SubscribeThis post comes from a follow up on the “Unspoken Gringo Contest” post from a few days ago. Writing that post brought up some important and thought provoking questions for us travelers who often don’t feel like they are tourists but rather taking advantage of the new experiences brought about by the fact that the world is becoming smaller with less defined borders.
When traveling, should one “When in Rome, do as the Romans?” or remain exactly the same as one would act in the country where one normally lives?
I generally fall in when in Rome category, but am I denying my roots and not being true to myself? Or am I just genuinely trying to take advantage of the new opportunities, one of which is eating different food, dressing differently, going out to different places, etc?
I have known girls to fit in the category, “I am an American and proud of it. I am going to wear my college windbreaker, tennis shoes, and running shorts no matter how fancy the places we are going are and how classy the locals dress.”
I guess as the world becomes more and more global we wont have to worry about this question anymore. But to tell you the truth, I like to take on a different world and different feel while I am in a different country. So for the time being, I am going to live the mantra, “When in Rio, do as the Cariocas…”
