When - not if - cheap oil finally runs out tourism will be a fraction of what it is today.
No hope for electric planes then? Or high-speed train travel?
Paradise Lost: How Tourists Are Destroying the Places They Love
81–90 of 156 posts
Re: Paradise Lost: How Tourists Are Destroying the Places They Love
#82An excellent YouTube channel called Rare Earth did a video on this subject:
Re: Paradise Lost: How Tourists Are Destroying the Places They Love
#83Earlier quoted context omitted.
I really appreciate you using the term “classist”. I think that term, and not “racist”, needs to be much more widely applied these days. That being said, I really enjoyed the author’s post. If anything, the people who are going to these places are the social climbing, upwardly mobile middle class, determined to burnish their brand on Instagram. Also the free flow of tourists is a problem that parallels a lot of other…
> determined to burnish their brand on Instagram Stop projecting, 99% of people do not give a shit about this
Instagram has 700MM daily actives. The world doesn't have fifty billion people. Who's projecting exactly?
Re: Paradise Lost: How Tourists Are Destroying the Places They Love
#84Earlier quoted context omitted.
"alien, ignorant, greedy for something you cannot ever have" I find this hugely classist. (Edit: and I'm generally not someone to use that terminology) Most (even American) travellers are just trying to see some sights, have a normal and are not particularly rude or problematic. The issue is now that 'everyone' can afford to travel ... it's causing problems. This is a problem of prosperity.
I really appreciate you using the term “classist”. I think that term, and not “racist”, needs to be much more widely applied these days. That being said, I really enjoyed the author’s post. If anything, the people who are going to these places are the social climbing, upwardly mobile middle class, determined to burnish their brand on Instagram. Also the free flow of tourists is a problem that parallels a lot of other…
I get it.
I love travelling and I'm soured at how overrun places are.
But it's not a problem of the 'ugly tourist' it's a problem of just 'too many people'.
I don't go to tourist destinations, I just go to places.
Every French or German village is 'interesting' to those who don't know them. They are all full of history.
Same for so many other places.
The only 'non destinations' on planet earth are the suburbs, and places where there are a lot of Starbuckses, unfortunately, that seems to be what we are building everywhere. And I do mean everywhere. The suburbs of Toronto, Singapore and Istanbul are oddly similar in too many ways ...
Re: Paradise Lost: How Tourists Are Destroying the Places They Love
#85Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'll play Sherlock. I think that's just a controversial view you created and therefore particularly like. It's likely also one you created to explain some preferences of yours (e.g local attachment). Likely instilled from parents. I think my view on your comment is: true as long as you're a cyborg. Personally, I travel where(and when) no one goes. Unique, remote places. It's scientifically proven that when you experi…
I work remote and can travel anywhere anytime so I see it as it is rather than as a fantasy to escape boredom locally.
I work remotely and find it very hard to believe you can go "anywhere anytime".
Personal still take leave to go traveling, the infrastructure in most places on Earth is virtually nonexistent. There's a reason you won't find any digital nomads working from beautiful Pacific islands.
Re: Paradise Lost: How Tourists Are Destroying the Places They Love
#86Always worth posting Wallace's quote on the subject: "To be a mass tourist, for me, is to become a pure late-date American: alien, ignorant, greedy for something you cannot ever have, disappointed in a way you can never admit. It is to spoil, by way of sheer ontology, the very unspoiledness you are there to experience. It is to impose yourself on places that in all noneconomic ways would be better, realer, without yo…
> places that in all noneconomic ways would be better, realer, without you
Have you ever considered how the actual residents of those places feel? Even for a moment? I'm sure some of them would prefer a return to a more "authentic" condition, but I'll bet the great majority are pretty happy for the $$$ that tourism brings in (or in some cases for the public goods those $$$ buy and that they enjoy). They don't have some duty to maintain things in a pristine state, at cost to their own quality of life, so that those oh-so-precious few who have the money or time to "make the effort" can come see them without the hordes of less privileged following.
