And Then Mr Global Traveler Said...

[terry57]

maybe you could write a poem about that dude that thinks all places look the same after a while.

it would take some one of your calibre about 2.5 milliseconds and consist of half a line.

the subject matter would be real hard to inspire you, and definately not on the same level as tutsi and i.

Not many things are beneath me, but I think this could be one. We already wasted enough words here.

Mind you, if you started a limerick, I might be enticed to add a line or two... Start out with home, home on the range...

Did you see my revised tutsiterry poem?

Home home on the range

where I've been I sure like to say

And although I've heard

I still can't speak a word

of the countries where I've had a stay

Home home on the range

where I go seems to all look the same

but I think I've got pull

cause my passport is full

I can brag and then not feel so lame

well done mate, and a big effort.

[ColPyat]

I can understand his position. Once upon a time in my far younger days I had a penchant towards vagabondage, yes, I was one of the despised backbackers on a budget. I happened to be in Nepal when it suddenly struck me that the novelty of encountering yet a new culture was beginning to wear off. But instead of continuing on my journey and then to return home all burnt out as far too many people did in those days, I made what I think was the smarter choice but to return home before the burnout. Mind you I still yearn to travel, but I can understand the sentiment.

Same here.

After several years on that trail the burnout factor came. After having been all over Asia, and mostly just scratching the surface, things started to become very monotone after the novelty factor has worn off. I decided to start a life here in Asia because there was nothing really at home for me.

Not that i regret those years, on the opposite, but when i travel nowadays i only go if i have a particular reason to, and not just for the sake of traveling.

What appeared at the end of my travel years as sameness, are now interesting cultural, political, social amd geographical inter-relations to be further investigated.

[bina]

paul theroux wrote some (in my opinion) great travel books in which basically he deplores travelling and travellors... he met many many travellors that are 'budget' travellors that tick off the sites, and i have to say it, many of the 'senior' israeli travellors that i know do the same: u've been to the 'this wat' and 'that mountain' and 'this spa' and after a while they blur together. i went cross country usa w/my now ex husband and we met two couples from our area. we continued the journey with them and the refrain from one couple was always: more trees, more water... who needs to see this?" (this said in some spectactular nat'l parks in the american north west (we did the luis and clark trail sort of).

i meet tons of israeli kids coming back from their year after the army, and its the same: they've 'done' all sorts of places. some experience living the culture, or meet new friends, or expand their horizons. but the most of them seem to want to chalk up places so when at home, they can say they 'did' nepal, 'wat x', etc. and then they settle down to do some boring job for the money (after they shave off the rastas etc.);

i never go anywhere if and when i travel. i stay in one or two spots and sit around and talk with people, or watch them, or go to look at agricultural stuff like tractors or petting zoos. i hate historical sites and i live in a country rich with them. i've been to zillions of them and to me THEY ARE ALL THE SAME, i can chalk up all the main sites so at least to outsiders i 'appear' to be well immeresed in the stuff.. to my father, in love with archeology, its the greatest thing to live on mounds of shards and ruins.

i do not enjoy the 'super tourist' type of travel.

and for a large majority of people, to be well travelled means to have been to many places and chalk them up on the board. no one said that they have to learn something new, or broaden themselves. its enough that they were there. that the restaraunt was awful. the people were rude. the signs werent in english. no decent bathrooms. nobody wore folk lore clothes.

the same as some people collect things because its the fad to collect them, not because they really appreciate what they are collecting (things, experiences, exotic animals etc).;

bina

israel

[Dupont]

This gap year round the world thing is just a treadmill and shouldn't be confused with travelling.

I went with a mate to Vietnam the other year and she had her nose stuck in the lonely planet most of the way. Most places looked the same as they were all cheap budget areas full of backpacking tourists huddling together like wildebeasts, constantly surrounded by lions (touts).

Went our seperate ways in Hanoi and I spent two weeks coming back to Thailand alone overland. Stayed in better hotels that cost less than the backpack trail guesthouses and were cleaner and void of pretentious vacuous dreadlocked middle class kids. Revisited Phnom Penn and it was a different place than it had been with her the previous week.

