Friday, August 1st, 2025
Writing to you from Uruguay
The world is an interesting place worth exploring. North to South, East to West - no matter where you go you can delve into a new culture, a different way of life, unique architecture, vastly different climates, and wild experiences. Going to new places will leave you more well-rounded as you unlock a piece to the global puzzle and see the world in a new light.
The past couple years I thought traveling (even with a specific purpose) wasn’t worth it. But, after visiting 4 entirely new places this year - Canada, Paraguay, Chile, and the Falkland Islands - I’ve changed my tune.
Traveling, with a specific outcome in mind, is good.
It’s especially good for young men. Now, I’m not talking about going to Playa del Carmen to drink enough to hardly remember what happened. No, I’m talking about going somewhere new for the sake of completing a task, seeing someone important, or learning something. Going to Thailand to train Muay Thai, going to Florence to take professional cooking classes, and traveling to Japan to learn from a master carpenter are a few examples.
That way, you’re not only doing something with purpose, but you are also immersing yourself directly into the flow of the local culture - not just being a tourist and doing/seeing what everyone else does. The goal is to never be a tourist.
Why?
Because tourists ruin the world and I’ve seen it first-hand…
Tourism = Decay
Sailing from the Falkland Islands was by far the strangest thing (in a good way) I’ve done in my life. The parameters were hit: I went to two completely new places - Chile and the Falklands - for the express purpose of learning the foundations of a new skill. Yet, I got so much more out of that than I thought I would…including a new perspective of the world.
The trip was wild and interesting and you can read about it here where I talk about the trip itself, seasickness, the history of the Falklands, and much more.
Anyway…
Upon getting to port in Punta Arenas, Chile all of us on the boat were a mix of excited and a bit melancholy that the trip was over. We celebrated with gin from the Falklands and talked on deck before eating dinner and heading to bed. When we woke up the next morning we could hear the wind howling outside…anchored at port and waiting for Chilean customs we were getting hit with 50kts of wind.
A testament to how unpleasant that place is.
Customs did come eventually, clearing us all into the country, which now meant we could go to shore.
The next day was a day I will never forget because a suspicion I had about the world was proved true - even manifesting itself in a strange (and somewhat isolated place) like Punta Arenas.
We lowered the dinghy off the stern of the boat and into the water. We’d be killing some time by exploring the city. Now, after a long ride in the dinghy, we were stepping into the small security checkpoint that led out of the port when I couldn’t help but notice the security guard being oddly rude and easily frustrated. Nothing crazy, but noteworthy nonetheless.
The rest of the day was fairly uneventful, but I must say, nearly every local Chilean looked depressed.
Punta Arenas is not a pretty place and often dreary so that contributes to a general increase in negative emotion. But, I suspect that for some of the popular there is a completely different reason for their discontented attitude…You see, Punta Arenas is one of those interesting and obscure places that has had its mysterious beauty stripped from it once it was discovered by tourists.
The lower rungs of the economy in the main parts of the city itself are completely geared toward backpackers and cruise guests - who are pretty much all foreigners.
Locals to Servants, Beauty to Theme Parks
Walking near the city square you can’t help but see that outdoor stores, hotels, hostels, and restaurants dominate the area.
On its face that isn’t a bad thing, but we have to consider the reason why they are there, who they serve, and what the affects that come from it are. When you’re there you’ll see foreigners walking down the street like they own it - either getting off of a cruise or preparing for a backpacking trip - and the fact is they do own the place in a way. Some of the locals (enough to make a difference) depend on the money they bring in.
You can feel it in the air when you’re there.
There’s a lingering tension between locals and foreigners. I really cannot say that I had one positive interaction with a local when I was there (besides one guy who wanted us to buy something) actually I noticed rude and dismissive tones and subtle resentful looks. This came from port workers, hotel staff, and waiters.
Honestly, how can you blame them?
They receive a seemingly endless flow of tourists who can walk into their city, throw money around, and treat people as servants. It’s pretty much the same general attitude from top down: the wealthier cruise guests on their way to Antartica and the broke backpackers headed to Patagonia. It’s a strange relationship really…Tourists bring money in, locals adapt themselves to work that’ll allow them to receive that money, tourists treat them badly and take advantage of an interesting place, and locals build resentment while simultaneously enjoying the money that’s brought in.
