Travel does different things to different people. So what does it do to you? The Bulgarian philosopher of fantasy, Tzvetan Todorov, drew up a list of voyaging types. Here are some of them. What type are you?
He begins with the ‘assimilator’. This is the person who looks for similarities between their own culture and the one they’re visiting. They’re delighted by the billboard featuring David Beckham in Sub-Saharan Africa because it eases the stark differences between the poverty there and the wealth here. Or they will like nothing better than finding the Irish pub in Bangkok. Or they are like the American who comes to Europe to say how awful the US is, or the European who goes to America and says the same. Is that you?
Second, there’s the ‘profiteer’. These are those who travel to a place and wonder how they can exploit it. They will have the best of reasons. This is such a beautiful place, they reflect walking through the jungles of Indonesia. More tourists should come here. Perhaps I could set up a little touring business? Theirs is the merchantile mind. Christopher Colombus is their soulmate.
There is, third, the ‘pure tourist’. These are individuals who travel to places for the sheer experience of it. They land amidst all the history of southern Turkey, and are really only interested in lying in the sun. Alternatively, they tend to sign up for packaged tours and, to be honest, only leave the air-conditioned coach to take a better photo of the view, to impress the folk back home.
Next comes the ‘impressionist’. This is the person who travels to be changed. They seek a heighten spiritual sensibility from wandering in the foothills of the Himalayas. They want their historical intuition to be set ablaze by that first glimpse of the Parthenon above Athens. They’re like the aristocrats who took the Grand Tour in the 18th century, and are a little aristocratic as travelling companions themselves.
Another common travelling type is the ‘exote’, as in exotic. They are seduced by what they see for the very reason that it is so different. This kind of person likes to travel to Buddhist countries, usually India, probably Goa. They are fascinated by Eastern religion and will come home talking of chakras and reincarnation. They will proudly display their new image of a bodhisattva on the mantelpiece; their apartment carries the whiff of incense from far off places.
Finally, there’s the ‘exile’. They travel to foreign climes in order to escape. They feel they can only be themselves whilst backpacking, or as an outsider. It brings them a sense of escape from the drudgery of work. They love the freedom of distance and of detachment.
Mark Vernon’s most recent book is The Good Life (Hodder). See markvernon.com
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