For the previous twenty years, we’ve journeyed throughout the globe, embracing the assumption that “journey is deadly to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness,” as Mark Twain so eloquently acknowledged. We’ve shared our adventures, our images, and our experiences in numerous cultures, believing that by showcasing the great thing about the world, we might assist individuals see past borders and variations.
However instances have modified. The world we’re touring in now’s not nearly sharing stunning photos—it’s extra advanced, extra divided, and extra fragile than ever earlier than.
Journey Used to Unite Us. Now, It Feels Completely different.
Once we first began touring, the whole lot was new. Social media was in its infancy, and folks had been being launched to locations they’d by no means seen earlier than. Journey felt like a software for connection—a option to expertise totally different cultures, break down obstacles, and open minds to new potentialities.
However now, we see a world that’s not solely extra divided but additionally extra cynical. Journey has been commodified, diminished to an Instagram backdrop fairly than a possibility for studying. As an alternative of sparking curiosity and empathy, it usually fuels comparability, competitors, and apathy. As an alternative of uniting us, journey content material typically reinforces the divide between those that can discover freely and people who are struggling simply to outlive.
And whereas the world scrolls previous one other good sundown, too many individuals are preventing simply to dwell.
The Actuality We Can No Longer Ignore
Conflicts are raging throughout locations we’ve visited.
- Sudan is within the grip of a devastating civil battle, displacing tens of millions.
- Ukraine remains to be below assault, with civilians struggling day by day.
- Myanmar’s individuals stay below the management of a brutal navy junta.
- In Gaza, complete households have been worn out, and harmless lives proceed to be misplaced
- In Yemen, Haiti, Afghanistan, Ethiopia and so many others stay in turmoil.
And these are simply the conflicts that make headlines.
The World Is Burning—Actually
We can also’t ignore one other disaster unfolding in entrance of our eyes: Local weather Change.
The locations now we have visited—the glaciers of Patagonia, the seashores of the Maldives, the rainforests of the Amazon—are altering, and never for the higher.
- Wildfires have ravaged Greece, Canada, Australia, and California, displacing individuals and devastating landscapes.
- Floods have swallowed complete villages in Pakistan, Libya, and Germany, leaving destruction of their wake.
- Coral reefs that we as soon as marveled at whereas diving are bleaching and dying at an alarming fee.
- The Arctic ice we as soon as stood on is disappearing, and island nations like Tuvalu and the Maldives are actually sinking.
We’ve witnessed these modifications firsthand. We’ve spoken to locals who’ve misplaced their properties. We’ve walked by landscapes that not exist. And we’ve realized—we can’t simply maintain sharing fairly photos whereas pretending the whole lot is okay.
We Can’t Keep Silent Anymore
We will’t proceed to stroll round considering the whole lot is a dream anymore. We will’t sit in a spa, pretending all is effectively, ready for another person to say one thing or climb mountains for our personal private acquire.
We’ve to talk up.
We have to discuss politics, poverty, and human rights abuses within the locations we go to. We have to discuss how tourism impacts native communities and whether or not it helps or harms them. We have to discuss local weather change, in regards to the industries destroying our planet, and about what we, as vacationers, can do to make an actual distinction.
We need to face up towards fascism, authoritarianism, and oppression—and assist others get up as effectively.
We Don’t Blame Anybody for Staying Silent—However We Can’t Anymore
We don’t blame anybody who chooses to not communicate out. That is our alternative alone.
For individuals with jobs, households, and even our fellow journey bloggers and vloggers who’ve partnerships, talking out might imply dropping the whole lot—contracts, alternatives, and even their complete livelihoods. We perceive why many keep quiet.
However we’re ready the place we can take that danger. And when the danger is talking out towards cruelty, corruption, and fascism—we predict it’s price it.
For almost 20 years, The Planet D has stood for discovery—the journey of exploring the world. However shifting ahead, we wish it to face for one thing higher:
1. Decency – As a result of human rights ought to by no means be up for debate.
2. Democracy – As a result of freedom will not be assured; it have to be defended.
3. Dedication – As a result of change doesn’t occur with out motion.
What’s Subsequent for The Planet D
We’re not saying goodbye to journey. We’re nonetheless going to discover, nonetheless going to share guides and itineraries, and nonetheless going that can assist you uncover the world. However we’re additionally going to inform the entire story.
We’ll nonetheless showcase unbelievable locations, however we’ll additionally expose what’s occurring behind the beautiful photos. We’ll discuss in regards to the individuals preventing for justice, the communities on the entrance traces of local weather change, and the vacationers and locals making an actual distinction.
As a result of, similar to that hammam therapeutic massage expertise we as soon as informed you about—there’s at all times extra to the story. And it’s time we begin telling it.
A New Journey, Collectively
We all know this shift may really feel surprising, however it’s the proper one. Journey has at all times been about discovery—and typically, meaning dealing with uncomfortable truths.
Thanks for being a part of this journey with us. It received’t at all times be simple, however it will likely be price it.
Dave & Deb
