International Herald Misses Mark

One of the great joys of global travel is settling into a far-flung coffee shop or teahouse with the day’s International Herald Tribune, always a great read. When I sat down with the paper and a hot, foamy latte on a recent Italian Riviera morning, however, I almost choked on my brioche reading an article about life on Thailand’s Khaosan Road, a popular crossroads for Asia travelers. Writer Seth Mydans correctly notes that places like Khaosan Road, with their bacon-and-eggs breakfasts and Internet cafes, have lost some exotic luster. But he goes too far when he writes: “It is the black hole at the center of a shrinking world where the Age of Discovery has ended, all roads have been traveled, and the words ‘remote’ and ‘exotic’ have all but lost their meaning….The world of travel has been tamed.”

The world of travel may change, but it will never be tamed. As cultures mingle, something is lost, but something, too, is gained. Eating bacon-and-eggs in Bangkok will never be the same as eating bacon-and-eggs in Barstow. Every culture interprets another’s in its own unique way, and rediscovering that on each trip is always a pleasure. This is as true in Thailand as it is in the United States, or in my immediate case, Italy. When I finished my latte, which was far richer than any I’d had at Starbucks, I set aside the Tribune, paid my tab and walked through the small town of Comogli, where political posters featured a communist candidate, pesto sauce was akin to holy water and life, despite a few ATM machines, felt plenty exotic.

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