Sustainability tends to be framed in quite an idealistic way, as though it is a puzzle you can solve if you just try hard enough, with zero waste and perfectly ethical choices at every turn, leaving nothing to feel guilty about. But international travel involves trade-offs that make those standards difficult to meet in practice. As I have been preparing for a summer school in Brazil, I have started to see sustainability less as a question of doing everything right, and more as a question of setting honest priorities. For me, that means focusing on meaningful impact over symbolic gestures, which reflects the core idea behind SDG 12 on responsible consumption.
Some impacts are simply unavoidable, and a long-haul flight to Brazil is one of them. Rather than relying on offsets that can create a sense of balance without much real change, I have focused on the decisions that are actually within my control. There is a clear difference between travelling with a tourist mindset, where consumption becomes constant and often unplanned, and approaching a place more like a temporary resident. I plan to rely on public transport where possible, and prepare my own meals when it is practical. I also want to be more deliberate about what I spend money on. Each of these choices is small on its own, but together they shape the overall impact of the experience in a way that feels more grounded than one-off gestures.
I have also become more aware of how easy it is to undo good decisions without realising it. A lower-impact choice in one area can create room for more consumption elsewhere, effectively cancelling out the benefit, which is often described as the rebound effect. This highlights why sustainability cannot be treated as a checklist. What matters more is the overall pattern of behaviour, rather than isolated decisions.
Being in Brazil also changes the context in important ways. Cities there face challenges around congestion and inequality, as well as uneven access to resources. This means the impact of everyday decisions can look quite different compared to the UK. I want to stay conscious of how my presence interacts with those systems. That includes choosing locally owned businesses instead of defaulting to global chains, and being more aware of how I use shared resources. More broadly, it means engaging with the place in a way that contributes rather than simply extracts. In this sense, sustainability extends beyond environmental concerns and connects to SDG 11, which focuses on more inclusive and sustainable communities.
Overall, this experience has shifted how I think about travelling responsibly. Rather than aiming for perfection, which can easily become performative, I want to focus on awareness and prioritising the decisions that have the greatest impact. That feels like a more realistic and meaningful way to approach sustainability.
