Tourists vs Natives

Jamaica Kincaid

That the native does not like the tourist is not hard to explain. For every native of every place is a potential tourist, and every tourist is a native of somewhere. Every native everywhere lives a life of overwhelming and crushing banality and boredom and desperation and depression, and every deed, good and bad, is an attempt to forget this. Every native would like to find a way out, every native would like a rest, every native would like a tour. But some natives—most natives in the world—cannot go anywhere. They are too poor. They are too poor to go anywhere. They are too poor to escape the reality of their lives; and they are too poor to live properly in the place they live, which is the very place you, the tourist, want to go—so when the natives see you, the tourist, they envy you, they envy your ability to leave your own banality and boredom, they envy your ability to turn their own banality and boredom into a source of pleasure for yourself.” ~ Jamaica Kincaid, A Small Place

This quote is one to which we can all relate since most of us can be in the position of either the native or the tourist. I can understand why she says that the native does not like the tourists. It is a matter of envy, of feeling that green monster inside of you because you wish you could spend your time doing neglecting your responsibilities and enjoying life’s pleasures. It is even worse when you have someone from another country, culture and background, different than yours, coming and enjoying the natural wonders your country has to offer and that you should be the one enjoying by birthright. Someone who sees the place you live as paradise, when in reality it is something far from paradise for the natives. Someone who doesn’t understand the hardships the natives go through, doesn't understand the culture or the history of the place they visit. It is funny though, that those lucky enough to escape their native land and leave their reality behind for a few days or a few weeks, keep the circle going round and round. Now they are not natives, but tourists whom are looked down by the natives and that visit a place without really knowing the place. 

I have been one of those lucky enough to live as a native and as a tourist. I cannot say that I haven't make fun of or felt annoyed with a tourist, because I have, but sometimes I try to put myself in their shoes, after all I have been a tourist too, maybe even in their own birth place. I think a major difference is that I take the time to learn something about the place I am going to visit. I think it enhances the experience, it gives you perspective and better understanding of what you are looking at. Visiting a famous landmark without knowing its story or contemplating a famous painting without knowing its context is not worth the trip or the money spent. Without previous knowledge you are just another one of those superficial tourists that goes there for the sake of saying "I went there and I took a picture there".