Look at Khoa San Road? Anybody staying there has not seen Bangkok and its not even cheap. The busses from their are the worst way to travel Thailand but only 1 or 2 percent have the balls to go and find the bus stations or railway station.

lots to see and do and all places don"t look the same if you travel them rather than visit them for the tick on the list and the photo next to the landmark etc. Enjoy and go at your own speed, you can always do other places next time.

[Rinrada]

For some reason, I've found that a lot of people, including people who've been here a long time and/or been to Myanmar pronounce it Miramar, like the military base in CA.

.....rather than getting into whether the place is called Me-an Ma or Me and Pa...easier just to stick to the countrys real name...BURMA.

One day might even put that nice little word in front of it.................free

[PeaceBlondie]

Preparing for a visa to Russia, I noticed I'd been in about 20 countries in the past 9 years, living in 3 foreign ones. I started out as an urban/suburban flatlander, amazed at mountains, sunsets, pathethically poor peasants, full moons, rural villages, and stopping to smell the flowers. Well, after you've seen 9 Mayan pyramids and 89 Buddhist wats, they begin to look the same. Angkor Wat last week resembled Palenque, in Chiapas, Mexico. I don't need to see another sunset on the ocean. Yes, you can burn out after 18 countries, or at least decide the money isn't worth spending anymore.

Thailand still intrigues me, but it no longer gobsmacks me.

[samran]

I understand where the bloke is coming from. I've been in exactly the same boat as him, though, probably three times more passport stamps than he has. I used to collect the PP stamps, the more obscure and out of the way, the better. Syria and Lichtenstien are my favourites. More and more though, I like to go back to the places that I like, even if it is only 3 hours drive from where I grew up in OZ....

On a related note, if you can like a good song, try downloading a tune called "Every F#cking City" by the great Australian musician, Paul Kelly. Top song, very funny, and relates the ho-hum that travel can become.

Here are the lyrics though:

We argued on the channel train to Paris

The vin rouge helped us make it sweet again

But by the time that we got down to Lyon

Everything I said was wrong and you cursed me in the rain

We split up for a while in Barcelona

We met up six days later in Madrid

I was hoping that the break would make things go a little better for us

And for a little while it almost did

Now I'm in a bar in Copenhagen

And i'm trying hard to forget your name

And I'm staring at the label on a bottle of cerveza

And every ######ing city feels the same

You said to call you when I got to London

A French girl told me that you'd left a note

I said to her "I like your accent" and she thought I sounded funny

So we ended up drinking in Soho

Foolishly I followed you to Dublin

Like a ghost I walked the streets of Temple Bar

And all the bright young things were throwing up their Guinness in the gutters

And once I thought I saw you from afar

Now I'm in a nightclub in Helsinki

And they're playing La Vida Loca once again

And I can't believe I'm dancing to this crap, but I'm a chance here

And every ######ing city sounds the same

At a cafe in the port of Amsterdam

An E-mail from you said you'd gone to Rome

For a minute I thought maybe but my funds were running low

And anyway it sounded like you weren't alone

So I headed north until I got to Hamburg

A chilly city suits a troubled soul

And on the Reeperbahn I paid a woman far too much

To kick me out before I'd even reached my goal

Now I'm in a restaurant in Stockholm

And the waiter here wants me to know his name

And I can order sandwiches in seven different languages

But every ######ing city looks the same

Arriverderci, au revoir, aufwiedersen, hasta la vista baby

Yeah, every ######ing city's just the same

[lingling]

Well, after you've seen 9 Mayan pyramids and 89 Buddhist wats, they begin to look the same.

So, let's see... Is this pic from a Thai temple, Khmer temple or Mayan pyramid?

[think_too_mut]

From the OP:

"What happened was this: He says to her, "Well you know, I've been to 18 countries now."

One has been to a country if there were fixed phone line, electricity, water, gas bills ...all in their name.

IMO, walking one's ass around the world with the Lonely Planet does not count.

