Introducing the Travel Matters team! - Elisa
Get to know our amazing team!
In celebration of gaining our B Corp certification, we would like to give you a peek behind the scenes and introduce our amazing team! This is our introduction series of our team members.
This week we would love to introduce our Travel Writer and Contributor, Elisa. She is a curious, respectful, and community-oriented traveler.
In our interview with Elisa, she shared her insights and wisdom about everything travel related. Read further to get to know more about Elisa!
What kind of traveller are you?
Curious, respectful and community-oriented. I love listening to the local stories from the local perspectives, I tend to seek out the less travelled paths. I usually ask a lot of questions while I am travelling, and I remain open as possible to what’s in front of me. I try to connect and listen to the place, waiting to see what it has to offer, and although I love planning and studying the maps, I remain flexible to change my travel plans and daily route if the flow of the moment takes me somewhere else.
I love exploring the places that I visit by walking for hours or by using public transport. I know that I am not a local and don’t pretend to be one. Also, accepting my diversity opens new opportunities for unexpected encounters. I know that in most of the countries that I visit, I am privileged simply because I can travel and because I hold a European passport by birth.
What is your favourite destination? why?
Brazil. I believe this is my favourite destination because it was my first travel love.
Brazil was the first country on a different continent I visited completely alone. I went there for three months without knowing a single person, with the mission of carrying out my field research that would serve as the basis for my Italian master’s thesis in Sociology and Anthropology. I fell deeply in love with a very diverse and fascinating country, rich in contrast, colours and traditions. Over the years I went back several times to work and study.
I had the chance to travel the country extensively and encounter many of the different cultures that make up the Brazilian nation. Besides that, this is where I met tourism, several local indigenous and traditional communities and their amazing CBT projects, in rural as well as urban settings. After 20 years from the first time I set foot in its land, the country continues to enchant me and surprise me. Especially the strength and the creativity of its people, who are extraordinarily resourceful and resilient in an inspiring and encouraging way.
What do you wish people knew about your favourite destination?
I would like people to know that Brazil has an immense variety of ethnicity and cultures, and goes far beyond those top four or five destinations that people usually identify with.
Brazil has many social, historical and cultural layers and it is extremely rich, not only in biodiversity. Sadly though, its many stories remain untold and unseen. Therefore I would invite travellers to explore the country more with the local communities, which increasingly offer authentic and engaging grassroots experiences that have positive impacts and become an important tool for self-empowerment and social and economic improvement of the well-being of the local population.
What are your top 3 responsible travel tips?
When you travel, always remember that you are a guest in someone else’s home.
Respect what you don’t know and keep an open mind on any aspects of the social life you visit – you don’t have to accept them, but you shouldn’t judge them either. Your culture is not the centre of the universe but only one of the thousands of others on this planet.
Be aware of the major local environmental struggles (such as water scarcity and pollution, for example) and do your best not to overburden the situation.
Also keep your carbon footprint as low as possible by preferring environmentally friendly means of transportation, and, last but not least, by being aware of the waste you produce and controlling your behaviours.
How do you Make Travel Matter while overseas?
Travel is an incredible opportunity for personal growth and societal transformation. There is so much to learn around us. Every choice we make as tourists has consequences on the destination: the impact always exists, however, whether it is positive or negative depends entirely on our conscious decisions.
Travel, when done responsibly can bring opportunities for mutual enrichment. I make Travel Matter by bringing that awareness to my travel experience and sharing my experience with other audiences.
What do you want to see in the future in the travel industry?
I would like to see ethnic minorities and local communities becoming an active part of the decision-making process in the type of tourism offered in a destination.
I would love to see a truly diverse, inclusive and equitable industry, beyond the greenwashed declarations of good intentions.
I would love to see an industry that welcomes the variety of narratives our societies are made of and is ready to include all the unheard voices, providing equal opportunities for women, all identities and minorities.
If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go and who would you bring with you?
I would travel to a remote destination, surrounded by the sea – perhaps Iceland, or the Faroes Islands – and I would spend a lot of time in silence, completely immersed in nature, absorbing the energy of the water, before sitting around a campfire with local community members.
I will bring my camera, a pen and a notepad to collect my emotional reactions to the environment, but also to gather those elements for future visitors and, most importantly, to record the local stories shared by my hosts and help prepare meaningful encounters.
Anything else you would like to add?
I’d like to add an invitation. Keep travelling, keep learning and exploring: the world is huge and diverse, and travel is the best way of experiencing that.
Psst. Look out for our next posts as we introduce other members of the team!
