What is genuine travel? Travel is fundamentally about experiencing life in the shoes of others. That means that those who seek refuge in airline lounges and western hotel chains fail to experience the essence of what it means to travel, right? Absolutely wrong. Here’s why.
This story takes places over one day, as I traveled from India to France. I was staying at the Grand Hyatt Mumbai, just a few minutes from Mumbai Airport. What a way to “experience” India, right? Nothing like becoming “cultured” from an American chain airport hotel (said no one ever)! But while eating my western food from the friendly confines of the hotel’s club lounge, I struck up a conversation with an Indian businessman from Delhi named Sanjeev. He was in town to check up on a plant that made tires. We struck up a conversation when he saw that I was taking pictures of the lounge food (for this blog) and was curious why.
Sanjeev was a Senator on Lufthansa and had his sights on HON Circle, Lufthansa’s top-tier status that requires either living on plane if buying cheap fares or several very expensive tickets in order to qualify. Travel is the great ice breaker among cultures and after exhausting miles and points he moved on to Indian politics and griped about his son marrying an “impoverished gold digger” (his word choice was actually coarser). This was a pretty connected guy and over the course of about an hour I got an inside look into Indian national politics, the unofficial caste system that lingers on, and an idea for how upper class Indians approach marriage. It was a fascinating conversation and Sanjeev was keen to learn about how I approached marriage and my view on a number of political issues. It was a deep and substantive talk that gave me more insight into India and Indians than all the sights of Mumbai.
The Trip To The Airport
The next day, I took Uber to the airport, where my driver began talking about his strong Roman Catholic faith. We ended up in a spirited theological discussion for the 45-minute, 2.5 mile journey to the airport (you’ve got to love Indian traffic). Not what I would have expected. The first time I stepped into India was 2009 and I had assumed, quite wrongly, that the whole country was Hindu. Nope – there are Muslims, Christians, and Buddhists in India as well. Even an Uber trip to the airport helped me understand the diversity of this land.
I was flying from Mumbai to Paris and one of my stops was in Doha on Qatar Airways, the controversial flag carrier of Qatar that some argue subjects its workers to almost slave-like working conditions. I am not so sure, because every time I fly Qatar I make it a point to talk to as many employees and they cannot possibly all be lying to me about how great working for Qatar is. Qatar is no North Korea…
A Chef In Doha
In the Al Mourjan lounge in Doha I met a chef in the dining room who was one of the most enthusiastic people I have ever met. He was so happy to do his job and so happy to work for Qatar Airways. Originally from Sri Lanka, he shared of his ability to travel the world and listed off several exotic destinations he had recently visited.
But then the conversation got deeper.
He was part of the persecuted Tamil minority in Sri Lanka and began talking about the oppression he escaped in coming to Qatar. Giving up his passport and living in what some describe as a concentration camp (charitably a “company town”) of fellow workers, he vividly described his life in Colombo and that his own brother had been killed. Wow, this conversation just got deep.
And you know something? I suddenly had more insight, true insight, on a geopolitical situation without ever setting foot outside the opulent lounge.
A Conversation From A Bar At 40,000 Feet
Finally, the connecting flight to Paris. First Class with Krug, a fancy a la carte menu, and FAs fawning all over me. That was fun, but what was interesting was the conversation I struck up an Iranian FA (paradoxically?) serving as bartender in the onboard bar. She was incorrigibly friendly and after another corroboration that working for Qatar may not be heavenly but that the good far outweighs the bad, I got to hear about growing up in Iran as a woman, the religious pressure (actually, lack thereof in her family), and about the close-knit family life that seemed almost idyllic. I was invited back to Iran and promised that she would sponsor my visa and I could stay with her family (and in case you are wondering, she told me to bring my wife as well…).
So there you have it. One trip, one example, but a prime example of how the notion that luxury travel is not real travel is actually a sophomoric and flawed presupposition.
From a business perspective, writing about these epiphanies come at a great opportunity cost as time is limited and people prefer to read about the first class lounges and seats than about conversations with airline employees. But do not ever let anyone think you cannot experience life in the shoes of others from a first class seat or hotel lounge. I just did. You just have to talk to the people around you.
