Yeah, yeah, this end of the alphabet is hard, ok? What travel-related subject begins with X? I’ve been thinking about this since I first had the idea for this series a year ago and the best I can come up with is that X is for Xenophilia.
Greek, you know. Xeno- from Ancient Greek: ξένος (xénos, ‘strange, foreign, alien’). -philia from Ancient Greek φιλία (philía, friendship or affectionate love). Xenophilia is the love for, attraction to, or appreciation of foreign people, manners, customs, or cultures. So far, so Wikipedia.
As Brits, our national attitude to the rest of the world is largely one of xenophobia, of the fear of other countries and cultures. You only have to glance in the direction of a newspaper to see that, probably in huge letters on the front page. Once upon a time we wanted to own it all. Now we’re leaving TripAdvisor reviews that say things like “I was disgusted to find every restaurant served curry when I went to India” or “No one told me everyone would speak Spanish in Spain”. I’ll never forget when I was working in my local tourist information centre and the number of people who would decline the Madagascan Vanilla ice cream because “Madagascan” sounds a bit foreign and we want Proper English Vanilla please. Or my grandmother, who declared “but Spar is an English supermarket”. We want everything British, thank you very much, none of this foreign muck or foreign shops.
As travellers, we naturally edge away from those kinds of attitudes. I can bleat forever about how good travel is for you and you can bleat back about privilege (and you’re not wrong!) but people who’ve seen other places and experienced other cultures do tend to be more tolerant and more welcoming as well as better-informed. We’ve seen what other countries do better than us – and let’s be realistic, what we do better, because Britain genuinely does do some things better (pedestrian crossings at traffic lights. And plugs. And um… oh, pomp and circumstance. No one else breaks out a golden coach because they’ve got a new monarch or a new Lord Mayor).
You travel because you have an interest in other people and other places. Maybe your interest is in challenging yourself on another country’s geography – climbing a mountain or diving in a warm clear ocean full of fish. Maybe your interest is in seeing another country’s architecture and buildings, crossing the Eiffel Tower or Sydney Harbour Bridge off your bucket list. Maybe your interest is in experiencing a country or culture that you’ve learned about, like when I went to Finland earlier in the year to try out my Finnish and see what a real Finnish sauna is like. Or maybe your interest is in finding out how much alcohol your savings can buy for drinking on a beach by moonlight and firelight.
We learn to communicate without a shared language. Sometimes we even learn to communicate in a new language although, to get my soapbox out, not enough travellers bother to even look over the basics of the local language. We learn what other people value. We learn – and I know it sounds obvious – that people are pretty much all just people. Differences in language and religion are mostly quite minor. Broadly, we all think and feel and want the same things but you may not realise that if your only exposure to people from other countries and cultures is the front page of the Ma*l.
There are so many reasons to travel and they’re all valid. Back in 2011, I wanted to go to Iceland because I thought it would be beautiful and interesting. I came back fully in love with the place, a love that has not abated in nearly twelve years. I’m writing a book about it! By the time that twelfth anniversary comes around next month, it might be ready for its first reader to pick up. But you don’t have to come back with a deep love for a particular country or place. Maybe your love for other places simply means loving the entire world and never picking a favourite, a love that keeps you travelling, keeps you looking for the next wonder or the next new thing.