211–220 of 252 posts
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what about stepping up enforcement and fines though? If the rangers of these parks are overstretched, it seems reasonable to re-invest some of that park money towards more staff and fines that effectively offset the damage being done.
They could do that. But that also costs money and it doesn’t solve overcrowding.
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I visited Japan a couple months ago during "Golden Week", which is their big national vacation week. Several of the sites I visited were absolutely packed with (Japanese) tourists. No one was vandalizing anything, littering, or even acting rude and obnoxious, or in any way I could see breaking any of the rules. As an American, it was rather weird because American tourists wouldn't be like this at all. It's pretty ama…
There are pros and cons of that culture though, Japan takes it to the other extreme from what i've read.
Sure, Japan has some issues such as too much overwork in their culture, but America has that too. How many Silicon Valley engineers only work 40 hours? And how many poorer people have multiple part-time jobs to make ends meet and they still can't afford health insurance?
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Come to Munich and you will find no such thing. I don't think single examples can prove a point here.
Munich is such a great city for work-life balance and a sustainable approach to living while still being very “modern”
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.
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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…
Fair point. Society however is rewarding asshole behavior via social media
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.
Took a tour up there a while back, and our tour guide stopped to yell at people putting themselves in life threatening situations to take pictures. Happened multiple times.
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…
The key is accessibility. If you have a good road then you get people who treat nature as bad as themselves. The higher up without accessible road or further in towards tougher trails and you start to have people there who have the will and stamina to be there and take the necessary precautions.
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If you'd eaten the local cuisine it would have been cheaper. Importing goods to an island is expensive.
Even a bowl of Icelandic lamb soup can go up to $20 now. Wasn't like this a few years ago though.
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> Let's hope the future learns people that most of these instagram shots are basically digital waste. That's very condescending of you. Lots of people like having real visual memories of places they've been.
I like having visual memories too. But are my memories triggered by a self-made almost identical photo of a specific glacier or tree at a touristic attraction? In the last couple of years I've not taken photographs of things from which I was sure already tens of thousands of photos exist. In my opinion people forget the importance of the experience itself. It seems as if there must always be some form of evidence to…
As already linked: https://xkcd.com/1314/
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.
Our whole society is based on trying to make things easy and convenient. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that people have the same attitude towards traveling and nature. Iceland could fix this easily by making places less accessible but then the tourist money would stop flowing. In the end they have to make a choice. Limit accessibility or number of tourists and lose some money or accept the negative consequences…
I have been wondering, if there are any bills, tax or something in similar effort to bring the cost up, like any market would do with high demand. In ways that government can collect and ( in theory ) redistribute back to local via benefits or subsidies?
Taxing on hotel, flight?