Environmental Conscious Travel

" Old ways 

won't open

new doors . "

During my time here in New Zealand I had a lot of time to think about what is important to me. As stupid as it may sound, this trip has really opened my mind.

I had always tried to be conscious about the environment, to try and lower my footprint, but I had been oblivious to how big the problems in our world were. With more and more zero waste accounts popping up on my Instagram page, and me actually having the time to reflect what they were saying, I noticed that there was so much more I could do.

 And then, when I started being in the nature more and more, I began to appreciate it. For the first time I was able to see the beauty of this world, and then it hit me: If I don't do something now this all could be gone.

Akaroa 

Especially being out on the ocean and seeing all the wildlife, I knew I had to do something to protect this. (Which is actually why I got a penguin tattooed on me later, to remind me that I was doing this for our earth)

Franz Josef Glacier

Possibly the most eye - opening thing was doing the Franz Josef Glacier walk. They had all those signs on the walk of where the Glacier used to stop, and it was scary to see how far and how quickly it was receding. Because of how much it was going back (it actually moves up to 5m each day) it was also impossible to get much closer. But the sight of the ice and the power it had was crazy.

So yes, my mission from now on is to protect this beautiful place we call a home with all I can. Of course, especially while traveling it can be super hard, because I never stay in places longer I cannot buy in bulk, which also is (at least here) somewhat more expensive than buying it in packaging.

I know that there is probably a lot more I can do, and I'm happy to have (respectful) conversations about the topic with any of you, but I'm happy with the way I'm living now and even more happy when I can open other people's eyes.

What I'm actually trying to say with this is: I think it's important that we all take a moment to reflect on our ways. To think about what we could do different to reduce our waste, to reduce our impact on the world. I'm not talking about radically changing everything (but if you can do that, probs to you), I'm talking about brining your own bottle and filling it up, bringing your own coffee cup, your own takeaway containers, ... It's such an easy switch, and with some of it you might even save some $. Or in the very least you'll have some amazing conversations!

When I first started bringing my own takeaway boxes to wherever I was eating, I was super scared of asking for the food in my own boxes, but so far I've only had positive answers! So yes, get out of your comfort zone and save the environment while doing so. I believe in you!

I know this is a somewhat different blog post, but I really wanted to share this with the world. So my question for you is: Have you thought about your impact on the environment? What are you doing to reduce it? I would love to know more about your lifestyles!

(Featuring those two views that were insanely stunning, so enjoy!)

P.S.: I know that I'm way of from doing things perfectly, I just want to raise awareness for myself and for other people and hope that I can get someone else to reflect their lives! Have a good day!

Mirror Lakes

Akaroa