Archive for the 'Travel' Category
Wednesday, March 5th, 2008
consumption vs creation
al-tahafut, you’re analysis of tourism as a consumer industry is spot on. i think visiting historical sites is particularly overrated unless you use it as an excuse to actually read up on some history. i think nature sight seeing is ok as long as its not marketed as ‘eco-tourism’, which is just a horrible, horrible word.
first of all, cities are just as fascinating if you are trying to understand the human condition. secondly, pursuing a better understanding of nature is fine, but you should acknowledge that you are satisfying your curiosity in a way which might be harmful to the planet rather than spinning it to give yourself a sense of moral righteousness.
anyways, i think our discussions of music, films and tourism go the heart of what it means to be a consumer in the modern world. for instance, do we watch films because it is a shared cultural reference point with our friends, because it simply gives us pleasure or because we gain a deeper understanding of the human condition and thus lead more satisfying lives?
while i was pondering these questions, i fortuitously came across this brilliant lecture by Larry Lessig. definitely must-watch.
Also check out this interesting write up on Prof Lessig. I think it would be great if he made it Congress/Supreme Court.
Wednesday, March 5th, 2008
the importance of being folk.
i’ve been checking out that dawn blog - seems promising.
the thing about tourism is, it’s an industry, a business. and tourists are consumers. so you take a place, you manufacture some attractions [like a 528798107890km tall tower], and you market it [exploiting any local peculiarities, like a legend/myth, or a giant hole in the ground]. i guess it’s not surprising that boring places are the best sellers, just like books, music records, films, etc.
what interests me about travelling is learning about lifestyles/cultures, etc. and i don’t think i can do that on a trip. so, i have some places in mind [one is iceland, many in the middle east] where hopefully, someday, i can afford to spend more than a few days or a couple of weeks.
haha, ostrich eggs certainly sound tempting. you could egg someone’s place with them, and see how that turns out. or, if you live high up, drop a couple on a passing car. there’s no way the coppers will buy the story that a giant egg hit someone’s windshield. =)
Wednesday, March 5th, 2008
Destination Chad
Via Dawn’s new blog comes a link to this little piece of handyness, sometimes also reffered to as the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index (ah the excitements of a life of stochastic ruminations). Point is, i started reading down the list, and it occured to me that the coutries up on top seem to be rather frightfully passe/lets be honest, boring.. Luxembourg allegedly a tourist heaven, offers little but a market square, for instance..woebetide anybody who finds himself there on sunday (as i was)
On the other hand, start from the bottom, and things are rather more interesting. And then, i spot Burkina Faso… a universal provider of context in economics classes. I guess, i’m wondering what it is that we, the modern gawking tourist is seeking anyways (clearly, starbucks is one).. if the aim is to get every country to be homogonised and pastuerised to a common stadard, then maybe our petty lives as cubicle monkies really are as pointless as they seem to the vast majority of extra-terrestrial observers…
Which leads us, naturally to the question of what qualifies as a satisfactory use of ostrich eggs? 27 times the size of a normal chicken egg, and a damn temptation if you ask me. I think ill just have fall in line with society here and use it merely as a post-modernist ornamental wine-cup for during my nightly tribal dance.