Traveling! What does the name buzz in your brain? Imagine yourself sitting in a train and the train is passing through big mountains and green trees or you are sitting in an open jeep and passing through the snow-covered mountains of Shimla! Travelling creates much excitement especially when you love to visit the place or you are visiting your dream tourism destination. Traveling from one place to another place, for any reason from personal to professional, traveling has always been a part of our life. People have been traveling from one place to another place ever since life has evolved on this planet. The early humans traveled place – shelter and food. Food and traveling both are interlinked with each other so much I find it hard to talk about traveling alone. And when you are traveling to someplace, it is obvious that you would taste the food there and when you taste the food, it is certain you would experience the culture of that place. So that’s how the food, travel, and culture are connected with each other and one term can’t be defined alone. Let us discuss traveling ethics. Traveling ethics are important to make the journey beautiful.

What are Travelling Ethics?

Travelling is moving from one place to differ depending on the requirements. Everyone has their choice of destination where they would love to visit at least once. So when one visits a place and comes to a place he is not much familiar with, it is certain to face some sort of issues. These issues can be language issues, food issues, cultural conflicts, and a lot more. So in order to avoid these issues and make the journey good enough to be saved as a memorable event of the life, one should have some traveling ethics. Traveling ethics are not a big deal. These are just some sort of guidelines which we can follow to avoid any kind of problem traveling to different places.

It is a fact that not every time we are acquainted with the environment of the place we are going to visit. So a proper scheduling and little research – study can turn your journey a wonderful experience. There are several things which we need to consider while most of the time we don’t consider them much important neglecting them as small things but sometimes these small things can turn a huge problem and can be potential enough to ruin the fun and enjoyment. Traveling ethics have a role which is really important to be taken as a priority. What makes traveling ethics important is that no one wants their journey to be ruined or spoiled just because of small things. So, traveling ethics can be defined as ethics/guidelines which can avoid any issues related to traveling or visiting some different place with which one may be or may not be familiar. Traveling ethics turns more exigent if one is traveling for the first time. First time for both modes of transportation and the place as well. Here one has to be very concerned about every small detail which can provide information.

Why Travelling Ethics?

Most of the time avoid ethics because we don’t find their relevancy too much in our day to day life. And when it is about traveling, who cares? But trust me, traveling ethics are really necessary. People travel to a different place for a limited time period. The purpose can be anything like business meetings, education, leisure, recreation, medical treatment, and a lot more. One should be a responsible traveler and should follow the customs and traditions of the place he is visiting. A traveler should be much careful about the rituals and culture of the place he is visiting in and should follow basic code of conduct which are known in a general sense.

Things to Keep in Mind: Basics of Travelling Ethics

At times, people face problematic situations when they are in a city or place different to their hometown. No matter if one is in a different town of the same country or sitting in a foreign land, traveling ethics have roots everywhere. Following is a list of things which should be kept in mind to become a responsible traveler:

Research Your Destination: Before you board into the train or put on your seat belts in the airplane, you better do research over the place you are visiting. Little research and study over the destination will provide you enough knowledge and details of the place. This information will help you stay safer and healthy at the visiting destination. One can take the help of travel agents, travel magazines, or can find online sources to know about the place. Research is a basic thing. Make a list of things which you generally need while you land down there.
Find out hostels and restaurants: It good to know about the places to stay and eat. This will save your time and money as well. Find out the places to visit and transportation preferences. It is good to check their prices before getting in.
Study Culture and Tradition: This is important. One must be aware of the culture, customs, traditions, rituals of the place he is visiting in order to avoid any cultural conflicts. This is the real definition of ethics in other words. Cultural conflict is a big issue to deal with and in several cases, people fail to understand this. For example, if you visit a place where you experience a few things which you found weird and it was a part of their custom. At this point, many people mocked the traditions. But instead, we should understand.
Learn the Basics of Language: English is an international language. In case if the people of the place you are visiting don’t speak English, then it is a problem. So better learn normal conversation or you can buy a book of normal conversation. This way you can even learn the language easily.
Respect People and Place: One should not make fun of people and the place. Sometimes it can be too offensive and can lead to several serious consequences. Different places have different people and so are traditions. The clothes, food, traditions, languages, etc. everything varies from place to place. So, there is no harm in knowing a little about them. After all, you are visiting the place to spend time. Respect the traditions and respect the people. Know about the place, local customs, and practices.
Visiting Historical Places: Visiting historical places of heritage value is really a wonderful experience. Every country has its own historical heritage and spends a huge amount of money on maintenance and safety. So, we should not harm these places in any sense. We should maintain sincerity and should respect the places. We should avoid littering the places. Talk to the locals about what can be offensive or hire a guide.
Be Cooperative and Humble: While you are in a different country or place, being humble is a good way to get in touch with the local people. While I was in Nepal, I experienced some of the best memories of my life. So, one should be humble and good at talking with the local people. We know if one visits a different place, both sides remain excited to know about each, to know about the culture of each other etc.
Avoid Unethical Practices: If you are in a different city or land, you would probably buy something as a token of memory. Avoid buying anything which is made through child labor or animals had been killed to make the item.
Protect the Surroundings: One should protect the environment, the surroundings, animals, and wildlife. So we should avoid buying anything which can have a bad effect on nature. Save the serenity of that place.

So, these were some of the traveling ethics which I know personally as I am a commuter. These traveling ethics are good enough to be followed. These are simple, easy to understand, and easy to implement in your journey plans. When I traveled to Nepal, I came across several issues that were very new to new. New people, new culture, and new food, there were several other things with which I had to compromise and I had to overcome. Guess what if you come to a place where you don’t like food, what will you do? But I guess it’s not a big deal. Nowadays, every country has restaurants which serve food of your own choice. Traveling brings joy to our lives and it works as a stress – reliever. People traveling in buses, personal vehicles, trains, airplanes, and other modes of transportation. Make your journey a healthy good one.

Stay happy. Stay safe. Happy FoodRavel.

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