As a world-traveler, I cannot but instinctively promote world travel in order to inspire people to get off their couches and out into the world. Therefore, I focus on the many benefits of travel, specifically the educational aspects, as evidenced by my website’s motto, “Travel is the Ultimate University,” taken from my book, Destination Earth. However, I also have a responsibility to critique some aspects of travel when necessary. The way people travel evolves, and I have been encountering some quite unpleasant developments during my travels in the 14 years since I finished my around-the-world journey. As I encourage readers to face the unpleasant realities of the world when they travel, I must now also face and address all the unpleasantries of what I call the “new tourism” – here defined as the age of frequent overtourism, organized tours, social media sharing, and mindless tourist development.
My host family lived in a hut, and I soon befriended the older son, who spoke a bit of Spanish. Nothing special was happening in the village, just men fishing or doing some work in the forest, women cutting vegetables and cooking, and lots of children and chickens running noisily about. Their clothing was half Western, half traditional – a grass skirt here and there for women and a few older men wearing loincloths. A few young men even had mobile phones or some other modern device, such as mechanical tools or fancy knives. It felt like I was witnessing the daily routines of a poor Latin American village; the only difference was that this community was in the forest rather than a city. The “highlight” of the first two days was an annoying, nerve-racking rooster that would crow continually day and night (every fifteen minutes, like a Swiss Cuckoo clock!) – never encountered such a rooster before or since. The second day, when they were about to slaughter a chicken for lunch, I suggested they slaughter him instead, but they laughed and kindly declined. I think they, unlike me, enjoyed the constant loud crowing!