Travel Quote Tuesday | Leave Only Footprints

“Take only memories, leave only footprints.” ~ Chief Si’ahl

Also known as Chief Seattle (an anglicisation of his actual name), Chief Si’ahl was a leading figure among his people, the Suquamish and Duwamish Native Americans. The city of Seattle in Washingston state was named for him, in celebration of his efforts to forge a positive relationship between his peoples and white immigrant settlers, and to fight for for officially recognised land rights for Native Americans. He was also noted for his focus on environmental responsibility and the protection of nature.

This message is of even more importance today, in an era where the ever increasing human population is plundering and exploiting the earth and its resources in a way that is wholly unsustainable in even the medium-term, let alone the longer term.

One of the biggest conundrums for us regarding our passion for travel is the knowledge that flights are a big contributor to the pollution humanity is pumping out. We do our best to balance this against an ethos of recycling and being environmentally aware in our daily lives, but it is a sticking point in terms of truly leaving no footprint, as Chief Si’ahl advocated.

"Take only memories, leave only footprints." ~ Chief Si'ahl

The pristine scenery in Finnish Lapland took our breath away, even – or perhaps especially – in the washed out blue light of midwinter, a season during which the sun limps towards the horizon for only the briefest of visits each day.

More Kavey Eats Travel Quotes, and a great list of 101 adventure travel quotes.

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2 Comments to "Travel Quote Tuesday | Leave Only Footprints"

  1. Val

    I agree, the flights are the major problem of a nomad’s life and I dont know how much we can truly balance it with our daily lived but we have to try at least! Raising awareness also is a great way to deal with that too. Lets try to do our best! Thanks for your valuable thoughts!

    Reply
  2. Henry SUV

    I’m form UAS and reading all this safe countries and then you add quotes was a surprise! I’m happy you had a great time, I’ve done many backpacking trips within my country and always had good experiences, I hope you did too.

    Reply

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