Unlucky 13

#13: Getting close to nature - Glacier hiking

I had my first try of glacier hiking while in Iceland and though we did not go very deep into the glaciers, I am glad I had the experience of putting on the crampons and hiking on the glaciers. It is an amazing feeling because the view that you get is simply amazing. Light blue icebergs lay in vast in front of you and all you had to do was to proceed with each step cautiously. Not to forget, you see rainbows at the end of the horizon and if only you could lie among those icebergs and not slide down or get into some moulin.

Every time I get so close up with nature, I feel so intimidated yet in awe that our Earth has so much to offer. Although tourism has caused much damage to our environment, I personally really value all these changing experiences that tourism can bring to a visitor's life. We should not stop tourism just because one or two of those tourists fail to abide by the rules and preserve whatever they come across. In fact, we should promote responsible tourism and enable the best of nature and a country's culture to be shared with the world. I love travelling because it has made me become a better person after every trip, to learn more about the world so that I can play a part in preserving it and sharing it with many others. In fact, I kind of disdain people who see travelling as a way of showing off their passports and bragging about the number of countries or cities that they have visited.

In Chinese, travelling is known as 旅行 or 旅游. I personally prefer the the former term because it means a journey whereas the latter has more of a fun connotation to it. The latter properly requires staying in fanciful hotels, indulging yourself in the best cuisine and bringing back precious loots. In every city or country that I visit, I always try to bring back something that represents the place, be it something that can be used or merely an ornament. To me, that is a momento to remind me of my experiences in the place. Some of my friends chide me for buying such useless stuff but to me, it is not a bad spending habit or whatsoever. It is just my way of living out my favourite travel quote, "To travel the world - leave nothing but footprints, kill nothing but time and take nothing but photographs".