The Ethics of Haggling in a Developing Country

Frugality is a virtue, especially when it comes to travelling. There is a problem, however, when frugality turns selfish; when a penny-pinching mentality is adopted in developing countries, and you start haggling over certain things, involving differences in price that are more or less negligible for you. No one likes to be ripped off, especially…

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Making a Difference in Developing Countries: Volunteering vs Tourism

There has long been controversy about ‘voluntourism’: an industry that caters to (mostly) Westerners and places them on volunteering programmes in developing countries. The industry offers those on a gap year the promise of making a difference in the deprived lives of others. On the surface, if a volunteer is flying to the other side…

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