Okay, it happened. For a good few hours I convinced myself that package tours were not only alright but indeed satisfying, useful and fun.
So righty-ho, my in-laws come for a visit from England. And although our family has been living in Chiang Mai, Thailand for three years, they insisted on an all-inclusive package tour. "Good value for money" said my father in law, "I couldn't get the air fare alone for this price!"
Okay so fair enough. The villa is a bit paradise-esque. Paradise 1979, that is. (Da plane, da plane!) But this COULD be good fun. I'm game and ready for a reality shift in my anti-tour brain.
My first clue: When entering the lobby there are two humongous clocks. One said Chiang Mai, one said London. (see tic-toc change your clock tip) Ugh. How will I stomach this? Beware of the clock duo! Four or five clocks are fine, even cool. But two, one being the place you came from and the other being the place you're standing----Well you been high jacked
But never mind, the pool is nice.
My second clue: Hearing my husband raise his voice in surprise, and say "that's so expensive" in Thai. He was referring to being charged twice the normal price for a lemon juice. Remember this is Paradise 1979we're not talking The Four Season's here!
But never mind, there's a cocktail party.
The folks are lovely. We're chit chatting away and everyone is in high spirits. We sit down and get ready to load up our plates for the buffet. I'm thinking, you know this is really good---it's getting people out who might normally be apprehensive about traveling. Look how happy everyone is. And then it happens ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
I was peacefully spraying my kids with ALL-NATURAL citronella mosquito repellent, which is perfectly acceptable (if not welcomed) in an outdoor restaurant in Thailand. And then the angry English man storms over shaking his finger and cursing our table at the top of his lungs. (I guess he'd never heard of Dengue Fever!) He then proceeds to bore everyone in the entire restaurant with the story. Poor soul.
Although this would not really be appropriate in England or anywhere for that matter, it is far more common to show aggressive behavior in England. (to quote my in-laws, "there's always one in the bunch!") You see, in Thailand you don't get aggressive. You just don't. Secondly, in Thailand children have the run of the place. Everyone LOVES children. And they allow children to be children. Thai people delight in children. No one would EVER talk like this man did in front of children.
And then I realized (or rather had backing to my previous, I mean current notion) that this type of travel isn't travel at all. What is the point of surrounding yourself in your own culture when in another? What happens is that you impose your own culture on the host culture, rather than being curious and respectful of the differences in the culture you visit. You've never left your comfort zone. You've never left your reality. You haven't learned that different cultures do things differently and my goodness it works just as well. Yes, you'll see some good sights but you'll be drinking a Heineken rather than a Chang, drinking hot English breakfast tea rather than Thai iced tea and of course you'll be eating stodgy pub grub rather than coconut curry and some deliciously stir fried morning glory.
There are package tours and there ARE tours. If you must tour, please avoid the generic tours and if you have the misfortune of landing a generic tour, make the most of it by getting curious with your host guide. Ask lots of questions and I promise, you will be the star guest and your guide will not only enjoy you, your guide will actually remember you!
Cheers & Ciao for Now and for more fabulous information from Gina or for queries please visit her website at www.GottaLottaHope.com