Wandering the world

We've been enjoying a vacation for the past week in a tropical location. We've explored the history and the culture of the area, and toured the natural beauties around us. We are lucky. I remind my son of this idea often: We are so fortunate that we are able to explore the world.

I love traveling with my husband and son, and I am pleased with how many places we've seen. We often talk at the dinner table about the locations we would like to still see or revisit one day.

I believe that travel is important to understand the world and the people in it. The downside to this belief is that the upswing in traveling causes damage to the places we all want to visit.

I used to live in a tourist destination, so I am fully aware of what it feels like to have your hometown swell with visitors for several months of the year: There are more cars on the few roads available to get to work, there are more lost folks asking for directions and there are more people hanging out in your local department stores (even though you are pretty sure that they have the same chain stores where they live.)

But, on the flip side of that, I fully understand what tourism did for that location and how much the local economy needed it.

So, there has to be a balance of tourists seeing the amazing sites of the world, but also contributing to the care of those places. I am glad that some of the governments discussed in that article linked above are increasing their efforts to have tourists care for the sites that everyone wants to enjoy.

I want my son to learn to travel responsibly and enjoy the wonders of the world for a long time to come.

Does your family enjoy traveling to new locations? Tell me in the comments.