For the previous twenty years, we’ve journeyed throughout the globe, embracing the idea that “journey is deadly to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness,” as Mark Twain so eloquently said. We’ve shared our adventures, our pictures, and our experiences in numerous cultures, believing that by showcasing the great thing about the world, we may assist individuals see past borders and variations.
However occasions have modified. The world we’re touring in now’s not nearly sharing lovely photos—it’s extra complicated, 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 other people had been being launched to locations that they had by no means seen earlier than. Journey felt like a software for connection—a solution to expertise completely different cultures, break down limitations, 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 slightly than a chance 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 generally reinforces the divide between those that can discover freely and those that are struggling simply to outlive.
And whereas the world scrolls previous one other good sundown, too many individuals are combating simply to stay.
The Actuality We Can No Longer Ignore
Conflicts are raging throughout locations we’ve visited.
- Sudan is within the grip of a devastating civil conflict, displacing tens of millions.
- In Yemen, an ongoing humanitarian disaster has left individuals ravenous.
- Ukraine remains to be below assault, with civilians struggling day by day.
- Myanmar’s individuals stay below the management of a brutal army junta.
- In Gaza, whole households have been worn out, and harmless lives proceed to be misplaced.
- Ethiopia, Haiti, Afghanistan, 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 whole 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 price.
- 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 houses. We’ve walked by way of landscapes that not exist. And we’ve realized—we can’t simply maintain sharing fairly photos whereas pretending the whole lot is ok.
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.
We have now 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 rise 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 converse out. That is our alternative alone.
For individuals with jobs, households, and even our fellow journey bloggers and vloggers who’ve partnerships, talking out may imply dropping the whole lot—contracts, alternatives, and even their whole livelihoods. We perceive why many keep quiet.
However we’re ready the place we can take that danger. And when the chance is talking out towards cruelty, corruption, and fascism—we expect it’s price it.
For almost 20 years, The Planet D has stood for discovery—the journey of exploring the world. However transferring ahead, we wish it to face for one thing even larger:
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 should be defended.
3. Willpower – 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 will help 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 taking place behind the beautiful photos. We’ll speak in regards to the individuals combating for justice, the communities on the entrance strains 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 all the time extra to the story. And it’s time we begin telling it.
A New Journey, Collectively
We all know this shift would possibly really feel sudden, nevertheless it’s the correct one. Journey has all the time been about discovery—and generally, meaning going through uncomfortable truths.
Thanks for being a part of this journey with us. It received’t all the time be straightforward, however will probably be price it.
Dave & Deb