Hm, discussions face to face are better, I agree. But sometimes this is not possible, and happily we have the alternative of communicating respectfully via the internet. From my point of view, all air travel, for whatever purpose, tango, work or social, should be kept to a minimum for the sake of the environment. There are other things we can do too to minimise the footprint we leave behind, such as reduce our use of plastic, not buy bottled water, not drive a car, recycle our waste, and so on. It’s a huge subject, but I limited myself here to discussing the sides that relate to tango and the increasing volume of tango travel. It is nice that you invite your visiting friends to local milongas. As for big or small cities, Stockholm has quite a large tango community, although a large part of it is out travelling at weekends. There are smaller towns in Sweden with not so many dancers or events. But it is possible to take the train to a larger city. PS I hardly ever travel abroad for tango (four times in 14 years) but will be taking the boat to Finland for Tangosauna this summer! So if you want we can continue this discussion face to face then. But I will be there to have fun and dance, not to argue. 🙂

I would love to discuss this face to face in Tangosauna which i also will be coming. This is not an argument from my side but more of a disagreement with what you say. Everybody wants to contribute the efforts of making world better place. If we start taking it down to this kind of details then we should also discuss about how we evolve and advanced on many disciplines that created this massive consumer minded community. For instance why people want to eat tomatoes whole year? It can only be available for 1-2 months in relatively warm climates during summer. But the world is consuming it whole year unrelated with their climate. I agree every little action drives the big picture and i appreciate your initiative about improving local tango scene but i do not see your point not to travel for tango as a solution to any of the concerns.

Yes, I believe there are lots and lots of things we can all do to gradually achieve change. By living according to our beliefs, and by letting others know what we believe in, we can prepare the ground for more fundamental and infrastructural changes. Eating local produce in season is a good example (the tomatoes you mentioned). Air traffic has increased enormously in recent years, and consumer cultures such as the one that tango has become are part of the problem. We can all help by looking at our own habits. I don’t think it would be realistic to hope for a total ban on flying. But most of us can reduce our air travel voluntarily. Abstaining from two or three trips a year, and taking the train when possible, would make a difference, if everyone did it. Meat is another serious cause of greenhouse gases. Not everyone wants to be a vegetarian, but we can reduce our consumption to perhaps once a week, or once a month. See you this summer! 🙂

Looking forward