'The naked backpackers in Malaysia were thinking of Las Vegas, not Rome' diff viewer (0/1)

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~~Kinabalu’s naked backpackers were thinking of Las Vegas, not Rome~~	The naked backpackers in Malaysia were thinking of Las Vegas, not Rome
2015-06-12 19:15:22 UTC	2015-06-13 08:45:09 UTC (about 14 hours later)
Somewhere between Rome and Las Vegas stands the island of Borneo and its highest peak, Mount Kinabalu. Not literally, you understand. But in the map of our minds, its contours formed by our confused, conflicting attitudes to travel, tourism and the way we are meant to behave when we venture beyond these shores.	Somewhere between Rome and Las Vegas stands the island of Borneo and its highest peak, Mount Kinabalu. Not literally, you understand. But in the map of our minds, its contours formed by our confused, conflicting attitudes to travel, tourism and the way we are meant to behave when we venture beyond these shores.
That confusion saw Eleanor Hawkins, a British backpacker on a postgraduate gap year, convicted along with three others in a Malaysian court today of committing an obscene act on a mountain site deemed sacred by those who live in its shadow. Hawkins was one of a group of travellers who celebrated their scaling of Kinabalu last month by stripping off in near-freezing temperatures and capturing the moment with a photograph. Once the picture got out, the locals were incensed. When an earthquake struck a matter of days later, many saw cause and effect. “We have to take this as a reminder that local beliefs and customs are not to be disrespected,” said the deputy chief minister.	That confusion saw Eleanor Hawkins, a British backpacker on a postgraduate gap year, convicted along with three others in a Malaysian court today of committing an obscene act on a mountain site deemed sacred by those who live in its shadow. Hawkins was one of a group of travellers who celebrated their scaling of Kinabalu last month by stripping off in near-freezing temperatures and capturing the moment with a photograph. Once the picture got out, the locals were incensed. When an earthquake struck a matter of days later, many saw cause and effect. “We have to take this as a reminder that local beliefs and customs are not to be disrespected,” said the deputy chief minister.
Related: Malaysia to free British tourist over naked mountain pose	Related: Malaysia to free British tourist over naked mountain pose
He belongs to what you might call the Rome school – as in, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” The maxim has endured since medieval times as an instruction to the traveller that is part moral exhortation, part survival tip. For Hawkins and friends, it might have read: if you’re in a holy place and want to avoid trouble, keep your kit on.	He belongs to what you might call the Rome school – as in, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” The maxim has endured since medieval times as an instruction to the traveller that is part moral exhortation, part survival tip. For Hawkins and friends, it might have read: if you’re in a holy place and want to avoid trouble, keep your kit on.
But the “When in Rome” principle now competes with a newer rule: “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.” The ethos it conveys may have originated in weekend benders in the Nevada strip – best captured by The Hangover movies – but it’s not confined to there. Instead it refers to the mindset that says, “You’re on holiday: the usual rules don’t apply.”	But the “When in Rome” principle now competes with a newer rule: “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.” The ethos it conveys may have originated in weekend benders in the Nevada strip – best captured by The Hangover movies – but it’s not confined to there. Instead it refers to the mindset that says, “You’re on holiday: the usual rules don’t apply.”
Hawkins and her fellow naked ramblers were thinking of Vegas when they should have been looking to Rome. Indeed, reactions to the group – judgmental or sympathetic – can be divided into those two broad camps.	Hawkins and her fellow naked ramblers were thinking of Vegas when they should have been looking to Rome. Indeed, reactions to the group – judgmental or sympathetic – can be divided into those two broad camps.
On the one hand, there are the Romans. They believe travel is about exploration and learning, informed by curiosity and respect for the locals. This group would regard a guidebook as second only to a passport in its indispensability. Though one does not want to be seen clutching such a book too obviously. That would mark one out as – dread word – a “tourist”. The aim is, if not to pass as a local, then to be accepted as a genuine traveller.	On the one hand, there are the Romans. They believe travel is about exploration and learning, informed by curiosity and respect for the locals. This group would regard a guidebook as second only to a passport in its indispensability. Though one does not want to be seen clutching such a book too obviously. That would mark one out as – dread word – a “tourist”. The aim is, if not to pass as a local, then to be accepted as a genuine traveller.
This kind of visitor wants to avoid all the usual “tourist traps” – a favoured Roman phrase – and find only those backstreets, hidden cafes and bustling markets frequented by locals. For the Roman, joy comes when they don’t see a single person like themselves.	This kind of visitor wants to avoid all the usual “tourist traps” – a favoured Roman phrase – and find only those backstreets, hidden cafes and bustling markets frequented by locals. For the Roman, joy comes when they don’t see a single person like themselves.
The true purpose of your trip is not the discovery of language or culture. Who cares you’re in Spain? You’re in Shagaluf	The true purpose of your trip is not the discovery of language or culture. Who cares you’re in Spain? You’re in Shagaluf
The spiritual follower of Las Vegas, by contrast, knows they are a tourist and embraces the fact. They are on holiday to have fun, ideally in the sun, with the foreign locale as mere backdrop. Indeed, foreign-ness is, where possible, avoided. Best if the menu is in your native language and, ideally, offers familiar food. You’re not really interested in the locals so much as seeing other people from back home, albeit in a different, warmer, less inhibited context. The aim is to behave in a way you’d never dare in your own town or city, where too many people know you and you risk shame. Protected by a kind of anonymity, free of the usual restraints, you can give in to pleasure. That’s the true purpose of your trip, not the discovery of a different language or culture. Who cares that you’re in Spain? You’re in Shagaluf.	The spiritual follower of Las Vegas, by contrast, knows they are a tourist and embraces the fact. They are on holiday to have fun, ideally in the sun, with the foreign locale as mere backdrop. Indeed, foreign-ness is, where possible, avoided. Best if the menu is in your native language and, ideally, offers familiar food. You’re not really interested in the locals so much as seeing other people from back home, albeit in a different, warmer, less inhibited context. The aim is to behave in a way you’d never dare in your own town or city, where too many people know you and you risk shame. Protected by a kind of anonymity, free of the usual restraints, you can give in to pleasure. That’s the true purpose of your trip, not the discovery of a different language or culture. Who cares that you’re in Spain? You’re in Shagaluf.
