Yesterday marked the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. Certainly one bright spot to come from these events is the positive impact that so many people staying at home is having on the environment. It is my hope that once the current restrictions are lifted that we can continue to pay greater attention to the impacts our movements have on the planet. Here is a link to an opinion article that gives some insight as to what travel may look like moving forward. These ideas are very much in alignment with the Vacation For Good program at Slaydon’s Travel.
My story this week is about the time we vacationed for good…
We have had a few opportunities to take part in vacations that centered around community engagement and giving back. Each of them have had a profound impact on every member of my family. Unfortunately, the company we traveled with has since dissolved. However, we continue to work with several suppliers that offer these types of opportunities for travelers around the world.
During our first family trip to Puerto Plata in the northern part of the Dominican Republic we had the opportunity to to participate in several impact activities. I’ve highlighted each of them in previous blog posts on our website. There are a few things that stand out to me from that trip. During our first afternoon in Puerto Plata, before the activities began we took a private tour of the town with a driver. We had talked to Hannah prior to arriving about the different living conditions that we would encounter. That afternoon, while driving through the busy streets of Puerto Plata she leaned over to me and said, “Mommy, I didn’t think they would have cars here.” During that trip we worked alongside locals in a chocolate factory, a recycled paper facility, worked with local families on their English skills and visited an elementary school. My husband and I both thought that Hannah’s favorite activity would certainly be the chocolate making, where the workers filled her tiny hands with melted chocolate for her to enjoy. It was a highlight, but her favorite activity was visiting the school where she was able to interact with kids the same age as herself. There was certainly a language barrier, but smiles are universal. Three girls took her under their wing and shared their lunch, they danced, played and before we said our good byes it was clear this was her favorite. She actually came up to us before we left and asked “When can we come back here again?” I asked “Here to the Dominican Republic?” to which she responded “No, here to the school to see my friends!”
Our second impact trip was a bit different, but we had the opportunity to revisit Puerto Plata, this time to work with coffee plants We also visited a music school and build paper violins in San Juan. The final stop was in the Turks and Caicos where we helped with storm recovery to beautify the grounds of the Turks and Caicos National Museum. Hannah continued to make new friends, which she still stays in contact with to this day.
All in all, the impact activities we experienced during both of these trips really helped us feel connected, not only to each other, but to the communities we visited. This was not a cookie cutter tropical vacation where all of the ports and islands look the same and tourists venture from one souvenir shop to the next. We were able to immerse ourselves in the destinations, get to know the locals and how they live, all while being able to Vacation For Good, something we’re passionate about here at Slaydon’s Travel.
It’s also something that is going to become increasingly important as we emerge from this latest crisis. We’re learning that as the article linked about so eloquently states: “Slowly, our world will reconnect – border by border – and open up. And yet, returning to baseline should not be our metric for success, because mass global tourism had a very sordid underbelly. We must stop looking to “recover” the tourist industry but rather, work to transition travel and tourism to a truly sustainable level.”
I hope you are all staying home, staying safe and dreaming of your next vacation. We are getting more requests from travelers for the second half of 2020, please reach out if you would like to start making plans as well.