I know people are just trying to be nice, but for once I’d like to have a conversation about my work where people don’t tell me how lovely Vietnam is and how much they enjoyed their vacation there.
It is very possible that this lesson takes longer to learn than most tourists can spend to learn it. And of course exoticism sells plane tickets. But Somerset Maugham, who traveled vastly and saw more than most, was right: the wise traveler travels only in imagination.