Consuming the other, it's a guilt free pleasure.

There's nothing I hate more than a chai swilling hippy trying to touch their inner Hindu while their trust fund matures faster than they do. Don't get me wrong I love Kashmiri tea, but face it - when you travel, you are a tourist. There is certainly a difference in the experience you get from a tour group or on a beach holiday, and the one you have by just winging it. I'm just not sure that a sacred life-changing journey is possible. Daniel Boorstin seems to be onto something in his book 'The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America' when he says that in today's world the authentic tourist experience is just not possible. Most people go to places they've read about in the guidebook and then take similar photos to those in the guidebook. For sure this synthetic version of travel is best avoided.



In India my girlfriend and I were even lucky enough to be taken in by a local family. Found lost and stranded at the mercy of the Indian rail system we were rescued and housed us for two weeks. This was as authentic an experience as you may be fortunate enough to receive. There's a Pulp song 'common people' that goes on about how everyone hates a tourist, but there's no escaping that it's not your reality, it's not your life. So take a photo. Eat something crazy. Hell - do some soul searching but don't be fooled into thinking you're going to find yourself in the backstreets of Burma and still catch the budget flight home on Monday.