Five Effective Ways to Contribute to Communities While Travelling

When we are travelling, we try to be conscious about how we travel. This means thinking about the environment, where and what we buy, how to contribute to good causes, … There are a lot of things you can do as a backpacker/traveller to give back and do good. Here are a few small examples of how we like to do our part while travelling.

1. Visit sanctuaries, not zoo’s

This is a tricky one because there’s a lot of fake sanctuaries out there that aren’t much different from ordinary zoos. You don’t want animals in cages! Here’s an example of a place we weren’t a big fan of: the Tasmanian Unzoo where all the animals are caged and they attract wild animals with food.

An example of a good cause is the Devils In The Dark tour in Bicheno. They support the ‘Save the Tasmanian Devil Program’ and have a huge piece of land that is fenced off. The Tasmanian devils in there are all healthy, none of them has the contagious tumours that threaten the species. By keeping them away from the sick ones and letting the healthy animals breed, they try to ensure the Tazzie Devils don’t go extinct. For about AUD 65 they do a night tour (devils in the dark) that includes cheese and wine, where you’ll see the animals from inside a cabin behind tinted glass. This way you won’t interfere with them and they can go on about living their normal lives. It’s not a cheap tour but you get plenty of information on these stunning creatures AND all of it goes to the animals’ conservation.

Laura with the only kangaroo that wanted to come close to her at Healesville sanctuary.

2. Volunteer

There’s plenty of places that need volunteers. Animal shelters, conservation programs, schools, … An example of one close to where we are now is the Turtle Rehabilitation Centre on Fitzroy Island. They help sick turtles recover and put them back into the water once they’re healthy again! Our roommate used to go there every week to help feed the sick turtles! We didn’t get the chance to help out there since they weren’t looking for more volunteers at the time, but here’s a cute picture from their website.

3. Donate blood or plasma

If you’re not scared of needles and blood, do your fellow humans a favour and donate blood or plasma every couple of months. Almost anyone can do it, it takes only an hour of your time and you’ll save lives! There’s a constant need for blood and plasma. One day you might be in the hospital yourself and then you’ll be grateful someone else took the time to donate. Bonus, most places will give you free food, coffee, juices and snacks afterwards! Find your local blood centre here.

Joachim donating plasma. Donating plasma takes longer than giving blood and but also helps in different ways and you can do it more often!

4. Support local business

We know what it’s like being on a budget, and a lot of the time we buy the cheapest things possible at the least expensive stores. In time we found that supporting local businesses doesn’t have to mean spending a lot of money. In Cairns, for example, we buy our fruit and veggies at the weekly markets, which is usually less expensive than in Coles or Woollies. When my laptop died, I went to a small local IT store, who’s service fee was way less than the big technology chains. Going for lunch in a small cafe instead of getting McDonald’s is another good example, and it’s heaps tastier anyway.

Laura checking out the stunning rambutans!

5. Travel consciously

This might be the most important one. We see a lot of backpackers, tourists or travellers in general, doing things we can’t understand.

• One of our pet peeves is touching or feeding wild animals. Honestly, guys, don’t do this, there are hundreds of reasons not too, no matter how cute they are. They’ll get domesticated or aggressive and could even get sick because of the food or the germs we carry.
• Another example is buying a lot of plastic or littering, for example when camping. Don’t leave anything behind but footprints might be a cliche but it’s oh so true! Respect nature, we only have one planet.
• Respecting the culture and habits of where you are is another big one. To illustrate: in Alice Springs it’s still possible to climb Uluru, even though the indigenous people living there ask you to respect their culture and not climb it. Just watch it from a distance, take some pretty pictures.

Quokkas are the cutest! Just don’t touch them or force them in a picture. This curious one seemed more than happy to pose with Laura though!

How do you guys like to contribute while travelling? Let us know in the comments!! We’d love to hear your stories.

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