“From what little i’ve experienced of euro travel, i want nothing to do with it. no matter how you cut it, that kind of trip is extreme tourism. people show up in a foreign place for a few days, stay with other foreigners, see the sights, carry on the universal practices of drinking to reaffirm their youth, and move on to the next country with a handful of adventure stories but no real life experience. this isn’t to hate on travelers; most of the hostelites i met were pretty cool and i really value the chance to hang out with fellow foreigners, talk about our homelands, and all that. the practice of rambling endlessly and aimlessly about cool places you’ve been to for 1/100th of a year, however, is basically a hyper-pretentious version of namedropping indie bands and gets old thrice as fast.”
— James Boo, on meeting hostel travellers in Germany
July 2006.
