One of the main reasons why people travel is to have an ‘authentic experience’ – to discover an exotic foreign culture and to live and eat like the locals do.

However, travel writer Gary Arndt warns that those who travel with unrealistic expectations may be disappointed. “The world is what it is, and you have to explore it on its terms, not yours”.

Through photos and their own imagination, travellers can often build romantic traditional images of non-Western cultures, which can be both inaccurate and patronising.

Arndt describes a conversation he had with a traveller in Samoa, who had found that local communities enjoyed familiar modern conveniences: “She sounded disappointed and a little bit upset that Samoans had television sets.”

“She had an idea of what Samoa was, and more importantly, what she though Samoa should be…She was denied her authentic cultural experience because Samoans (how dare they!) were watching TV and using electricity. Samoans just weren’t Samoan enough for her.”

Arndt is not suggesting that all travel experiences are destined for disappointment, simply that all travel should be undertaken with an open-mind.

“No matter what you expect to see when you visit a new place, the reality you will find will be different…Do not expect people to be caricatures or stereotypes of something you have in mind…Change your expectation and you’ll find that every experience is authentic to itself.”

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