Read more about my flights and hotels mentioned above in my latest trip report.
Wow!
1. You may consider to publish a book regarding those interesting conversation. The late Anthony Bourdain share his enjoyment in travel with food as language. You can have another exciting language.
2. I understand you travel a lot and enjoy the diversity of culture and social norms across the globe. It baffles me in one of your late article that you complained the lack of wifi for a flight on working hours based on USA timezone. US timezone as standard. Really?
James, let me clarify your second point. My point was not that Air France should offer wi-fi because the flight took places during U.S. banking hours. Instead, I tried to reason that in 2018, when so many other carriers offer it, Air France should also offer Wi-Fi. This flight was particularly difficult for me because it took place during the U.S. work day.
I see. Thanks for the clarification.
At least you now understand the potential ambiguity in some of the sentence written, to avoid confusion in future.
While what you are experiencing is interesting and helps you become a more insightful person, it isn’t experiencing a destination. For example, you could have met that Indian executive in a Chinese Hyatt lounge and had the exact same experience. True, it is traveling. But if you were to say you experienced Mumbai because of your Hyatt lounge experience, I would disagree.
That’s a fair point, a good point actually, though I think in this case I learned more about Indian culture than I would have spending days wandering the streets of Mumbai.
I think that the conversations you’ve had are great, and you should absolutely continue to have them. However, the experiences you describe do not sound like travel to me.
You travel to a place to go experience the place. But you go to an airport lounge or a hotel chain because it is almost the same anywhere. In fact, these locations are almost devoid of place, with the exception of deviations for color and food, to some extent.
You travel to a place to interact with the locals in particular. But when you go to an airport lounge or corporate hotel you interact with anyone who is sufficiently global to be there.
This isn’t meant as an insult because I love airport lounges, and I’m pretty shy, so I’m not trying to say that I have superior or more authentic experiences when I go somewhere.
Hello, twins of accidentally same user name. How are you today?
Wow! Well written and completely relatable (I’m a road warrior based out of Mumbai part of the year). This sort of things is rarely covered by bloggers and should be.
Thanks for your comment!
Frankly, I think the whole notion of “genuine travel” is quite overbearing and condescending. What’s “genuine” anyway?
I was born and raised in one country, but moved to another (for ~12 years now). Whenever I visit my birth country (whose language I speak daily with my family, whose culture I was *born in*), people still know that I am “foreign” and treat me accordingly. It’s ridiculous to expect or to demand “experiencing life in the shoes of others,” because others know and treat you differently. In fact, they kinda need to. If you are in, says, France and don’t speak French fluently, you can’t bargain or ask for direction like a local. So, the locals have to accommodate. You can’t be local when you are not local.
(not to count, many a time, traveling can’t be local; if you visit ancient ruins, you can’t exactly be locals… Or if you visit natural wonder: who cares where you are from in that case?)
However, as you pointed out, a traveler can observe, converse, and take notes. Maybe such are the limits of being in a foreign zone. You can’t be locals, but you can see and seek understandings. That sounds like loads of fun.
Or, maybe, just maybe, just throw the whole “genuine” thing into the wind and enjoy. I have stopped looking for “authentic food” and “authentic culture,” including my birth culture. Either the food is enjoyable and flavorful, or it’s not (ok, there is a whole range; but the range should be about enjoyment and flavor, not supposed “authenticity”). Similarly, when I travel, I seek to enjoy myself. Sometimes, it’s losing my little self in the grandeur of the setting (be it mountains or buildings); some other times, it’s looking at people doing things strangely (relatively speaking); some other times, it’s finding interesting tidbits.
All that said, I would highly recommend *against* talking politics. IMHO, not all countries and cultures are as open. Just sayin’.
Your last point is a good one. I will never bring up politics, especially in the Trump era, unless asked.
Nice article, thanks for writing it.
“The Point of the Journey is not to arrive”, as “Happiness is the Road”.
It’s all about the random occurrences and people that you meet, whether it be on the streets or in a lounge – and making the most of those situations.
