{"id":218,"date":"2019-02-25T12:00:21","date_gmt":"2019-02-25T12:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nomadicmatt.com\/?p=163063"},"modified":"2019-02-25T12:00:21","modified_gmt":"2019-02-25T12:00:21","slug":"what-does-globalization-really-destroy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ourfunjourney.com\/index.php\/2019\/02\/25\/what-does-globalization-really-destroy\/","title":{"rendered":"What Does Globalization Really Destroy?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nPosted:<\/strong> 2\/25\/2019 | February 25th, 2019<\/p>\n

While walking down the streets of Medell\u00edn, I came across a Dunkin\u2019 Donuts, a donut chain from my hometown of Boston<\/a>. (It\u2019s the best. Locals are quite attached to Dunkin. Don’t mess with a Massachusetts resident and Dunkin.)<\/p>\n

As I looked at the store, a pit formed in my stomach and I got quiet and melancholy. <\/p>\n

For days, I had been coming across Starbucks, McDonald’s, KFC, Papa John\u2019s, and now, Dunkin\u2019 Donuts! <\/p>\n

Medell\u00edn<\/a> had been overrun by the chains. <\/p>\n

Another place ruined by globalization!<\/p>\n

Another place where the local character was dying. <\/p>\n

Or…was it? (Said in a Morgan Freeman narrator voice.)<\/em><\/p>\n

Was that Dunkin\u2019 Donuts really a bad thing? <\/p>\n

Or that Starbucks I saw earlier? Or all those Papa John\u2019s? (I mean that garlic butter sauce is amazing.)<\/p>\n

As I continued down the street, a thought struck me: What had that Dunkin\u2019 Donuts really<\/em> ruined?<\/p>\n

I mean the shops and stalls nearby were still full of life and brimming with customers buying snacks and coffee. <\/p>\n

What was really bothering me?<\/p>\n

Then it hit me.<\/p>\n

I realized that maybe why I got sad was because what Dunkin\u2019 Donuts really had destroyed was not Medellin but what I thought<\/em> Medellin was. <\/p>\n

As travelers, I think we tend to hate \u201cglobalization\u201d because we imagine places to be a certain way from books, movies, and our collective cultural consciousness. <\/p>\n

We often have this image \u2014 based on no firsthand experience \u2014 of what a destination should be like and how the people should act. We imagine deserted beaches, or quaint caf\u00e9s, or rustic old towns, or gritty, worn-down cities because we saw that in a movie or read a book ten years ago. I mean, most Americans still think Colombia<\/a> is teeming with narcos or that Eastern Europe is still like it was the day after the Iron Curtain fell. <\/p>\n

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We want the places we visit to fit into the box we mentally created for them. We want our image of them validated. <\/p>\n

I mean we in part travel for a sense of adventure and exoticness. To be explorers and find spots devoid of any outside influence.<\/p>\n

Globalization stops all that from happening.<\/p>\n

Suddenly, we\u2019re walking down the street \u2014 and we see a part of home. <\/p>\n

Our illusion \u2013 the myth we created about the destination we are in – is shattered. <\/p>\n

\u201cWell, there\u2019s a Starbucks. The tourists are here.<\/a> This place is ruined now.\u201d<\/p>\n

But is that really a bad thing? <\/p>\n

When we imagine how someplace should be \u2014 like Thai islands<\/a> with little huts and empty beaches, or rural villages filled with only local food and pushcart vendors \u2014 we seek to freeze the world (and often with an air of leftover colonialism). <\/p>\n

We forget that places aren\u2019t Disneyland and it\u2019s not 100 years ago. Things change. Places develop, mature, and move on. The world around us hasn\u2019t stood frozen in time to act like our theme park. (And this doesn’t even touch the tip of the iceberg around the colonialism \/ Western stereotypes associated with these ideas.)<\/p>\n

Would I rather see the world full of mom-and-pop stores and no Dunkin\u2019 Donuts in Medell\u00edn? <\/p>\n

On the surface, yes. <\/p>\n

But if I really think about it, that\u2019s because I want to escape my home, not be reminded of it. It\u2019s because I\u2019d like the world to match the one I see in books and movies. It’s because no one is completely immune to the views I just talked about. I\u2019ve created a castle in the sky that I don\u2019t want to see destroyed. <\/p>\n

But part of the art of discovery is having your preconceptions<\/a> shattered.<\/p>\n

For example, most Americans (and maybe even most people in the world) view Colombia as this remote jungle full of coffee, crime, fruit, and narcos roaming the street. It’s gritty and dangerous. <\/p>\n

