I was being sarcastic
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You do you.
Good. But many people say similar things and are serious…
As a reformed slob, now a neat freak, just the idea of a messy house gives me anxiety. Lol.
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I will!
Very American of you to say. 
Well, since we’re Americans…
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With Covid cases up, I asked the tour director for my March trip to require Covid test for the trip even though it is not required for flights. He said he will raise it at our pre-trip meeting.
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Or not…
https://mejditours.com/home-mejdi/
’ For people who believe that both sides of the story matter.
TOGETHER WE CREATE A MORE PEACEFUL AND INTERCONNECTED WORLD THROUGH TRAVEL.’
Arranged a private tour for four days in Israel with this group. Changed my world view.
Checking into their Balkan’s option - titled Land of Blood and Honey.
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I have not traveled much internationally, but I would like to do more. Most of my travel is domestically in the US and most of that is by car and fairly regional. Our car is an EV so no emissions.
I think people can do other things to offset their carbon use via travel, too. You can buy carbon offsets if you want. Give up meat (we’re 98% vegetarian), buy local and not from Amazon and places that ship long distances, etc.
I don’t think I would go to a part of the world that did not welcome American tourists.
We travel to the beach almost every year and rent a house. Travel to the mountains to stay in my MIL’s house there. We went to Ireland for D22’s Fall Break. Had friends who were over there so that was fun.
The thing that bothers me most about travel is arranging the pet care. Our dog died during Covid (August 2020) and now we only have cats so that is a little easier on my psyche. They don’t need as much as dogs. I’d like to do a bunch of traveling for the next few years before somebody talks me into another dog, but it probably won’t work out that way because travel is $$$ and we’re paying for college right now, so they’ll probably wear me down and we’ll get a dog before I go overseas again. I’m hoping D22 will do a study abroad and we can go visit her before another dog enters our lives. (FTR, I love dogs, I just feel super angsty leaving them.)
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I travel because there is no ocean near my house. Last year I also traveled to watch my daughter play in a tournament “one last time” - although they’ve asked her to play in 2025 and 2026. Also, to bury my mother.
But mostly to go to the ocean, which I will be doing in 3 weeks, than probably again in June.
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We have a somewhat high maintenance dog, chickens and a middle aged cat. After several years of not traveling I had to find a new batch of house sitters. The ones I found are great. They make some $$, my pets love them and we are having a great time getting back out there.
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I hate leaving my pup too but we have great pet sitters who stay at the house when we are gone and take care of everything from getting the mail to watering plans and sleeping with the dog at night ; ). It’s not inexpensive but it’s worth my sanity. We just factor it into the travel budget.
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I love filling in my mental map about what the planet truly looks like instead of just videos or pictures where you can only see so much. I love meeting people all over the planet and discovering just how similar we all are in many ways. I love trying new foods, new customs, and seeing different ways of doing things.
There’s no way I plan to give up travel. It’s how I get my dopamine rushes. To compensate we give up a lot of other things - various material items to afford traveling, and doing as much for the planet as we can otherwise similar to @Sweetgum
“The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.” - St Augustine
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I don’t do pet-sitters that stay at the house. That really squicks me out. It’s my personal space and I don’t need other people in it except the ones I’m related to.
I do have a really good friend who I trade off pet visits with. She goes out of town and I do her dog and cat and we go out of town and she does our cats, but sometimes we travel together! And then I have to find someone to come. Ugh. Truly the thing I hate most about traveling.
Good answer! And I completely empathize with that thirst to see the world and fill in my mental map as you put it. But I just wonder whether the planet can bear the collective cost of our enlightenment anymore. There’s just too many of us looking for “rooms with a view.”
I really wonder if it’s better to stay home, after all. I may get a few snarky comments for saying it, but maybe it’s time we asked if there is a price for our pleasure that is not offset by any widened perspectives or fond memories or photos for the scrapbook.
St. Augustine travelled quite a bit during his life, but by ship, horse, or foot. And he had a greater purpose for doing so that lay beyond himself. Plus the world is not now what it was then.
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Remember a lot of places rely on tourism. It’s their main source of income. Definitely true for Maine. And I know South Africa uses tourist dollars for conservation efforts. Kruger National Park is larger than Rhode Island and wouldn’t exist without tourism.
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Yes, fair point. And very true. I live in an area that is very reliant on tourism, that was hard hit during the pandemic when many businesses and restaurants went totally under. There’s also an argument to be made that certain countries and places have become overreliant on tourism as the main or one of the main sources of income - but as you say, it can also be used for good, as in the case of South Africa.
Just still not sure about the cost-benefit ratio of global tourism in the long run. The scale (for me) tips too hard in one direction. I don’t see myself travelling for the sake of travel ever again. Feels like fiddling while Rome burns.
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I have no problem with your staying home - or any of us making our own choices. We all have to pick and choose what we prioritize in life for us, and for the planet.
To be fair if you want to be super pro-planet, you also need to give up all forms of media (they use a lot of energy, plus require travel of their own to keep them going, etc). 
All of us have to make our choices. I make no apologies whatsoever that a biggie for us is travel and it will be until I can no longer physically go anywhere as my bucket is way too full to get to all of the places on the list.
I’ve yet to travel anywhere where I haven’t felt welcome too, and that includes the Middle East. Whether one is welcome or not IME seems to depend upon what personality of traveler they are.
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This thread has deviated from its title. May I suggest a new thread about travel in general?
(I also think it would be interesting to have a thread about our individual carbon footprints, which was brought up in a few posts here.)
ETA - Although this was posted as a reply to Creekland, I meant for it to be a general reply.
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I hope people are paying attn to the potential SWA strike May 1. Someone mentioned the strike to me yesterday and I freaked out a little bc we have 2 trips planned on SW in the next several weeks. At least they are giving a couple of months “notice” that it might occur.