The Responsible Gypsy

When I was small I wanted to be a gypsy. Long before I had ever heard of Maggie Tulliver, I sympathised with her desire to run away and become one of them. My sister’s scornful remarks about gypsies being dirty as they had no bathrooms really broke my heart and buried the dream.

I am no gypsy now of course. But even as I tap out lines of code to earn my bread, my heart retains some of the wandering spirit. I really really love to travel! But not in caravans and not thoughtlessly. As a mother, I worry about the state of the planet we are leaving for our children. As a not heartless human being, I feel bad every time I hear about an animal dying of the plastic they ate.

If there is to be a reconciliation – this is how I want it. I want to travel. Explore our beautiful world. Enjoy everything there is to enjoy. But not at a cost to the very things I love.

At home, I am very particular about waste. I compost what I must, recycle what I can and hand over the rest, reluctantly, to the cleaning lady. Then why must I on holiday, and that too in the lovelier parts of this world, put stuff in plastic bags or drink continuously out of plastic bottles? Why must I support the silent killing of the very beauty I love?

So here’s the pledge:

If there are lovely places to go to, I will go there and write about them. If there are interesting experiences to be had, I will have them and I will write. But I will not do so at a price this earth and my children cannot pay. I will give a shout out to every place that understands what being green really means. And if anyone ends up actually reading this page and carrying this idea forward, well that is the dream resurrected then and made even lovelier!

Here’s to all of that!