Visiting Destinations After Disaster - Australia
Hello again!
I’m back from my months-long hiatus. As some of you may or may not know, Austin and I got married in October! It was wonderful and so much fun that we didn’t want it to end. We had a “mini-moon” the week after where we road-tripped around Colorado, Utah, and Arizona doing lots of hiking and lounging which was much needed after the whirlwind of wedding planning. However, we also knew that we would have a “real” honeymoon after the holidays when life calmed down and we had plenty of time to recover from wedding festivities. Our plan was and still is to go to Australia, mainly Tasmania.
You may now be thinking, “uhhhh cancel your trip right now and just do another road trip or go somewhere not on fire”. We get it. We’ve received messages from concerned family and friends over the last few days asking us if we were still planning to go, if where we were headed would be affected much by the fires, and if we’d be safe. First, we appreciate everyone’s concern for our safety and are grateful you all want us to have fun and stay healthy on our honeymoon. Second, we know a lot of people are currently canceling plans to visit Australia themselves and/or think we should do the same which is why I’m going to explain why we are still going, leaving in just 3 weeks.
Yes, the news coming out of Australia is heartbreaking, terrifying, and shows the realities of climate change and the horrible extremes that are sure to keep happening. BUT, the news is also catastrophizing, generalizing, and only focuses on the worst of all situations. While yes, a huge portion of the continent is on fire currently or has been burning this season, there are still several areas that are plenty safe to visit and that need our tourism dollars as well. Some of the news about Australia’s fires have been misleading or focusing only on the areas where the fires are worst and we have to do more research to really understand the situation fully. There are reports that places that are not even affected by the fires are experiencing cancellations, which shows the amount of fear the media has created and how confusing it can be if you don’t take the time to do more research about the situation in specific areas. Our personal plans were never to stay in Sydney or visit much of the worst-affected east coast of Australia, we’ll only be in Sydney for 24 hours before taking another flight down to Hobart in Tasmania. We’ll be in Melbourne for another 4 days at the end of our trip but the majority of our time will be spent in Tasmania, who have had their own fires this season but the gravity of the situation there is nowhere near as extreme as on parts of the mainland.
None of this is to downplay what’s happening. I myself panicked a few days ago after seeing videos of thirsty koalas coming up to humans, kangaroos running from forests, and people crowded on a beach, trapped because the fires had circled them and taken over their entire town. I think these fires are awful and are destroying people’s lives as well as destroying an ecologically unique continent. But that is what makes it so important for us to still go. If we canceled our trip now, I’ll be quite candid in saying that would take a few thousand dollars out of Australian businesses’ hands at a time when they need it most. They need tourists to come and spend their money so they can help their friends and fellow citizens rebuild after this disaster finally ends. Additionally, several businesses in the lesser affected areas are fundraising for the areas that are affected, giving portions of their proceeds to fire departments, wildlife funds, etc.
During our time in “Tassie”, we’ll be visiting a wildlife sanctuary that cares for some of the most iconic Australian animals and rescues injured and sick animals. This is exactly what Australia needs, people coming and spending money at businesses that are owned and operated by locals, and people spending money and being educated at wildlife sanctuaries who will be the ones caring for the hurt, near-extinct animals affected by these fires. So while we are keeping an eye on the status of fires near the areas we’ll briefly be and the air quality in the places we’ll stay, we feel it’s safe enough for us to go and we’ll be a part of the recovery by contributing our money and being educated about the risks Australia faces in the future and the realities of the current situation. These disasters also highlight the importance of sustainable tourism and understanding the impact you as a tourist can have, both bad AND good. For those wondering, we will also be offsetting our carbon footprint made by flying to Australia from Denver. Qantas airlines offers the service as part of the checkout process when purchasing plane tickets and we have opted in, again trying to have the best impact possible.
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed and helpless at times like this, which is why we need to focus on the things we CAN do. We can limit our news intake or research ways to help rather than reading article after article about all the horrible things happening, we can make donations to wildlife funds and the Red Cross and organizations focused on helping people affected by the fires. In my case, I can still go on my trip to Australia, spend my money and learn more about this beautiful, diverse, and magical continent. Below I’ve linked to different organizations whose donations will be used for helping animals affected and providing resources to people that have lost everything.
I’ll be posting again soon, about our trip and about the new direction I’m taking Roamwell and what it means. But for now, I’ll leave you with this quote I saw the other day that I think sums up the approach I’m trying to take in this situation.
“I must choose between despair and energy - I choose the latter.” - John Keats
Thanks for reading,
Sami
To help the wildlife affected by the fires:
WIRES (Wildlife Information, Rescue, and Education Service)
To help those who have lost homes or businesses:
To donate to Firefighters in affected areas:
County Fire Authority of Victoria
To help local businesses losing profits:
Follow @spendwiththem on Instagram to see businesses being affected by the fires and learn how you can buy their products online or help support business owners losing profits.
