Ethical Wanders

01/25/2019

A short, simple piece I wrote upon landing back home, an abrupt decision that brought me back to my homeland after 16 months away -and no intentions of returning soon.
Probably one of the top questions people have been asking, and one of the hardest to answer simply.
So, what is it like to come back?

Coming home: How does it feel? Posted on January 21, 2019 by Marika20100 Part of me knew, from the very second my dad called me, I would go back home to be there for my family, but the rest of me took a few days to wrap its mind around it. Really? Is it really the end, already? I thought I had more....

12/21/2018

'' [...] This being said, it is also true that women are much more likely to be abused or assaulted (whether they are travelling or not, but we’ll talk about that later). So, although I hate it and know that I am never responsible for an abuser’s actions, no matter how I dress, I also know and recognize that I need to do everything I can to compensate the added vulnerabilities due to the fact that I am a woman travelling by herself. (Yes, that’s what not having a privilege feels like -and the only one I don’t have is being a man…).''

Over the past year, and even more so in the last months of travelling by myself, I've received countless advice and well-intentioned ''warnings''. Funny enough, not many were from women, even less from hitchhikers and almost none from female hitchhikers. This is the same issue I adressed in my piece on safety, where people who aren't concerned and have no real knowledge or experience of a situation will still take it upon themselves to dictate to other people, especially women, how they should behave.
As you'll read in the article, I hate writing this article, as I hate the idea that being a woman will dictate anything about how I can exist in this world. This being said, if we're going to talk about how female hitchhikers should behave, we might as well have pieces written by actual women, who actually hitchhike.

5 tips for hitchhiking solo as a woman (by an actual woman, who actually hitchhikes) Posted on December 19, 2018 by Marika20100 Although I wish this wasn’t needed, travelling and hitchhiking solo as a woman will make you *feel more vulnerable. There are a few basics that can help you *feel safe an...

11/28/2018

What? This still exists? Yeah, sorry for the silence. As you probably know by now, I'm back home (and if you didn't, scroll down on the blog to see the updated map :D ), but don't worry! Late as I am, I still have at least 10 articles to write before I leave again, and have even more to write about.
Add this to your incessant to-do list my friends

Travelling ethically: A short introduction to my philosophy Posted on November 23, 2018 by Marika20100 Beyond the pretty words, what kind of daily choices do I make while travelling? What are my main ideas and principles on how to travel more ethically -or less unethically? (Also based on the most c...

10/29/2018

10/29/2018

When in Pisa.
(May-July 2018)

10/22/2018

I've been meaning to write this article for a long time. Of course, I couldn't write about travelling ethically without considering the environmental impact of it. So I started researching. Turns out planes are not the biggest bidders when it comes to pollution in tourism and travelling. Maybe we all need to take a look at the environmental cost of the technological revolution we are living, and our everyday actions involving our computers and internet, rather than only considering the visible impact we have.
The pollution generated by the internet industry might seem intangible, invisible, but it is very real, and probably one of the biggest threat we will have to adress in the coming years (well, today actually).

The pollution behind these words. Posted on October 22, 2018 by Marika20100 Did you know that: “Worldwide, the digital warehouses use about 30 billion watts of electricity, roughly equivalent to the output of 30 nuclear power plants, according to estimates industry experts compiled for The Times.....

10/15/2018

As we were heading North, after 3 months in Morocco, the officials' sudden irrational decision to initiate mass dog shootings rushed us back to Tamraght, where MAA - Morocco Animal Aid was flooded with dogs suffering from gun-shot wounds, new orphans and refugee dogs, on top of the usual residents.
Here's more on what happened, how we helped, and how I ended up flying from Casablanca to Italy! (Don't worry, I spared you the gruesome details and filled it with pictures of fluffy baby animals).
Although it's easy to feel powerless, there's always a way to do our part!
*Special thanks to Lucy Austin and Christopher AndJasmine who always do more, and inspire us to do the same

Morocco Animal Aid and why I took a plane to Italy Posted on October 11, 2018 by Marika20100 I met Chris as I was walking back to my settlement on the beach of Taghazout with my one-night dog I named Picasso, who turned out to be Django, one of the many village dogs everybody knows and loves. [Altho...

09/26/2018

Après une semaine sans pouvoir te raconter ce qui se passait, 3 jours à planifier comment j'allais te surprendre à Sherbrooke et avoir failli te dévoiler la surprise mille fois, so worth it.

09/25/2018

SURPRISE, SURPRISE, I'm back! Comme mon retour était soudain et imprévu pour des raisons familiales, j'en ai profité pour faire quelques surprises (la meilleure réaction, celle de ma mère: ''What the f**k?!'').
Bien que j'aimerais tou.te.s vous surprendre ainsi (après un an et demi c'est un peu un anti-climax de juste vous dire que je suis revenue), après 2 semaines à garder le secret, je dois me rendre à l'évidence, j'ai pas la patience. J'me suis dit, suffit le niaisage, j'ai juste envie de le dire à tout le monde, et comme tout.e bon.ne millenial, un post facebook s'imposait.
Aussi, I just wanted to feel the love (et le partager, vous êtes même pas prêt, je suis rendue sentimentale p*s toute). Revenir à la maison sans être prête, avec des petits morceaux de coeur et d'identité éparpillés au vent, ça te fait sentir vide un peu. Au fond c'est vous qui faites que la maison c'est la maison.

Est-ce que je suis de retour pour de bon? Claro que non. Mais, je vais prendre le temps de squatter vos divans et voir vos faces.

À bientôt Montréal.

09/10/2018

Probably the most discussed topic, yet subject to a ton of misrepresentations and very little useful information, the infamous: Safety.
I often feel a certain uneasiness when discussing (or being asked) about safety, and I thought I'd write it down so we can reflect on it together.
*As usual, with my very limited point of view.

Here it is!

The safety issue (or my issues with how we talk about safety) Posted on September 2, 2018 by Marika20100 This is probably the most important and most ambiguous concept when you travel: Safety. Everyone understands the general concept: keep your things safe, avoid looking like a lost tourist, be care...