Jain Spirit 2002 06 No 11

Author(s): Jain Spirit UK
Publisher: UK Young Jains

Page 28

LIFESTYLE
H
LEAVE A LIGHT
FOOTPRINT
Rose Skelton demonstrates how travel need not compromise your values
Rose Skelton travelling lightly
T
HE LONG-AWAITED HOLIDAY HAS FINALLY ARRIVED. You dig out your bags, dust them off and begin envisioning your relaxing break abroad. Suddenly you start to think about the place you are going to. How will your visit affect the people who live in this place? Is it possible to travel and benefit others at the same time? Whether it be a weeklong package, a gap year, a pilgrimage or a business trip, it is possible to enjoy your travels and at the same time benefit the people and the country you are visiting. By keeping the principles of Jainism in mind, travel can be a great way to share and teach the knowledge of ahimsa, honesty, contentment and simple living.
Firstly, it is important to think about where your money is going when you book your holiday. If you are travelling independently, seek out locally owned guesthouses and use local guides and tour companies. Travelling on a package holiday, choose wisely it is possible to find interesting, enjoyable and culturally sensitive package holidays where your money goes to benefit the local community. If you are staying in a large hotel, bear in mind that all too frequently these places are foreign-owned, the local staff may be poorly paid and the land may have been taken unfairly. Live simply; luxury may lead to excess and unfair exploitation.
Travelling on local transport can be fun and informative, as
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well as supportive of the country's infrastructure. Sometimes beyou meet the most interesting people on trains and buses and it
can give you a real sense of how people live. If you are hiring a bedriver for the day to guide you around a place, choose a local guide and make an effort to get to know him or her. One of my ely outstanding memories of Sri Lanka was spending the day with Ja guide who initially showed me around a temple. Afterwards,
he took me around the city on his friend's tuc-tuc showing me his favourite places and then invited me to his mother's house for tea and some food. It was an unexpected display of generosity and also the best city tour I have ever had.
When it comes to shopping for gifts to take home, try to be fair and think about where you shop; seek out shops run by organisations formed in support of local craftspeople or visit the local market. Haggle, if appropriate, with a smile but always pay a fair price. Even if you are on a budget, paying a little more, sometimes only a few pence, may mean a big difference to a family who has very little.
08 One of my favourite travel activities is exploring local food, eating and shopping in as many diverse environments as I can. I will never forget the joy of eating a vegan meal at a Hare Krishna restaurant in Australia, following it up with a moonlit movie in the adjacent open-air cinema. Food is a wonderful way of exploring a place, and leaving the hotel in search of something a little different is one of the best ways of doing this. Don't be afraid of explaining your food requirements to observe your own eating patterns, but bear in mind that what seems sensible to you may seem strange to others. Most people will understand and respect vegetarianism and will go out of their way to help you. Explain patiently and your needs will be respected. Where this is not possible (many countries rely on meat and fish for food) carry dried food with you, like seaweed and fruit, which is high in vitamin content and can be easily rehydrated.
One of the many reasons people travel is to experience the rich natural environments of other countries. When we are at home we may recognise how our actions effect our environment and we may act upon this by recycling, reusing plastic bags and by minimising the use of our domestic cleaning product. We are the privileged ones: we have access