But Colombia is nothing like people think it is. Medell\u00edn has one of the best transportation systems I\u2019ve ever seen outside Scandinavia, and Wi-Fi is everywhere. There\u2019s also some incredible Michelin star\u2013worthy gastronomy taking place here. Bogot\u00e1 has world-class museums. Digital nomads flock there. The roads are stellar. Many young people speak English, they are educated, and they are very informed of world events. <\/p>\n

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So, as Colombia sheds its narco past and embraces the world as much as the world embraces it, should we – I – be surprised that the guy riding in a little jeep is playing Taylor Swift, or that burgers and pizzas and gin and tonics are really popular? Should we be surprised that Colombians want a taste of the world too? <\/p>\n

We often think of globalization as a one-way street, where the Western chains \u201cinvade\u201d other countries.<\/a> Our conversation in the West is always about how we\u2019re ruining other places. <\/p>\n

Yet these places don\u2019t survive on tourist dollars alone. Locals do eat there. Who are we to tell them no? <\/p>\n

And I often think about the reverse: when people from other non-Western cultures travel, do they<\/em> have the same reaction?<\/p>\n

Do Colombians travel somewhere and go, \u201cUgh, a mondongo<\/em> place here? This place is ruined.\u201d<\/p>\n

Do Italians hate the sight of pizza on vacation?<\/p>\n

Do the Japanese lament seeing sushi abroad? <\/p>\n

I don\u2019t want to see the golden arches next to the Pyramids, but is it so bad that there are some franchises in Egypt? Who are we to say, \u201cHey, you can\u2019t have that. I want to imagine your country as this Arabian Nights<\/em> fantasy! Get rid of that pizza place! Where are the guys on camels?\u201d<\/p>\n

Whether it\u2019s a chain or just a type of cuisine, I don\u2019t think the mingling of cultures is such a bad. <\/p>\n

Globalization is not perfect. And, of course, its benefits aren\u2019t balanced. People have written volumes on this subject. Let\u2019s leave that aside. I\u2019m not here to discuss that. I\u2019m here to ponder globalization and our perceptions of it as travelers.<\/p>\n

That Dunkin\u2019 Donuts reminded me that the globalized world that allows me to be in Medell\u00edn also allows Colombians to access not only my culture but other cultures as well.<\/p>\n

I think we need to stop viewing globalization through the myopic one-way lens of being a Western traveler. <\/p>\n

Do we really want places to stay impoverished \/ secluded \/ unconnected so we can have an \u201cauthentic\u201d experience based on some fantasy we have about a destination? Do we really not want the locals to experience pizza, or burgers, or Scotch, jazz music, or Thai pop, or anything else not local?<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think we should look at globalization as causing a place to be \u201cruined.\u201d Cultures are always in flux. <\/p>\n

The same process that has brought unfamiliar cultures to us has also brought parts of our culture (among others) there.<\/p>\n

When you have more cultures interacting with each other, you get to understand that everyone is a human being and shares the same wants and needs. <\/p>\n

And I think that is something we should celebrate. <\/p>\n

Matt’s note:<\/strong> Before everyone freaks out in the comments, let me be clear: I am not saying globalization is all rainbows and unicorns. There are a lot of problems with multi-national corporations, specifically, when it comes to taxes, labor, and how much money they keep in a country. There are also a lot of environmental and social problems related to outsourcing. Those are important social and economic issues that need to be addressed politically so that everyone can share the benefits of a more globalized world. I don’t deny there are problems. But this post is simply about looking at the issue from a traveler’s perspective.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Book Your Trip: Logistical Tips and Tricks<\/h4>\n

Book Your Flight<\/strong>
\nFind a cheap flight by using Skyscanner<\/a> or Momondo<\/a>. They are my two favorite search engines because they search websites and airlines around the globe so you always know no stone is left unturned.<\/p>\n

Book Your Accommodation<\/strong>
\nYou can book your hostel with Hostelworld<\/a> as they have the largest inventory. If you want to stay somewhere other than a hotel, use Booking.com<\/a> as they consistently return the cheapest rates for guesthouses and cheap hotels. I use them all the time.<\/p>\n

Don’t Forget Travel Insurance<\/strong>
\nTravel insurance will protect you against illness, injury, theft, and cancellations. It’s comprehensive protection in case anything goes wrong. I never go on a trip without it as I’ve had to use it many times in the past. I’ve been using World Nomads<\/a> for ten years. My favorite companies that offer the best service and value are:<\/p>\n