Background: http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/showthread.php?t=218200
His (memorial?) site (some incredible photos): http://www.anthonysloan.com/
DSD Comment: I don't know if I ever met the guy, but if I did, I missed a key opportuntity to chat with what appears to have been a very interesting man.
:-(
Showing posts with label Vacation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vacation. Show all posts
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Friday, September 19, 2008
Further thoughts on Thailand Travel/Tourism
So thoughts on the comments to the Thailand post...
I appreciate your honesty, Nicole. As mg's subsequent post implies, there is a certain expectation that REAL traveling is about the exploration and "purity" of the place you travel to. But how much of that assumption is propogated by marketers (e.g. REI, North Face, Patagonia) selling Urbanites $350 Gore-Tex rain jackets that will be lucky to see rain, let alone foreign rain.
But, mg, gotta say, part of me goes "No shit! You go! Everywhere we (first-world humans, not just Americans) go, we turn the place into a reflection of where we came from." But it is sort of the Heisenberg uncertainity principle of travel. I.e. by going somewhere to see how other people live, no matter how "pure" your intentions, you alter the behavior and lives of the people you visit. Isn't that only fair since most of us tour/travel with the intention of self-alteration (not to be confused with self-mutiliation while visiting WeWak, New Guinea)?
I always liked the David Lee Roth Land's Edge lyrics:
Yet, another part of me thinks it unfair to completely leave the "natives" out of the culpability calculation. This world's disparity of wealth makes it only reasonable for a guy in Thailand dragging fat-assed Russian tourists around in a rickshaw to dream of the day he has his own car (aka CO2-belching taxi) and strive to "re-distribute" some Russian rubles into his pocket of bhats?
I appreciate your honesty, Nicole. As mg's subsequent post implies, there is a certain expectation that REAL traveling is about the exploration and "purity" of the place you travel to. But how much of that assumption is propogated by marketers (e.g. REI, North Face, Patagonia) selling Urbanites $350 Gore-Tex rain jackets that will be lucky to see rain, let alone foreign rain.
But, mg, gotta say, part of me goes "No shit! You go! Everywhere we (first-world humans, not just Americans) go, we turn the place into a reflection of where we came from." But it is sort of the Heisenberg uncertainity principle of travel. I.e. by going somewhere to see how other people live, no matter how "pure" your intentions, you alter the behavior and lives of the people you visit. Isn't that only fair since most of us tour/travel with the intention of self-alteration (not to be confused with self-mutiliation while visiting WeWak, New Guinea)?
I always liked the David Lee Roth Land's Edge lyrics:
Now take the traveler and the tourist
The essential difference is
The traveler don't know where he's goin'
And the tourist don't know where he is
Small world till they lose your luggage, tho'
Yet, another part of me thinks it unfair to completely leave the "natives" out of the culpability calculation. This world's disparity of wealth makes it only reasonable for a guy in Thailand dragging fat-assed Russian tourists around in a rickshaw to dream of the day he has his own car (aka CO2-belching taxi) and strive to "re-distribute" some Russian rubles into his pocket of bhats?
Friday, September 12, 2008
Thailand Vacation Anyone?
Stumbled on mentions of Koh Samet (aka Koh Samed). Sounds relaxing, though a bit of a jog to get there.
Though after turning 40 and going on my first all-inclusive resort vacation, I fear I'm turning into an ugly American (e.g. "Where the fuck is the Starbucks?) not that interested in negotiating the price of a rickshaw ride with people who make in a year what I earn in a week. But I haven't aged enough to not still be able to entertain romantic, idealistic thoughts of time with the honey on a secluded beach with only 8 hours of electricity a day ("Oh, my how we are roughing it, dear!").
So, anybody got thoughts on Inclusive versus backworlds basic seclcusion, Mexico/Caribbean v. Asia v. ??
Though after turning 40 and going on my first all-inclusive resort vacation, I fear I'm turning into an ugly American (e.g. "Where the fuck is the Starbucks?) not that interested in negotiating the price of a rickshaw ride with people who make in a year what I earn in a week. But I haven't aged enough to not still be able to entertain romantic, idealistic thoughts of time with the honey on a secluded beach with only 8 hours of electricity a day ("Oh, my how we are roughing it, dear!").
So, anybody got thoughts on Inclusive versus backworlds basic seclcusion, Mexico/Caribbean v. Asia v. ??
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