In Sydney I bumped into a frustrated couple that were trying to get somewhere. Helped them, and as we parted I asked where did they just came from. "Wellington" said the man, "Auckland" said the woman.

"Global travelers" that did not even know where they had been. But, in barbeques, back in their sad places, they wouldl boast about the world they had traveled.

[tutsiwarrior]

looks like a masterbatory effigy from around 800 AD so coulda come from either site...

[farangsay]

looks like a masterbatory effigy from around 800 AD so coulda come from either site...

Tutsi , if the need overcomes you by all means masturbate

but whatever you do DO NOT masterbate. There are severe

health issues involved.

[tutsiwarrior]

looks like a masterbatory effigy from around 800 AD so coulda come from either site...

Tutsi , if the need overcomes you by all means masturbate

but whatever you do DO NOT masterbate. There are severe

health issues involved.

well...I suppose I could bait the master...probly wouldn't feel as nice...

[farangsay]

looks like a masterbatory effigy from around 800 AD so coulda come from either site...

Tutsi , if the need overcomes you by all means masturbate

but whatever you do DO NOT masterbate. There are severe

health issues involved.

well...I suppose I could bait the master...probly wouldn't feel as nice...

Actually have a care.

I assume you are using Cavan dialect where bait = beat.

The master might not be pleased and could even call

the polis.

Dialects are fun aren't they ?

Years ago when my father was contemplating the

oxter high weeds in the garden of the house he had

just bought a passing gentleman said he'd need a

raping hook.

It turned out raping hook=reaping hook=scythe.

[tolsti]

He sounds like yet another reason why there should be face to face interviews before a passport is issued.

[Johpa]

Actually, if going through the backpacker trail, I can definitely see how each place would look the same: similar looking hostels, bars, people, conversations about what's wrong with the world...Plus, this kind of trip is usually far longer than it should be. When I hear these people tell me they've spent one or two weeks in Luang Prabang or even Angkor, I really wonder what it is they have to do there for such an extended period of time. I can understand older people (who need the rest) and full-time professionals (who only get 2 weeks off and decide to relax as well as visit), but the whole "gap-year" concept with aaages spent in just one place is very strange to me.

During my initial year of vagabondage at the ripe age of 18, hitchhiking through Europe, I was constantly on the move, rarely spending more than a few days in any one hostel or other affordable location before hitting the road again. A decade later, my travelling habits had matured, I think, and I spent far less time on the road and tended to stay, explore, and get to know in more detail a particular location that caught my attention. And then two years later, I spent a year running a guesthouse in what was then a rather remote location in the hills of Chiang Mai.

Now days, I am fixed to one location by family obligations and look forward to the day when the kids are on their own and out of the house and I can pack up my bags again.

[tutsiwarrior]

looks like a masterbatory effigy from around 800 AD so coulda come from either site...

Tutsi , if the need overcomes you by all means masturbate

but whatever you do DO NOT masterbate. There are severe

health issues involved.

well...I suppose I could bait the master...probly wouldn't feel as nice...

Actually have a care.

I assume you are using Cavan dialect where bait = beat.

The master might not be pleased and could even call

the polis.

Dialects are fun aren't they ?

Years ago when my father was contemplating the

oxter high weeds in the garden of the house he had

just bought a passing gentleman said he'd need a

raping hook.

It turned out raping hook=reaping hook=scythe.

the grim masturbator???...film history would haveta be re-written...

this masturbatin' issue has personal implications...my granma caught me pullin' the pud once when I was about 12 y.o. and asked sternly 'are you a masturbator?...'

what's a masturbator to do???...subsequently, there was permanent psychological damage...

Edited January 21, 2007 by tutsiwarrior

[farang prince]

Preparing for a visa to Russia, I noticed I'd been in about 20 countries in the past 9 years, living in 3 foreign ones. I started out as an urban/suburban flatlander, amazed at mountains, sunsets, pathethically poor peasants, full moons, rural villages, and stopping to smell the flowers. Well, after you've seen 9 Mayan pyramids and 89 Buddhist wats, they begin to look the same. Angkor Wat last week resembled Palenque, in Chiapas, Mexico. I don't need to see another sunset on the ocean. Yes, you can burn out after 18 countries, or at least decide the money isn't worth spending anymore.

