Technology has allowed us to travel further and more quickly than ever before, making the world a smaller place. Constant innovations help quench our thirst for more adventure, more convenience and more connectivity. It’s probably still most people’s dream to travel and see the world; and why not, it is a beautiful place! With costs coming down, more routes opening up and selfies spiralling, the possibilities seem endless. Yet, in this dizzy excitement of growing our own worlds, we have neglected the impact on our actual world. It is human instinct to travel. It is part of our evolution, what makes us feel alive and feeds the soul. It is philosophy, education, and wonder. With climate change and overtoursim at its current zenith however, we need to learn how to travel more sustainably and what this actually means. We want to open conversations, share stories and through celebrating the beauty of our natural and cultural world, take the necessary steps in protecting what we love. The word 'overtoursim' was in fact shortlisted as a Word of the Year in 2018, a word so new that it doesn’t yet have a place in the dictionary. A good example (a place we are yet to visit), is Thailand’s Maya Bay, which shot to international fame when it featured in The Beach, is closed until further notice. 1000’s of clumsy tourists a day arriving by speed boat, grabbing the corals and shedding sun cream (proven to kill corals) has indeed taken its toll. According to a National Geographic survey, many travellers want to support sustainable travel and tourism, however the concept remains fuzzy with only a small percentage of people, mostly young, actually aware of what it really means. When we asked the question “What does sustainable tourism mean to you?” on our social media, it was met with replies like ‘Delicate issue’. ‘Can of worms’. ‘Stay at home?’. But this is exactly why we want to proactively open up the conversations. It’s also relevant to our business - we make shorts to be worn in the sunshine, on soulful escapes! Leading the way, through storytelling and adventure is friend and documentary maker James Levelle. In 2021, James journeyed 7000 miles from the UK to Chile, fossil fuel free. His goal is to understand the climate crisis better and deliver a message from the global youth he meets along the way to politicians and the world at the UN Climate Conference this December. Crossing an ocean by wind power on a tall ship, and cycling on land through countries known and new, inspires us greatly. Maybe it’s time to slow down when we travel. Perhaps the journey is our time away. On the isles of Greece, one of our long-standing shorts customers, Noa, organises swimming tours. He aims to create experiences that bring people closer to the sea and therefore deepen their connection with it. “The goal is for my tours to be a platform enabling education in environmental sustainability.” Although he admits he is always amazed at how many of his customers are both uninformed and in denial. “All work in progress, but a process we can no longer leave for tomorrow, or others.” Another example of ‘work in progress, is the guided luxury surf tours organised by our board shorts ambassador, Felippe dal Piero (Mahalo Surf Experience) in the Maldives. The combination of being an island nation and not having proper waste management makes plastic pollution a huge problem there. A tiny win however has been to successfully push to install water filters on all the charter boats in the area, encouraging guests to bring their reusable bottles. But it’s the work of Six Senses Laamu, who are creating real positive change in the local ecosystem and communities through their sustainable initiatives. Could examples like these inspire more of the tourism industry to follow suit? For us, we have always strived to make our shorts in the most sustainable way possible. We are aware of the challenges, the pitfalls and the compromises, but we are also mindful of the opportunities of using business as a force for good. Part of the reason we started our small business was to align commerce with a positive lifestyle. Just as we have a responsibility for what we make and how we make it, how do we link these values to where our shorts are worn and how they get there? "We want the positive footprints of our shorts to last long after they have been made, passed through a conscious community of caretakers, and champions of travel." Over time, we hope to dive deeper into this topic, to inspire, connect and share.