Traveling

My name‿ is Peter. I have travelled to twenty-three countries,│ and‿ I have ceased to describe myself‿ as‿ a traveller,│ the term having become‿ a badge‿ of virtue rather than‿ a description‿ of behaviour.

My earlies(t) journeys 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‿ an(d) dining‿ in‿ an‿ establishmen(t) with no menu. Immersion‿ is‿ uncomfortable│ and‿ it‿ is the sole means by│ which‿ a perspective‿ is genuinely displaced. Authenticity,│ however,│ is‿ a more complicated proposition than tourists customarily concede:│ a village performing‿ its traditions for visitors‿ is not‿ inauthentic but‿ adapting,│ which‿ is precisely what cultures have‿ always done‿ an(d) what we ask‿ of them│ while pretending‿ otherwise.

The difficulty I cannot‿ evade‿ is‿ overtourism. The infrastructure rendering‿ a place‿ accessible‿ also destroys the seasonality that│ once protected‿ it,│ and‿ in several cities residents have been displaced by the industry that‿ accommodates their visitors. I offset my flights,│ a gesture that‿ alters nothing structurally,│ and‿ I am consequently complicit‿ in the very phenomenon‿ I criticise. What‿ I can do is travel‿ in the low season,│ spen(d) money with local proprietors rather than‿ international chains,│ and‿ accep(t) that my presence‿ in somebody else's home‿ is never neutral. The candour required to say so is,│ I find,│ rarely extended by those│ who benefit mos(t) from the arrangement.