Thailand still intrigues me, but it no longer gobsmacks me.

In my 60 years, I've been to 41 countries, thanks to a life in the military and as a journalist. With the exception of a couple of places like Vietnam and Panama, where it was hard to enjoy the natural beauty because people were shooting at me, I have truly enjoyed each and every country that I have visited and the people I have met there.

I compare travelling to drinking a glass of wine. Some people drink the wine to get drunk. Some enjoy the fragrance and subtle blend of flavors of the wine. Now I split my time between Thailand and North America and I would be perfectly happy without visiting another country. But my Thai partner wants to see the world and so I'm sure that my passport will continue to get a thorough workout in the decade ahead.

[farangsay]

looks like a masterbatory effigy from around 800 AD so coulda come from either site...

Tutsi , if the need overcomes you by all means masturbate

but whatever you do DO NOT masterbate. There are severe

health issues involved.

well...I suppose I could bait the master...probly wouldn't feel as nice...

Actually have a care.

I assume you are using Cavan dialect where bait = beat.

The master might not be pleased and could even call

the polis.

Dialects are fun aren't they ?

Years ago when my father was contemplating the

oxter high weeds in the garden of the house he had

just bought a passing gentleman said he'd need a

raping hook.

It turned out raping hook=reaping hook=scythe.

the grim masturbator???...film history would haveta be re-written...

this masturbatin' issue has personal implications...my granma caught me pullin' the pud once when I was about 12 y.o. and asked sternly 'are you a masturbator?...'

what's a masturbator to do???...subsequently, there was permanent psychological damage...

To you or to her ?

I remember my tortured youth as a cafflik and the conflict between

what these guys and gals in frocks were telling me about going to

hel_l and my adolescent libido.

Something had to give , fraid it was both the doctrine and the

young gals.

Keep the faith Tuts.

[tutsiwarrior]

looks like a masterbatory effigy from around 800 AD so coulda come from either site...

Tutsi , if the need overcomes you by all means masturbate

but whatever you do DO NOT masterbate. There are severe

health issues involved.

well...I suppose I could bait the master...probly wouldn't feel as nice...

Actually have a care.

I assume you are using Cavan dialect where bait = beat.

The master might not be pleased and could even call

the polis.

Dialects are fun aren't they ?

Years ago when my father was contemplating the

oxter high weeds in the garden of the house he had

just bought a passing gentleman said he'd need a

raping hook.

It turned out raping hook=reaping hook=scythe.

the grim masturbator???...film history would haveta be re-written...

this masturbatin' issue has personal implications...my granma caught me pullin' the pud once when I was about 12 y.o. and asked sternly 'are you a masturbator?...'

what's a masturbator to do???...subsequently, there was permanent psychological damage...

To you or to her ?

I remember my tortured youth as a cafflik and the conflict between

what these guys and gals in frocks were telling me about going to

hel_l and my adolescent libido.

Something had to give , fraid it was both the doctrine and the

young gals.

Keep the faith Tuts.

to quote the Beatles...I'VE GOT BLISTERS ON ME FINGERS!!! (Helter Skelter)

Edited January 21, 2007 by tutsiwarrior

[farangsay]

looks like a masterbatory effigy from around 800 AD so coulda come from either site...

Tutsi , if the need overcomes you by all means masturbate

but whatever you do DO NOT masterbate. There are severe

health issues involved.

well...I suppose I could bait the master...probly wouldn't feel as nice...

Actually have a care.

I assume you are using Cavan dialect where bait = beat.

The master might not be pleased and could even call

the polis.

Dialects are fun aren't they ?

Years ago when my father was contemplating the

oxter high weeds in the garden of the house he had

just bought a passing gentleman said he'd need a

raping hook.

