3 November 2025
A letter from the future:
Redefining How People Travel, Dress and Connect with Local Cultures and Communities
In this vision of 2040, travel and fashion evolve into tools for regeneration. Explore how conscious choices, circular fashion, and lighter travel habits could help us solve climate change — starting today.
Hi, I’m Cristina — the human soul behind SKIPMYBAG, a project born from my love for travel and our planet.
I’ve always loved exploring new places, but I began to notice something. The way we travel today often comes with a cost. Overconsumption. Fast fashion. Overpacking. Choices that do not always reflect our values.
As part of the Climate Change: Learning for Action course I'm taking with Terra.do, we were invited to imagine a future where humanity successfully tackled the climate crisis—and to reflect on the role we each played in that transformation. Below is my vision of that future, where travel evolves from being part of the problem to becoming a powerful part of the solution.
It’s 2040... and We Solved Climate Change
The year is 2040. Our planet breathes easier now. The air feels cleaner, cities sound quieter, and people move through life with a deeper sense of purpose and belonging. Humanity has finally come to understand that we are not separate from nature; we are part of it. We’ve shifted from an age of overconsumption to one of regeneration and mindful consumption. And I’m proud to have played a small but meaningful role in that transformation.
A Turning Point
My journey began two decades ago, in 2020, during a time of collective pause. The world had come to a standstill. As the COVID-19 pandemic forced us to stay home, I suddenly saw my life and the world through a new lens.
I realised how disconnected I had been from the impact of my everyday choices. Working from home, surrounded by clothes I barely wore, I asked myself a simple question: How much do I really need?
To clear space, I began giving my unused clothes a second life, selling them on second-hand platforms or donating them to charity shops. At first, it was practical, a way to declutter my wardrobe. But something shifted inside me. I started to feel uncomfortable with the excess I had accumulated, with the ease with which I consumed without thinking. Slowly, a new mindset began to take root, one grounded in intentional living and conscious consumption.
The Awakening
At that time, I was working in the media industry. Although I enjoyed the intellectual challenge of working with data, technology and strategy, I gradually became aware of a growing disconnect between my professional responsibilities and my personal values.
I realised that my expertise was being used to support many industries that contribute to overproduction, encourage wasteful consumer trends, and perpetuate unsustainable patterns of consumption. That moment really made me pause and look inward. I had to admit to myself - however uncomfortable it was - that the work I was doing was part of a much bigger problem.
The Spark
One day, while packing for a trip to Spain from London - a journey I made often - I found myself frustrated. I was spending hours packing clothes I rarely wore and buying new outfits specifically for these trips. I realised I was making those choices out of habit, without really thinking about them.
And I began to imagine a different way to travel - one where we could explore the world without a suitcase, without overbuying, or leaving a trail of waste behind.
That was the spark that became SKIPMYBAG - an idea rooted in reimagining travel and fashion for a sustainable future. The concept was simple: what if travellers could rent or buy locally sourced, climate-appropriate outfits at their destination instead of packing and buying new clothes for their trips? What if travel could empower local designers and circular economies rather than fuel fast fashion and carbon-heavy production?
Building the Change
Over the following decade, SKIPMYBAG grew from a small startup into a global travel-fashion platform. By 2030, we were operating in more than 45 countries, connecting conscious travellers with local sustainable brands and helping cities reduce waste linked to fast-fashion purchases made specifically for trips. This includes impulse buys, low-quality garments worn only once, and clothing often discarded after holidays.
We also helped address tourism-related waste and behaviours, such as excess baggage, broken or abandoned suitcases, and packaging from last-minute buying. Heavier baggage increases emissions across all forms of transport, because more weight requires more energy to move. This applies not only to flights, but also to trains, buses, ferries, taxis, and ride-hailing services, where an additional load leads to higher fuel consumption or greater electricity usage.
SKIPMYBAG also contributed to reducing the noise pollution created by rolling suitcases on pavements. Research shows that repeated tourism-related noise contributes to mental fatigue, stress, and anxiety among locals, particularly in highly visited neighbourhoods. By encouraging lighter and more intentional travel, we offered a practical way to ease these pressures and support more sustainable movement through cities.
Our model inspired transformative policies in both tourism and fashion. Governments began championing local production, minimising textile waste, penalising fast-fashion overproduction, and banning harmful materials such as PFAS (“forever chemicals”), azo dyes, formaldehyde, phthalates, and exotic animal skins from clothing. These bans drove substantial industry shifts: brands reformulated products, invested in safer alternatives, and increased supply chain transparency. Manufacturers adopted innovative, eco-friendly materials, fuelling rapid growth in the sustainable fashion market. These changes led to improved worker safety and fair wages, reduced environmental pollution, and greater consumer confidence in clothing products. Additionally, policies supporting rental-based travel experiences encouraged circular business models, further reducing waste and strengthening local economies.
A Global Shift
But change wasn’t just happening through technology or business models; it was, above all, a cultural shift. People began to prioritise meaningful experiences over material possessions. Governments, brands, and citizens aligned around a shared understanding that sustainable living wasn’t a sacrifice; it was a liberation from the old systems that no longer served our collective well-being.
The broader global shift was remarkable. Between 2025 and 2035, coordinated climate action swept across industries and societies. Renewable energy emerged as the primary source of power, circular business models replaced linear production, and carbon emissions dropped sharply as governments incentivised sustainable consumption and travel.
Education systems also evolved, embedding climate literacy from early childhood. This empowered a new generation, one that understood both the importance of data and technology, but also the necessity of empathy and unity in shaping a resilient, regenerative future.
2040: The World We Created
By 2040, the impact of our collective efforts was unmistakable. Global emissions had plummeted, and the planet was gradually healing - its recovery visible in the resurgence of once-endangered ecosystems. Industries that had previously driven environmental harm reinvented themselves, embracing principles of circularity and regeneration.
Standing here today, sharing this story with the Terra.do community, I am filled with immense gratitude. The transformation we celebrate was not the result of a single invention, industry, or individual. Instead, it emerged from a global awakening, a movement powered by millions who decided that “enough” was truly enough.
It was the combined actions of learners, innovators, everyday citizens and governments who believed in our ability to rewrite the future. Together, we proved that meaningful change is possible when we act with purpose and unity.
For me, SKIPMYBAG became much more than just a company; it grew into a powerful symbol of what’s possible when personal purpose aligns with the needs of the planet. It demonstrated that small, intentional choices, like buying fewer clothes and supporting local and sustainable businesses instead of global brands, can spark systemic transformation.
The lesson I’ve carried through these fifteen years is simple: big change starts with small decisions, repeated consistently, and shared collectively.
The future we dreamt of in 2025 is now our reality, not because we waited for change, but because we chose to act.
This is just my vision of the future. What's yours?