Those Who Wander Open Debate #2
Does Travel Grant Us a Realistic View of the World?
Greetings fellow wanderers,
Last month I introduced a new feature here at Those Who Wander—a Those Who Wander Open Debate. To reiterate, I’ll post a monthly debate question instead of a weekly one for that week focusing on various travel and adventure topics.
The format is simple. I will post a question for debate and pose a 1-2 paragraph prompt about the question. There will then be a poll and an opportunity to leave a comment to expand on your answer. Please feel free to respond with any length you like and if you have any research you’ve come across on the topic, I would love for you to share it with us here.
I will also repost the stats from the previous month’s months poll. In August, I posed the question “Does travel promote empathy?” with 47% answering ‘Yes’ and 53% responding ‘Sometimes.’ There were plenty of fantastic responses so thank you to everyone who participated!
Now onto today’s question and prompt:
Does travel grant us a realistic view of the world?
Travel is sometimes simply about relaxation and rejuvenation but often it is also a philosophical exercise—I’m interested in the question of how we gain a true sense of what our world is about. I find a lot of hubris in the notion that one can know much about another place, a culture, or another group of people all from the comforts of their armchairs and computer screens. Thus, I’ve always assumed that one must be out in the world with all senses present in a place to have any hope of getting at the “truth” or reality of our world. Hence why I’ve argued travel and adventure are existential concerns. However, uncovering this reality isn’t always easy.
On some excursions, I’ve wondered if I’m merely a naïve tourist unsuspectingly trapped in some kind of tourist zoo where the smiling talkative waiters bringing my food and coffee and everyone else attending to my needs are merely doing so because that’s what the job requires to facilitate a hospitable environment for guests. Are all the locals also in on the ruse, feigning acts of kindness and generosity because they know their local economy depends on the traveler’s dollar? Can we sincerely form meaningful relationships with others in this capitalistic context? If you’ve ever watched the comedy-drama series The White Lotus on HBO, you’ll recall that the show masterfully explores this underlying theme. Have things been so designed to simply give the appearance of authenticity in all these popular places we may roam?
I’m not so conspiratorial or cynical as to think this is what’s genuinely happening at all the places I may travel to, but it’s still not clear to me how to define what an “authentic” experience is or how best to achieve it when we find ourselves in unfamiliar territory. Perhaps it depends on how long we can inhabit a place. When I’ve been out backpacking and in the woods for several days or months, that certainly feels authentic, but I’m less sure when I find myself in a popular destination such as Hawaii or Cancun. While there are undoubtedly great experiences to be found in resorts, swanky hotels, or on a cruise being catered to by the friendly staff—what can we say is “real” about such experiences? Where do we draw the line between designating a place or experience as being either a heavily curated “tourist trap” or “authentic?”
On second thought, even places I deem “authentic” such as Pompei or a natural history museum are also heavily curated spaces. Someone else might think taking a Vespa to tour the Tuscan countryside is the way to get the “real” experience. Others visit art museums or go skydiving or take a jaunt around town. Some travelers have the fortune of knowing someone who lives there who can let them in on the “real” experience.
Perhaps we are forever condemned to be ignorant of our reality, acting like the blind men feeling different parts of the elephant confident that we know something we only know a small part of. Maybe that is the best we can hope for.
Are we ever granted a realistic view of the world when we travel or is it an illusion? What are your thoughts?
Expand on your answer in the comments:
Thanks for being a fellow traveler with me and participating in the discussion. I look forward to hearing your thoughts. Please consider subscribing, sharing, and supporting this project—much more to follow.
Cheers!
-JSB
Everything is real but there are countless individual variations of reality. A successful, young, single investment banker living in New York experiences a very different reality from an old retiree from a rural area, living on a fixed income and taking care of an invalid family member. Having said that, there are big things that affect most members of a community although in different ways - hurricanes, wars, etc. I think it is challenging for most of us to "walk a mile in another person's shoes" in our everyday lives. I think it's even harder when traveling as we are drawn to the sanitized highlights of a destination. For instance, we typically visit the beaches in Rio, not the slums.
I'm increasingly comfortable with the fact I can only ever experience a place from my own perspective. And I'm not sure there's ever an idealised 'authentic' experience of anywhere. You mentioned about spending time in the woods, but you can never be in the woods as if you were a tree, so how authentic is your woodland experience? Likewise, I can never understand another culture as if I were rooted in it. But I think that's OK, and it doesn't make my limited experience any less real. It's more like an unfolding discovery, as I approach places and people with humility, acknowledging how little I know, and ready to observe, listen and learn.