Say ¥£$ to Travel Without Becoming a Tourist!

Maybe tourism is best defined as a mode of consumption? Not necessarily economic consumption, but cultural consumption. The line between tourist and traveler might then fall between the different expectations and attitudes each holds when visiting a place.

The tourist seeks pleasure, distraction, a change of pace, enjoyment, entertainment; in short, the tourist mentality is a form of escapism. Escape from the everyday, from habit and custom.

By contrast, the traveler seeks otherness not as a means of escape but as a fresh experience from which to learn. Taken this way, the travel experience becomes a reference point from which we might gain a slightly more objective understanding of our own lives. Travel is education, reflection and an opportunity for personal growth and perspective.

Then again, the problem with this sort of hyperbolic logic is that both personas exist in all of us to varying degrees. In every traveler, there is a tiny bit of the tourist; it is impossible to contact a foreign culture without consuming it to some degree. On the other hand, in every tourist there is a little bit of the traveler; whether they are consciously aware of it or not, the most diehard tourists cannot help but gain some perspective during their escape!

Pacman's innate cynicism of the tourist experience is a direct example of the traveler's self-reflection at work!

If tourism is an outgrowth of market forces, (and who could deny that?) then maybe it's as simple as being conscious of which local economy your travel money is fueling. Don't reward the tourist traps. Get lost and fall off the beaten path. Don't fight tourism by fighting capitalism... use your capital to fight tourism!


The Scholar and the Zen Master

(Back in the day) there was a scholar who had an extensive background in Buddhist studies. He came to study with a renowned Zen master and after making the customary bows, asked her to teach him Zen. Then, he began to talk about his extensive doctrinal background and rambled on and on about the many sutras he had studied.

The master listened patiently and then began to make tea. When it was ready, she poured the tea into the scholar's cup until it began to overflow and run all over the floor. The scholar saw what was happening and shouted, "Stop, stop! The cup is full; you can't get anymore in."

The master stopped pouring and said: "You are like this cup; you are full of ideas about Buddha's Way. You come and ask for teaching, but your cup is full; I can't put anything in. Before I can teach you, you'll have to empty your cup."

PS: When you travel, always do so with an empty cup!
PPS: Observing the definitions above, how many of us are tourists in our own cities?