Travelling is a common leisure activity these days.  According to official statistics, Singapore residents made about 8.3m overseas trips by air and 2m overseas trips by sea in 2018.  Take a moment for the statistics to sink in for in 2018, there are about 4m Singapore residents.

In 2018, a Singapore resident would have made on average 2.5 trips overseas and the statistics does not include land trips to Malaysia (according to Malaysian tourism data, Singaporeans made 10.6 million trips to Malaysia in 2018).  

Evidently, Singaporeans travel a lot and we travel for a variety of reasons – leisure, business, health, education, spiritual/religious, visiting friends and relatives.  Singapore is a small country and many locals feel the need to travel out of Singapore to relax or to achieve something.

Travelling is a wonderful activity and we are deeply fortunate to live in an era where travelling is relatively inexpensive and many beautiful places are easily accessible.  Travelling brings us out to the wider world where we experience new cultures, try new cuisines, and develop new perspectives. Travelling gives us opportunities to meet new friends and develop new outlooks on life, thus hopefully making us more fulfilled and happy.  Since travelling is an enriching activity, think back to your recent overseas trips.  Were they meaningful and fulfilling?  Did you come back with new perspectives and refreshed outlooks on life?

Or that last trip was more of the same with the requisite shopping, sightseeing and binge-eating?

In our current era of affluence and abundance, it is perhaps time to re-consider travelling as a pastime. Just like it is not advisable to eat too much, perhaps travelling is an activity that can be better managed and performed with mindfulness.

For our next trip, when planning it, maybe we can give deeper thought to the following three considerations.

1. Will our travel cause harm?

All human activities cause pollution and environmental degradation.  This does not mean that we do no travel or even curtail our travelling plans. What we can do is to mitigate our environmental impact when travelling.

For example, some travellers are known to keep the TV and air-conditioner on when leaving their hotel for sightseeing.  We do not leave these appliances on at home when we go out, so we should not be leaving them on when leaving our hotel rooms as well.

It is also a habit of some travellers to pack single use shampoo and bath lotions from hotel rooms.  Unless there are genuine use for these items, bringing these miniature bottles of toiletries home only increase plastic use.  Good news though, wall-mounted, refillable dispensers are slowly replacing these miniature bottles. More related info [here].

If we are visiting a destination that is known to be environmentally fragile, then we should be following local guidelines and advice in ensuring that our presence does not damage the destination.

2. Can our travel do good?

Travelling is an economic activity and locals benefited economically from having visitors.  This is the reason why many countries are pulling out the stops to promote themselves as tourism destinations and to welcome more visitors.

In addition to visiting another country, one way to help the local economy is to consider purchasing local products and consuming local cuisines. We travel to another country not just to see their pretty sights but also to understand their cultures. Purchasing local products, watching local performances and consuming local cuisines will help to generate economic activities and sustain their local cultures, in addition to enriching us.

Take the opportunity of travelling to make local friends and promote cultural exchange. Do not just stick to our own travel group; when the chances arise in a safe environment, seize the moment to learn about other cultures by making new friends.

3. How can we purify your mind through travelling?

Being away from our daily routine and safe environment is an occasion for us to re-examine ourselves and our purposes in life.  Take the chance to be more mindful.  Here’s some tips:

- Put down your phone. It is ok to take photographs as keepsakes for our travel. Surely when we are overseas, it is time to stop following the newsfeeds and social media updates. Put down our phones and enjoy the new and strange environment. One thing I enjoy during long bus journeys overseas is to gaze out of the window and look at local environment/sceneries.

- Slow down. While it is very possible that we might never return to that particular destination again, there is no need to squeeze in so many sightseeing stops till we are exhausted from the travelling. Slow down and savour the sights. Get a cup of coffee/tea and people watch.

- Reflect. If a particular place or moment strikes us deeply during our travel, it is good to take the opportunity to reflect on why we have such resonance with the moment. Better still, record our thoughts down for future reference.

MORE ARTICLE: Tips for Travelling Safely

If you like to read more about why travel matters, maybe you want to hear what Barack Obama, ex-President of the United States has to say. READ [HERE].

A traveler shares her dilemma in being socially responsible when travelling. READ [HERE].

BBC has an insightful article on being a better tourist. READ [HERE].