Think of it like a resort town in Mexico…because it’s pretty much the same…
A new aspect of the economy pops up after a foreigner notices the beauty of a place. As more foreigners flow in and the economy changes to serve them and the once beautiful place becomes more and more like a theme park.
The locals, chasing the sudden flow of money, unknowingly position themselves as servants to the tourists. More money comes in than ever before, but something feels wrong and they know it.
What Makes a Place Beautiful?
Architecture, unique landscapes, and art make a place beautiful and so do people.
But the degree of beauty which we are able to see in the world is mostly a reflection of a inner perspective geared toward seeking beauty. The desire to see beauty manifest itself in the world is one that must be coupled with a reverence toward it, a respect for it. And, those who seek beauty to great degrees - in places, in themselves, in people, in everyday life - also wish to preserve it.
Most people aren’t like that.
Do they seek beauty? Yes, and they find it in places like Yellowstone National Park, Machu Picchu, the Duomo in Florence, or Neuschwanstein castle in Germany - but, they abuse it and treat it as a spectacle.
Abuse of beauty hurts all.
So, beauty is in the object or thing itself, but beauty is also the desire to see the thing as it is, to admire it, to treat it as though you wish to see it continue on forever or even grow in its beauty.
Tourism Destroys Beauty
Without the proper perspective from people, beauty is vulnerable to degradation and abuse.
Like an animal in a zoo, beautiful places, objects, and buildings are captured and used in order to be exploited en-mass for photographs, tours, and money.
Why is this bad?
Again, it’s bad because beauty needs to be treated gently, its fragile. Without speaking, it asks that you hold reverence for it, wish to see it be as it is, or even wish to see it grow.
Tourism does of the opposite of this. It takes the soul out of beautiful places.
This is a whole topic in of itself and probably needs its own attention some other time…
What Can You Do?
By no means, go all over the world, but do it with purpose.
When you go somewhere new don’t exploit it or force integration into the culture. Do something that’ll place you in direct contact with the people from that place by learning something new or doing something unique.
The key is to find a service, not aim to be served.
Going to Thailand to train Muay Thai is the perfect example. If you go there seeking teachers who can offer you a new skill it’s a sign that you’re not there to be a parasite on the people, but to be a student. If you show up to places with an “I want to become better than I am” attitude then you can be aided by anybody anywhere. Especially if you’re young.
You can see all the touristy sights along the way, no matter where you are, but if you’re learning or doing something that’s part of the culture you’ll have a much different perspective of it all from any tourist. And, a deeper appreciation for what you’re seeing.
Tourism is about sucking all you can out of your time in a place. It’s not a win-win, not even a win-lose, it’s a lose-lose situation.
Tourists consume, consume, and consume while often getting a false perspective of the world. Those who serve them begin to become degraded by it and so does the beauty that the tourists come for.
Your job and my job - especially in the context of The Preparation - is to add to these places we go or at least use the benefits of a place for our own personal progress while maintaining the beauty of it all.
Respect people, respect places, and do things with purpose.
Be the anti-tourist.
-Maxim Benjamin Smith
Thanks for the post !!!
Global mass-tourism morphed from boon to bane ...
As an example, Spain (resorts and people) are sick of them and currently try to restrict.
Numbers matter; politicians look only for increased tax-revenue & re-election, more grifting ...
Local incomes get a little better and some more work-oppotunities are created, but the big profits go to the developers and their local cronies, intl. transport- and resort-owners/corporations. In Tunis, groceries are not even bought from local farmers but are imported from France !!!
Once more and more pilots collapse handling the sidestick due to coerced clot-shots, jet-A fuel gets more expensive due to various reasons, personal carbon-footprints are AI-registered on a global scale, 15-minute-cities implemented everywhere and huge swaths of the populace succumbed to the "safe & effective" with "sudden & unexpected" deaths all these negative "side-effects" will slowly decrease and folks living in current tourist-magnets will have to revert to the traditional and sustainable ways of living, something they have done for centuries before ...
Future, occasional, very lucky or determined travelers driven by personal curiosity or special purposes will rejoice with them !!!
This is spot on about tourists. I lived as a teenager and worked as a bartender in my early 20's in a ski/resort town in the American SW and I never had any nice thoughts about a tourist unless it was a pretty girl or they were an especially big tipper. This was 20+ years ago in the late 90's early 2000's.