Now there are four big hurricanes and three earthquakes in our hemisphere, international aid can’t seem to keep up with the damage. Earth is heating up. Earth is complaining. Carbon dioxide continues to rise triggering even more extreme weather events. When is it going to stop?–when every continent is ruined and we can’t grow food anymore?
The truth is: WE have to stop the progression of climate change. WE have to CHANGE, to bring down carbon dioxide. There is no doubt that the burning of fossil fuels is a big factor in the rise of carbon dioxide, so what can we do?
If we look at the Three Commandments mentioned previously, number one is “avoid flying.” What does this mean? We can’t fly? Like where and when? But flying is so EASY. It means that flying to all those tourist trips to Italy, England, China, etc. on airplanes has done as much damage to earth as dozens of cars. Flying is also something we can STOP instantly.
Oh, no, you can’t say that. It is drummed into our lifestyles, into our hearts, that we must “see the world”, we must take vacations to “other societies”, fly here, fly there.
Be quiet, my heart. Let me take a breath. NO FLYING? That’s unheard of. What about my timeshare? “Haven’t you been to England yet?” my friends say. “You must go see the gardens.” Look at all the tours, all over the world, advertised daily, we have to fly to get there. How will the locals survive without our flying tourism?
Earth says NO. No more useless flying. Everyone in North america is destroying the atmosphere and earth for everyone else–including our own children. We can take trains, ships, but don’t fly.
If we can’t fly, where will we go for vacation. I even ask myself that question. How are we going to live with only local travel? How will we learn about the world?
First, as someone who as never been to Europe, I’ve seen so many castles, so many gardens, so may tourist and nontourist spots dozens of times , watching the many travel television shows. I am sure that technology will soon offer a room where one can sit at one’s leisure, with surround sound and vision, and join a virtual tour group any place in the world. Right now, many tourist spots, like Venice, are crying that they are being literally destroyed by too much foot traffic and movement.
Of course, if a person wants to “find himself” by immersing himself in different culture, living with the locals, he can explore how the locals travel: train, bus or boat. Another issue is “love miles”. They are visits to see family, rather than empty lookey-loo. Even love miles contaminate the atmosphere, but might be more forgivable In the future, maybe our kids will find good jobs closer to home.
.That leaves us with the question of how we can have vacations in our own area. Here in British Columbia, most vacations emphasize sports and the glorious outdoors. Been there, done that. Not everyone is ready to hike, whiteraft, ride horses in the big mountainous outdoors.
We should invent new kinds of local vacations. Personally i would pay for a weeks tour of little towns and private gardens. I’s like to take a boat trip up a river for a few days. The most important vacation I would take instantly, I would like to take my grandchildren to a week on a working farm, where the children could run around, help a few chores, enjoy the farm animals. We would have little cabins and three meals a day. Then in the evenings we could have entertainment, singalongs, with local people, not “big names.” I imagine this would require change of “zoning.” Some dude ranches have lent themselves to tourism, but still emphasize horses, beer, and the big outdoors.
I am sure many of you readers could think of different kinds of local vacations. Let’s hear from you. Happy local holidays! Satya Brwon
OurEarth 