In my opinion travel is the best way to indulge a nation’s customs and geography. It is true that we can always search up pictures of our dream destinations, but pictures remain as pictures. For example, you can never experience the ice old weather of Alaska by looking at a brochure for ten hours. I believe that travels also bring people together due to the differences they face outside of the group. Travel and a sense of separation from home can force distant friends to unite and bond.
I believe a responsible tourist is a person who explores the new country whilst knowing his boundaries. This traveller shall respect the new culture they face and must comply to all the laws required by the country no matter how different it is from is home country. Some types of tourism are definitely damaging. An easy example can be the Chinese tourists in southern Thailand. After accepting visitors from china for just a single year, multiple landmarks had to be closed down due to pollution and littering. We can see that these people do not give a single drop of care to our environment, making them horrible tourists.
A time where I was a responsible tourist is when I visited the middle east. There I complied to all the strict islamic laws and kept my boundaries really seriously. I did find some laws to be absurd but still obeyed since isn’t my home.
Jackie's blog 