“If you don’t have anything nice to say, sit next to me,” the saying goes. After spending a year in bloglandia, I’ve noticed that some travel bloggers adopt a tirelessly positive tone when writing about the destinations they cover. 
They relentlessly churn out lists of things such as “the 10 Friendliest Countries in the World,” or “the 5 Top Shopping Malls in Europe.” If these posts had a soundtrack it would be an endless loop of the Disney theme song “It’s a Small World After All.”
Travel is depicted as one big fun adventure in which everyone is nice and nothing ever goes wrong.
Bad Trips, Good Stories. But we all know that’s not the case. That’s a good thing because some of the best travel stories result from trips on which almost nothing went right.
Sometimes it’s the negative aspects of a particular region that makes me want to find out more about it. When it comes to Latin America, these negative aspects are often overblown. But even if there are some unfortunate truths about the region, they are only one element of the endless bundle of contradictions that fuel my curiosity about Mexico and Central and South America.
Below are some negative thoughts about various aspects of Latin America.
- I Heart Central America’s Random Taglines
- The Gringo Price Exacts Toll on Latin America’s Reputation
- A Walk Down the Time Share Echo Chamber
- Fear and Loathing in Acapulco
- ‘Ardido’: The Dark, Violent Side of Mexican Soccer
- Modern Pirates Plague South America Too
- Expat Navigates Chile’s Formal, Informal Morality
Photo by Powerhouse Museum Collection (Via Creative Commons)
on Dec 29th, 2009 at 10:36 pm
It’s nice to read the bad along with the good. It feels more authentic.