On being a tourist

Well i am now taking a course on the history of tourism in canada. It is a cultural history and should prove pretty interesting. I don't have a topic yet for my main paper but i'm starting to get a sense of what the course is about.

Since I was also thinking a bit about what being a tourist means this weekend, I decided to write about what it means to be a tourist.

How does one become a tourist?

Well I think this is something that often came to my mind over the 12 weeks I was travelling in New Zealand and Australia. I started thinking about it a little bit in my short trip to Europe but this longer trip made me think about it a bit more.

Being a tourist even in a country that at times felt so familiar, is a bit disorienting.

I found myself trying to fit in as well as observe things for myself a lot of the time. Except for the few weeks when I was with my girlfriend and the short times I stayed with family, I was pretty much travelling alone. I was not always alone, and there were a few times when i travelled with a group but I was largely alone.

I actually found it hard to connect with people at times. Even other travellers. There were other times when connecting with other people came easily. I suppose travelling amongst hostels where ready made networks of people to help are easily available makes travelling that much easier. I was also lucky to speak the language.

The hardest thing I think about being a tourist is that the experience is ephemeral. There seems to be this need and desire to try and capture the essence of the experience. That's why people take so many photos (even more so now with digital cameras) and buy postcards and useless things they would never buy if they saw in the store at home. People also seem to try and collect stories, anything that will being the experience to life.

I suppose that is the reason people travel, is to have an experience. I guess that's why some people love to travel and others prefer not to. Some people enjoy those experiences more than others.

I find it interesting that already in the literature there seems to be an attempt to distinguish between the tourist and the more authentic 'traveller'. This is a somewhat artificial distinction, but it does seeem appliable nonetheless. But what is the difference.

I don't know if such a clear distinction can be made, but I think it hinges on the engagement with the environment. Of course anyone travelling toa foreign country by definition is forced to engage with that environment. I would argue that the tourist has largely a superficial engagement. They either aren't there long enough to engage or they have other interests. Now the question becomes whether anyone can actually escape being a tourist. Even a year is not truly long enough to engage deeply with a landscape either cultural or physical.

(On a side note: I think the really interesting thing though, was to meet people who had left one country to make another one their home. I find that decision fascinating and I met one gentleman during my travels and I just find their experiences really ineresting)

So how does one become a tourist? Simple, they leave their home town/region/country/ and go somewhere completely different. What is involved however in that decision is the interesting part, the question isn't so much how does one become a tourist (however one defines it) but why.

I think this course i'm taking will provide all sorts of interesting discussions about these questions.