Page 39 - 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, travels is another way to lessen
because of time. The more time our environmental impact on the
we spend in a destination, the places we visit, and decelerate
more deeply it becomes etched our sense of time while we’re at it.
in our hearts and minds and, We’ve all experienced that feeling
more importantly, the greater the of everything speeding up as we zip
positive impact we can potentially between shops and restaurants and
have while we’re there. Which is sites and museums in a single day.
why, for anyone aspiring to become But the opposite happens when
a more eco-conscious traveller, one we’re out on hiking and biking trips,
of the best things we can do is foster camping and boating adventures.
a slower, ‘less but better’ attitude to Everything goes into slow motion,
international jaunts. and we have time to uncurl and
blossom into our surroundings.
As David Wallace-Wells writes
in his bestselling 2019 book The
Uninhabitable Earth, every plane Left: Nina Karnikowski, Minjerribah
seat from New York to London Camping, North Stradbroke Island.
burns the same amount of carbon as Photo courtesy by Peter Windrim
eight months of driving, and melts Right and below: Paronella Park,
another three square metres of the abandoned Spanish castle in
Arctic ice. Which bears questioning, the rainforest in North Queensland.
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 Immersion in a flourishing natural
the journey – those long train, environment has also been proven,
van or boat trips – as much as the by studies in Italy and Japan, to
destination, resisting the urge to make our brains healthier, increase
pack our itineraries to the brim, our attention span and creativity,
so we can stay open to discovery and lower blood pressure, heart rate
and serendipity. 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
“Being surrounded by flora and fauna in the senses – the smell of the plants
and soil around us, the soothing
wilderness inspires us to feel awe for our sight of greenery, the feel of the
earth beneath our feet, the gentle
murmur of the forest – helping us
planet, something research tells us makes stay focused, mindful and present.
Being surrounded by flora and
us feel kinder and more generous, and fauna in the wilderness inspires
us to feel awe for our planet,
something research tells us makes
encourages us to put the needs of others and us feel kinder and more generous,
and encourages us to put the needs
the world at large above our own.” 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
NINA KARNIKOWSKI create the change we want to see.
Author

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