Europe: Destination of Champions?
With the European Union squabbling, my belief that Europe is not the place to be is only reinforced.
Now, I know most Americans go to Europe because, well…actually, I have no idea why. It’s easy, fine. It’s what you know, fine. But is it new? Not particularly. It’s rife with history, and castles, and…tourists. Backpacking, what I espouse, is about not being a tourist. But that’s not the point of the NYTimes article. Nor is it the point of this post.
Let’s face it, the world economic crisis is putting a pinch on traveling abroad. Inflation, deflation, reflation, devaluation…Nothing is as cheap as it used to be, and my experiences don’t even go back all that far. But despite all of this, traveling is probably more important than it ever has been, particularly as an American.
I don’t mean for the sake of seeing new places and experiencing new things. I mean that for the sake of the American identity. We have a new administration, a new lease on international reputation. Gone are the days of people physically pulling back,staring at me aghast (seriously, it happened. At least until I mentioned that I didn’t like Bush), and here are the days where we have the potential to once again be…well, at least tolerated.
Unfortunately, this is kind of an argument for traveling in Europe. I’m not so naïve as to ignore the prominence of Europe on the world stage; traveling in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Greece, etc. etc. is the first step in reclaiming our international identity. Showing that Americans are not just a bunch of war mongering bullies is not only necessary, it’s a moral obligation.
We have earned such a bad rap over the past 8 years, I believe it is high time we begin rectifying the situation.