Traveling

My name‿ is Peter. I have travelled to twenty-three countries,│ and‿ I have stopped describing myself‿ as‿ a traveller,│ because the wor(d) has become‿ a badge‿ of virtue rather than‿ a description‿ of behaviour.

My earlies(t) trips were‿ itineraries that‿ accounted for‿ every hour,│ and‿ I returned‿ exhausted‿ and‿ informed‿ about nothing. What‿ altered my habits was becoming lost‿ in‿ a Japanese town│ where nobody spoke‿ English‿ and‿ eating^ea-ding‿ in‿ a place with no menu. Immersion‿ is‿ uncomfortable│ and‿ it‿ is the only thing that produces‿ a genuine change‿ of perspective. Authenticity,│ however,│ is‿ a more complicated proposition than tourists generally allow:│ a village performing‿ its traditions for visitors‿ is not‿ inauthentic,│ it‿ is‿ adapting,│ which‿ is precisely what cultures have‿ always done‿ an(d) what we ask‿ of them│ while pretending we do not.

The difficulty I cannot‿ evade‿ is‿ overtourism. The infrastructure that renders‿ a place‿ accessible‿ also destroys the seasonality that│ once protected‿ it,│ and‿ in several cities residents have been displaced by the industry that serves their visitors. I offset my flights,│ which‿ is‿ a gesture that‿ alters nothing structurally,│ and‿ I am consequently complicit‿ in the phenomenon‿ I criticise. What‿ I can do is travel‿ in the low season,│ spen(d) money with local‿ owners rather than‿ international chains,│ and‿ accep(t) that my presence‿ in somebody else's home‿ is never neutral.