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Are You Traveling Responsibly—or Just Consuming a Destination?
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May 28, 2025
Travel isn’t just about where you go—it’s about how you go. In this episode of Dusty Roads, Anita explores why ethical travel matters more than ever in today’s world of overtourism and environmental strain. Learn how shifting from consumption to connection can make your adventures more meaningful—and more respectful to the people and places you visit. Want to dive deeper? Click here (https://abusonadustyroad.com/mindful-travel-tips-for-respecting-cultures-and-communities/) to read Mindful Travel: Tips for Respecting Cultures and Communities. #DustyRoadsPodcast #MindfulTravel #EthicalTravel #CulturalRespect #ResponsibleTourism #TravelTips #SustainableTravel #TravelWithPurpose Support the show (https://www.paypal.com/globaltradegal)
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[Music]
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hi this is Anita from the Dusty Roads
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podcast Today we're going to talk a
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little bit about mindful travel and what
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it means to be able to respect other
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cultures and communities We've been
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talking about this a lot lately because
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I feel like this is sort of an important
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subject that you see a lot of people
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that travel around the world and they
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don't really understand or try to
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respect other cultures or other people
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You know what does it mean to respect or
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have responsible travel Well respectful
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travel means treating people and
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cultures and environments with dignity
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and consideration You're not just
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passing through You're engaging with
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places that others call home I think
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this is really important that when
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you're traveling you might just see
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yourself as just you know you're just
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passing through You're going to stay
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here for a week or 10 days or or a month
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or whatever it is but that you're you're
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really engaging with places and people
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that this is their home This is where
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they live Responsible travel means that
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you're mindful of the consequences of
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your actions you know especially around
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sustainability cultural integrity and
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economic fairness It's not about being
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perfect It's about being aware and
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intentional And I think this is really
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important that like when you're
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traveling around places that you really
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need to understand that there's people
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that live here that when you leave this
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place we leave wherever you're traveling
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we hope that you'll strive to leave it
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in a better place or situation than when
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you came Why does this matter Well first
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of all it's cultural sensitivity in that
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you know irresponsible travel can erode
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traditions and offend local customs
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Environmental impact If you you know
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start throwing garbage around or pollute
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someplace you could leave a huge you
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know detrimental impact to the
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environment there So travel smart and
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help to reduce harm Community well-being
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that not all tourism dollars benefit
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locals You know ethical choices support
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those who need it most And personal
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growth respectful travel leads to
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meaningful experiences So here's nine
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ways or nine ideas to your travel with
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more mindfulness more respect and
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responsibility First of all do your
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homework before you go I think this is
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really important that before you go
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somewhere you really need to do your
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homework You need to understand where
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you're going what what you're going to
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do and and read blogs and listen to
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podcasts and listen to other people that
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have traveled or been before you Learn
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about the culture You know read up on
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local customs history taboss and
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etiquette Understand the political
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climate Understand what's going on in
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the politics and the and and how that
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could affect the behavior of people
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there Know the environmental concerns
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Understand like are there droughts Is
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there water restrictions Um is there
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sensitive ecosystems you should be aware
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of Be aware of how your presence might
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strain
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resources The other one is spend where
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it counts You know decide when you're
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going to spend your tourism dollars
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Spend where counts Support local
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businesses I'm a great believer in this
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We've talked about this a lot Support
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local businesses Go to local restaurants
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Buy handmade goods that you know keep
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money in the community rather than
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multinational chains Avoid exploitative
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experiences you know think twice about
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doing something that could exploit
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somebody in the process If it looks
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exploitative then you know it probably
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is Pay fair prices Make sure you're
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paying a fair price and you understand
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what the fair price is This doesn't mean
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that you don't bargain This doesn't mean
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that you don't look for a deal but it
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means that you understand what the fair
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price is and understand what a fair
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price would be That's why a lot of times
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when I travel I might ask somebody or
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say you know what would be a fair price
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for say a taxi ride to this destination
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I recently traveled to Thailand and I
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hadn't been there for a while even
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though I'd lived there And I wanted to
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know what would be the you know
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basically a fair price for a taxi from
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the airport to my hotel And I knew what
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the fair price was When the driver you
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know dropped me off and it was a little
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bit under the fair price I gave him a