Re: Paradise Lost: How Tourists Are Destroying the Places They Love
#87Always worth posting Wallace's quote on the subject: "To be a mass tourist, for me, is to become a pure late-date American: alien, ignorant, greedy for something you cannot ever have, disappointed in a way you can never admit. It is to spoil, by way of sheer ontology, the very unspoiledness you are there to experience. It is to impose yourself on places that in all noneconomic ways would be better, realer, without yo…
"Most people I know practice some variant of a digital leave-no-trace rule: don't post photos in publicly-trafficked areas of the internet, or if you do then don't say where they were taken. It's not so much gatekeeping as ensuring people who want to experience that beauty have to put in the work - read terribly-designed websites, meet actual people and gain their trust, or even take a backcountry travel class which hopefully instills a healthy respect for the environment you're enjoying."
This is sheer nonsense and IS ridiculous gatekeeping. Ensuring people who want to experience beauty need to put in work for it? Some people may never be able to visit these places, not everyone is so fortunate to be able to afford or have time off to travel. You might as well say they should never look at book of photos either, or they can never look at a painting without becoming an artist first. Maybe they would never gain a love of the outdoors if they had never seen some of these photos first and wanted to see more?
Now, I agree with the sentiment that there can be tourist overload on places, and that they should be managed well so they aren't destroyed. But 'digital leave no trace' is just nonsense. We should be sharing the beauty of the world, not restricting it.
Re: Paradise Lost: How Tourists Are Destroying the Places They Love
#88I grew up with stories of people like Maco Polo and love of travel but my recent trips to Europe has almost repulsed and disillusioned me. Tiny European countries are being swamped by huge swath of tourists, everyone with Rick Steve’s guidebook, they all go look at exact same thing, take exact same pictures and even eat at exact same recommended restaurants. There is a lot to see and little to reflect when you are am…
I'm a fairly experienced traveler. In my opinion what you need to do is to chose better places. Belgrade instead of Prague Visby instead of Copenhagen Cork instead of Dublin And the same applies in other parts of the world. (I learned this the hard way)
Very much agree, there are ways to avoid the masses with a little thought and research.
But that still doesn’t change the fact that most tourists do not and the swarms of tourists do ruin things for the locals. I live in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and I basically don’t go out in my neighborhood anymore. The sidewalks are filled with tourists, so I’ve had to plan alternative (longer) routes to the subway. My favorite neighborhood restaurants I rarely go to anymore as they are filled with non-residents with waits routinely over an hour. And I’ve gotten used to drunk tourists urinating in front of my house as they come out of the bars down the block.
Ten years ago it felt like a neighborhood, even five years ago it wasn’t so bad, but now I’m considering defeat by moving and renting out this apartment on Airbnb.
Re: Paradise Lost: How Tourists Are Destroying the Places They Love
#89I grew up with stories of people like Maco Polo and love of travel but my recent trips to Europe has almost repulsed and disillusioned me. Tiny European countries are being swamped by huge swath of tourists, everyone with Rick Steve’s guidebook, they all go look at exact same thing, take exact same pictures and even eat at exact same recommended restaurants. There is a lot to see and little to reflect when you are am…
I'm a fairly experienced traveler. In my opinion what you need to do is to chose better places. Belgrade instead of Prague Visby instead of Copenhagen Cork instead of Dublin And the same applies in other parts of the world. (I learned this the hard way)
Eh. I'm an experienced traveller, and had a great time in both Dublin and Copenhagen (and not so much Cork...).
I think it's more don't curate your trip. Don't have The Things That Need To Be Checked Off The List.
Re: Paradise Lost: How Tourists Are Destroying the Places They Love
#90Always worth posting Wallace's quote on the subject: "To be a mass tourist, for me, is to become a pure late-date American: alien, ignorant, greedy for something you cannot ever have, disappointed in a way you can never admit. It is to spoil, by way of sheer ontology, the very unspoiledness you are there to experience. It is to impose yourself on places that in all noneconomic ways would be better, realer, without yo…
How is this nonsense being upvoted?