Page 38 - Mirvac Residential Magazine_Issue_15

The reason these details remain so Putting nature at the centre of our
vivid eight years on is, of course,
because of time. The more time
we spend in a destination, the
more deeply it becomes etched
in our hearts and minds and,
more importantly, the greater the
positive impact we can potentially
have while we’re there. Which is
why, for anyone aspiring to become
a more eco-conscious traveller, one
of the best things we can do is foster
a slower, ‘less but better’ attitude to
international jaunts.
As David Wallace-Wells writes
in his bestselling 2019 book The
Uninhabitable Earth, every plane
seat from New York to London
burns the same amount of carbon as
eight months of driving, and melts
another three square metres of
Arctic ice. Which bears questioning,
before booking that next long-haul
flight, whether we can stay in that
place for longer, or find somewhere
closer to home that might provide
the same sense of freedom and
stimulation we are craving from
far-flung places.
Slower travel means not only taking
fewer but longer trips, by storing
up vacation days or waiting for a
sabbatical or long-service leave,
but also picking one place rather
than four to visit in a week, and
considering off-season travel,
when the crowds have thinned
and locals are happier to receive
visitors. It also means savouring
the journey – those long train,
van or boat trips – as much as the
destination, resisting the urge to
pack our itineraries to the brim,
so we can stay open to discovery
and serendipity.
“Being surrounded by flora and fauna in the
wilderness inspires us to feel awe for our
planet, something research tells us makes
us feel kinder and more generous, and
encourages us to put the needs of others and
the world at large above our own.”
NINA KARNIKOWSKI
Author
36 ISSUE 15 SUMMER 2022 The Right Place by Mirvac
travels is another way to lessen
our environmental impact on the
places we visit, and decelerate
our sense of time while we’re at it.
We’ve all experienced that feeling
of everything speeding up as we zip
between shops and restaurants and
sites and museums in a single day.
But the opposite happens when
we’re out on hiking and biking trips,
camping and boating adventures.
Everything goes into slow motion,
and we have time to uncurl and
blossom into our surroundings.
Left: Nina Karnikowski, Minjerribah
Camping, North Stradbroke Island.
Photo courtesy by Peter Windrim
Right and below: Paronella Park,
the abandoned Spanish castle in
the rainforest in North Queensland.
Immersion in a flourishing natural
environment has also been proven,
by studies in Italy and Japan, to
make our brains healthier, increase
our attention span and creativity,
and lower blood pressure, heart rate
and levels of the stress hormone
cortisol. This is what the Japanese
call shinrin-yoku, or forest bathing,
which encourages us to slow down
and soak up nature with all our
senses – the smell of the plants
and soil around us, the soothing
sight of greenery, the feel of the
earth beneath our feet, the gentle
murmur of the forest – helping us
stay focused, mindful and present.
Being surrounded by flora and
fauna in the wilderness inspires
us to feel awe for our planet,
something research tells us makes
us feel kinder and more generous,
and encourages us to put the needs
of others and the world at large
above our own. The very thing we
need to do, if we are going to live
in harmony with our planet, and
create the change we want to see.
The Right Place by Mirvac ISSUE 15 SUMMER 2022 37