It may seem a bit counterproductive choosing to travel solo as a preference over travelling with the so-called “squad,” but I’ve come to learn that the whole reason I started this journey of what I assume will be some never ending travels was to grow as a person. Part of that growth is putting yourself outside of one’s comfort zone and forcing yourself to adapt to the type of dynamic change required to keep up with what can be the very challenging situations making up one’s trip.
So now the only “squad” I roll with is one which I construct while out on the road, comprised out of new people I meet with each new destination explored as opposed to travel buddies with whom I already go way back in my personal life.
Okay, so perhaps sometimes I do enjoy travelling with someone I know, but that almost never happens because you make plans together and a week before departure you realise that you’re the only one going, so might as well just make plans as if you’re travelling solo in any case.
That pretty much covers the first responsibility held by a traveller, which is to take responsibility for the planning aspects of your trip.
As far as rights go, every right a traveller has comes with a corresponding responsibility and there are a couple of each which I’d like to discuss.
The travellers’ right to basic health and safety
As you’ll know with the most basic of human rights which you might be protected by in your home country, the reality is that often enforcing your rights comes at some or other cost, be it a legal cost or a more direct one like having to pay for the basic health and safety which you’re entitled to. So the responsibility comes in the form of you having to take the initiative to request the basic health and safety services you may need and you also have the responsibility of protecting yourself through preventative measures, such as taking out health insurance for example.
Contributing to the upholding and enforcing of common law
It’s all part of what keeps the system going and part of what makes the system effective (or as effective as it can be), that being your responsibility to make your contributions to upholding and enforcing common law. A very simple example of this travellers’ responsibility is perhaps having been witness to some or other incident while you were doing nothing more than minding your own business, in which case you might be called upon to give your account of the events which transpired so that the law can take its cause.
So even if you weren’t personally involved in something like a trucking accident that might have happened while you were on the scene, it would be your responsibility to cooperate with the truck accident attorney representing the victim and their family, for example. On the flip-side, this is how your right to fair legal representation would be afforded to you if you might have been unfortunate enough to be more directly involved in the abovementioned incident, for example.
