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Tourists gone wild: "It's about me, not the place I visit"

Is the modern traveller more concerned with documentation than discovery? New York Times contributor Doreen Carvajal weighs in.
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Chinese characters that read "Ding Jinhao paid a visit here" are seen carved into the wall of an ancient temple in Luxor. (Reuters)
Q12:30Tourists gone wild: "It's about me, not the place I visit"

Tourists have carved their initials into Rome's ancient Colosseum, posed naked in Malaysia's holy mountains, and scratched messages into prisoner bunks in Auschwitz.

New York Times contributor Doreen Carvajal joins guest host Tom Power to discuss bad tourist behaviour, the uptick in extreme selfies, and whether the modern traveller is more concerned with documentation than discovery. 

Doreen Carvajal quotes Jesse Fox in her article about the modern tourist. He says the prevailing attitude can be summed up in a phrase: "It’s about ‘me,’ not about the place that I visit.” (Francois Lenoir/Reuters)

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