Given the inherently more relaxed environment of a lounge (as opposed to the hustle & bustle of a main terminal), folks may tend to be less guarded. If one is open to others, the time can pass quickly. Even in coach, I’ve had 6hr flights that seemed to be over in 20min as the conversation was fluid & enjoyable. I imagine this would translate to premium cabins as well – too bad many of the reviews across these travel blogs tend to whinge about the “lack of privacy since there is no closing door” around their First Class cocoon.
Safe travels 🙂
I agree that lounges make speaking to strangers easier. Thanks for your comment!
One of the most interesting and culturally enlightening conversations I ever had while traveling was with two 20-something male salespeople at the Gucci in Baku. They were obviously interested in (and successful at) making a sale but the store was otherwise empty on a weekday afternoon, we all had time to spare, and they offered me tea and we just shot the breeze about student life in Baku, global pop culture, Azeri pop culture (Eurovision anyone?) and whatever else came to mind. They were two of the coolest guys I’ve ever met. The fact that we were in a pagan temple of conspicuous consumption added to the fun, and having traveled fairly extensively in this part of the world, I never thought for a minute I was anywhere other than the shores of the Caspian.
Similarly (and a lesson in how reverse cultural assumptions can be unfair), I wandered into a posh antique store in Sao Paulo once to ask about the price of an object in the window. I had Google translate fired up on my phone to convey my questions in Portuguese. Turned out the person who was helping me was learning English and wanted some practice so we sat down, he grabbed two Cokes for us, and for an hour we talked about Brazil and America — basic stuff given our respective language skills, but an incredibly rewarding experience for me and I think for him as well. ‘
These two experiences were “enabled” by the economic privilege that put me in those settings in the first place, but were no less authentic to me than trying to strike up a conversation while waiting on line to buy a subway token or buying some fast food from a street vendor.
Great observations. Thanks for sharing.
Very comprehensive and well explained, thanks for this
I’ve been in similar situations before but I am a terrible conversationalist. So many missed opportunities because of being shy and not dexterous with people. After reading your article I’m resolved to improve my social skills, there’s a whole lot of travel experiences (and business) that I’m missing.
I loved this article. Personally, I believe that your experience was great, and I’m very happy you had it, but its not travel. You were eating a western meal in India, thats perfectly OK, but what about ordering from that Indian restaurant at the Grand Hyatt and trying something authentic? Also, are you going to take her up to go to Iran? That, to me, sounds like an absolutely incredible experience that I really hope you do, and then publish a trip report about (forget the trip you took almost a decade ago)!
So I’m going to nitpick and take issue with the crux of your post:
“What is genuine travel? Travel is fundamentally about experiencing life in the shoes of others.”
Frankly, few things irk me more than the concept that some forms of travel are more “genuine” than others. Or for that matter, that you have to “fundamentally experience life in the shoes of others” for something to qualify as “travel”. That is one element of what we call travel, more important to some travelers than others, but I think some also spend way too much time criticizing others for not “living enough like a local” for their trip to count as travel. (And as another commenter suggested, that really isn’t even possible, since you, I, and everyone else traveling away from home will immediately be identified as an outsider, whether we realize it or not.) I could nitpick and tell you that since Delhi is very different culturally than Mumbai, you didn’t really “experience life in the shoes of others” in your conversation with Sanjeev since his perspective isn’t truly local. But that would be a silly criticism, because you enjoyed your conversation and believed that you learned valuable insights.
And I guess that’s my point. Did you enjoy what you did, and did you feel that you learned something interesting, even if someone else might consider it “silly” or “uncultured”? Then congratulations, you meet my definition of “travel”. In other words, worry less. Fly, drive, and cruise more 🙂
This seems like a long-winded way to justify how you travel. I mean, not that there is anything wrong with spending time in lounges and/or hotels, but it doesn’t hurt to remember that it is only one POV. I’m sure if you walked the streets of Mumbai and struck up a conversation with someone selling food from a outdoor street stall, his views on India would differ greatly from Sanjeev’s.