Responsible Travel through the Myanmar / Burma Lens

Thoughts on responsible travel and the connection between travel and politics through the Myanmar / Burma lens.

Jan 27, 2025

I want to start by asking you two questions.

When was the first time you associated travel with politics?
Do you think about responsible tourism?

I love travelling, exploring different cultures, scenery and food (which can be challenging sometimes because of the whole celiac thing). On the other hand, there is also guilt. I feel guilt for contributing to the problem by travelling.

Of course, there are ways to be more responsible and respectful when you travel. I think about responsible travel every single time I plan a trip.

The first time I associated travel with politics, was in 2017 when I visited Myanmar / Burma. I was there for a photography workshop (my second one), and it was pivotal in many ways. It also happened to be the first time I gave responsible tourism more thought.

I shared my thoughts on responsible travel and the connection between travel and politics through the lens of that trip to Myanmar / Burma, along side some of the photos I took. I hesitated on posting any of the photos at all, but decided to share them to showcase the amazing country, customs and people.

The ongoing Rohingya genocide breaks my heart and my thoughts are with the people of Myanmar / Burma who have been under military rule for decades, and deep in a civil war since 2021.

I narrowed down 275 photos posted on my online gallery to 9, just for you.