The bookshelf of albums, and now this digital version, are catalogued by place. Prior to the pandemic, at least a fortnight of travel has been undertaken each year over the last six decades. Recently, unfortunately, travel has lost its allure. Air travel is dehumanizing and a cause of global warming. Mass marketing of even the most remote places has drained the joy of discovery (traffic jams at the top of Everest!). Social media and rising prosperity (a boon, of course) have homogenized culture. Travel now seems an industrial process with the traveler as the raw material being rendered. Residents of tourist destinations more often seem tired, resentful or hostile over the world's intrusion. As others have noted, tourism kills the culture and environments we travel to find.
On each trip places are stumbled upon, perhaps on the verge of disappearing or not yet commodified into tourist attractions. Those discoveries still make the effort worthwhile.
On each trip places are stumbled upon, perhaps on the verge of disappearing or not yet commodified into tourist attractions. Those discoveries still make the effort worthwhile.