It turned out raping hook=reaping hook=scythe.

the grim masturbator???...film history would haveta be re-written...

this masturbatin' issue has personal implications...my granma caught me pullin' the pud once when I was about 12 y.o. and asked sternly 'are you a masturbator?...'

what's a masturbator to do???...subsequently, there was permanent psychological damage...

To you or to her ?

I remember my tortured youth as a cafflik and the conflict between

what these guys and gals in frocks were telling me about going to

hel_l and my adolescent libido.

Something had to give , fraid it was both the doctrine and the

young gals.

Keep the faith Tuts.

to quote the Beatles...I'VE GOT BLISTERS ON ME FINGERS!!! (Helter Skelter)

Did they really sing that ?

Thought they had them groopy gals all over them.

They weren't just taking the p*ss out of the unfortunate ?

[tutsiwarrior]

looks like a masterbatory effigy from around 800 AD so coulda come from either site...

Tutsi , if the need overcomes you by all means masturbate

but whatever you do DO NOT masterbate. There are severe

health issues involved.

well...I suppose I could bait the master...probly wouldn't feel as nice...

Actually have a care.

I assume you are using Cavan dialect where bait = beat.

The master might not be pleased and could even call

the polis.

Dialects are fun aren't they ?

Years ago when my father was contemplating the

oxter high weeds in the garden of the house he had

just bought a passing gentleman said he'd need a

raping hook.

It turned out raping hook=reaping hook=scythe.

the grim masturbator???...film history would haveta be re-written...

this masturbatin' issue has personal implications...my granma caught me pullin' the pud once when I was about 12 y.o. and asked sternly 'are you a masturbator?...'

what's a masturbator to do???...subsequently, there was permanent psychological damage...

To you or to her ?

I remember my tortured youth as a cafflik and the conflict between

what these guys and gals in frocks were telling me about going to

hel_l and my adolescent libido.

Something had to give , fraid it was both the doctrine and the

young gals.

Keep the faith Tuts.

to quote the Beatles...I'VE GOT BLISTERS ON ME FINGERS!!! (Helter Skelter)

Did they really sing that ?

Thought they had them groopy gals all over them.

They weren't just taking the p*ss out of the unfortunate ?

wasn't really sung...just yelled in agony at the end ob de song...he may have been referring to the frantic guitar licks rather than masturbation...but, one nebber knows...mebbe a secret that Charles Manson only knows the answer...

[farangsay]

looks like a masterbatory effigy from around 800 AD so coulda come from either site...

Tutsi , if the need overcomes you by all means masturbate

but whatever you do DO NOT masterbate. There are severe

health issues involved.

well...I suppose I could bait the master...probly wouldn't feel as nice...

Actually have a care.

I assume you are using Cavan dialect where bait = beat.

The master might not be pleased and could even call

the polis.

Dialects are fun aren't they ?

Years ago when my father was contemplating the

oxter high weeds in the garden of the house he had

just bought a passing gentleman said he'd need a

raping hook.

It turned out raping hook=reaping hook=scythe.

the grim masturbator???...film history would haveta be re-written...

this masturbatin' issue has personal implications...my granma caught me pullin' the pud once when I was about 12 y.o. and asked sternly 'are you a masturbator?...'

what's a masturbator to do???...subsequently, there was permanent psychological damage...

To you or to her ?

I remember my tortured youth as a cafflik and the conflict between

what these guys and gals in frocks were telling me about going to

hel_l and my adolescent libido.

Something had to give , fraid it was both the doctrine and the

young gals.

Keep the faith Tuts.

to quote the Beatles...I'VE GOT BLISTERS ON ME FINGERS!!! (Helter Skelter)

Did they really sing that ?

Thought they had them groopy gals all over them.

They weren't just taking the p*ss out of the unfortunate ?

wasn't really sung...just yelled in agony at the end ob de song...he may have been referring to the frantic guitar licks rather than masturbation...but, one nebber knows...mebbe a secret that Charles Manson only knows the answer...

And if it's that weird maybe we should leave the secret

with him and just tip-toe softly away.

Night Tuts

I for one am going off to hide my head under the pillow.

