Having travelled the world I can say without a doubt that this person misses the point of travel.
It isn’t about winning a trivia night. It’s about connecting deeply on a level that a Wikipedia article just cannot offer.
It isn’t about winning a trivia night. It’s about connecting deeply on a level that a Wikipedia article just cannot offer.
I'm also amused by the suggestion that Japanese Bach fans understand German culture more deeply than Germans (does this mean Westerners with moderately large anime collections understand the many nuances of Japanese culture better than the Japanese?!). I mean, I don't actually think most travel does connect deeply with foreign culture, but few travellers are left with such a shallow first impression of other countries they legitimately believe they've obtained deeper insights into a country than the average person who lives there by attending a performance of some cultural artefact from that country's history.
Also, for many people, travel is fun. If you find travel not fun, or reading about a place more fun, then more power to you. Some people find sex and relationships messy and inconvenient too, and if they prefer collecting stories and pictures that's fine - just maybe inadvisable to blog about how much more they've learned from the internet...
We stayed in a home and it was fascinating how differently the homes are designed and function.
There is no substitute for experiencing a place.
The bigger problem here that many people are building opinions lacking education, and this often can lead to harmful descicions, especially in how the world is developing today.