A Todo el Mundo

Sometimes I hate the fact that one of my favorite things in life is to travel. The reason is because it puts me in the category of "tourist". And I hate that category. I don't want to be identified as the traditional tourist and I don't even necessarily always like supporting the tourism industry.

I look at people going into different countries looking for a party, for a beach, for a story and "dos cervezas, por favor".

They snap a few million pictures of "aztec ruins", not realizing there is a difference between the Maya and the Aztecs. But it sure takes a great "artsy" shot.

They make sure to grab a local kid or two and take a picture as if they were the best of buds. You always have to have that great "picture with a foreign child" to add into your scrapbook.

This may sound really cynical, and it's partly because I am. I have devoted my career to studying other cultures academically, and my spare time to reading about them or experiencing them. I feel a certain sense of injustice when people tramp across the world, without really knowing the depth of what they are encountering. I would never travel some place without knowing some history and with some cultural competency, but most importantly an open mind and profound respect.

Nathan and I were in Lima, Peru sitting in this beautiful park over looking the ocean, called El Parque del Amor. In the center of the park is a huge statue of a couple embracing and kissing, and people stop by to take a picture of themselves doing the same in front. This was only our first or second day in South America ever, and we were hanging out watching every thing happen. Eventually, a bus load of tourists came along and they all followed their safe travel guide out into the park to look around. A couple of ladies slowly approached Nathan and I with huge smiles on their faces. As they cautiously eyed us up, they spoke to us with a friendly, but extremely condescending tone. That is when Nathan and I realized that they thought we were locals (and Nathan and I don't really resemble local Peruvians). They were taking this chance to have an encounter - and I can almost read their emails home - with "some foreign young people hanging out at their local spot". They had absolutely no clue. They blindly followed a guide around from the safety of an air conditioned van. How completely sterile and removed.

Now, I realize that for some people this is the only option. But I also hope that sometimes people can at least push themselves outside of their Western comforts. Get off the tourist bus, live without air conditioning, and stop following the guide that holds the little red flag in the air so you never get lost.

Purposely get lost.

Sit in the plaza for hours on end watching life happen.

Skip out on the tourist attraction and see what the world really has to offer.

~ K.