Discovering the World

The Privilege to Travel

Many people's dream, rarely their reality. The finances, the opportunities, the obligations, the logistics, the safety concerns; so many realities that pour down on us, uninvited. Yet, we dream. At least I do. But you too, I guess. Why else would you be here?

Only a few of us actually have the privilege of traveling. Visiting other countries, other continents. Experiencing cultures and facets of life and paths we never knew existed. I don't know what your experiences are, but I've met many people who, engulfed by circumstances, fruits of decisions, misfortune, and, mostly, political decisions beyond their influence, will very likely never experience what some of us not only see as given or normal, but oftentimes even as mandatory. As our right. A right no one should ever dare take away.

A Privilege, Not a Right

This privilege allows us to collect experiences like fridge magnets, shells, and Pokemon cards. Maybe we don't fight for it actively, never did, never will, never will have to. Yet we should consider it something so valuable that we stay aware of the consequences that come with it. Not for us, but for others.

Consider the numbers. Even in wealthy Europe, about 190 million people, that's almost 40% of the population, have never left their own country. Globally, it's even starker. In 2018, only 11% of the world's population flew at all. Just 4% took an international flight. And a tiny 1% of people account for more than half of all CO2 emissions from air travel, because a very small group flies very often and very far. So when I say only a few of us have the privilege of traveling, that's not poetry. It's fact.

Passport privilege tells a similar story. A Singaporean passport currently gets you visa-free access to 192 destinations. An Afghan passport gets you 24. That 168-destination gap is literally the distance between I book a flight on a whim and I may never legally leave my country. The right to travel that some of us feel as almost sacred is, for many others, structurally out of reach; no matter how much they dream or how hard they work.

I know this because I've seen it. I once met an amazing person in Thailand. The kindest person I've ever met, to this day. With the biggest heart and what I would have called little dreams: travel to one or two nice places, somewhere far away. Little from my perspective. Gigantic, unreachable from hers. She probably never will. And while we were talking about this, I could see it in her eyes, in her expression, that she knew. Not because of anything she did or didn't do. But because she was born where she was born.

Travel Consciously

Layer climate on top of that, and the picture gets even more tangled. A small, affluent slice of humanity uses flying as a lifestyle, and for that group, air travel is often the single biggest part of their personal carbon footprint. The most frequent fliers, sometimes called super emitters, contribute to warming at rates tens of thousands of times higher than the global poor, who may never set foot on a plane. The freedom to collect countries and experiences is partly financed by people who contribute almost nothing to the problem but will be among the first to feel its consequences.

That doesn't mean never travel again is the only conclusion. It does mean we should treat travel not as a birthright but as a borrowed privilege with consequences for others. It does mean we need a healthier baseline than the usual you only live once, book the flight mantra. I suggest different questions: not Do I deserve this? but What does this trip cost others, environmentally, politically, economically, and how do I travel in a way that at least acknowledges that? That can mean fewer but longer trips. Choosing where our money goes locally. Being conscious of passport asymmetries. Or simply refusing to talk about travel as some universal standard everyone should meet when we know most people never will.

One reason you won't find any 10 things you must see in X or 10 things you must do in Y here is simple: there is no must.
Travel isn't a checklist. It's a privilege of time, money, freedom, health, and circumstance. For some, those align. For many, they don't.

So it's never a you must. At best, it's a do it if you can. And as long as there isn't a universal can, there can't be a universal must. Anything else would sound unearned. And vaguely judgmental.

I don't think we should travel less. Travel is an industry. Not only for the privileged, but for people whose livelihoods depend on tourism. For regions that enjoy environmental protection because it benefits tourism. But travel is more than an economy. It connects people. Not just individuals, but entire cultures. It opens perspectives, fosters understanding, and builds connections that can transform us and them into a shared we. It may not erase conflicts, but it can reduce the breeding ground for them, creating spaces where empathy and dialogue have room to grow.

We should travel consciously. Not treating our destinations as playgrounds with the I don't care vacation mindset. And particularly not treating our hosts as people with less value. Because once we are in the same place, in the same spot, we share circumstances. We breathe the same air. And we have always the same value.

Sources

  1. Bart Hawkins Kreps, "Inequality, the Climate Crisis, and the Frequent Flier" , Resilience , 2022
  2. Lorenzo Ferrari, "190 Million Europeans Have Never Been Abroad" , European Data Journalism Network , 2018
  3. "1% Super Emitters Responsible for Over 50% of Aviation Emissions" , Transport & Environment , 2020
  4. "A Growing Passport Divide Reshapes Global Mobility in 2026" , Henley & Partners , 2026

Published 2018. Last update February 2026

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Why this site exists, how I travel, and the practical philosophy behind short, unsponsored trips.