Why we travel

This article was very deep. The author explains how traveling should be a much more profound and cultural experience than it is for most people. What I got from this writer is that when we travel we are not only supposed to indulge ourselves with the culture that we are traveling too, but to also bring our culture with us. It seems that the basic point of this writing is to get the reader to understand that sometimes going to less fortunate places and experiencing the unknown of cultures, it will only help us to become a better person. It was interesting how he compares traveling to being a child. It is true that when I travel I am much more open to change, and having a open mind lets me learn and experience more. Like a child does, I am open to the unknown and don't seem to really care. When I go to Mexico I always find myself wanting to learn the culture more and more, and not really caring that I do not understand the language all the time. I think if more people viewed traveling as a "love affair" as the author describes, we would probably get so much more out of our vacations. He obviously views traveling as a way to completely learn and feel the atomosphere of which you are in, to see everything even the bad and less fortunate things. This article I believe was more a reading about how to open up your mind and heart to the world around us. While he does speak of physical travel, I think he is more talking about a metephore of traveling outside our normal lives to experience more and help others to experience more as well.

He compares traveling to a love affair several times. Interesting comparison mostly because he is right that when we love good we are so open to learning everything we can about that person. We long to find more out, if we felt this way when we traveled we would see everything for what it is with emotion not just with our eyes. I think the writer wants us to use our felling more than our sight, he seems to think this is the only way to live your life, I think I agree.

The Tourist

In the Excerts for the Tourists by Dean MacCannell I really was able to relate to a lot of what he had to say. I completely agree that tourism has become increasingly materialized and all about making money. I truly feel that when you vacation to a special place it should be because you want to get something out of it. For me that means relaxing, but also it means that I am somehow getting in touch with the culture or history of where I am going. That is the beauty of visiting other locations, you can actually learn something new and add to your experience in life. MacCannell brings up a good point that some tourist attatractions popularity come in waves according to things that happen in society or from word of mouth. I also agree with him when he speaks about how things are so commercialized for instance McDonald's being all around the world. The amount of money that is spent on souvineirs and tours can get to be ridiculous. I was horrified at how often we had added charges, taxes, or just extra fee's when we traveled to Mexico last December. Having just been there 3 years ago I was surprised at home much more or a tourist attraction Mexico had become, and I later found that the prices in that area go up 30% simply because it is prime season when we were there. I think that is terrible, but once again you get out of your travels what you allow yourself to do. We found ways to see the beauty, experience the culture, and enjoy the weather without breaking our pocketbooks everytime we turned around.
I was very interested by his story of the African girl whom was taken back by vending machines in America and how they take the place of people standing there vending the product. Having her prospective can educate us on just how different things are in other places around the world. And how just by buying a soda we are taking for granted the technology we have at our fingertips. It must have been interesting to be there to experience that with her and to explain to her what it was, but also to get her feedback on it as well.
Although sometimes exploited I think tourism is a necessity in some areas. I just wish that sometimes it didn't take from the natural beauty of the locations, and history. Again I think that as a tourist you can get so much from visiting any locations, everywhere has history, culture, and interest in many ways. It is up to the individual themselves to learn from it and broaden your own mind. This essay helped again to see prospectives of others and to remember why we travel in the first place.

The Loss of the Creature

This essay was very interesting, particularly how Walker Percy chooses to show us a different side to how some people view things. I truly believe that you take from an experience or a viewing what you allow yourself. Although Percy brings up a valid point to the experience of discovering something. It is true that only Garcia Lopez de Cardenas, whom actually discovered the Grand Canyon, could truly take pride in the feeling of his discovery. However I do not feel that any other person cannot be breath taken by the beauty of the Grand Canyon. I think the experience is solely up to the person and how they choose to indulge themselves in it. True to what Percy says, one could become bored or feel that they didn't fully experience something. But isn't it true that this person would probably feel that way no matter what? Not because he didn't discover something knew or that the Grand Canyon didn't live up to the postcards he had seen. Most people that go to the Grand Canyon are going to see the immense beauty of it, and even be amazed. Even at age 12 I was breath-taken by it's beauty, and I had seen pictures a hundred times of the Grand Canyon. However I will say that I have a vivid memory of my visit on the second day because there was a rare lunar eclipse that happened before our very eyes. I remember how big of a deal it was, to this day that is my only experience of a lunar eclipse and it happened at the Grand Canyon. So I do understand Percy when he says that sometimes it takes a special experience or discovery to fully feel like you are fulfilled of an experience. However the Grand Canyon was equally as beautiful before and after that lunar eclipse, more memorable, but just as breath taking. I also share his opinion that you truly can be impacted by a place or experience if you whave a desire to share that with someone else. I have been to Mexico several times but have always longed to bring my family or friends there to share the experience with me. Last December my in laws traveled with my family and I to Puerta Vallarta. I enjoyed their happiness and excitement more than being there myself because they too now know the beauty my husband and I have known for years. This essay was very interesting, got me thinking in alternate ways about my experiences and what I took from them. I think this reading will help me to remember to look at things from many angles in order to take away the fullest. I found the ending very strange, not sure I fully understood the ending.