Such truth Nicola, thanks for the interesting read. And I love that you've taught me a new word today - philoxenia - it's a good one that is right in line with my "small acts of kindness can make a big difference" credo.
I am lucky in my way of travel to mostly avoid having to interact with the hoarders and the lobsters. We are always kind and courteous on Duende, and I do hope to show our version of hospitality one day soon. Maybe it will rival what you experience in Greece.
The atmosphere on the Duende has already peaked my interest through your writing and Iām sure it will be considered a Five Fox for character. All aboard!
The subject is a bit of downer, and it's true, I've seen it myself. A certain type of tourism infrastructure attracts a certain type of traveler for sure (namely someone who doesn't actually care about travel at all, and is really just there for the weather). I did enjoy some of those vivid descriptions of all-inclusive life though. The soggy but somehow addictive pancakes? I've been on exactly one package trip, paid for by work, but you bet there were average pancakes on offer, and I had more than one.
I don't know what it is that makes people turn into small-minded asshats the moment they step off an airplane in another country. Maybe it's a defensive mechanism against the fear of the unknown! No, that is being too nice about it. It's just laziness and greed, where no shame mechanism can be brought to bear.
If people viewed other parts of the world as just an extension of their hometowns and neighborhoods, chances are they would control their behavior.
Youāre right about not needing to sugarcoat it, Brad. There is no excuse for checking your basic manners at the door of the plane. Question for you: how do we go about making people feels like the parts of the world they visit are just an extension of home?
That is the quandary. You can't make people care, and those who pay big money for travel may feel they have bought the right to exist outside social norms. The chair-grabbing you discuss in your article isn't even something being done against locals. It's against their fellow tourists, who they view as competitors.
In Thailand, where I live, there has been a lot of talk about policing tourists more, increasing penalties for bad behavior, and making it more difficult to enter the country in the first place. But these are crude enforcement tools that I don't expect to yield many results. The feeling of being a guest or neighbor has to arise voluntarily.
Lovely article. That thing with the German tourist winning the towel lawsuit played extensively in the Greek Media. Not only tourists suffer from such tactics. We, the locals need to become inventive whenever we visit popular beaches.
The world is indeed a better place with people like you out there Nic. I must say I find it pretty easy to ignore the idiots and open up to the good hearted souls out there, I think our energies just pull towards each other. I love the Greek approach to hospitality. Many Arab cultures have this too, more, I tbink out of respect for the nomadic life and it is enacted without fuss or question. Indigenous Australian cultures often have what I think is a beautiful tradition of singing to ancestral spirits in a given place, to let them know you are there and to thank them, so you may find sustenance there. So many lovely ways to connect, not sure why so many want to actively ignore them...
Oh - this is so depressing to hear :( I wonder if people are so hooked on their phones that they have forgotten how to interact properly with other people and they have lost the ability to engage with the wider world. Imagine going to Greece and not being interested in Greek culture and history - I despair!
Such truth Nicola, thanks for the interesting read. And I love that you've taught me a new word today - philoxenia - it's a good one that is right in line with my "small acts of kindness can make a big difference" credo.
I am lucky in my way of travel to mostly avoid having to interact with the hoarders and the lobsters. We are always kind and courteous on Duende, and I do hope to show our version of hospitality one day soon. Maybe it will rival what you experience in Greece.
The atmosphere on the Duende has already peaked my interest through your writing and Iām sure it will be considered a Five Fox for character. All aboard!
That's a real vote of confidence, I hope we can live up to the expectation. š©µ
The subject is a bit of downer, and it's true, I've seen it myself. A certain type of tourism infrastructure attracts a certain type of traveler for sure (namely someone who doesn't actually care about travel at all, and is really just there for the weather). I did enjoy some of those vivid descriptions of all-inclusive life though. The soggy but somehow addictive pancakes? I've been on exactly one package trip, paid for by work, but you bet there were average pancakes on offer, and I had more than one.
I don't know what it is that makes people turn into small-minded asshats the moment they step off an airplane in another country. Maybe it's a defensive mechanism against the fear of the unknown! No, that is being too nice about it. It's just laziness and greed, where no shame mechanism can be brought to bear.
If people viewed other parts of the world as just an extension of their hometowns and neighborhoods, chances are they would control their behavior.
Youāre right about not needing to sugarcoat it, Brad. There is no excuse for checking your basic manners at the door of the plane. Question for you: how do we go about making people feels like the parts of the world they visit are just an extension of home?
That is the quandary. You can't make people care, and those who pay big money for travel may feel they have bought the right to exist outside social norms. The chair-grabbing you discuss in your article isn't even something being done against locals. It's against their fellow tourists, who they view as competitors.
In Thailand, where I live, there has been a lot of talk about policing tourists more, increasing penalties for bad behavior, and making it more difficult to enter the country in the first place. But these are crude enforcement tools that I don't expect to yield many results. The feeling of being a guest or neighbor has to arise voluntarily.
So my short answer is that I don't know how.
I like Greece and many chidhood friends live there. Good artikel.
Lovely article. That thing with the German tourist winning the towel lawsuit played extensively in the Greek Media. Not only tourists suffer from such tactics. We, the locals need to become inventive whenever we visit popular beaches.
The world is indeed a better place with people like you out there Nic. I must say I find it pretty easy to ignore the idiots and open up to the good hearted souls out there, I think our energies just pull towards each other. I love the Greek approach to hospitality. Many Arab cultures have this too, more, I tbink out of respect for the nomadic life and it is enacted without fuss or question. Indigenous Australian cultures often have what I think is a beautiful tradition of singing to ancestral spirits in a given place, to let them know you are there and to thank them, so you may find sustenance there. So many lovely ways to connect, not sure why so many want to actively ignore them...
Oh - this is so depressing to hear :( I wonder if people are so hooked on their phones that they have forgotten how to interact properly with other people and they have lost the ability to engage with the wider world. Imagine going to Greece and not being interested in Greek culture and history - I despair!