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tip of what I thought the fair price
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would be and he was very happy and I was
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happy and everyone was happy with it You
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know travel light on the earth you know
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like offset your carbon footprint Try to
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do something to help the environment
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Minimize waste Stick to trails Don't
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take souvenirs from nature Don't litter
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I mean this is a big one You know litter
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is huge Don't just drop things down on
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the ground If you can't find a trash can
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then carry it with you until you can
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find one Be a good guest Travel's a
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privilege not a right You know ask
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before taking photos If you're going to
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take someone's photo and you're not sure
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ask Learn a few local phrases so you can
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be able to talk to somebody Say please
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say thank you could go a long way to
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people appreciating you Dress
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appropriately Research the dress code
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especially at religious or cultural
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sites You know cover shoulders legs and
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you know and hair in some places isn't
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optional It's a sign of respect So
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understand when that is important and
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what cultures that's important for and
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where that would be important Watch your
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attitude You know don't expect this to
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be your home abroad This is really a big
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one where people they travel to a place
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and they spend the whole time comparing
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well at home it's like this at home it's
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like this at home it's like this Don't
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do that It's not going to be the same as
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your home Don't expect it to be And if
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you certainly didn't travel for it to be
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the same then don't expect it to be the
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same In fact you should be happy that
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it's different and that you should enjoy
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the experiences and enjoy the
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differences that you're seeing Don't
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rescue You know volunteering can be
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great but make sure it's helpful not
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harmful You know week of unskilled labor
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in orphanage might do more harm than
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good Think long-term impact not photo
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ops And this is also another big one
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where I see where people come in and
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they're just like "Oh that poor person."
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And they you know they don't understand
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the culture and maybe they they tip
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wrong or they're helping people the
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wrong way and it's not really helping
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the solution or the problem And
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sometimes when you do that those of us
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that live here have a harder time
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towards from the effect which goes to
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the next one Don't be a savior You
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You're not there to fix people You're
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there to learn connect and leave a
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positive footprint Mind the rules
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written and unwritten Follow local laws
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This seems obvious but follow the local
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laws follow social norms understand the
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social norms understand where they come
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from so that you know you know respect
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sacred spaces This is a huge one You
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know if you're in Thailand don't go
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sitting on a Buddha That's happened I
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know people have been thrown in jail for
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that Respect sacred spaces when you're
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there in these places Don't just use it
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as a photo op you know Don't go climbing
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on things you shouldn't be climbing on
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It might you know you may end up not
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only in jail but it also is showing a
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lack of respect Travel inclusively
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Ethical travel includes advocating for
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equity Respect all identities Don't
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become someone you're going to like You
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treat people as novelties or backdrops
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Instead avoid language or behavior that
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objectifies their simplifies
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culture Stay longer Go slower I love
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this one Choose depth over distance
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Learn to really engage and learn about a
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place Take local transportation
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Experience what it is to be to be local
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to be to be one of the local people Take
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a bus if you can Take a train if you can
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You know become more like a local person
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This could be a great way to build learn
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about local culture You'll leave it
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better than you found it I also love
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that one Don't just take give something
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back Clean up You know if you see some
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mess you can clean up a bit or don't
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throw trash on a beach or on a trail You
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know make sure you keep your trash with
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you Share
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knowledge and reflect What did you learn
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What might you do differently next time
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Ethical travel grows with awareness So I
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really love this thought about you know
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traveling ethically traveling mindfully
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traveling with respect I feel like this
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is really an important part of travel
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It's an important part of what we do at
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the uh Dusty Roads podcast and and our
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blog A Bus on a Dusty Road It's really
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all about living our life as a global
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citizen And we believe that that's
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really important and essential when you
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travel is to live your life as a global
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citizen We hope that you'll join with us
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that you'll subscribe that you will join
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with us in living your life as a global
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citizen and that when you travel you
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will do so mindfully with respect and
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with responsibility
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[Music]
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