How to be a Tourist

You are going to listen to a Ted Talk about being a tourist.

First think about these questions

How often do you go on holiday? Which typical tourist cities have you been to? How
crowded were they?
Do you think of yourself as a tourist or a traveller?

Watch the video without reading the transcript or putting on subtitles.

What is the main point the speaker is making? Do you agree with her?

Now watch the video again and read the transcript, making note of the highlighted words.

Last year the number of riverboat passengers on the Rhine was over a million. This year the
number looks to be greater still. Every village has its new German hotel with English-speaking
staff and every church and castle and hill has been written and rewritten about in guidebooks
until nothing new can be said. This was from a story in The New York Times in 1852. 

It just goes to show that the concerns we hear about over tourism are not new. The massive rise
in people travelling in the late 19th and early 20th centuries meant that by 1920 stories like this
were common. The particular cities were getting overcrowded. Now whether the article's goal
was to inform readers that they might be out of luck if they wanted to get a hotel in Paris next
year or to decry that some places really were just now too crowded to be worth visiting. The
message was the same and we see it today when such stories are still the mainstay of newspapers
and magazines as millions more people around the world get on planes and the issue is always
raised over tourism again. Sometimes from the aesthetic perspective of 'Oh it's just too
crowded. It was ten foot deep just to get a glimpse of the Mona Lisa. Or that there's actual
damage being done to historic sites or fragile ecosystems. 
Decry: To openly and strongly criticize or denounce something.
Aesthetic perspective: an individual's unique viewpoint or interpretation of beauty, art, and the
visual world, shaped by their personal preferences, cultural background, and artistic sensibilities.
Glimpse: A brief or fleeting look or perception of something.

But again this has a long history, this narrative of over tourism, and it's important to note the
word - It's not over travel, it's over tourism. The judgement is in there of who is doing too much
traveling and many of you'll be familiar with the distinction between the traveler and the tourist.
Note the tourist is always them and the traveler is us and there are far too many of them and just
enough of us. And this really does go back to the first package to the companies of the19th
century when Thomas Cook made travel more affordable and available to new slices of society.
And in the 20th century the automobile brought new kinds of travel to again more people. 
Distinction: A notable difference or contrast that sets something apart or makes it unique.
We got the new type of traveler the sightseer who was also judged pejoratively by other people.
After the Second World War you got the rise of the long-distance bus to the 'If it's Tuesday, it
must be Belgium' kind of travel. Which again was disdained by people saying 'oh that's not me.
I'm having a real travel experience'. As though somehow traveling around Europe on a bus is not
real. But then when it comes to travel, real and fake, it's sometimes hard to discern. We've all
seen those Instagram pictures of a person in some beautiful pristine landscape capturing that
moment of their communion with the environment, that transcendent experience. Not shown are
the other 30 other people waiting to take the same photo .
Pejoratively: In a derogatory or belittling manner, expressing disapproval or contempt.

Transcendent: Going beyond ordinary limits or surpassing the usual level, often associated with
exceptional excellence or spiritual significance.

And again, it goes to show that anywhere you think of as pristine and unspoiled and remote is
not. It is on the tourism highway. But this is always the issue. We want when we travel to have
this personal unique encounter. To experience the people, the landscapes, the culture, in a way
that we feel won't be possible if we're sharing it with other visitors. And of course there's a
competitive element there too. We want to have gone to places that other people haven't. We all
know people who like to boast of having been to somewhere trendy before it was cool. 
Pristine: Immaculately clean or in its original condition, without any flaws or signs of wear.
Unspoiled: Untouched or unharmed, typically referring to a place or environment that remains in
a natural and pure state.
Boast: To proudly talk or display one's achievements, possessions, or qualities.

When this picture of climbers on Everest was published, I thought, 'Why does it look so
familiar? I'm sure I've seen this before.' I racked my brain and I remembered it was this
prospectors in the Klondike Gold Rush of 1898 climbing the Chilkoot trail. Again going to show
that if you've heard of a destination, millions of other people have - and there's a good chance
they'll have gotten there before you did. And of course the travel industry knows this. They know
that we want this unique experience when we travel and they use this in their marketing. Think
of every ad that you've ever seen for a tropical vacation. Notice how the beach is always empty.
Think of Airbnb and their slogan of 'stay like a local' as though somehow renting an apartment
off the Internet is something that a local would do as opposed to maybe renting a room at the
Hilton.
Rack my brain: To make a great effort to think or remember something, often implying mental
strain or difficulty.
I mean who are we kidding, it's impossible for us to travel somewhere without the fact that other
people have gotten there first. We need the infrastructure, the roads, the highways, the
railways, and yet we want to feel that we're doing something unique and distinctive. And so
many people try to get past this impossibility by looking for things like the reconstructed village,
the fake ceremony, the Ayers Arts, the inauthentic and the pursuit of the authentic. The photo
selling the lie that that traveller was alone on the hilltop and what really is the answer because
the fact is if you're traveling somewhere it's only because other people made it possible. And I
don't think it's fair to make this distinction of the traveler versus the tourist. My travel, of course,
which is essential and worthy, and your travel which is a waste of time and energy and
destroying the planet.
Infrastructure: The basic physical and organisational structures and facilities needed for the
operation of a society, city, or system.
Pursuit: The act of actively striving for or seeking something, often implying a goal or
aspiration.

 I mean and yet this is how this discussion is often framed and the thing is if you do travel
somewhere, it's only thanks to other people who've made it possible, who've built the roads, the
airports. If you got a cheap airfare it's only because there are hundreds of other people wanting to
travel that route making it a viable service. That cute little boutique hotel you found in
Bucharest, you didn't just happen to find it, it exists because of tourists. Tourists like you. And
that I think is the answer. Accept that we are all tourists, embrace it and if there is concern that
some places are being damaged by over tourism, places like Venice, maybe the true answer is to
admit that we're all part of the problem. And maybe, if you really love Venice, don't go. Stay
home drink a Bellini, read Henry James, you know it's all the same. 
Framed: Presented or understood in a particular context or perspective.
Viable: Capable of working or functioning successfully; feasible or practical.

And remember, if you think you need to get away to experience something transcendent, think of
Henry David Thoreau when he wrote Walden, that text of retreat. He was basically in his
mother's backyard, so if you think you need to get away from it all, you maybe don't need to go
as far as you think. Thank you.

Questions:
Do a writing or speaking activity for some, or all, of the questions below. Use as much of the
new vocabulary as you possible in your answers.
 Describe an experience you had where you felt like a tourist.
 Have you ever been anywhere that felt untouched by tourism? How did you find it? What
was the experience like?
 Which places do you feel have been spoiled the most by tourism? In what way have they
been spoiled? What will happen to them in the future?
 How can we all be better tourists?