Travel: where do we want to go?

In recent years, tourism has seen continuous growth, with significant percentage increases in several regions around the world. In many destinations, the number of visitors has doubled or even tripled in just a decade, driven by easy access to low-cost flights, globalization, and the rapid dissemination of online information. This phenomenon has given rise to so-called mass tourism, in which cities, beaches, and monuments receive influxes of visitors far exceeding their carrying capacity.

The consequences of this uncontrolled growth are evident. Environmentally, there is excessive pressure on fragile ecosystems: erosion of natural trails, destruction of habitats, increased pollution, and intensive consumption of resources such as water and energy. Culturally, local communities see their identity transformed or defaced, often reduced to a superficial image created to please visitors. Residents' daily lives are changing, with traditional commerce replaced by businesses geared exclusively toward tourists and rising housing and service prices.

One factor that intensifies this reality is the role of social media. The constant sharing of photos, videos, and travel stories creates a kind of global "competition" for tourist experiences, making certain destinations viral and encouraging thousands of people to visit them in search of the same perfect image. Without realizing it, many travelers who post their itineraries online contribute to mass tourism, helping to concentrate crowds in already saturated locations.

Therefore, it becomes essential to reflect on individual responsibility. Traveling is a privilege and an opportunity for personal enrichment, but it must be done consciously and respectfully. Constantly promoting destinations on social media may seem harmless, but when multiplied by millions, it has a real and profound impact on the environmental, cultural, and social balance of the places visited.

This phenomenon of mass tourism and incessant sharing can easily be extrapolated to other aspects of life: leisure, family life, or even the world of work—just open platforms like LinkedIn. Travel, meetings, or even professional achievements have often ceased to be the end in themselves and have become mere raw material for creating "content." The goal is no longer to live or experience, but rather to publish and share in the pursuit of external validation.

Paradoxically, many seemingly responsible adults, often the first to advocate for limiting cell phone use in schools (and rightly so), end up setting the opposite example: showing younger generations that life is only "real" if it has been digitized. This behavior creates a dangerous paradigm, in which the value of an experience is measured not by what is lived, but by the number of views or reactions it generates online. In the future, we will find it difficult to distinguish genuineness from lies, truth from fabrication.

Some argue that "the world has changed" and that all we can do is accept it. However, history shows us that a change of course is always possible. As Pedro Arrupe said, "I will not resign myself to the idea that, when I die, the world will continue as if I had never existed." We too have a responsibility to leave a positive mark.

Therefore, I propose: that we live a more discreet, more subtle life, and that we share only intentionally and personally, prioritizing authenticity over showmanship. I am convinced that if everyone takes this step, the world will become healthier, more humane, and, above all, better.

PS: Life is not just about us.

The texts in this section reflect the authors' personal opinions. They do not represent VISÃO nor reflect its editorial position.