My guess is that you’re thinking this division – between Rome and Las Vegas – is all about snobbery, distinguishing between one class of traveller and another and between a grubby present and a more elevated past. Admittedly, there’s been a fair bit of snobbery in the discussion provoked by the Malaysian case, with plenty speculating that the bareback backpackers would never have got into this mess had they just a copy of the Lonely Planet stuffed into their (abandoned) shorts, as earlier generations surely would have. There’s no doubt that the smartphone has changed travel – making it easy to book tickets or hotels without reading a word about the place you’re about to visit – but the point doesn’t quite apply in this case. Hawkins and friends were Roman enough to have a local guide accompany them on their mountain trek, doubtless informing them of its sacred status. Trouble was, they got all Vegas and did their own thing, stripping off at the top of Kinabalu in a way they’d have never dared at Stonehenge.	My guess is that you’re thinking this division – between Rome and Las Vegas – is all about snobbery, distinguishing between one class of traveller and another and between a grubby present and a more elevated past. Admittedly, there’s been a fair bit of snobbery in the discussion provoked by the Malaysian case, with plenty speculating that the bareback backpackers would never have got into this mess had they just a copy of the Lonely Planet stuffed into their (abandoned) shorts, as earlier generations surely would have. There’s no doubt that the smartphone has changed travel – making it easy to book tickets or hotels without reading a word about the place you’re about to visit – but the point doesn’t quite apply in this case. Hawkins and friends were Roman enough to have a local guide accompany them on their mountain trek, doubtless informing them of its sacred status. Trouble was, they got all Vegas and did their own thing, stripping off at the top of Kinabalu in a way they’d have never dared at Stonehenge.
As for class, that’s not right either. The forerunners of today’s Shagaluf pleasure-seekers were 19th century aristocrats. Trollope is full of gentlemen repairing to Ostend to fight a duel, an act that would have been deemed unseemly at home. Robert Burns’s poem, The Twa Dogs, describes an upper class Englishman on holiday on the continent, who down Italian vista startles / Whore-hunting amang groves o’ myrtles. He later repairs to a German spa, to cleanse himself of the venereal disease he has picked up on his travels.	As for class, that’s not right either. The forerunners of today’s Shagaluf pleasure-seekers were 19th century aristocrats. Trollope is full of gentlemen repairing to Ostend to fight a duel, an act that would have been deemed unseemly at home. Robert Burns’s poem, The Twa Dogs, describes an upper class Englishman on holiday on the continent, who down Italian vista startles / Whore-hunting amang groves o’ myrtles. He later repairs to a German spa, to cleanse himself of the venereal disease he has picked up on his travels.
Christopher Harvie, the co-author of a history of tourism, says the foreign bender was a familiar feature of upper class life, characterised by an arrogant disregard for local sensitivities.	Christopher Harvie, the co-author of a history of tourism, says the foreign bender was a familiar feature of upper class life, characterised by an arrogant disregard for local sensitivities.
When working people began to travel, hedonism became the driving principle for them too. “If they went anywhere by boat, they were able to get totally plastered,” Harvie told me. Trains were different: the lack of lavatories made heavy drinking too risky. But once at sea, they’d get “legless.” The exception were the people in between. It was the earnest middle class who felt a holiday should be about education and improvement, all bracing walks and phrase books. They were curious, if not deferential, to local custom. Harvie recalls that his own mother was so Roman, a family photograph from 1936 shows her visiting a hospitable German family – politely clutching a swastika flag.	When working people began to travel, hedonism became the driving principle for them too. “If they went anywhere by boat, they were able to get totally plastered,” Harvie told me. Trains were different: the lack of lavatories made heavy drinking too risky. But once at sea, they’d get “legless.” The exception were the people in between. It was the earnest middle class who felt a holiday should be about education and improvement, all bracing walks and phrase books. They were curious, if not deferential, to local custom. Harvie recalls that his own mother was so Roman, a family photograph from 1936 shows her visiting a hospitable German family – politely clutching a swastika flag.
Things are different now. Jet travel means we can get much further away. Yet technology means we can never quite escape home: thanks to WhatsApp and Instagram, you’re never completely free of the judgment of friends and family, even on the other side of the globe. Meanwhile, even the well-intentioned traveller can let her guard down, assuming that just because there’s a Starbucks on the street corner, the locals have the same attitudes as she does – forgetting that some of them might believe in, say, a link between nudity and seismic activity.	Things are different now. Jet travel means we can get much further away. Yet technology means we can never quite escape home: thanks to WhatsApp and Instagram, you’re never completely free of the judgment of friends and family, even on the other side of the globe. Meanwhile, even the well-intentioned traveller can let her guard down, assuming that just because there’s a Starbucks on the street corner, the locals have the same attitudes as she does – forgetting that some of them might believe in, say, a link between nudity and seismic activity.
Eleanor Hawkins forgot the Roman rule. But in the age of social media, when images can be transmitted worldwide in an instant, the Nevada principle is crumbling. These days, what happens in Vegas almost never stays in Vegas.	Eleanor Hawkins forgot the Roman rule. But in the age of social media, when images can be transmitted worldwide in an instant, the Nevada principle is crumbling. These days, what happens in Vegas almost never stays in Vegas.