It’s been a whole six months since we have updated our blog and while there are all kinds of excuses as to why, the important thing is that the cock-a-doodle-doo of the new year has rang and we are more ready than ever to get back at it.
Throughout 2016, we have had quite the adventure and a lot of it started with this blog and putting intentions out into the world of what kind of explorations we were looking for: travel, minimalism, gardening, homesteading, and balance. The mission still continues. We want to use this blog as a means to share and spark conversations.
In December, we took a trip with family to the Virgin Islands. This was our first team airport experience, and first time in the Virgin Islands. We spent four days on St. Thomas and about a week on St. John. We spent the majority of 2016 traveling throughout the Ozarks, in different national parks and conservation areas in the truck. This trip challenged us to pack differently for a climate and set of experiences we weren’t very familiar with. While wild chickens and roosters roamed the islands, we put on our tourists hats, consciously.
While the USVI is a United States Territory (celebrating their 100th anniversary this year– happy birthday!), we were in a completely new environment. A vast majority of St. John is a designated as a National Park; the land and water protected to that we can enjoy their beauty for years to come.
On Christmas Day, we visited a beach on St. John called Trunk Bay. (Which to our surprise offered free admission for the holiday) At Trunk Bay, they have a very popular underwater snorkel trail to check out the coral reefs and lounge upon amazing sandy white beaches. That day, the beach, and the island, was full of tourists from all over the globe. Trunk Bay is a key spot in the tourism industry on St. John. The snorkel trail is short and sweet for the novice snorkeler with a few underwater plaques explaining a bit about what you are seeing underwater. As we were swimming from plaque to plaque, the lifeguard’s whistle continued to blow, and when we came up for some air, we heard him yelling “Get off the coral reef. If you need help swimming I will come get you. You are destroying a national landmark.” over and over. Looking to our left, there were a group of older kids literally jumping on top of the coral reef in their flippers. Granted, these are children, and probably an extreme scenario, but we couldn’t help but wonder: why aren’t these kids respecting this place?
Enter the conversation on tourism vs. conscious tourism.
You can be a tourist in your own backyard, or in a totally new place. But, to be a conscious tourist means to be aware of your surroundings. To be a student. Open up your mind, heart, and soul to learn, and show your teachers (the locals, the experts) respect. Throughout all of our recent travels in the national parks and in conservation areas, we are constantly reminded of just how important it is to respect the land and the history that we all get to participate in.
The conservation areas and national parks are just a microcosm of this consciousness. This year, in the year of the rooster, we want to exercise diligent, conscious tourism. Throughout the experiences in our backyard to completely new environments. While we are all learning together, let’s be conscious about our environment and how we impact that: nature, communities, and individuals.