Dear reader,
If you have picked up this magazine, it is likely that you belong to the 3.6% of the global population that does not live in their birth country, or at least to the approximated 30% that has traveled outside their home country before. Because even though freedom of movement is considered a human right, the amount of people who can exercise it is clearly in the minority.
As we wrote the articles that you have in front of you from the perspective of the fortunate ones, we have the privilege to be able to narrate the possibilities that lie in travel, how it can enrich and change an individual’s life. It has a way of changing us – not in the instant we land, but in the quiet moments after we return. It lingers. It unsettles. It teaches. When we move across borders, we also move inward, confronting ourselves in unfamiliar mirrors.
Given this reality, it was all the more important to us to provide facts about the harsh reality behind the beautiful mask of the travel industry, visible in advertisements, on social media or in typical travel magazines: We uncover the destruction of our ecological spheres, the exclusion of disabled people and the marginalisation of local populations and socially disadvantaged communities.
But we also offer you the chance to discover a new side of exploration: When we leave our homes, we begin to appreciate what we have always had right in front of us. Sometimes, it is only through distance that we truly notice the many positive aspects about our own homes.
Looking back at pictures and videos of our home regions, we realised that every single one’s landscape and vivacity is so uniquely different from the other ones – and yet, every single one of them is worth exploring.
Perhaps the greatest surprise of all is that travel can deepen our connection to where we come from. What once felt familiar becomes layered with meaning. In exploring the world, we begin to rediscover our place in it.
Editors team
