preach. Before COVID-19 put a (temporary) stop to our vagabonding ways, we would research extensively and plan ahead: When is peak season, and what's the weather like during our visit, (so that we'd know what time to avoid)? What are local laws and customs? What language is spoken? If we didn't speak the language, we would look up and learn key words and phrases: hello, goodbye, thank you, please, yes, no, where is.

We would check how to get from A to B, identifying the options with the lowest carbon footprint. For long-distance travel, we would choose train over bus over plane. We would check what public transport is like at our destination. And we would choose public transport (or exploring a place on foot) over rental cars or scooters.

We would choose accommodation that is near public transport (or in walking distance to the places we would like to visit). We would make sure that the properties booked had all the key things we needed: cooking facilities, (ideally) our own bathroom and good internet.

But also who owns the property/is our host? We would choose staying with locals over a hotel/motel room owned by international hospitality chains. And house sit whenever possible.

Before booking our accommodation, we checked the location of local produce markets. We would investigate what unique food our destination is known for, and where we can eat local specialties.

While we would go out for meals to experience the local cuisine, we would also stick with some staples wherever we went: cereal, fruit, milk, yoghurt for breakfast; bread, peanut butter or jam, cheese or cold meat for the second meal we may have at our accommodation.

Unfortunately, this often meant supermarkets and sadly, packaged food.

We love (free) tip-based walking tours where passionate locals share historic facts, interesting anecdotes and insider tips with their curious audience. Before booking an activity, we would research what the activity entails, how large the group is and who owns the company. We avoided large group activities (even before the pandemic), activities that exploit animals or where our funds don't remain in the community.

We travel with carry-on backpacks. In fact, our two backpacks and everything in them is all we own. So, naturally, we research everything we own and travel with, to ensure it has the features and qualities we need. We would check what raw material it is made of, travelling largely with clothes made from sustainable fibres like merino and lyocell these days. We would also research the supply chain of our gear, trying to ensure that its production doesn't pollute the environment or exploit the communities who make it.

We may have already travelled with a sustainability mindset pre-COVID. But having experienced the impact of the pandemic on the travel industry first-hand, we realise there is a lot more we can do - for the benefit of both us and the destinations we visit.

Paul and I are explorers first, house sitters second. In the past, due to visa limitations, we sometimes felt we needed to pack in as much as possible. But it often turned out to be more than was good for us (or the environment).

Occasionally, it was too expensive to stay longer. Anyone who's been to Scandinavia will know what I mean. During our year-long journey around Europe, we averaged 5 nights in one place ranging from 1 night (for transfer reasons) to 35 nights. This year so far, we are averaging 12 nights in one place. And we intend to slow down even further.

During our almost four years of full-time travel, we stayed with some amazing people: a film maker in New York, an Oscar winner in Sydney, an Indigenous Chief and his family in Eastern Dominica.

Our hosts around the world became our friends, like the owners of an eco-lodge deep in the Peruvian Amazon, our Airbnb hosts in Porto, Vilnius, Šibenik and Central Dominica, our Spanish school host family in Quito. Thanks to them, we've felt like locals.

From them, we learned more about their way of life than any guide or book could teach us. Through them, we found many hidden gems - from local eateries to beautiful nature spots off the beaten tourist path.

The experience has enriched us as much as it has enriched their lives. This is how we want to travel more in future. To immerse ourselves deeply in local life and contribute to the communities we visit, through homestays, volunteer work, WWOOFing, etc.

We travel with a large silk bag that doubles as a shopping bag and carrier bag for our weekly trip to the laundry. In future, we will bring with us small cloth bags and reusable silicone ziplock bags to buy more bulk and unpackaged food. When we can't avoid supermarkets, we'll check the origin of the products, in addition to the recyclability of the packaging. We also want to do more cooking classes with locals to learn to prepare local dishes.

In June 2019, we joined an organised day trip to the Kornati Telašdica National Park, a group of beautiful islands just off the Croatian coast. While the boat we chose was owned locally, the food served was pre-packaged in plastic, served on plastic cutlery and crockery, and everything ended up in one big rubbish bag. That tainted an otherwise beautiful day out. Going forward, we will ask more questions upfront to identify the activities and providers that are best ticking all three boxes: value for money, supporting the local community and protecting the environment.

While our gear is high quality and lasts for a long time, eventually, we have to replace items. We are now asking ourselves before we buy:

- What happens once it reaches its end of life?

- How can we ensure now that our purchase doesn't end up in landfill?

Finding products that are being reused to make other products out of them is an ongoing challenge, but we don't give up.

So how do you make sure you are the best traveller you can be?

We are Sandra and Paul, the Gen X couple behind MinimalistJourneys.com. Having said farewell to our corporate careers in 2016, we now travel full-time. We are passionate about simple living and sustainable travel and have made it our mission to help others experience more by living with less. Connect with us on Facebook or Instagram (@MinJourneys) - it would be lovely to meet you on the road.

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HouseSittingMagazine.com