Hostýn in the Czech Republic
I enjoy traveling. I did a road trip around California with some online friends after I graduated high school, I went to the Czech Republic in 2016, where my dad was born. My wife and I went to Japan in 2017, and we honeymooned in Mexico in 2022. Something I discovered was that I enjoy places that offer different experiences than the ones I get back home. While Europe wasn’t my favourite of my travel destinations, I loved going to castles and churches that went back a thousand years. The church behind me in this photo is the location where my grandparents got married over 60 years ago.
Next time I travel I want to go back to Asia. When we were In Japan, we ate fried octopus for street food, went to these elaborate shrines and monkey sanctuaries, toured the castles of ancient Japanese emperors, and it was fun to find ways to communicate with people using a little bit of English and Japanese and a lot of expressions, pointing, laughter, and body language. I feel like as time moves on, cultures tend to assimilate because of Western soft power that influences other places around the world. While I think there are positives to this, we start to lose out on some of the wonderful unique things that give a distinct shape to these cultures. One reason why I think I appreciated going to Japan more than Europe was that it felt quite different than the place I was born.
Mexico was another amazing experience. We stayed at a resort that was a two-minute walk to the Caribbean Sea. We went to animal sanctuaries where we got the opportunity to swim with manatees and take pictures with parrots. We floated down lazy rivers, swung across ropes, and jumped into rivers. We saw spectacular shows at our resort every night and sat in the sun all day. I did wonder about the effect I had as a tourist coming in to these places. Previously, I said that I enjoyed going to these distant places to experience a distinct culture, but I wonder what influence my tourism has. Do I consume the cultural of these places for self-fulfillment in a way that is selfish and harmful? It is something that I haven’t come to an answer for myself yet.