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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I am fascinated by this thread. It is reminding me of my early 20s in DC when I'd bump into the global non-profit / Peace Corps crowd who just LOVED to humblebrag (although we hadn't invented that term then) about their travels, each competing with the other to tell stories of the "real" "authentic" travel they had done. Usually they were wearing some kind of Guatemalan textile while they did it. Dreads optional; makeup not allowed ever.

Anyway, these folks especially loved to point to tourist spots and say "that's not the REAL Mexico/South Africa/India." Woe betide you if you had gone somewhere touristy, even by accident! And then there were gradations of judgment in case you had been to the country they knew the most about. Did you stay in hostels? Ohhh, well THEY had lived with a family / camped in the jungle / squatted in an abandoned building / whatever. Do you speak Spanish? Ohhh, well THEY had gone and married a native speaker and now use all the street slang and innuendo that you will never master. You think you actually KNOW Guatemala! Ha! Not until you've spent a year living in the countryside with no running water can you even PRETEND you know ANYTHING about Guatemala! They, and only they, could be authorities on the country they'd been to.

Oddly, their advice often differed greatly from that of people from the actual country, who (gasp!) sometimes enjoy visiting their own tourist spots themselves, and (double gasp!) would sometimes complain about crime, politics, trash, and other problems.

And FYI I did some pretty adventurous travel myself back then, including riding many second class "chicken" buses in Latin America, but quickly realized that there was no competing with these people in the Authentic Travel Olympics (tm). And it's definitely not good to ask them for travel advice because they will sneer at anyone else who does not meet their exacting standards for Who is the Right Kind of Traveler.

Also, as someone who has worked with asylum-seekers, I find the comments about them upthread to be absolutely abhorrent. First of all, there is no neat divide between "economic migrants" and "refugees." Second, a lot of them are actually reluctant to even share the full details of the horrors they have escaped from. It's much more common for someone to say "I came to the US for a better life" and only later to reveal the fact that they were threatened, raped, had family members killed by gangs, etc. And the lawyers who advocate for these people are required to provide evidence of these threats in immigration court. So yeah, someone who claims to "know" these countries better than anyone else and then who also sneers at anyone who would consider going there for being the "wrong" kind of traveler is just really...special.

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Hi.  I'm the poster who started all of this by dissuading the OP from choosing El Salvador over Costa Rica or Puerto Rico over spring break.  I actually agree with you one hundred percent on literally everything that you just said.  One Hundred Percent.

I'm just having some fun with the Holier Than Though Marriott Gold Poster who had a nice trip to El Salvador, spoke a little Spanish, and on that basis has concluded that anyone who points out that a first-time visitor should know that, compared to Costa Rica and Puerto Rico, El Salvador is (a) poorer, (b) has an less developed tourism infrastructure and (c) has a major litter and environmental problem is a pampered Ugly American who can only be happy in Punta Cana.  The self-righteousness is stunning, and having some time on my hands I just had to mess with her.

I'll try my best to stop it now. [/quote]

Marriott Gold poster here. I love how you act like you’re laughing with the PP while they’re actually laughing at you. You’re the one who exemplifies their point by mentioning in every post that you are “fluent” in Spanish and so well traveled (highly doubtful by the way; I’ve heard your generation try to muddle through Latin America with terrible Spanish) without realizing it’s actually not that difficult or impressive. In fact, I never mentioned that until my last post. You’ve given yourself away by the language you use (the very offensive “chicken bus” — maybe your Gen Z kids can teach you to do better). Of course, speaking the native language isn’t a prerequisite to visit a country, although I’m sure you would disagree. In any event, sorry if I challenged you by saying your travel stories weren’t “impressive” enough, and that anyone can easily do the same. I’m abroad right now in fact; it’s really no big deal at all. So considering I encourage people to travel, and you discourage them, which of us is really competing in a Travel Olympics (which I agree exists, as you have so well demonstrated from the very beginning). [/quote]

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