It's true that I like to travel in the "developed" world. I like places that have a sense of the familiar. Places where there is not a war being fought and where I might be mistaken for being on the wrong side. I like destinations that are a little bit "off" but are still recognizable as being part of the 21st century. Where, if you like, you can order a meal in a restaurant and sit, eat, and watch the world go by. Where it's not dangerous to wander around at any time of the day or night, or not dangerous to leave the city for surrounding country side. I don't mind if English is not spoken as I can mime what I need pretty good. I don't mind dealing with "odd" currency. I figure that the undeveloped world is still undeveloped because people like me don't go there and mess it up. The places I like to go to are already messed up. The water that is swum in is just a little polluted with human and other kinds of waste. Where the air is just a little unhealthy to breathe because of car exhaust. Where fossil fuels are being burned up at an astonishing clip. Where the details of daily living are uniformly understood and where you can go and no one will give you a second look and think that your presence is odd or unusual in any way. Where you can be somewhere different but still recognizable or feel the same but be very different in a familiar sort of way. Those are the places I like to go to. Where I’m an outsider in familiar territory.

Stumble It!