181–190 of 252 posts
You see the same thing in Yellowstone--inattentive Instagrammers with selfie sticks hoping to snap the perfect pic next to the wildlife and scenery. Nothing quite as real as being scalded by a hot spring when you're used to viewing the world through a screen.
Mass tourism has ruined travel for me.
It's not just Iceland. My wife and I typically travel for the outdoors and we are extremely impact conscious. I've noticed a significant growth in outdoor activity in the last ten years or so. Along with the that growth I've noticed more trash, more people going off established trails when they shouldn't (I'm not 100% anti off-trail travel), more disrespect for others who are trying to escape into nature, more people…
It's not really a problem unless you think people are a problem and then it gets philosophical
I call this the 'Disney World' effect of nature tourism. Self-involved, entitled people who treat national parks and the wilderness like an amusement park that has been set aside for their entertainment. They expect the natural world to cater to their whims the same way a Disney world employee does, and they just do not understand that's not how the world works.
The first time I experienced this in nature was last year in Yosemite. So many people were climbing over barriers and walking in places where they shouldn't, it was horrible. I've experienced this a lot in Amsterdam too, however. Tourists are treating Amsterdam like it isn't a real city. Especially the British seem to have no respect and treat Amsterdam like it's Vegas, but with less American cops.
I actually cannot conceive of how the park rangers there manage to keep their cool day after day.
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You really should not extrapolate to a whole continent from such a small sample.
Do be fair, they did say "east asia" and China does make up the majority of east asia by population and land mass.
They could have just as well been more specific and simply said 'China' or name the specific parks rather than to write 'east Asia'.
Iceland is a role model in this regard.
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That’s a pretty classist thing to say. Rich people aren’t more respectful of nature than people on a budget.
There are two algorithms for choosing a vacation destination: 1. sort vacation destinations based on actually wanting to go there, and then filter based on ability-to-go; 2. sort vacation destinations based on ability-to-go, and then pick the top one. AFAIK, there’s no correlation between wealth/class and which algorithm people use. Rich people are sometimes rich because they’re thrifty, and so are no less likely to…
I call this the 'Disney World' effect of nature tourism. Self-involved, entitled people who treat national parks and the wilderness like an amusement park that has been set aside for their entertainment. They expect the natural world to cater to their whims the same way a Disney world employee does, and they just do not understand that's not how the world works.
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/08/opinion/against-sustainab...
Sadly, I also noticed the same thing on Skye last month.
It goes beyond just numbers of tourists (a problem in and of itself, and one I'm obviously part of). Some people are just selfish pricks.
Until recently, I worked at a company that sends these people to Iceland, among other places. Influencers end up in that career for a reason. They are, in general, everything you'd expect them to be: flaky and privileged almost as a rule. They're not bad people per se (no tantrums that I've seen), and are often well-meaning, but most are desperate to be famous. These are the same people who competed to be on The Bach…
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It seems that social media is the scapegoat of the day for whatever social problem the media discusses.
When somebody calls you an asshole, there are two general reasons why that might be. Maybe there is something wrong with the person calling you an asshole; maybe they're having a bad day or have some sort of irrational grudge against you. The alternative reason is maybe you are an asshole. When you're called an asshole once, it's easy to assume the other person is having a bad day. But if numerous people are calling…