[bendix]

You better get Bendix in here for the erudite remarks.

Sadly, I have no erudite remarks to make on this one.

Except to say that as he comes from a country where only around 5% of the population has a passport, who consider themselves well-travelled if they have flown from Los Angeles to Idaho, and most of whom's population would struggle to locate Miami on a map, let alone Myanmar, I think this guys deserves a bit of kudos.

John Cleese was once interviewed by Jay Leno (or one of those type of guys). He was asked to comment on the fundamental difference between America and the rest of the world.

"Well," says John. "Good question. The key difference could be summed up by the fact that when the rest of the world decides to have world championships for its major sports, it's polite enough to invite teams from other countries to join in the fun."

Edited January 22, 2007 by bendix

[Aujuba]

People are people. I don't get all the fuss about the guy?

[Khleerm]

Sadly, I have no erudite remarks to make on this one.

Except to say that as he comes from a country where only around 5% of the population has a passport, who consider themselves well-travelled if they have flown from Los Angeles to Idaho, and most of whom's population would struggle to locate Miami on a map, let alone Myanmar, I think this guys deserves a bit of kudos.

Forgive me for not addressing that presumption earlier, but he's actually from Canada. And for whatever it's worth- I'm a Yank.

People are people. I don't get all the fuss about the guy?

Yes, they are. Having read all the responses [on topic] so far, however, I'd have to say the majority has been very kind to him. I'm the fussy one, and I'm clearly in the minority on this.

[Khleerm]

when i travel nowadays i only go if i have a particular reason to, and not just for the sake of traveling.

What appeared at the end of my travel years as sameness, are now interesting cultural, political, social amd geographical inter-relations to be further investigated.

That's very appropos to my style. My colleague is twelve years my junior, which might well explain my disrespect.

paul theroux wrote some (in my opinion) great travel books in which basically he deplores travelling and travellors...

Those were some great points, bina, thank you! I don't think it was Theroux, but several years ago I saw a quote that jibes with his. It went something like this, "The difference between a traveller and a tourist is this: The traveller isn't sure where he is going whilst the tourist isn't at all sure where he's been."

Some of the most recent posts to this thread are alluding to the stark contrast therein.

Guesthouse scolded me for not recognizing that people are different. But he presumed wrong- I am and was aware of this. I have little respect for my colleagues view because I, like may of the older posters here, have mellowed in my age and I have no desire to keep score by ticking off this and that.

I prefer to stay put, too, and let a place and its' people infuse themselves in me. When I travel, I try to see, live, and feel their world through their eyes. For me, the destinations mean little while the journey means a whole lot. Maybe that's why I eschew itineraries- it could be said I plan to meander moreso than I plan to travel.

On a related note, if you can like a good song, try downloading a tune called "Every F#cking City" by the great Australian musician, Paul Kelly. Top song, very funny, and relates the ho-hum that travel can become.

Samran, thanks for sharing the song- it sounds hilariously cute. I can well imagine the chuckle he'd evoke were I to hear it. Perhaps I caught my colleague in such a mindset.

Edited January 22, 2007 by Khleerm

[solo siam]

Seems to be a lot of travel snobbery on both sides of the fence, I remember someone mentioning I was a champagne backpacker once because I liked to stay in nicer hotels away from the general backpacking crowd.

Each to their own, I'm sure less than 2% or so of the world have ever had the opportunity to travel to 18 countries.

[alexth]

I have another problem, once I visit a country that I like, I can't thing of anything but going there again until I get tired of it, this is how I've visited Czech Republic for more than 7 or 8 times, Singapore for about 5 times and lived in LOS for 2 years and finally decided it's time to go home and live in a real world

[ourmanflint]

What happened was this: He says to her, "Well you know, I've been to 18 countries now. And do you know what I'm beginning to discover?" We both paused.... waiting for it... And he goes on with, "Once you've been to that many countries, you find that they all start to look the same."

What that really means is "Once you've been to that many countries, my brain can't distinguish between them anymore, and I have lost the ability to see things new without comparing them to everything else I've seen."