[taurath]

There’s this sort of malaise that took over when Bourdain died which burst the idea that travel was in some way healing or reparative. It can be, but it can also widen the gap between you and the world.

For me what I got out of travel was just being able to experience the “normalcy” of other countries, peoples, cultures. There was this romantic notion that I’d learn something really important about humanity or my place on the earth - all those thoughts in some way seem to exist on a more “conceptual” emotional depth, where you are experiencing and touring, rather than participating. Staying places allows more time for depth than going with the idea that you’ll be moving on.

The whole “digital nomad” trend, while like in a way laudable as a truly neat that it’s possible effect of globalization, still carries a sort of colonial, exchange-rate-maxxing exploitative vibe. It’s playing rich, in a way.

Still, it’s a big world, and it’s good if you can to experience some of it.