The tourism industry has been devastated after 2 years of Covid-19 crisis, with irregular flights, many hotels closed, restaurants empty and travel restrictions changing by the day. Slowly we return to a new normal, but it does not look like we will get back to pre-crisis levels of almost 1.5 billion foreign trips annually anytime soon. But should we? We could imagine a more sustainable approach to travelling and taking holidays for the future.
Keep it local
Many were already complaining that some popular destinations got overcrowded and flying to the far ends of the world causes too much of a carbon footprint. As business travel got replaced by virtual meetings, holiday travel could rediscover the near instead of chasing the far. Ask yourself and any of your friends and likely you have travelled more abroad than in your own country. Take the chance to get to know your region, you can be sure that there is treasure everywhere.
Pack your backpack or your bike with a few essentials and go to some places you have never been before. A tent can keep you independent and even renting a camper for a long weekend is gentler on the environment than a flight to some famous spot. With a wearable sleeping bag like our CozyBags you save on weight and equipment too. It doubles as a jacket when you want to move around the campsite and the sleeves allow you to sleep comfortably in any position.
Enjoy the experience
I remember one of my first hiking trips without parents at age 16. With a friend, we walked for over a week through a majestic forest area in Germany, no more than 100 km from home and hardly met anyone. We slept in youth hostels in small towns we came through and cooked our lunch on our camping stove. All we needed was a map, a compass and good boots. And a MicroLiner would have been practical, instead of the cumbersome cotton liners that were mandatory in the hostels.
Also today a sleeping liner is mandatory in mountain huts and hostels, for better hygiene. Our SilkLiner and MicroLiner offer even more, with the arms and bottom opening they keep you free to move. You sleep comfortably with your arms unconstrained, you can tie it up and walk around the hut, chill out in the common area after changing the hiking clothes and even use it as a bathrobe after shower.
We even heard of some huts that require to microwave the liners for protection against bedbugs! Our liners can stand this for 30 seconds, but we recommend removing the stopper at the bottom opening. It has a small metal spring inside that may overheat and melt the plastic.
Bond with family and friends
Sharing some quality time with your family or a few friends is also getting more important. That does not need visiting far away hotspots, some close off-the-beaten-track places are much better. We found a tipi camp of a local farming cooperative that was an adventure holiday for the kids. Or a hut near a crag to spend a weekend climbing with your friends. Those evenings at a campfire were often more memorable than a trip to a famous place.
You just need some multifunctional gear that keeps you flexible and free to move. Just as we try to make those gear as sustainable as possible, we can also strive to make our travel habits more sustainable.
Klar, ein Hüttenschlafsack ist ein Sack um in Hütten zu schlafen. Aber was zählt als Hüttenschlafsack? Das erklären wir hier in diesem Blogbeitrag.
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