Another way to think about our perverse travel culture. The places we travel to ‘see’ are the exact…

Another way to think about our perverse travel culture. The places we travel to ‘see’ are the exact equivalent of movie stars or other celebrities. 1/8 https://t.co/cjLUqNPnqd

The places themselves are famous, in the same way. We want to ‘meet’ them in the way people want to meet celebrities. Guess what obsessively trying to meet celebrities is called? 2/8

It’s called stalking. Not respecting their right to their own space. We have relationship with place just as we do with people. 3/8

Just as we may find thousands of people attractive, but only have a relationship with one. Places are the same. We can find them all sexy AF. It doesn’t give us the right to visit them. 4/8

We don’t understand this, as our own Indigenous peoples will happily tell us. For them place itself is sacred. An ongoing relationship. For us it’s somewhere to ‘see’. 5/8

And rusted-on travellers will invent all sorts of more ‘authentic’ ways (they think) to do it. To ‘respect the culture’, to get to know it better. They’re not understanding. 6/8

Instead of trying to fuck a friend’s wife, I could ‘just try to get to know her better’. But that’s not an improvement. I need to focus on my own relationships. At home. 7/8

Places are NOT there for our viewing pleasure, just as celebrities and ordinary people we meet aren’t. Place is a relationship. It’s not ‘seeing’. Seeing is porn. /end