Why It matters where you spend your money while traveling

By Felipe Hernandez | January 18, 2022

Traveling is an important part of life, if you have not had the opportunity to do so, it is time to schedule a trip to start experiencing it, it should not necessarily have to happen in another country, you can start practicing it in your backyard and then expand it to rest of your country, and I am sure that soon enough you will want to take your first plane tide and go explore other countries, people, weather and food.

Now, regardless of whether you want to travel locally or internationally, it is important to do it in a responsible way. When I mention responsibility I mean keeping the  environment and the places where the trip will take place top of mind. Nowadays there is a lot of information about traveling tips, such as what you should pack, how to make it sustainable and more. With a little research, I am sure you will find useful information easy to access.

For many years I have been part of causes and movements, mostly on environmental issues, and I have been lucky enough to be able to travel both in my own country and abroad, sharing time with companies and people who have a vision and knowledge very focused on improving their environment, I have learned both from them and their experiences, as well as from what I have learned in the classroom and books for these reasons I share my experience that  making a trip sustainable goes much further than waste management and bringing a reusable water bottle.

Have you heard the term“responsible traveler''? Well, that's where I'm going to start to transform a travel experience into something that can positively contribute to the environment and the community where you visit.

There are many ways to assure your trip  has a positive impact on our planet. There are many options, but I want to focus on choosing where your money should go. To talk about responsibility, we must take into account that since the moment we consider traveling, we can have the opportunity to do something good in a community or environment, this may be possible by doing a little research about what kind of company  you are traveling with, this can range from your lodging, adventure, transportation and even restaurants, but it can also apply, to the travel agencies that organizes your trip.

There are companies that go above and beyond and do an “extension of their offices” instead of just selling a product or a service, because they feel a responsibility to promote a quality of life for the people who work for them, neighboring communities and to take care of the natural environment where they develop their activities. This is how these companies decide to support an existing cause either by through NGO or a community association, or, if they cannot find something that aligns with the company's vision, they can hire people with specific profiles to design, define and implement a project that will align with its values and can generate some type of benefit for the area where it is applied.

But how does it have to do with money? With a brief review of the companies we can find out if they are linked to some type of initiative of this type and be able to determine that when using their products or services part of the income is destined to the positive growth of the areas where they operate.

These types of companies in some cases try to keep a low profile about their actions and do not market their great achievements, and therefore  you have to investigate a little more to find these companies. On the other hand, another way is to support companies that are one hundred percent locally owned and operated and thus  ensure that the money stays mostly in the country or destination where you travel.

It doesn't matter if you want to travel rustic or luxurious, there will always be time to plan and choose companies that are responsible with our environment, from large companies to small entrepreneurs and everything in between, there is a wide range that you can choose to ensure that your money in a certain way can be used for good causes.