There is no doubt that the aims of UNESCO’s World Heritage List are entirely laudable. The preservation of sites and areas of great significance is noble, and should be encouraged as much as possible.
The problem is that way that the tourism industry has hijacked the World Heritage tag. Guide books abuse it, travel writers abuse [...]
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When it comes to finding hidden gems, it’s probably best to defer to the experts. Miners won’t bother digging through lots of inaccessible terrain for just one gem – they’d sooner just scoop up the array of much more accessible gems.
There are lots of gems – why bother chasing the really awkward one?
In travel writing, [...]
Continue reading about Travel Writer Clichés: 6 – Hidden gem
This is universally taken as a sign of a good quality restaurant; a little secret for the writer to share with the readers.
Alas, the truly observant would notice that – when given a choice – the locals will eat at McDonalds or KFC. Go on, compare the numbers in that cute backstreet restaurant to numbers [...]
Continue reading about Travel Writer Clichés: 5 – Where locals eat
This one is generally used when the writer wishes to appear more open-minded to different cultures than he or she really is. It’s intended to indicate that sauntering through a group of poverty-stricken stall-holders, who are desperately try to eke out a living by selling complete tat to gullible foreigners, is in some way a [...]
Continue reading about Travel Writer Clichés: 4 – Colourful markets
This one is inevitably used when the writer has already described the view (or simply said that it’s great) and doesn’t want to use the word ‘view’ twice in quick succession.
It’s a spectacular example of journalese, the language only used by journalists. Think headlines along the lines of “Top cop in vice girl rap shame.”
No [...]
Continue reading about Travel Writer Clichés: #3 – Stunning Vista
Well done, Mr or Mrs Hack. It must take Amundsen-like powers of exploration to find somewhere containing a few things that are slightly different from each other.
Now for a challenge: head on out there and find me a city that doesn’t have contrasts. I want to read about somewhere that is utterly uniform in every [...]
Continue reading about Travel Writer Clichés: 2 – City of Contrasts
Why do people (ie. Lazy travel hacks) insist on describing any island that might be a bit far away and slightly exotic as a ‘desert island’?
I’m pretty sure that there’s not an island in the world that receives the requisite lack of rainfall to be classified as ‘desert’. And yes, I do know that I’m [...]
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