I guess you could say I thought we were coming as travellers, but it seems more and more that we are tourists. Victoria and San Francisco, you are all familiar....bulky cameras, high shorts, dorky hats, funny language, awkward movements....we are the same give or take some details.
It is far less romantic than we had envisioned, or at least I. We are not in the in-crowd (locals), and it seems often that we are not even in the out-crowd (that is those "world travellers" who have advice for every city we go, not necessarily things to do but things not to do. They dress right and chain smoke).
But here we are, still dressed the same, perhaps even goofier than we would back home. The tan hasn't engulfed us, and as all of you know, our facial hair is sparse.
We are neither here nor there.
I'm not sure what there is to this. Whether we embrace being a tourist, whether we start hiding our home identity in new clothes, whether we start hitchiking to the jungle....I don't know. I guess something I take away is that travelling in itself is nothing really, it is always apart from something, and that the buddha won't find you and you it simply by leaving for somewhere else. Perhaps travelling just shows you the various entrances, some cool things along the way. And whatever it is you do find, you will have to do as a tourist of some kind.
2 comments:
Are you ever in the "in crowd"? I don't necessarily think you need to embrace the tourist identity. I think you need to stop thinking about it. I know exactly how you feel, I got the same feeling in Mexico. But I realized that the locals are used to seeing westerners as business opportunities rather than learning experiences. I mean, would you ever think of approaching a group of wealthy Japanese tourists that were staying at the Empress and try to communicate with them just cuz? (well maybe you would Adam... heheheh) Maybe the locals just don't think you are there for the culture submerge and think that all of us go just to sigthsee. Take a step back for a sec and realize that you are in Thailand!!! and that maybe you shouldn't be looking so hard for acceptance, but instead you should just be looking and appreciating so much what you are doing. You know why you are there and you will fall into place. Things always happen when you are not looking or not expecting them. You all bring unique and special qualities to this world and people will be willing to let you share your experieces and stories, but it is hard to find those people when you are the foreigner. You have already put yourself out there by travelling, so it is just a matter of time until it all falls into place. Keep your eyes and minds open (I don't even know why I am telling you this, I know you do!) and love every minute of your experience. And for what it's worth, we all miss our little tourists (you guys) on this end. Much love,
lolo
take it as it comes. mix in with the locals that give you the time of day. you won't become a local anywhere in 4 months. All these Arts majors and their well written posts. JD you better try and compete.
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