Vagabonding audio companion: Obnoxious travelers (and how to avoid being one)

Deviate with Rolf Potts

“We’re having less enjoyable travel experiences, even as our photos show us having this amazing time, because we’re performing a version of travel for people who aren’t even there.”

In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and David talk about the time-honored practice of Americans pretending to be Canadian on the road, and why Americans at times have had a bad reputation abroad (2:30); strategies for avoiding becoming an “Ugly American” on the road (11:00); how a fixation with comfort can get in the way of life-enriching experiences on the road (18:30); how rituals like tipping, interacting with children, or choosing what to wear in public from culture to culture (22:00); how “voluntourism” and charity on the part of travelers is often not as selfless or effective as it pretends to be (30:00); how social media has a way of turning us into superficial, image-obsessed travelers (34:00); and how technology has transformed (and constrained) the way we all travel (39:00).

David Martinez is an Associate Professor of Spanish and the director of the Center for Study Abroad at George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon.

Notable Links:

• How to study abroad, even if you aren’t a student (Deviate episode 221)
• The Vagabond’s Way, by Rolf Potts (book)
• Flag-jacking (the practice of travelers to be from someplace they’re not)
• Paris Writing Workshop (Rolf’s travel-memoir writing classes)
• The Comfort Crisis, by Michael Easter (book)
• Misogi (Japanese Shinto ritual)
• Voluntourism (short-term charity work for travelers)
• Picturesque (aesthetic ideal)
• The Shallows, by Nicholas G. Carr (book)
• The Scent of Time, by Byung-Chul Han (book)
• George Fox Talks (podcast)

The Deviate theme music comes from the title track of Cedar Van Tassel’s 2017 album Lumber.

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