Some of my most memorable travel experiences have been ones in which I have been fully emersed in nature, so it was no surprise to me that our trip to Wicklow mountains has been my favorite experience on the trip thus far. Escaping the city was a truly tranquil experience and I’d love to go back later in life to spend some more time there. In the afternoon, we visited a charming little city called Kilkenny where I visited the interior of a medieval castle, shopped around, and took a break at a coffee shop for some afternoon tea. 

In my previous blog post, I briefly talked about how often when I visit highly touristic areas, I often feel a sense of sadness come over me as I witness local cultures being diluted down into commodities. I had yet to experience this in Ireland until yesterday when we visited a sheep farm on our way to Wicklow mountains. While I thought the demonstration of the sheep herding was interesting, later I had to walk away as people began passing around baby lambs to get their perfect photo opp. It was obvious that the lambs were uncomfortable, and their mothers were scared as their babies were being taken away from them. It was hard to watch this happening in front of me because it seemed obvious that there was a more ethical way to go about the demonstration. Not to mention, I think of COVID-19 has taught us anything, it’s to be more careful about disease and what actions can spread disease across international borders. Overall, yesterday brought up a lot of questions about the ethical way to travel and if there even is a truly ethical way to be a tourist — questions I believe there are no easy answers to.