There are endless moments when I realize that it isn’t easy to do everything right for everybody. On a sunny morning, I was at a delicious café, meeting a friend for breakfast. After a few moments three grown-ups, dressed a bit earthy, as in Birkenstock and slightly wrinkled shirts came along and sat down at the table closest to ours. It seemed as if they were on a visit to Berlin, probably staying at one of the nearby hotels. They were the sort of people searching for breakfast at a place where all the locals hang out. Soon the waiter served the group three coffees and three croissants. They looked at it
, complained, raised from their seats, very harmonic in unison, and almost as perfect as they were part of a play in London's West End and left without having touched the croissants. Experiencing a mild shock, I asked the waiter what their problem was, and he said they considered the croissants too flat. I was close to yell after them “for crying out loud, really?” I managed to control myself and didn't.
I
thought of how many people live in poverty, and how many go through the day starving
and for a moment I imagined how these three would look into these people’s faces
and tell them “you can’t eat these croissants because they are too flat.” It taught
me once again to always take things easy and not to complain about every little
detail. As I know, it isn’t easy to do everything right for everybody but there
are actually easy ways to contribute to a better future, not only at home but
also when you travel.
Sustainable travel is still en vogue – Answer these questions to see whether that theory is correct
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Is your future life going to be dreadful, when you eat a flat croissant for
breakfast?
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Do you want to spend your money at one of the hotels from
an international hotel chain instead of at a local and privately owned charming and
stylish boutique hotel where you will find a home away from home?
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Would you want to schlepp all packaging from home even if
you already know that they won’t have the means to recycle on your island paradise?
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Would you want to eat the same old sandwiches, burgers, espresso drinks or
smoothies from an international fast food outlet, while you can have the time of your life eating local delicacies at smaller restaurants or on
food markets?
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Can the people serving you live decent from their work? Look at the price of your
trip. You can easily calculate whether costs are realistic. You found something
where you pay a small amount of money for a dream vacation in some far flung
island paradise, in a four-star hotel; all-inclusive. You already notice
that there is something wrong with that offer. For such a low rate it is most
likely that the hotels have to save costs somewhere, and we all know what the
easiest is: Staff will get paid badly. Does it delight you when people work
under bad conditions?
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It is very popular providing your skills to others during a vacation, it is
called voluntourism. It truly sounds perfect to support social- or
environmental projects in your free time. And yes, it even sounds sustainable,
and makes you look great on Instagram and Facebook "Look, this is me
holding the poor little orphan Kevin..." Staying at an orphanage to look
after children for a short time might be good for your self-esteem, but what is
happening to the children in that moment, and how confused and hurt will they
be when you leave them without any obvious reason? Do you want to be the one
who disrespects your host country?
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Answer one last question. Have you answered all of the above questions with a no? That
answer will answer the question whether sustainable travel is still en vogue. Yes.
Going
all the way back to my breakfast. I can assure you that not a single croissant
was harmed in this story. The episode ended positive. The waiter was on cloud
nine, he and his colleagues had the croissants for breakfast, he admitted they
were flat but “oh so very delicious”.
From
Berlin with love