Before my freshman year summer abroad trip, my worldly expertise was at a minimum. I was raised by geriatric parents and their desire to explore was minimal. I went to Jamaica before the age of three (which hardly counts as travelling), but, beyond that, my travel outside of the United States was non-existent. With that being said, it’s important to note that my summer abroad program was about Americans in Paris, ranging from tourism to the writings of ex-patriots throughout history. I can only assume that my dismal opinion of American tourism stemmed from the teaching of this program, but these teachings have stayed relevant the more and more I travel.Â
To begin, I must pose a question to you, the reader. What’s the point of traveling? Is it to take a break from your everyday world? Or to experience different cultures? If your answer is just to lounge at a hotel and consume the pleasures that surround you, why not just do that at home? Whatever your answer is, I hope to convince you how counterintuitive American tourism is to your goal.Â
My 2022 trip to Madrid was disappointing to say the least. Walking through the streets of a city I would assume to be so culturally engrossing, I found myself, at multiple points, forgetting that I wasn’t in New York City. This isn’t because Spain and the US developed to be so culturally similar, but because the city has evolved to appeal to American tourists, bending to a colonial standard for the sake of their own economy. The demands of American comfortability to stretch across seas (fueled by the chokehold of the US economy) is not only unnecessary but it defeats the purpose of traveling in the first place. I’m eternally grateful to my study abroad instructor, who made it her goal to steer us away from the American tourism within Paris and towards the beauty that comes from the city itself, but unfortunately, this is difficult to find on one’s own.Â
The final example I’ll bring up is my most recent trip to Costa Rica. As wonderful and relaxing as the trip was overall, Santa Teresa, the town we were staying in, seemed to be built for American tourism. Santa Teresa is a darling surfing town on the coast of Costa Rica, but it’s appeal to surfers has led to a drastic loss in the original culture that filled the area. The grocery stores sold more imported American goods than authentic cuisine, cuisine that the surrounding restaurants also severely lacked. When I travel, I’m hoping to lose myself in an unfamiliar world, which is extremely hard to do when every comfortable aspect of my regular life follows me thousands of miles away.